Emontana presents an in depth interview with Adam Ondra and amazng photographs. Here are some of the most interesting quotes translated by Tendon. (c) Heinz Zak "There are basically two different types of foot holds – you either stand on scales of millimeters in size which I would not normally consider to be foot holds and I would not even look at them… And then there are bigger foot holds but they are reclined and sleek." "In my opinion the 14th pitch is a bit easier 9a, so it fits the guidebook. The 15th pitch, and Tommy himself said it too, should be 8c+. I would agree with that. But then there are a lot of 8b+ pitches which I could rate 8c on some rocks. Lots of those 8a+ could be 8b or even more, I reckon. So, I find the most difficult pitches a little bit overrated but it is compensated by the fact that any of those 8a could be rated higher." "Here it shows that what pays is slow climbing with certainty, literally like a snail. When I start this slow pace I feel out of sorts. But gradually, I am getting used to it. I have found out that slow climbing is not so much more tiring and at the same time chances for making no mistakes are getting higher." "The motivation of finishing the ascent in 24 hours could emerge. But I admit it really is an insane idea."

National Geograpic has presented a sum-up story of Adam Ondra after his ascent of the Dawn Wall. Here are some of the more interesting quotes. “This is one of the best feelings I've ever had in climbing. Wow, so good. I think it'll be a long-lasting happiness and joy due to the length and effort of the route.” “What Tommy and Kevin did was even much more impressive than what I did,” says Ondra. “I arrived with all the information, they told me the beta, and all I had to do was climb.”

Adam Ondra's push on the Dawn Wall has created a new all time high. Measured by Google Analytics, last week 144 186 sessions were made on 8a.nu meaning that the total number of visits was over 200 000. In comparison to last year, the traffic has increased with some 20% and we now have 13 000 unique visitors daily. The biggest country was USA with 13% out of the total visits followed by Germany and Spain with 11% each.

Daniel Jung has done Black Label in Frankenjura giving it a personal grade of 8c+ as he found new beta. The route was opened by Markus Bock and as Alex Megos, who just repeated another of his FAs, Daniel has doubts about the use of sika. "I have some mixed feelings about this route, the first boulder is on perfect rock, super nice, but the second boulder has one hold with Sika... I'm not sure if it's for reinforcing a thin rock struckture (what I think is just ok) or if it makes a very bad hold better. I was optimistic and I'm hoping it's just reinforced, otherwise I wouldn't be motivated to try it. But at the end I'm not sure if it is a natural hold, that's just the point why I can't feel super happy about an awesome route, if it isn't natural I can't take it as a rock climbing route."

It is not so unusual that an 8a route is mainly 7a until the last bouldery crux. Such routes are seldom popular but there is a great possibility to increase the quality and popularity of such routes - simply add one bolt creating a logical ending of the 7a climb. The same idea can of course be applied on any grade meaning that more great climbing challenges can be created. In practice, the idea with more first anchors also means that you could invite your friend to join you at the crag even if they do not climb at the same level as you. In reality, you do not have to wait until one more bolt has been added in order to create a new anchor and route. Just start climbing and see if you can add a new quality route to the crag and record it with a new name and grade on your scorecard/log-book. Possibly, the FA of the route and the topo producer may think it is a good idea and it would soon become official.

Combined sport climbing will be a part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. During the World Championships 2016, it took IFSC several days to publish Combined results and the same thing happen for the Youth Championships. IFSC's problem was that they based the results on wrong criteria and 8a presented this also saying that one podium actually was wrong. IFSC deleted the link showing the results but now, 48 hours later, they have still not presented the correct Combined results. In fact, in their sum-up article on the wrong podium is still visible.

More great news from Adam Ondra on his Instagram account which now has 34 000 followers. "Made it to the Wino tower tonight! Deep satisfaction, peace and fire at the same time in my heart and soul. Perfect conditions today and perfect focus. That means only 11 "easy" (5.10 - 5.12) pitches left. We would have continued, but looks like it will rain soon. Which means forced restday tomorrow and hopefully finishing it off on Monday. Detailed report on @blackdiamond and @mytendon soon." Photo @pavelblazek The weather forecast says that it will be raining until 10 am on Monday and then Adam will have to be really quick as the temperature is already dropping to minus 6 at midnight.

Black Diamond has the latest update from Adam Ondra and here is a part of what he says: "“Pitch 16 can be climbed via the dyno or the loop. If I am not wrong, the dyno was given 5.14c (8c+), and the loop is probably easier—I heard something about 5.14a— but due to the crazy character of the climbing, the grade is not relevant. The dyno might be more logical as a line, but the loop pitch climbs the easiest way up the wall, so I consider both equally logical. I tried the dyno a few times in the last weeks, but I thought I would have to invest considerable effort into the dyno with insecure results, and that is why I decided to climb the loop pitch. The loop pitch or dyno pitch is followed by a 5.14a layback. In between, there is no belay, only a no-hands stance. My original goal was to connect the loop pitch into the layback, making a 60-meter mega-pitch at 5.14c at least." Picture from Pavel Blazek who reports that they have already started thinking about trying the Salathe wall and that he also will start working on Adam's new website.