Kamil Ferenc has been climbing very hard under the radar for some years, including seven 9a's and harder, but finally he agreed to come out commenting his latest 9a's. (c) Kasia Berbeka "My favorite country is Spain where I climbed most of my top routes – like Seleccio Anal last week. This is my 7th route of nine grade, my best OS is 8b+. I tried both Seleccio Anal and Natural for the first time in February this year but unfortunately I didn't finish them then. After a month of intensive training mixed with good rests I came back to Santa Linya to finish what I started. First day of April’s trip I tried Seleccio Natural – I felt my training give the result feeling stronger - quite surprised I sent it second go that day. It was a good sign, as both routes have a shared start, but Natural ends more easily. The second day was similar, after warming up I did one try to remember all the moves and sent Seleccio Anal second go on that day. The route was downgraded from 9a+ to 9a/a+ in Feb by my team colleague Piotr Schab. I don’t feel that experienced with the grade, tried only Papichulo out of 9a+ but I found Seleccio Anal easier. Anyway the route fits me perfectly, very much my style of climbing and I am really glad to have sent it. I hope will be able to jump to next level soon. This year will be exciting, I plan to take part in two editions of World Cup, then visit Flatanger and spend autumn in the United States."

James Webb, the #1 flash boulderer in the world, has done it again with Blinded by the Light 8B in Brione. In total, James has now flashed 14 boulders graded 8B and, as a matter of a fact, four of those stand as 8B+ in the topo. Yesterday, he also added two 8A+ flashes to his scorecard in Magic Woods; Jack's broken heart and Riders on the storm which most think is 8B. It total he has now done 32 boulders graded 8A+ so in fact, he is quite superior in the flash style. (c) Eddie Fowke

Mi fog történni mikor Nagy Ferdinánd hazalátogat? - tettem fel magamban a kérdést amikor hallottam, hogy Nándi is elindul az Április elsején megrendezett második Magyar Kupafordulós boulderversenyen, a Monkeyban. Pár héttel korábban mikor Nándi szériázás szinten meg tudta mászni a Tripla élvezet 8A-t többször is Geri-spoton, szembesülhettem hihetetlen erejével. A kérdés viszont nyitott maradt egészen szombat estig. A kemény mezőnynek Patkányék megakemény selejtezőt építettek, a 25 kunsztból már 18darab is elég volt a döntőbe jutáshoz, a legtöbb kunsztot Stroma mászta - rajta csak egy kunszt fogott ki. Nándi 23-at mászott, Zoli és Bajusz Balázs 22-őt, Király Bandi és Dönci pedig 18-at. Mind nagyon kemény versenyző - egyikük sem tegnap kezdte a mászást és bármelyiküknek elsülhetett volna a keze a döntőben. Mégis úgy látszik nyert a sziklán boulderezett órák száma, Nándi csak idén 12db 8A vagy 8A+ nehézségű bouldert mászott meg - ez kicsit árulkodott arról - Ő ebben a selejtezőben nem fog számottevően elfáradni. Végül Fölényesen meg is nyerte a versenyt, mind a 4 döntőben lévő bouldert Top-ra mászva, s ha jól emlékszem egy volt csak amit nem flashelt. Ez egy elég jó ajánlólevél volt neki, hogy belemenjen a hosszú évekig porosodó megaprojektbe és megpróbálja beváltani ígéretét: a Fantom 8A boulder flash megmászás képében. A bouldert Patkány nyitotta valamikor 2011-12évek hajnalán a Remete-korszak felvirágzásának kezdetén. A boulder az ikonikus Kávéfőző boulder barlangjának bejáratánál található, mozgása és a béta pedig annyira összetett, hogy minden egyes megmászó (vagy csak projektelő) ajánlgatta a rekesz söröket a boulder flash megmászásáért. Így vagy 6 rekesz sör gyűlt össze mostanra mire Nándi úgy döntött megpróbálja behajtani a többiek ajánlatát. Sajnos végül nem sikerült a többiek "kizsebelése" - (bár pénztárcánk lájkolja ezt), de a saját béta kitalálása után elég gyorsan elsült a megmászás, majd azért edzésképpen Nándi kétszer is letudta a Fantomot. Nagy gratulálás az eredményekért!

Adam Ondra reports on his Instagram that the prototype shoes he has been using for doing two 9b+', the Miura XX, are now out in the shops. "For years, I have been climbing in these modified Miura's, making first ascent of Change and La Dura dura with them. Now, they are not secret anymore @patxiusobiaga_pucseries was the only other person that possessed them), go and try them. (c) Javi Pec

Stefano Ghisolfi did the FA of Omen Nomen in Arco last week but as he did it in just his third try after finding the right beta, he suggested 8c+ and as so it did not make any headlines in the media. Now Silvio Reffo and Alex Megos have repeated it suggesting an upgrade to 9a. Reffo projected it for few days and Megos did it in a session. What are the important criteria when you give FA grades? I compare the route with other routes I climbed, with the same style, and I compare my shape too. Then I also consider the time I spent on it. For example, I'm trying a project now, I think it is 9a+, because I've already tried it for eight days. It has a similar style to Jungle Boogie in Céüse and probably the same difficulty. For the 9a+ that I've done, I have always worked between two to ten days. (c) Vertical Eye - Matteo Pavana. Time Comparison Grading Theory by 8a

Adam Ondra oznámil pomocou svojho Instagramu, že lezečky, ktoré použil na prelezy dvoch 9b+, Miura XX, sú už v predaji. "Už niekoľko rokov leziem s týmito upravenými Miurami, preliezol som v nich Change aj La Dura Dura. Teraz už oficiálne nie sú tajomstvom (@patxiusobiaga_pucseries bol jediným, kto ich mal), choď aj vyskúšaj." (c) Javi Pec

Jo Nesbo, a best selling crime writer with 33 millions copies world wide, has been portraited in Financial Times. He restarted climbing in 2008 and in five years ago, he posted a thrilling story about a 6a flash on Kalymnos in his comments field on his 8a scorecard with 1 000+ routes. Being 17 he made his first appearance in the Premier Soccer league in Norway but an injury stopped his professional dreams. He has a Masters in Economics and has worked as a stock broker. He is also a singer and musician in Di Derre.

