The sixth and second last Bouldering World Cup 2018, starts today in Vail and there are 91 male and 58 female participating. Last year, 59 male and 55 female competed. Updated qualification results, 8 male Japanese Top-12. Gabri Moroni who won last week was #29 and failed to make semi. © Eddie Fowke - The Circuit Climbing GMT-6 Saturday: 9:30-11:45 Semi (LIVE) - 14.45. Finals (LIVE)

Piotr Schab has done his fourth 9a+, Biographie in Céûse. More info on his Insta. In the ranking game, the 21 year old Pole is #3. (c)Jan Novak ”I’ve tried it a lot in July 2016, got very close but then the downturn began. I’ve tried to come back 3 times but there was always something disturbing and I wasn’t ready. Noe I came back stronger and mentally fresh and climbed it in the 4th day, just when the conditions and head made it possible. As you can see in my insta the send means so much to me, I’ve felt everything that you can feel on the project while trying Biographie.. so now Just pure happiness, relief and pride.”

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell have set their third Speed record of the almost 900 meters The Nose in Yosemite, 1.58.07. (c) John Evans

Angela Eiter, the best female Lead competition climber in the history who last year did a 9b, has done some yet impressive ascents. In Frankenjura she has done Battle Cat 8c in just three attempts and there is more. (c) Bernie Ruech “Today I had a cool sending day in Allgäu in Germany! I completed "Basica 8c/+" and the combination "Andiamo, 8c+".

Jonathan Siegrist has onsigthed Wrongdoer 8b+ in Mt Charleston where he also did Arrested Development 9a. "Actually used a figure four! Enormous move at the third bolt was my crux." Figure four means that you put your leg over your arm and almost sit on it in order reach further to a relatively small hold. More info and video sequence on his Insta In the 8a ranking game, the 167 cm tall is #4.

Every month, Vertical-Life run different challenges with a chance for great prizes for everyone who "zlags" some hundred meters of climbing. The June VL Challenge is to climb 550 meters or some 120 boulders and you can be the winner of a free spot of a Rock buster Europe trip in September and many more prizes. In the challenge you can also get an updated ranking for the gyms, the crags and the individuals zlagging most meters.

Based on more than 1 500 unique votes, here are the results to - Male Climbing Hero? Results from 2017 in brackets. 33 % Adam Ondra (32) 16 % Alex Megos (7) 09 % Chris Sharma (17) 07 % Alex Honnold, Fred Nicole and Wolfgang Güllich (12) 05 % Tommy Caldwell (5) 03 % Dani Andrada (6) and Yuji Hirayama (3) 09 % Others

Pirmin Bertle has made the FA of Focus Pocus 9a+ in Jansegg and you have the full story here. "The hardest single move of this first seven-moves-boulder is an extremely extended stretch out to a miniscule one finger pocket. It you don’t hit it well, you won’t hold it. If you are smaller than 1,80m you won’t reach out to the foot holds and when you don’t have my finger strength – I have to admit that my static power isn’t the worst neither – you won’t move at all in the whole sequence. And if you have thicker fingers than me – what should be the case for most of the very strongly trained high end climbers – you won’t even enter into this mono." Pirmin has previoulsy done 20 routes 9a and harder out of which 14 FA, including two 9b'sand two 9a+'s.

R & I reports that Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell has set a new Speed record of the 900 meters long The Nose in Yosemite, 2.01.50. Last week they did it in 2.10.15 so probably they will try to go sub 2 hours next.