26 May 2023
Thรฉo Blass, 13, sending Panonoramix (8b+)
Thรฉo Blass did his first 8c at age 10 and last September he sent Trip tik tonik (9a) at age 12. His father Vladimir Arnaoudov, has previously explained his son's climbing background and we asked him what they have been up to this spring.
"He started the year tired and weakened after catching the flu a couple of times. He had to start training gently and building up the volume and intensity very slowly. In April he was in decent shape to start trying harder stuff. He usually likes working on hard projects but this year he decided to focus on routes that he could send quickly, mostly in our local area. He sent Elzevir (8b+), a classic fingery testpiece in Claret, Biotpo (8b+) a magnificent 8m roof with great compression moves in Claret (famously onsighted by Chris Sharma and flashed by Adam Ondra), Panonoramix (8b+/8c) short and bouldery route in St Leger, La theorie des cordes (8c) a classic stamina route in St Leger and Crazy world (8c) a sustained 30 m route with a few hard cruxes near Aniane.
He's got his eyes set on a few harder routes in the 9th degree, but he is a bit too short for them now. He can do practically all the moves of his harder projects, but using different sequences and sometimes higher feet, which makes them even harder, so he decided to be patient and while he is waiting to grow he will continue to focus on easier routes where he has more fun."
"He started the year tired and weakened after catching the flu a couple of times. He had to start training gently and building up the volume and intensity very slowly. In April he was in decent shape to start trying harder stuff. He usually likes working on hard projects but this year he decided to focus on routes that he could send quickly, mostly in our local area. He sent Elzevir (8b+), a classic fingery testpiece in Claret, Biotpo (8b+) a magnificent 8m roof with great compression moves in Claret (famously onsighted by Chris Sharma and flashed by Adam Ondra), Panonoramix (8b+/8c) short and bouldery route in St Leger, La theorie des cordes (8c) a classic stamina route in St Leger and Crazy world (8c) a sustained 30 m route with a few hard cruxes near Aniane.
He's got his eyes set on a few harder routes in the 9th degree, but he is a bit too short for them now. He can do practically all the moves of his harder projects, but using different sequences and sometimes higher feet, which makes them even harder, so he decided to be patient and while he is waiting to grow he will continue to focus on easier routes where he has more fun."
0 comments
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ
23 March 2026
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโฆ
Related
16 May 2022
Trip Tik Tonik 9a by Jules Marchaland
Jules Marchaland, who has done two 8c+ the last three weeks, has done his first 9a, Trip Tik Tonik in Gorges du Loup. "It is for sure the most beautiful route Iโฆ
24 September 2022
Trip Tik Tonik 9a by Lorenzo Bogliacino
Lorenzo Bogliacino has done Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup and the day after he did Tango To Nik 8c (+).
โAfter climbing Naturalmente (9a+) last autumnโฆ
Tanguy Merard, who has already done three 9a+'s in 2023, has started August by sending A muerte bilou (9a) in Verdon. Then he moved to Gorges du Loup where he dโฆ
Related news
16 May 2022
Trip Tik Tonik 9a by Jules Marchaland
Jules Marchaland, who has done two 8c+ the last three weeks, has done his first 9a, Trip Tik Tonik in Gorges du Loup. "It is for sure the most beautiful route Iโฆ
24 September 2022
Trip Tik Tonik 9a by Lorenzo Bogliacino
Lorenzo Bogliacino has done Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup and the day after he did Tango To Nik 8c (+).
โAfter climbing Naturalmente (9a+) last autumnโฆ
Tanguy Merard, who has already done three 9a+'s in 2023, has started August by sending A muerte bilou (9a) in Verdon. Then he moved to Gorges du Loup where he dโฆ
Favorites
8 June 2026
Janja Garnbret does Bibliographie (9b+)
Janja Garnbret has added another milestone to her remarkable climbing career by becoming the first woman to climb Bibliographie (9b+) in Cรฉรผse, one of the hardeโฆ
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
16 March 2026
Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