Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra are the best rock climbers in the history of climbing and they certainly did not follow any structured training program. Instead, they just climbed wild and crazy and in fact, some old coaches said that their new techniques were not optimal. Surely, structured training fits some youngsters and if they have active coaches that follow their athletes' progress on a daily basis and do not just send over training programs, it can be equally good. The dilemma is of course that most kids just want to climb wild and crazy and for these guys a structured program may be the contrary of productive. The most important skill in climbing that never can be trained properly once being an adult is the intuition, especially in onsight climbing. The third best climber in the world Alex Megos did have and still has some active coaches with a holistic approach. In fact, his coaches actively hold him back when it comes to his training in order not to let him peak at a very young age. No doubt that in the short run structured and peak training will make the kids perform better at early ages but this may possibly be counter-productive for the kids motivation and technical skills.

Virtual Realiy is getting big and the main reason is that it can be viewed on every mobile device without need of external tools. You can automatically use the phone’s internal gyroscopes and browse the scene in 360. It also works great via your computer and the mouse. Coral Climb is a video production company that has shot outdoor and climbing videos since 1984 but lately they have opened a branch in Los Angeles and it's run by the Italian ex-Pro-climber Lucas Preti. They are testing this new technology and they've sent us an example of what looks like a VR camera on the head of a climber. Here we attach a link to a youtube video in VR (use chrome or firefox, not safari, to navigate in 360°). Try a 360° boulder video. There is also an option to watch it using mobile apps (more fun because you use the phone's position to look around). Just download the youtube app and you will get a glimpse of the amazing future!

In our database there are now 3.7 million rated ascents that could help you to find the best crags and routes/boulders in the world. Selecting the next destination, you can search the crag list and analyze average stars and onsight rating etc. In the Ticklists, you can select a grade and a sector and make a list of the routes or boulders you would like to try.

Michiel Nieuwenhuijsen has done The Big Island 8C in Fontainbleau. (c) Thomas Caleyron Here is what he said two months ago when he did the 8B+ variation. "One and a half year ago I tried the Island for the first time. Such an intense problem and maybe the best compression boulder in the world. Even I only have been there for 6 or 7 days, it has been on my mind since. Yesterday it went down, but this isn´t the end. The big Island always has been the main goal. It is time to go BIG! The 8C starts two moves lower Bad conditions kept me from going back to the Big Island this trip. But will be back in December for two weeks. ‬"

Fanatic climbing reports that Alban Levier has done the 3rd ascent of Orsay roof 8C, Paris South surburb after ten days of work. "It's a very demanding line. All the kind of movements of climbing are involved. You turn your body in all the directions in this roof ! That's why it's wonderful! The whole thing adds an 8A boulder of 12 moves to the classical 8B exit (part 2). So the effort is completely different. It's nice to mix a long and brutal challenge like this. All my thoughts are going to Rémy Bergasse. Without him and his vision, maybe the line would be right now again a project!

David Firnenburg, who did his first 9a, Era Vella, when he was 15 years old has done his seventh and also his hardest route of this grade, Fabela pa la Enmienda. (c) Henning Wang "Yeahhhh man! What a beast. Took me the most time ever to finish a route. If you consider time to evaluate the grade, this one was my hardest route to date. Took me weeks to complete it and I had to go trough so many mental battles. At a certain point I lost hope and wasn't really committing anymore. I doubted if I could really do it. Though I didn't want to gave up and re-set my mind. After topping out the route I realized that psychology in performance climbing is the ability to switch in a productive mode at the right moment to reach an optimum mindset and also body feeling to succeed a certain challenge.

Everyone seems to think that the shortcut to improvement is through physical indoor training. This is probably wrong unless you are a competition climber. If you want to climb harder grades outdoors, especially do onsights, you will improve faster doing some technical and tactical sessions. The dilemma is of course that it is so easy just to follow a physical endurance or maximum power programme compared to doing some training where you actually have to think and challenge yourself also mentally. Here are some exercises that will help you progress technically and tactically. 1. Rainbow onsight - Combine hard colored routes to create new routes 2. One foot - Challenge easier routes using just your left or right foot 3. Exclude holds - Skip some holds for both your hands and feet, forcing yourself to go out of the comfort zone 4. Speed & Stop - Speed climb the routes but add two 1 minute Stop holds PS The most effective training per minutes invested overall is stretching and fall training but that is so frustrating...

Wild Sport and Philoxenia on Kalymnos plan to run marathon competitions next year based on 8a scorecard point system with La Sportiva as the major sponsor. The concept is simple as you just try to do as many routes as possible during one day and you get points based on the 8a scorecard system. The marathon concept is also planned to be introduced to Melloblocco in coperation with the Vertical Life App and 8a. The same system can be used in gyms, where you can try to go for a personal best or be ranked every month or so. There is a possibility that you get points on how many clips you do or undo if you are at toprope. Getting to the last clip on a 7b will give you more points than topping out a 7a. The scorecard point system has been tested out at two Swedish national competitions with great results and no judges or referees were needed. 8a is currently working in corporation with Vertical Life in order to get ready the format, which will be presented to the gyms later. Any gym or event organizer that would like to become a test pilot gym is welcome to contact 8a.