By building a solid base of your grade pyramid you can aim higher but if you not continue to make it also wider, it might collapse. The simple rule is that you are not fully prepared to put yet another stone on top of your pyramid until it is built by at least factor of 3 in the top. By doing this, you will have smaller risk of injuries and less anxiety. Instead, you will have more fun and reach further in many ways in your climbing life. In fact, the 8a scorecards are designed as a pyramid in order to create this factor 3 motivation. The picture is from Christof Rauch's scorecard who has built a solid base and could aim higher. You can also start with a pyramid thinking every spring and on road trips. By doing so, you will focus more just on climbing moves instead of hunting soft grades.

Ramon Julian has made some 80 FAs 8c and harder but even so he is mainly recognized for being the #1 Lead competition climber in the world of the last 15 years. One reason why his FAs are not so well-known is probably the fact that less than half of them have been repeated. A possible reason for this is that he gives very hard grades as a FA. In fact, for two of his 8c FAs, La Reino Mora and La Bongada, all repeaters have suggested 8c+ or even 9a and there are many other examples of upgrades. It should also be noted that Ramonet's first and most famous FA is La Rambla, which was given 9a+ but that was with an elimination which was skipped later and it is still a 9a+. What about all his FAs that have never been repeated? Maybe some guys will even suggest 9a+ for them in the future? If the 159 cm tall guy had suggested one or two grades higher for his FAs, Ramonet might have gotten much more credit and recognition as one of the very best rock climbers in the world. Possibly, the best way for him to get some more traffic on his unrepeated routes might be to upgrade some :) (c) Javi Pec

Here is a draft of the best climbers overall in the last ten years based on rock and competitions, giving extra credit for FAs. Please feel free to add names etc. 1. Adam Ondra - Mina Markovic 2. Ramon Julian Puigblanque - Akiyo Noguchi 3. Chris Sharma - Alex Puccio 4. Jakob Schubert - Angela Eiter 5. Daniel Woods - Anna Stöhr 6. Sachi Amma - Sasha Digulian 7. Jorg Verhoeven - Jain Kim 8. David Graham - Charlotte Durif 9. Kilan Fischhuber - Muriel Sarkany 10. Sean Mcoll, Nalle Hukkataival, Alex Megos, James Webb, Patxi Usobiaga, Klemen Becan, Gabri Moroni, Dai Koyamada, Paul Robinson, Maja Vidmar, Jenny Lavarda, Allizee Dufraisse, Johanna Ernst, Ashima Shiraishi

Angie Scarth-Johnson has taken three months off school in order to climb in Europe with her family. Yesterday, she did her second 8b+, A la puta rue in Margalef. Last year, she was also in Spain and then she did her first 8c being 10 years old, which is quite remarkable since she started climbing in a non-climbing family as she was seven and organises all her training by herself. Beside projecting very hard she does onsight volumes down to 5c. "My older sister Gabrielle has come with us this time too we are also planning to do a lot of tourists things as well as climbing, going to museums, castles and old churches. This helps with my education and home schooling.

Some months ago we published articles about VERTICS.Sleeves. Today more than 2 000 climbers around the world are using them but also motocross riders, cyclists, rowers, tennis players, golfers. Many examinations, tests and studies of different sportsmen have been conducted. This picture shows what has been found out in a survey of 107 climbers who are using VERTICS.Sleeves. Last autumn a medical study was performed by the Swiss national climbing team. In this study the perceived excretion with compression sleeves was much less and lactate was a little less. So this were the first medical measured effects of the forearm compression sleeves. Read more about the study on Vertics website.

