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 !!"

In the Vertical-Life training App you can choose from 10 different "daily plans". Once you have entered your your gym and level, as well as type of focus on your training, the App will direct you to do specific routes and boulders in the Vertical-Life connected gyms. Here you can invite your gym. It also tells you when to rest and after the session you will report back and say how tired you were and the system will adjust until your next session. In the future, you will be able to create longer training plans with a focus on a certain ambition during your next trip etc.

Israel Olcina (43) has done the second accent of Beto Rocasolano's Cheerleader 8B+ in Castillo de Bayuela, Spain. It is his second 8B+. Israel is a respected climber having been one of the first Spanish climbers to climb 8A in the late 90's. © Inés Tostado "How has been the process on Cheerleader? I had seen it when Beto did it in march. I was amazed with the line and I couldn't get it out my mind back then. I stopped trying it at the end of the season and without the first move due to a index injury and I back to it end of november. The problem climbs an overhang to a roof and the section is a 7-8 moves where the first three are the hardest.

David Firnenburg, #3 in the Combined World Championship in 2016, has done three 8c+; La ley innata and Llamps i trons in Margalef and Jungle Speed in Siurana. "Escaping the wetness in Margalef. Some years ago I couldn't even do the gaston move. Today less than 2 hours (5 tries). Ascend with head lamp in the darkness. 8c+ for me although a hold broke (as far as I know)." "My thoughts on my Olympic ambition: Well, I want to qualify for the Games in 2020 and I specifically train the combined format for it. Next year 2019 is going to be a tough season of selection. Only the best athletes and the ones who can perform at the right time in comps will make it. I am confident of myself that I have the mental and physical strengths and abilities to make it to Tokyo. I am a good allrounder, never specialized on one certain discipline in the past. I commit to hard gym training this winter with a well balanced mix of rock climbing besides as well to be well prepared for the first World Cups in April/May 2019. Though, the biggest focus is on the World Champs in Toyko because that's the first chance to get the ticket to the Games in Toyko. If you already make it there you won't have the pressure throughout the whole season and can better and earlier focus on your trainings for the "real" games in 2020. I am curious how next season will go for me and how I'll handle the stresses and strains of a very packed schedule. I put all in and give my best. That's all I can do. And in the end I have a clear result if it was enough or not. Overall I see it as a great challenge and an occasion to get better in my personal climbing. And that's the most important thing for me. 2019 is going to be exciting!"

Keenan Takahashi reports on Insta that he has done Nalle Hukkataival's Kintsugi 8C in Red Rocks. "Possibly the best boulder I’ve ever done... exhilarated, adrenalized, and psyched beyond belief!!!" (c) Killa Kev This was Mr "Ario's" second 8C in 2018 when he also has done 5 8B+ and 16 8B's out of which two flashes.

Cathy Wagner has added another three 8a's to her ticklist out of which one in Virignin and two in Blavet. This means that the 53 year old has done 64 routes 8a to 8b in 2018. In total, Cathy has done 699 routes 8a to 8b which just might be most in the world among the female.

For the third time, we have run the Poll, "What skill do you lack the most?". As for the 2013, 2015 and 2018 poll, only some 8 % pick Technique. In practice, the results have been more or less the same, beside the 2015 poll, where Finger strength got 31 %, instead of 26 % in both 2013 and 2018. Further more, Flexibility have increased in importance during the three polls and is now ranked #3. As Flexibility is kind of easy to improve and is something you can train back home, this increase is kind of strange. Possibly it relates to the frequently published pics of celebs like Adam Ondra in extreme positions. One of his trainers Klaus Isele has previously on 8a said; "What I still monitor is that some climbers believe that it is enough to stretch for 40 seconds in order to get “longer” = forget it. You need to hold a stretching position for two minutes (I often recommend three times the same position with that holding time). That works! To really gain length you have to repeat it every day. Your results will be visible after approximately 14 days."

Silvio Reffo, who previoulsy has done two 9a+ has done his 12th 9a, Pure Dreaming in Arco. " I have tried the route just few times in the last three months because of the bad weather. Today, after a very fast warm up, I have quickly send Pure Dreaming. My first 9a like a father!!! I hope for more hard routes in the next months!!"