Alex Megos reports on Instagram that after a disappointing performance at the Olympics, he traveled to Flatanger and in just five sessions he was able to complete Adam Ondra's Change (9b+). "I used one kneepad on my right knee, which does make the crux of the first pitch a little easier than the original beta from @adam.ondra. The top doesn't change too much with a kneepad, when you have really bad kneebar skills like mine. The rests feel more comfortable though."

The German has previously done the FAs of Perfecto Mundo (9b+) and Bibliographie (9b+), besides being the first to onsight 9a, Estado Critico in 2012.

Great to see that all the hard Olympic training paid off. How was the process and how long time took the ascent?
I was definitely in good shape after the training for the Olympics. I could feel that. Unfortunately I couldn't show it at the comp...

The process was simple. We arrived to Norway on Thursday and on the afternoon I did Purgatory (9a) in Hell. On Friday and Saturday I started working on Change. Sunday we went bouldering and I flashed an 8A and did an 8A+. Monday and Tuesday I worked on Change again. Wednesday was rest day and Thursday was sending day.

The ascent took something between 45min and one hour and I was super nervous all the way up. I hadn't done either of the parts separately, so I wasn't super confident in all sections yet. I think I'll have a look at some more routes in the cave. A lot has changed since I was here 9 years ago.

From 29 August to 1 September, Serra San Quirico, in the Marche region of Italy, will host the 10th edition of the Frasassi Climbing Festival, an international event dedicated to climbing and outdoor activities in one of the most evocative environments in Italy: the Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi Regional Natural Park.

Every year, the Frasassi Climbing Festival (FCF) appeals to more and more climbers and mountain enthusiasts of all ages and nationalities for an unparalleled experience. The focus of the event is obviously on sport climbing with various activities planned for all levels, including the Street Boulder Contest, inside the splendid medieval village of Serra San Quirico, the Frasassi Challenge, a prize-winning climbing marathon on 8 selected crags in the Park, and the FCF Lab, dedicated to all those who want to acquire more climbing skills and safety. But that's not all: calisthenics, slackline, yoga and acroyoga workshops will allow participants to work on flexibility, balance and performance, which are fundamental for climbing. Moreover, in collaboration with the Park Guides and the CAI of Jesi, trekking, mountain bike excursions and speleological visits will be organised to discover the Gola della Rossa and Frasassi territory. Among the novelties 2024 the Biodiverse Experience, organised with 3Bee, will lead you to discover the biodiversity of the Park's flora.

Several evening events will enrich the festival: Frasassi Talk with Elias Iagnemma, La Sportiva athlete and first Italian to climb Burden of Dreams, the first 9a boulder in the world; Zofia Reych, author of ‘Born to Climb: From Rock Climbing Pioneers to Olympic Athletes’ and founder of the Womens' Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau; Samuele Mazzolini and Francesco Piacenza who will present “Dolomiti King Line”, a Versante Sud guidebook dedicated to high-level trad and sport routes in the Dolomites. Furthermore, in collaboration with Reel Rock and Reel Rock Italia, there will be a film screening of the film ‘Resistance Climbing’, a testimony of how climbing can bring meaning to those living in war and occupation, such as the inhabitants of the West Bank in Palestine. For the occasion, the FCF made a donation to UNICEF Italy, which works in Palestine to support children victims of war, and opened a fundraising campaign during the days of the festival.

Finally, the DJ Set will close each day in beauty: Miryam Magnoni, Dejandj and a.j.over with Climbing Radio will take turns to make us dance and have fun until late at night! Are climbing and the outdoors your passion? The Frasassi Climbing Festival is waiting for you! For all info on the programme, where to stay and how to reach us: www.frasassiclimbingfestival.it

Ainhize Belar Barrutia, who was #4 in her last Euro Youth Cup, has onsighted Txirrin txirran (8b+) and redpointed Bongo X in Egino, La Leze. The 18-year-old, who onsighted her first 8a at age 14, is #2 in the female ranking game.

Can you tell us more about those two ascents?
Well, I chained Bongo X and the truth is that I was not sure what to do. I looked at ‘txirrin txirran’ which looked like an amazing line and decided to try it. The idea was to look at it a bit to try to do it the next day, but as there is only one attempt onsight, I went with everything. I felt very good climbing and was very focused on task goals (without giving importance to the result), so little by little I managed to clip the chain on this 8b+.

Karoline Sinnhuber has done Idée fixe (8c) in La Saume. "Finally some wind and fresh condis… ahhhhh. What a line, great climb. Happy that I kept my shit together for the top part 🤪 it‘s not over, till it‘s over!"