Ramon Julian made the FA of La Bongada in Margalef in his second go and proposed 8c for it in 2012. In 2014, Alex Megos repeated it in four tries and suggested an upgrade to 9a, as he also did four 8c+'s on his second try. "The route is called La Bongada and when it was a project they thought it might be around 8c+/9a. Then Ramon did the first ascent of it calling it 8c. I repeated it and would definitely suggest 9a. It was nothing to do with 8c! Ramon might be just too strong ;-). When you compare it to some of the 8c+ in the same sector, it is a hard 9a. But for me it felt like a normal 9a." Last month, Daniel Fuertes did it and recorded it as a 9a in his super nice video and in his scorecard with a comment "for me 8c+/9a". Now Dani Andrada writes on his Instagram, adding a great picture of Javi Pec that he has also repeated it. "I think it is a hard 8c+ or 8c+/9a." Personal grades are good and it is really great that we have had four different opinions to make the foundation for the consensus grades. The question now is: How should La Bongada be reported in topos and media headlines? I think Fuertes did it in a perfect way but as we now know also Dani's opinion, we have chosen to give the video the 9a (8c+) headline in order to show that there exist different opinions. Sure we could have given it 8c+/9a it in the headline but this indicates an accurate grade which is the total opposite of the two first ascentionists' minds, normal 8c and normal 9a. To sum up, the more climbers and media use and report personal grades, the less important grades become.

Two months ago, Rock & Ice reported, "Kevin Lopata sends Misti, an 8c traverse (~V12)=8A+ in the forest of Fontainebleau, France. The traverse was established by Arnaud Ceintre in May 2009 and has only seen a handful of ascents since." This month Markus Jung did the line, video, and gave it a personal 8A grade in his scorecard. We reported 8B (8A) in the headline for Misti. Fanatic Climbing has presented a comment from Kevin Lopata in regards to how the media has been reporting this line, which in Bleau data base is categorized as an 8C traverse. “For me “Misti is a boulder, not a traverse, it could not be under 8B+, so I didn't find 8C ridiculous. We were 5 repetitors who agreed with the proposed grade of 8C. Markus is a crimp master, has an extensive Frankenjura experience and to be honest it is completely normal for him to find "Misti" easy because it is spot on his style, a short resistance sequence and very crimpy ! In Font history, there is no difference between boulder and traverse gradings." It should be noted that Markus used a different sequence involving a knee bar and less moves compared to the FA-ionist and Lopata (189 cm tall) climbed.

Perhaps almost half of the world's first 8B and harder Boulders have been or are subject to being downgraded. In general, Magic Wood sticks out and in fact, for two former 8B+'s there: Unendliche Geschichte Part 1 and High Spirit, also 8A has been suggested, i.e. three grades lower compared to the FA. Here is the brutal list with some of the classics that have actually been downgraded at least two steps or where such personal gradings have been put forward. 8C+ Anam Cara, Silvretta 8C+ Memento, Silvretta 8C/+ Entlinge, Murgtal 8C Banshousha, Ogawayama 8B+ Mooiste Meisie, Rocklands 8B+ Madiba, Rocklands 8B Super Nova, Magic Wood 8B Massive Attack, Magic Wood 8B Sofa Surfer, Magic Wood It should be noted that in order to try to present correct news 8a started to question some grades especially from Magic Wood some 15 years ago, as we could see that most of people who went there made their personal best. 8a used to be criticized for this but today everyone agrees with the downgradings and in many cases the community has actually been taking it further, as the above list illustrates. These brutal downgrades are also the reason why 8a do not think grades are so accurate and therefore slash grades should be used more often, which already works in Fontainebleau.

Domen Škofic reports from the IRCC Air Bag comp in his hometown Radovljica, which he won together with Janja Garnbret by, soloing a 9-meter-long routes faster than the others in the final. They had three attempts on 8b respectively 8a routes which ended by letting go and falling onto a giant airbag. In total, 247 competitors from seven countries competed. The number #4 in the Lead World Cup 2016, says he totally agree with Adam Ondra when it comes to his negative opinion regarding the Combined format in the Olympics. So what about making it a new Olympic or Lead WC format? "I definitely think it could be an Olympic format and it would easily go also for the Lead World Cup. It would be much more fun and the moves could get even harder and more spectacular. For now I see only positive sides. The airbag can be bigger and smoother and we could also climb up to 20 m if necessary but anyway lead should not be higher than 18 m as it gets boring."