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It seems like the new route setting mainly on volumes goes hand-in-hand with the recent extreme progress for the Japanese national teams. Previously, route setting with smaller holds and more obvious solutions, seems to more have favored power in Bouldering and endurance in Lead. Climbing on volumes means instead that your technical, tactical and mental skills are challenged more. It is not good enough to be the strongest any longer. If there are volumes ahead of you, you need a bigger repertoire of moves and to be able to make intuitive decisions how to find rests and clip in strange positions. It is about going for the next unknown hold dynamically, losing balance and just keep going, rather than doing an obvious hard lock-of static cross over closed crimp move and then rest for 30 seconds on some jugs. In fact, the Japanese coaches have said that power and endurance are what they focus on least. Instead, they just to go for as many challenges as possible, having fun jumping around above the madras. This also goes along with the Japanese culture focusing on improvements and continuous cooperation. If the coaches see that an athlete lack a particular strength, they just build and recommend doing such moves rather than start lifting weights. The sweet thing is of course that once all gyms around the world have more volumes and walls with more different angles, climbing will become even more fun to watch, we might see less closed crimp finger injuries for the youth and it will be more fun to train in order to become the Olympic Champion. We are back to the roots - Monkey swinging climbing! (c) Eddie Fowke

More info at aliens-cams.com

Klätterverket in Stockholm follows the trend in Stockholm to put up holds you can down climb boulders in order to avoid problems in knees and the back etc.

Anak Verhoeven, #2 in the World Cup last year and winner of the European Champion in 2017, reports that she has done the FA of Sweet Neuf 9a+ in Pierrot Beach, which is a link up of an 9a and a 8c/+. She did the FA of the 9a, Sang Neuf, last week. The route then goes and links the second pitch of Home Sweet Home. This is the first time ever a female does a 9a as well as a 9a+ FA. Margo Hayes was the first female who did 9a+ with L Rambla last year. Anak has previously done 22 routes 8c and harder including Era Vella which most think is 9a. (c) Sébastien Richard - Last year in April, after I had done the FA of Ma Belle Ma Muse, I tried Sang Neuf (9a) for about 3 climbing days, but had to leave the project due to bad weather. Although very overhanging, the moves are very technical with bad footholds. The move between the second and the third quickdraw is very far and you need a good belayer because if you fall you end up quite close to the ground. At that time I was able to do all the moves but not every time I tried them. Especially the last boulder move before the chain, with an extreme shoulder move, was so hard that I wondered if I would ever be able to do it after I had already climbed the rest of the route. Before leaving the place, my mother had filmed all the sequences so that, in case I would come back, I would remember the moves and not have to spend too much time working out the route again.

One legged World Champion Urko Carmona has done Mal de Amores in Rodellar, which is his first 8a+. During his summer trip around some Spanish crags, he also did his first 7c+ onsight, in a new area in Cantabria. (C) Beto Abad "This year I also did one of my hardest routes, Mal de Amores 8a+ in Rodellar. It was one of my goals for 2016. It is for sure one of my hardest because is 40m long, with a few hard boulder problems and endurance with just a few goodish rests. I guess that trying this route gave me the strength, endurance and trust to onsight the 7c+. I have been always close to do 8a or 7c+ onsight, but I just could do it on my second go. I'm very happy. "

A climbers in Göteborg Sweden, did fell some six times moving rightwards above the last bolt on the lip. Each time the quick draw was dragged over the sharp rock as he landed under the roof. During the seventh fall the textile of the draw snapped and he fell another seven meters but was OK. I have asked the local club to move the bolt downwards so such incident can be avoided. It might be wise to sometimes check also the textile of your quick draws to see that they are not half broken. This should also be done on fixed quick draws that possibly could snap during the next fall. This summer the textile on a fixed quick draw did break in Stockholm