Daniel Fuertes, who started climbing in 1995 has done his first 9a+ at 36 years old, the FA of No Pain No Gain in Rodellar. The 40 m route out of which 30 m in a roof has been an open project since it was bolted 15 years ago. (c) David López Campe "And finally the day came! Very glad to get to the end of the process started when I was a kid with my good friend Alejandro Gimenez! We dreamed, visualized and bolted this fantastic line we thought we would never do! But finally we managed to close the project in the better way!"

Ron Kauk did the FA of Midnight Lightning in 1978 and here he shares the story from back then.

"The Blanco is the most aggressive shoe in the Anasazi line. For 2017, we have updated the midsole to thermoplastic so the Blanco retains its famously stiff platform even longer. The eye stay also has been updated to a welded construction to make the shoe even sleeker. The heel rand has the most tension out of any Anasazi and the outsole is Stealth® C4™ making this one of the most powerful edging shoes in the world." Video presentation and here more info. This is the stiffest shoe I have tried during at least 15 years at the same time it has an aggressive heal which you did not find in the market at that time. This shoe makes trick both on very long no so steep routes standing on edges as well as doing multiple tries on your boulder, where it is all about standing on your feet, without getting fatigue. Remember that as it is very stiff, it should be less tight as in a softer shoe. Steve McClure did use them for his FA of Rainman 9b and here is what he says. "Basically these are the best shoes in the world! When I wear these I feel like I'm cheating. Precision, fit, accuracy, design, friction. There is nothing to compare. OK, so they are a stiff shoe, but for routes that is what you need, standing on micro edges for many minutes, with soft shoes your feet will sag, your toes can't take the strain. You need to be up on your toes to reach the holds for the most efficiency. I'm really impressed with the new Blanco, its the same as the old, but even better! And the stiffness will remain longer. Particularly for UK sport and trad these shoes are perfect. Of course it is always down to fit, no matter how good a shoe is, if it doesn't fit its useless. I feel these shoes are perfect for me, they fit like a glove..... I don't even do up the laces!! However, for Rainman I did do up the laces - psychologically I felt it may help? But as an example of the difference it makes (and the amazing fit) I fell from the very last move 3 weeks ago without them tied, so I guess it makes no odds!"

Evening Sends says that probably Honnold's free-solo is the greatest sport achievement ever. I am very sorry but this is really stupid to say something like this. Honnold did it for the challenge and absolutely not for being compared to other sports achievement. Such a statement by Andrew Bisharat is just embarrassing for everyone involved. Physically and technically, it is like running 100 meters on 10.5 seconds. Just imagine how uncomfortable Honnold would be during an award ceremony for the "greatest sport achievement ever", sitting next to; Usain Bolt, Christiano Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Wayne Gretzky and others that have won at least five Olymic Golds or have set five world records. Bisharat's statement might encourage others to do the same to be superior to the above mentioned athletes. We should just salute Honnold's achievement as truly unique and absolutely not compare it with others.

Nautilus says that from a neuroscience point of view, Honnold's brain is "strange". In the very long article from last year, they present results from a scan from his brain as well as questionnaire Honnold answered. "Nowhere in the fear center of Honnold’s brain could the neuroscientist spot activity."

A great mid range shoe that is recommended especially for the ones who have started to advance in performance. At the same time it performs excellent for the elite as a compliment when they not want to go for the most aggressive down-turned shoe. It is also a bit stiffer than some of the most extreme soft shoes. More info The unlined leather construction means they will stretch a bit so you should buy them pretty tight. They are really comfortable and easy to take off and indoors they are even comfortable walking with just your heal outside waiting for your next go.Buy them for USD 99

It is said that putting together Lego constructions and crosswords make youngsters and oldies smarter. Charl de Villiers is about to do a university study in regards how climbing makes youngsters smarter and more mature. "What is the correlation between rock climbing and mathematical problem solving, overall brain development, motor development and self confidence?" Having been a kid's climbing trainer for almost 25 years and through all my communication with the best teenagers in the world for 15 years, I am very sure there is a strong positive correlation in between climbing and early maturity and smartness. The outcome of Charlie's study will be very interesting.

Outsideonline has presented an interesting article by Tommy Caldwell, Why Alex Honnold’s Free Solo of El Cap Scared Me". Here is the most interesting quote. "Alex once told me that he had never fallen completely unexpectedly—meaning without at least some prior inclination that it could happen." Although most have saluted Honnold's achievement some have been critical. The 8a policy is that we do not want to report dead dangerous ascents as we do not want to encourage this type of climbing. During the last 15 years we have broken the policy a couple of times when it is anyhow all over the place. The problem with judging Honnold and the media doing it, is that we are all going for the same acceptable risk when we lead and it is part of the climbing history. If you fall on the worst spot on most 6a sport routes, even on Kalymnos, you will injure yourself. Historically, dangerous run-outs have been considered cool and many consider them fun. The E-grading in UK gives the most credit if you can die. Personally, I climb top-rope as much as possible and I have since I first started bolting been criticized for making the routes too safe. My point here is that if you think it is ok with dangerous run-outs on sport routes, we should only salute Honnold. If you on the other hand think that it should not be possible to hurt yourself with good practice on sport routes, you might very well be critical towards Honnold and the media reporting his ascents. I stay in between, I think it is OK with dangerous bolting on hard routes and I am mostly amazed in regards Honnold's free solos.

Christof Rauch, #1 in the 8a boulder ranking game, won the Zlagboard contest during the Austria Climbing Festival in Austria. He hung almost two minutes 1.59.08. Full ranking Later he tied in for the first time for almost a year and did a personal best with Freedom 8c in Zillertal.