Regis Portalez has done a mathimaticl study of Adam Ondra's progress through grades from 8a to 9c. "The equation is 3.3678ln(x). That means He will cross the 9c+, 6 922 days after his first 8a (08/20/2002). Which makes 08/02/2021.

Jon Cardwell comes with the great news on his Instagram that he has done La Rambla 9a+ in Siurana. This year it took ten tries but the process started last year. Previously he has done some 10 - 15 routes graded 9a, the first one in 2008. (c) Greg Mionske Congrats! So what made the send in the end? Thank you! Not really sure exactly what made things work, except that I was just really excited to climb again in Spain after suffering from a bad finger injury last July. I worked patiently all late summer and into the fall/winter to rehab my finger and strength appropriately without risking re-injury. When I arrived in Spain, I felt refreshed and more motivated than ever to just enjoy the climbing with good friends. Also, I worked the route for a couple weeks last year when Matty and Margo climbed it, so I began this trip knowing all the beta quite well. This was the ascent #22 in total of Ramon Julian Puigblanque's classical route from 2003 which makes it the most popular 9a+ in the world. In 1994, Alex Huber made it to a first anchor calling it 8c+ but with the today grade standards, his version is considered 9a.

Based on some 500+ votes, "Which comps do you like the most?", and in comparison to similar polls over the years, we can see that Bouldering is getting more popular. 29 % Lead 61 % Boulder 01 % Speed 07 % None 02 % All

09:00-12:30 Semi-Finals 13:30-17:00 Finals

Piotr Schab,#2 in the 8a ranking game, has onsighted Los ultimos vampiros hippies 8c in Margalef."My 5th 8c onsight and I must say it gave in pretty easily! Hard to tell if it was the matter of my shape or just an easy number Anyhow it’s just as satisfying! And what is more, it’s most probably the first on sight of the route!" (c) Mateusz Haładaj Congratulations! What is the next plan and ambition? Thanks! I’m trying Fight or Flight in Oliana and that’s a big goal for the spring. Feeling more than ready to climb a 8c+ onsight which is another goal of 2018. I’ve been in Spain for two weeks now, coming back to Poland 13.03 for 12 days to Rest properly and train a bit at home and then back to Catalonia.

Dani Fuertes has done Quijote Total 8c+ in Alquezar and he goes to #5 in the 8a ranking game. In total, the 37 year old has done 46 routes 8c+ and harder out of which ten the last year meaning he is at his peak. (c) Chus Arranz "It was bolted by Javier Arnaudas “Seta”, a mythical climber from Aragon. It goes across a beautiful buttress in the cave sector. The route is full of amazing boulders."

Based on close to 2 000 voptes, "Other sports/hobbies beside climbing?" and in comparison to a poll in 2010 here is the results: 16 % Hiking (11 % in 2010) 16 % Skiing (19 %) 14 % Running (15 %) 12 % Biking (Not available) 11 % Music (18 %) 09 % Yoga (Not available) 08 % Photo/Video (14 %) 07 % Computer games (9 %) 06 % Other (10 %)

Dave MacLeod, one of the best multi discipline climbers, has done the second ascent of Malcolm Smith's Gutbuster at Dumby from 2010 and here is his report. As always interesting reading Dave's thought about his send that started with some hard tries ten years ago. In September, he separated his shoulder and then he had some sessions in November where he understood he needed to build up his strength. On his second session the last week it was snowing. "On the third try a full on blizzard started while I was on the shakeout. My hands went numb and I fell off Sanction, but even if I hadn’t, the top holds were full of snow and I’d never have made it through. I retreated to the cafe for a brew while the snow raged and then returned and brushed the snow off the holds. But it was getting dark and getting silly." Anyhow, on his "last go" he could not see one foothold in the gloom and without taking off his shoes he started again and made it to the easy slab top out, "crimping the hell out of the damp snowy crimps. Getting off the boulder was even more of a gripper! The descent climb faced directly into the snow and was snow covered slippery death."