The 29-year-old finished her World Cup competition career in 2018 by being #8 in Munich. Later her focus has been outdoors and in total she has done 55 boulders 8A+ or 8B. She has also done nine routes 8b+ or 8c, out of which, six in the last 15 months. (c) Fabian Leu

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Idée fixe consists basically of 2 boulders. The second one is the same like, Saume thing more (8b) I already did last year. Unfortunately, it didn‘t feel easier this year 😅 The first boulder is quite long, starting with a tricky heel hook section, a nasty drop knee for the clip and then a hard shoulder move far to the right and then you have to catch a little crimp with the left hand. I was struggling a lot with warm conditions, no wind and/or bad skin. Super lucky it was really cold on one day - so I took this opportunity 😉

Are you starting to shift focus to route climbing?
My focus is still on bouldering, I just concentrate on a harder boulder in my area which needs kind a lot of sessions 🤪 and some better conditions than summer has to offer. So during summer my‚ boulder career‘ is mostly on ice and you can find me on the rope somewhere. I hope autumn and winter treat me well and I can tick off a few boulders 🙂

The Youth World Championship will take place in Guiyang from 22 - 31 August. In total, 599 teenagers from 49 countries will participate. Here you can follow the results.

The Hatchling (8A) is one of the iconic boulders in Rocklands with over 200 logged ascents. In the picture by Kevin McNally, Michaela Kiersch is flashing it. The second picture, from Daniel Gajda, shows that is has fallen down to the ground and Eric Jerome comments;

”No one can say for sure whether The Hatchling was blown over by wind or other natural occurrences or if it was rocked too hard and toppled over by a human. What we do know is that climbers have been rocking it back and forth for over a decade which has contributed to its instability and eroded the base. That in conjunction with record rains and lots of wind this year likely led to its demise. There are now a few very easy problems that we climbed on what remains.”

Alex Ventajas, with two 9a+' under his belt, has had some good days in Gravere where he first flashed L'Extremacura (8c) and later redpointed TCT (9a). (c) Nicolò Conterno/Crimp Films

Can you tell us more about those two ascents?
Gravere is a small and peaceful sector near Turin. I have heard of it because TCT, the line dedicated to Tito Traversa, is a famous route in Italy and I was curious to try it. Even if it’s quite an old-school style, with some chipped and sika-holds, the routes have great aesthetic movements and I really enjoyed them!

L’Extremacura, it’s power-endurance route on crimps and two finger pockets on an overhanging wall. It fits my style and has no hard-to-read boulder, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it flash!

TCT represents the connection between L’Extremacura and the upper and hardest part of “Base Jump” 8b+, with a bad rest in between. There aren’t any extremely hard crux, but the line remains quite intense from the beginning till the end, so you need to climb perfectly the 8c, without wasting too much energy, to keep endurance enough to climb the second part.

How did you prepare yourself for the 8c flash?
This time everything was kind of improvised! I haven’t planned to try the 8c flash. I watched some videos of TCT on the road and, when we arrived there, I was lucky to find my friend Luca Casadei, who motivated me to try “L’extramacura” flash. I reviewed the sequences from the ground with him and then I started climbing. I had very good feelings going up and the more I climbed, the more motivated and confident I became to reach the top! Luca kept telling me the moves and everything went perfectly!

In February, Adam Ondra sent Narcissus (9a), which was his #212 9a and harder. He onsighted the first half, Kalmia-moci (8b+), going straight up and then he rappelled down and actually did the 9a extension on his first go. "Amazing line by Matteo Gambaro. Me and Seb [Bouin] we both used kneepads and took kind of different direction/beta on the very top (what we believe is more intuitive) which makes it much easier. and I think it could be soft 9a like this. The way Matteo did it is much harder and could be even 9a+?"

Max Milne, who started the World Cup season by beeing #9 & #8 in Lead and Boulder, has flashed Bewilderness (8B+) in Peak District. In total, only a dozen climbers have previously flashed 8B+ including Will Bosi who was at the scene giving him the beta as well as cleaning the holds on the top.

“It was quite surreal. I obviously knew i could do it but i'm really chuffed and it was cool that I had to fight. On this one [Bewilderness], a lot of the moves felt fairly at my limit so I had to lock in to get it done. I am proud to have said I was going to do it and then back up what I said with my actions.

I have looked up to Will for many years and we know each other fairly well but for me it is always super special to climb with him as it’s not that often we do get to train or climb on rock together. I have looked up to him for many years ever since I was a kid and I still do now too. So it was quite magical to have him there and help me through the whole process of flashing Bewilderness from the beta, spotting, encouragement and the good vibes. For me one of the best parts of flashing a bloc isn’t just the challenge itself but is the fact that it’s not just you”.

Max warmed up climbing on Badger Badger Badger (8A) which was a perfect warm-up for him as moves are very comp-style with a bit of spice at the top to jump to the good hold and then as me, Will and photographer Jake were grabbing photos elsewhere Max slowly got himself into the headspace for the flash.

The 'lock in' scribbled on his hiangles is a cool story. It is a meme online but Max jokingly put it on his shoes as a nudge to focus and now it is a key part of his routine for comps and he brought it to the flash attempt at Badger.