Romain Desgranges did his first Lead World Cup in 2003 and after 15 years contious progress he won overall in 2017 being like ten years older then the rest of the competitors. The same year, the 35 year old won the European Championship. As a kid he wanted to be a soccer player which his parents did not like so much so they made him try different sports. Being a late bloomer, Romain struggled a lot but with a great team and several exploring mainly bouldering trips around the world, he kept his motivation high and trained mentally. It is really interesting to get inside Romain's head and learn how he kept fighting reading and watching all illustrations. In 2016, he came in contact with illustrator Flore Beaudulin and it just might be that the whole process om making a comics autobiography worked out as the perfect mental training that made him the best competition climber in the world 2017, being 35 years old. Buy it for Euro 24 "A slip of the foot, the fall, months and years of efforts going up in smoke. In 2015, Romain Desgranges comes within a hair's breadth of winning the Climbing World Cup. He chooses to overcome his disappointment into the Californian desert of Joshua Tree. Only surrounded by "Big boulders", he confronts his fears by climbing solo these granite blocks, some of which reach heights up to 10 meters and more. Falling is forbidden; the fear of failure getting confused with the fear of dying. By exposing one to the other, Romain slowly finds his own path again. This maiden trip is at the core of the autobiographical work he started, soon joined by Flore Beaudelin, a graphic designer. At first, there was a movie, then this graphic novel, to illustrate a lifetime journey through the passion of climbing. Eight chapters will follow Romain Desgranges from his childhood dreams to the World Cup podium. "So High" is the name given by the climbers to the highest of the boulders."

Paul Robinson has done his 6th 8C FA, Karoshi in Hueco Tanks. "What a perfect way to end the trip! Found this line with Keith in feb 2018. Could not wait to come back this winter and get back on it. Sharp but such a perfect hard crimper line! The area known as the 5 bimbos on east mountain has been closed for approximately 20 years due to erosion. Hueco tanks has since put in anti erosion measures in the area and has reopened the boulder to climbing in 2017. Now people can enjoy about 15 boulders problems in the area ranging from in the 6th grade to ~8C. In total, Paul has done 918 boulders 8A and harder out of which 19 8C's. Is there anybody who could challenge Paul becoming the first one breaking 1 000? (c) Keith Allen - Westmountainmedia

Based on 2 500+ unique votes, Climber of 2018? 47 % Adam Ondra 13 % Alex Megos 13 % Jakob Schubert 10 % Stefano Ghisolfi 07 % Jernej Kruder 04 % Daniel Woods 06 % Other

Molly Thompson-Smith has done Rollito Sharma extension 8c in Santa Linya and she is #6 in the ranking game. "It took 3 goes in 2 sessions to do Rollito, then I worked the extension after I did it. Then 2 goes from the ground the next session." In 2017 Molly was #7 in the Lead World Cup. Last December she ruptured three pulleys in a ring finger. Fully recovered she is going for the Olympics and this winter her focus are Bouldering and Speed, preparing for the selections and hopefully some WCs.

Many of the best climbers think that the best sending conditions are found during 5 degrees. If it is a sunny wall, you can climb also during freezing conditions. Here are some tips how to keep warm. It is all about transporting your 37 degrees blood out to your finger tips. 1. Warm up indoors properly including also max power 2. Tight long arm sleeves, wrist warmers and mitts 3. Cut of the finger tips of your gloves 4. Chemical hand warmers in the chalk bag 5. Sweater with belly pockets (cut them to warm hand on your stomach) 6. Big shoes so you can wear a socket 7. Put your shoes and gloves inside your jacket

Isabelle Faus has done her 34th 8A+, Login Cabin in St Vrain and she is now quite superior in the 8a ranking game. (c) Chad Greedy "Wow !!!! So psyched, when I first tried this boulder I wrote it off as too morpho... but where’s there’s a will there’s a way.... one of my fav ascents recently. Super hard for me, full extention the whole time, fun fun !!"

Here are the dates for the European Youth Cups in 2019 and further down also the Championships. 27-28/4 Soure POR (B) 10-12/5 Graz AUT (B) 25-26/5 Sofia BUL (B) 22-23/6 Ostermundigen SUI (L) 29-30/6 St Pierre Faucigny FRA (L) 03-04/8 Imst AUT (L) 22-30/8 Arco World Championship (prel) 21-22/9 Brixen ITA (B) Euro Championship 18-20/10 Voronezh RUS (L) Euro Championship More IFSC info