Adam Ondra won the Lead World Cup in 2009, onsighted seven 8c's and flashed three 8B's, and has since been the 8a Climber of the year. In 2010, at 17 years old, he won the Boulder World Cup, did his first two 8C boulders and put up two 8c multi-pitches in Madagascar. In practice, it has been like this for nine straight years. Whatever the Czech has been focused on, he has delivered even if he has gone for the extremes like doing the Dawn Wall just two months after he won the Lead World World Championship and was runner up in bouldering. Although, possibly most well-known for his three 9b+' and 15 9b's, the category the 24 year old is most superior in should be onsight. In fact, he was the first to onsight a 9a graded route but for which he gave a personal down grade. In total, he has, with his tough personal grading, onsighted 15 8c+' and three 9a's. No other has onsighted more than one 8c+ or one 9a. What makes Ondra a unique athlete is that he performs at the highest level on everything from few moves explosive ultra power, to 20 min endurance climbing to an ultra marathon 8 days up on the Dawn Wall. Have you ever heard about a 60 meter runner performing also in an ultra marathon? Here is an article from 2009 which tries to explain why Adam is superior more from a technical, tactical and mental point of view. Another possible explanation is his flexibility. He is well-known his knee-drops but at the same time he can sit higher up on his foot like no other. Adam often says that he is not as strong as the best guys and that he has to climb fast because he has not the best endurance. So the reason why he is unique when it comes to multi-discipline superiority in a physical sport, is mainly related to other aspects of climbing rather than the ability of his muscles.

Adam Ondra vyhral majstrovstvá sveta v obtiažnosti v 2009, v ten istý rok preliezol sedem ciest 8c na OS, flashol tri bouldre 8B a od spomínaného dátumu je každým rokom lezcom roka podľa 8a. V roku 2010, keď mal 17, vyhral svetový pohár v boulderingu, vyliezol svoje prvé dve 8C a spravil dva 8c prvovýstupy na Madagaskare. Suma sumárum je tomu už tak po deväť rokov. Na čokoľvek sa Adam sústredil v tom exceloval, napriek tomu, že sa púšťal do extrémnych výkonov, ako napríklad prelez Dawn Wall len dva mesiace po tom, čo vyhral majstrovstvá sveta na obtiažnosť a v bouldringu skončil druhý. Aj keď je pravdepodobne najviac známym vďaka prelezom troch 9b+ a pätnástich 9bčiek kategória, v ktorej má najviac navrch je lezenie na OS. Adam bol prvým lezcom, ktorý onsightol cestu obtiažnosti 9a, no osobné hodnotenie dal nižšie. Keď počítame aj jeho prísne osobné hodnotenia, v súčte onsightol pätnásť 8c+ a tri 9a. Žiadny iný lezec zatiaľ nenazbieral viac ako jedno 8c+ alebo 9a OS. Čo robí z Adama Ondru unikátnym je jeho schopnosť podávať svetové výkony všade, od silových výbušných párkrokových bouldrov cez vytrvalostné dvadsaťminútové cesty až po lezecký ultramaratón, ktorým bolo 8 dní strávených v Dawn Wall. Počuli ste už niekedy o bežcovi, ktorý by podával rovnaké výkony na 60m dráhe a zároveň na maratóne? V tomto článku z roku 2009 sa autor snaží vysvetliť Adamov náskok pred zvyškom lezeckej špičky z hľadiska techniky, taktiky a mentálnej prípravy. Ďalším možným vysvetlením je jeho flexibilita. Je známy používaním "kozích nôh" a takisto tým, že vie nasadať vysoko na nohy. Často hovorí, že nie je tak silní ako tí najlepší a že musí liezť rýchlo, keďže nemá najlepšiu vytrvalosť. Dôvodom prečo je Adam špičkou čo sa týka multi-disciplinárneho lezenie nie je teda len jeho sila, spája sa tu viacero faktorov. Autor: Jens Larssen

Jo Nesbo je svetoznámym autorom detektívok s viac ako 33 miliónmi výtlačkov po celom svete a nedávno s ním Financial Times uverejnili rozhovor. K lezeniu sa prinavrátil v roku 2008 a o päť rokov neskôr napísal príbeh o svojom prvom 6a Flash na Kalymnose, ktorý zverejnil vo svojom 8a denníčku, kde má mimochodom zaznamenaných cez 1000 ciest. Ako sedemnásťročný sa prvý raz objavil v nórskej futbalovej Premier League, ale kvôli zraneniu sa musel vzdať snov na profesionálnu kariéru. Má magisterský titul v ekonómii a pracoval ako burzový maklér. Okrem písania je takisto muzikantom a spevákom v kapele Di Derre.