Friction Labs has listed the Top-10 Climbing Apps including commenting Pros and Cons and the first mentioned is Vertical-Life "Vertical Life is the most well-designed app on this list. It’s pleasing to the eye, features inviting color schemes and photos, and is easy to navigate. Its guide topos (i.e. visual representations of the routes on a wall) are beautifully crafted and easy to follow."

Maria Davies Sandbu, who previously has done eleven 8A's, has sent Nightrider Høyre in Lofoten, giving it a personal grade 8A grade. "Very cool climb on good crimps! The long move in the end was definitely the crux for me. Even though the guidebook says 8A+ I dont think I can claim this to be my first of the grade."

I have used the new Sendai Vent from Boreal when I have been setting up easy bolted routes this summer and they are perfect. Instead of using climbing shoes that get painful after an hour or so, I use this in between climbing and trekking shoe. The Sendai Vent is a regular lightweight comfortable approach shoe that you in fact also could use during easy climbing warm ups. For some reason, the shoe industry has not fulfilled this in between segment for the new generation of climbers who do not want to invest in climbing shoes doing some scrambling or climbs graded 3 and 4. More info

Chuck Odette continues to progress being 61-years-old doing the FA of Bulletproof Monk in Logan Canyon which was his tenth 8b+. "Linked Shaolin into the Monk finish. Soooooo good... sooooo pumped! Still pumped a day later :)" Interview follow up to come. (c) Heidi Baxter

Iva Vejmolova has done her first 8c, Nordic Flower in Flatanger which actually was set up as an 9a. (c) Pavel Blazek Adam Ondra comments on Instagram,"I cannot be happier to lose the bet. We made a bet who is going the climb the "c" first (8c for her, 9c for me). My sweetheart Iva found Nordic Flower and ticked her first 8c! The most dramatic and emotional belay I have ever had. So proud of her, especially doing it 2nd go of the day in total shit conditions. Let's pick more "c's" in September."

Arjan de Kock reports on Instagram that Nalle Hukkataival and Shawn Raboutou have repeated James Webb's KhoiKhoi in N1 and the interesting thing is that both suggested an upgrade to 8C. Webb is known for grading hard and also giving personal down grades and here is his comment after the FA in 2014. "Absolutely stunning boulder problem. Potentially one of my proudest first ascents. Perfect compression on just barely there slopers leading up a pristine 20 foot tall boulder. This one sits right off the N1 about 20 kilometers before Worcester. Named it after the original inhabitants in the Cape area called the "khoiKhoi". Absolutely loving this place..."

Grades are supposed to reflect how hard it is to redpoint a route with the best optimal beta. At the same time, the grades should assist a beginner who is searching for a 4a to warm up on, irrelevant of how hard it is to redpoint. Further more, if we are talking kids or people who are trying out climbing for the first time, also length, reach and potential pendulum swing etc have impact on the perceived difficulty/grade. In other words, a 25 meter route climbing a bit diagonal on reachy granite will never be perceived as grade two even if an expert never need to use their hands. On the other hand, a seven meter straight up where you always need your hands to pull, could be graded two. Nevertheless, in practice, the grading for both the 8a as well as the 4a, are done based on the same idea. The success rate and time invested for the community! The only difference is that, the lower you go down in grades, the more the grade should reflect the onsight and flash difficulty.

There are already 287 athletes signed up for the Bouldering World Cup in Munich 18-19/8, out of which 175 male and couning. The deadline is on the 13th. This is very good news at the same time it means that some guys will have to stay in isolation for possibly eight hours starting from 07.30, without getting any proper meal. At the same time, it could be that the last female will compete until 24:00. Then the semfinal isolation on Saturday closes at 09:00. Including the additional European separate semifinalist, the last guys out might spend another four hours in isolation. In between the final isolation closes at 17:00, there is also a award semifinal for the European Championships so it just might be that one or two athletes will spend some 10 + 10 hours in the arena before the final starts. In the future, IFSC need to limit the number of competitors from each country. There are 19 males from Germany and several countries have 6 - 10 guys participating.

Sasha Digulian and Edu Marin, some of the best multi-discipline climbers in the world, have made the first repeat of the 700 meter Mora Mora 8c in Madagascar. It was bolted ground-up by Francisco Blanco and Toti Valés and in 2010, and Adam Ondra made the FA. Full story including more great pics by Francois Lebeau. Sasha: I am excited to have arrived at a point in my fitness that I could send my hardest big wall climb yet! We each sent every pitch from the ground up and both lead the Crux. Edu: It has been a tremendous challenge with a very technical style and really small holds. One of the most incredible and beautiful experiences of the last years.