Extreme progress also in 2017

Last year, we wrote about extreme progress in 2016 and it continues in 2017. Until 2015, the progress had been quite slow so the new levels reached by the climbing community is just remarkable. It started with Margo Hayes making the first ever female 9a+, which later also Anak Verhoeven managed to do, and Angela Eiter did the first female 9b, (c) Red Bull Contenpool/E. Holzknecht. Bear in mind that only two guys (Ondra and Sharma) in the history have climbed harder grades. Adam Ondra reached a new level by establishing the first 9c and also Steve McClure's (45) 9b FA is another new level. We can copy what was said in 2016, "More guys than ever have done 9a+ and 9b's routes." And the same goes for the girls doing 8c+ and harder. Charles Albert 8C+ barefoot is also a new standard. The only discipline where we do not see progress is in onsight of routes and flashes of boulders. The top level for onsights are 9a but apart from Ondra, very few 8c onsights in 2016.