Nico Januel reports on Insta, including a video, that he has done the third ascent of La Force in le Toit d’Orsay calling i 8C. FA Alban Levier graded it 9a sport or 8c+ traverse and Nico comments. "The traverse grade is a specific Fontainebleau grade I never understood. Who decided a boulder problem had to be 1 or 30 movements? You definitely had to put different ability in, but it’s still bouldering!! (I really think we have to stop with the traverse grade."

jose luis palao has done his first 9a+, La catedral delos narcos in Santuario. (c) Andrés Giménez During the same day he also did La catedral en hipoxia ext 9a which has a shorter and different exit. "The cathedral of los narcos is a great crossing that goes through sections of 3 different routes and is the combination of all of them."

Piotr Schab has done his ninth 9a+, Joe Mama in Oliana. (c) Marcin Szymkowski The same day he also did Blanquita 8c+. "I've tried the route a few times in the previous years but never really focused on it. This time it took me 4 days to climb it with a breakpoint in my 3rd day. Funny thing was how quickly it came from "very far" to "done". Climbing still surprises me :) The main goal of the year is Perfecto Mundo 9b+ in Autumn, but I plan to visit Rocklands in July and Villanueva in April/May."

Lee Hak-Jin from Korea, who started climbing 15 months ago doing 6a's, has done Greed 8c (+) at Railay Beach. Amazingly, this was the first time he climbed outdoors. Previously his focus had been competitions and he won the Asian KidsCombined Championship in August. The 12-year-old is 170 cm tall and weighs 50 kg. His trainer is Han Man-gyu. "He trained at the center three times a week for six hours a day from the beginning, and on Saturdays and Sundays, he made bouldering and lead climbing for more than six hours. All students who come into the center for a career are trained for three to four months. The training method is only for six times a minute, with jawrest, pinch, pocket, and H.I.T training. After this course, endurance, interval training, and then running. The important training method is onsight exercises. New routes with 50 - 60 moves are being created every day. After five months of training, he won a small climbing tournament and became a self-confident and hard-working student. What I've seen and felt since then is a big deal."

Rock climbing is in comparison to other physical sports unique on many performances categories; Gender: Angy Eiter almost at the male top level. Age span: World-class performances between 9-45 years Specialization: Ondra world-class on 3 move boulders and 900m MP. Training: Most of the best wihout a structured training program Late Bloomer: You can continue progress at 40+ With Lee Hak-Jin (12) doing 8c (+) after just 15 months of climbing, we can now also add this to the unique list of the rock climbing categories and performances.

Theresa Schöll, who started training seriously just two years ago, has done her second 8A+, Hocus Pocus in Nö. (c) xaverquintus "The first year I would only go rock climbing with my dad a few times a month and I was able to do my first 6c routes. Then the winter came and I didn't want to lose all the new power and decided to start bouldering in the gym. Next summer after one year of training without any knowledge of the actual training process I sent my first 8a route quite unexpectedly. That's also when I tried participating in comps, but after two nationals I realized that I lacked the talent for this type of climbing. Last summer I started outdoor bouldering more frequently and I sent my first 7B/+ boulder."

Eliot Stephens has done his second 8C, From Dirt Grows the Flowers in Chironico. "Last day of the trip, my most productive day of climbing ever. 8C in Chironico followed by 2x 8A+ and 2x 8A in Brione. Took me 8 sessions over 3 weeks with trying other stuff as well. I did all the moves in the first session but the mantle was a nightmare from the floor."

Allanah Yip from Canada, #14 in the Hachioji, is the big favorit to win the Pan-Am Combined Championship in Los Angeles, getting an Olympic ticket. As a matter of a fact, as USA has already filled their country quota, it is good enough to be the #1 excluding the ones from USA. Among the male, Sean Bailay or another one from USA is likely to make it to Tokyo, meaning also that they will their max two country quota. Rudolph "Drew" Ruana from USA, #13 in the Combined World Championship, will not participate but he should get the tripartite ticket as long as USA does not win and fill their quota. The Tripartite is supposed to go to a micro Olympic nation but as no such athlete did participate in the Combined event in Hachioji, Ruana is next in line. So Ruana from USA might hope for a Canadian winner. Michael Piccolruaz, on the other hand, hopes that USA will fill up their country quota as then the Italian is next in line to get the Tripartite ticket. However, if an Italian (Stefano Ghisolfi) wins the European Combined then Italy has filled their country quota and Jernej Kruder will get the Tripartite ticket. In practice, as most probably the male winner in Los Angeles will come from USA, Piccolruaz should have like 67 % chance to get the tripartite ticket. Runner-up is Ruana with 25 % and then Kruder has the remaining 8 %.