Piotr Schab, who just did Biographie 9a+, has onsighted his sixth 8c, Nuria in Cuenca. "So happy to be able to control everything all the way to the top." Including also eleven 8b+ onsights, the 21 year old Pole should be among the Top-10 best onsight climbers in the world. The superior number one is Adam Ondra with 81 onsights between 8c and 9a. A possibly runner up is Kleman Becan with around ten 8c and 8c+ onsights. Here is an 8a onsight interview from 2005. The first climber to onsight 9a was Alex Megos with Estado Critico.

Cathy Wagner, who has done 665 routes 8a and harder, has done four 8a's, the last week. Just during the last year the 52 year old has done 60 routes 8a and harder meaning she is having her most productive year ever. Is there any other female who has done more 8a's or has a more wide grade pyramid?

Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, with a personal best of 8c, started projecting Rainshadow 9a almost three years ago. In august lat year, she fell up-side-down and was taken to the hospital with a helicopter. In a Tedx event she explains her drive in climbing and that she is actually looking for uncertainty to meet her goals. In all, her talk is a lesson in mental training and part of why we all love climbing.

Adam Mach has done two 9a’s; Acapulco extension and Stal Milec in Dolina Kluczwody. The katter was originally an 8c+ with artificiell holds which was taken out in 2012. ”Probably I am the first who did both the most difficult routes in poland. At the beginning of this year I was able to train 2 times a day which probably resulted in some degree of success. When I work abroad I spend a lot of time on the trx handles of the wheel and kettle. I want to thank everyone that came with me to the cave and everyone who belayed me.

Jakob Kronberger who did his first out of six 9a's when he was 14 years old, has done Schneller als der Schatten 8c+ in Salzburger land. "I've never sent a route this hard so quickly. The crux includes one of my favorite dynos in any route I've ever climbed. More info on his Insta.

R&I has published a long article where Jerry Moffat explains how he dealt with mental pressure. Jerry was one of the best climbers during the 80’s on rock but had problems to perform in comps. A week or so later the proverbial light went on. I realized I didn’t need more power, or endurance. I didn’t need to lose weight. I needed to be strong mentally. I needed to know what exactly I should be thinking. If I couldn’t utilize my power or technique under pressure, I would never win."

Jon Cardwell, who previously has done three 9a+' and often gives personal grades, has done the FA of Z Nation in Rifle, calling it a hard 9a. (c) Bearcam "It's actually a link-up between three existing routes; Zulu, The Crew, and Bad Girls Club. I envisioned the link because another project I have in the canyon had some wet holds and I figured it would be a nice endurance challenge in the meantime. After climbing the first few bolts of Zulu, which is pretty bouldery, you get a good rest and then connect into the Crew via a pretty difficult boulder problem. After that, it's a pure endurance challenge to the end with the most difficult section coming at the last bolts of Bad Girls Club.

Based on some 1 800 unique votes, Female Climbing Hero?, with 2017 figures in brackets, Margo Hayes were voted #1. Here is a short 8a interview after she did La Rambla 9a+. Later she has also done Biographie. (c) Matty Hong. 18 % Margo Hayes (15) 14 % Angela Eiter (11) and Lynn Hill (35) 13 % Alex Puccio (10) 10 % Barbara Zangerl 08 % Janja Garnbret (9), Akiyo Noguchi 04 % Shauna Coxsey (6), Josune Bereziartu (8) 02 % Sasha Digulian 05 % Other