Kind of strange finals for Youth A in bouldering. A bit too easy for the boys and too hard for the girls. All three medalists among the male got almost identical results as they all did four tops in just five tries. The two best did take the four zones in five tries meanwhile the bronze guy needed five tries. For the female, only two of the boulders were done and the winner, Laura Rogara flashed them both. (c) Eddie Fowke Complete results 1. Laura Rogora 23 - Sam Avezou 44 (5/4) 2. Lucka Rakovec 14 (4) - Eneko Carretero 44 (5/4) 3. Futaba Ito 14 (5) - Nathan Martin 44 /5/5) Overall, Japan has been the best country in bouldering with one gold and two bronzes. The big sensation is that Austria has not had one finalists!

Hanna Slaney, who never has stood on a IFSC podium before, won the first bouldering gold in Moscow after having been #12 in the qualification and #4 in the semi. Among the boys, Meichi Narasaki, who was second last year in both Lead and Boulder, arrived on top. It was a perfect start thrilling to end with perfect route setting by Jacky Godoffe and his crew. Complete results (c) Eddie Fowke

Keegan Sullivan started climbing being four years old and did his first 7A being six years old. Now two years later he has done his first 7C+, Freedom Fries in Grayson Highlands State Park. Even more impressive is his grade pyramid made out of 101 recorded ascents. His father Brandon says the family focus is outdoors and just the last year they have traveled 29 times to twelve different locations, also including two younger brothers also pushing hard. “Our family was brand new to climbing just four years ago. Keegan would not be climbing at this level without the amazing support we have received from our local community. His gyms, coaches and teammates keep climbing fun. Our friends, the Collin and Kelly families, introduced us to crags, climbing technique, competitions, and to an even larger community. Perhaps the thing that separates Keegan most from other youth climbers is his mature ability to project challenging problems. When arriving at a boulder, Keegan will set out the pads, clean and brush holds, and work all of the moves. Then he will meticulously link sections of the boulder until he finds a nice flow in the sequence. We routinely see him work problems with intense focus and persistence, sometimes lasting hours and multiple sessions.”

Chaehyun Seo, who last week did her first 9a, has done Wacka Flocka 8c and the two 8b+'in Rifle; Simply redlined and Zulu. In the 8a ranking game, the 14 year old is #2. Chaehyeon's father, Jungkuk was #10 in an Ice WC in 2015 and in 2016 he did an 8b+ in Red River Gorge. Back home in Korea, he is a youth trainer in his own gym in Korea. Her mother, Chigon is also an 8a climber and has participated in some World Cups.

Excellent start of the Youth World's in Moscow with great boulders on volumes and 02.30 PM GMT+3 (Euro 13.30) the junior finals in bouldering starts. Among the male, three Japaneses were ahead in the semifinal and for the female, there were two from Slovenia and one from Japan in the top. In the Youth A category, with the finals on Sunday, two Japanese girls stood out and among the boys, Sam Avezou, who was #16 in Speed, was the only one with four tops in the semi.

Climbing has presented an interesting under the radar interview with Cody Roth (34). He has been a very dedicated climber half his life although not following the mainstream and thus staying under the radar in spite recently doing his first 9a+, being #6 in his first Lead WC being 19 years old, made the first repeat of a Manolo 8b+ and also done hard sport routes on trad. Insta mainly non-climbing focus. “Having grown up in the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I’m not used to being around a lot of people, so crowded crags don't make me happy,” Roth told Climbing over the phone from his seasonal home in one of the world’s most remote places, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. There he does rope access work in oil fields seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day, for 24 weeks a year, before taking the rest of the year off to climb with his wife." Now Cody and his wife Melissa have started to work for Vertical-Life and they will be moving to Brixen in the autumn working with sales, development and content. Just recently, they introduced the first U.S. climbing gym to the VL app, Crux Climbing Center, in their current home town Austin.

Ryan Sewell has done his second 9a, Moonshine in Wild Iris. Video of the ascent (c) Jacob Mutchler-Brown "It took around 12 tries total. I first tried it during the summer of 2017 to see how it would feel but didn't return that season. This year I went out to The Wild Iris with the goal of doing Moonshine specifically. I put in a few goes to dial in the body positions, because with a route that's only 24 moves every move needed to be executed precisely. Over three weekends this summer I had six attempts falling on the crux move- a dynamic stab to a slot that's only good for two fingers (photo is of this move.) In the end, the time I stuck the move I went to the top. The route definitely suits my style being that it's more bouldery and powerful. The pockets are actually much nicer that it might seem and the movement is excellent. BJ TIlden is the routes developer and first ascensionist and he did an amazing job with this route and so many others at The Wild Iris. We all have so much appreciation for everything he's done for the Wyoming climbing community."

Stefano Ghisolfi has published some interesting thoughts on his Insta which goes in hand with the 8a suggested ethics. "About my recent post, I think if 2 routes share a part it is not possible to flash both. So, my second one it is not flash, but first go! But I think there should be some exceptions, like if the part in common is much easier that doesn't add any difficulty, maybe it is possible to consider both flash. The most important thing is to be very fair with yourself and the others and tell clearly everything you do."

The Youth World Championship started today in Moscow with the Junior Bouldering Qualifications, updated results. In total, 699 youth athletes from 5 continents and 43 countries will participate. Full schedule 9th to 16th August. "Every semi-final and final round in Moscow will be live streamed on the IFSC homepage, and follow scores from your phone by downloading the “YWCH 2018” results application. (c) Eddie Fowke