NEWS

Multiverse 8C by Taylor McNeill
Taylor McNeill has done in Neverland, after projecting it for 8 days. "Perfect line... Best of the best." James Webb put it up in 2014 as an 8B+ and commenting, "Absolutely one of the best lines I've done. So glad to make the FA. Maybe the low now? Hope it's possible!" Then in 2019 a video was presented calling it 8C.

Do you know why it was 8B+ originally?
If I remember correctly, Jimmy had never done an established 8C at that time and didnโ€™t feel comfortable calling it harder. The boulder is in the middle of nowhere, about an hour of driving on dirt roads. Also is quite hard. Daniel came really close in the spring, I bet it will see another ascent soon.

Elnaz Rekabi has posted on her Insta.

"I am endlessly grateful for the support of you, all the people of Iran, the most decent people of the planet, athletes and non athletes, and all your supports in international community: What I have gained till today was regarding the caring of you beautiful souls; and the future would not be a road without obstacles if you are not coming along.

I sincerely thank all those who came to the airport for welcoming me, I love you. With respect Me; the people, Iran"


When she competed without a hijab in the Asian Championship, she had 80 000 followers on her Insta. Now she has 442 000 and out of them, until now, 195 000 have liked her message.

Gonzalo Larrocha, who in the last month has done three 8c+ and one 9a, has done Patanics (9a+) in . All in all, the 38-year-old is peaking, and only in 2022, he has done 120+ routes 8a and harder.

How many sessions did you project it?
This autumn seven days but I tried it many other sessions in other seasons.

I don't know what to say about this route. The process was perfect during this season. Every try I fell higher, only in the last two days had some regression tries. The problem is more or less the same as in No pain no gain. The main difference is that a crimp broke off which made the boulder section harder.

All Japan podium at Morioka Combined WC
1. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 84.3 + 72.1 = 156.4
2. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 54.4 + 84.0 = 138.4
3. Kokoro Fujii JPN 68.6 + 64= 132.6
Complete results

Tomoa Narasaki won the very first Boulder and Lead World Cup, getting 18 points more than Yoshiyuki Ogata also from Japan. Placing third was Kokoro Fujii and in total the Japanese team had five at the Top-7. All in all, the route setting and new calculation played out well for Paul Jenft winning the Boulder round with 84.7 points and Ogata winning Lead with 84.0 points.

โ€œItโ€™s been definitely a tough round, but Iโ€™m glad I have won the first-ever World Cup medal in this format,โ€ said Narasaki to IFSC. โ€œTo be honest, this morning I didnโ€™t really feel like having two rounds on the same day, but I kept my focus and gave my best.โ€ (c) Lena Drapella

In practice, this means that Ogata was four moves from the top and that Jenft needed seven attempts to make 3 Tops and 4 High Zones. It should be noted that a new point system was tested and the only difference with the old system, used in the Euro Championship, would have been that Yannick Flohรฉ would have taken Jeft's #4 position.

Solitary daze 8C Simone Tentori
Simone Tentori has done the second ascent of Clement Lechaptois' Solitary daze (8C) in Fionnay, which is a direct exit to Permanent Midnight (8A+). (c) Sierra Fabri

"As soon as I climbedFoundations Edge (8C) (last month) I started trying Solitary Daze because it's a very attractive line and it seemed my style. This problem is both powerful and technical, you need to squeeze hard with your upper body and legs and at the same time you need to place really difficult heel hooks.

I tried for 5/6 days and I was really close, falling a few times at the last hard move due to the slipping heel. Finished the trip empty-handed and when I got home I started some work and uni stuff. I felt tired and weak during those weeks at home but as soon as I got some free time I decided to come back to try anyway. Friday night I took the 5 hours to drive to Fionnay and Saturday I climbed the boulder first try after the warm-up."

Nuria 8c by Iziar Martinez (17)
Iziar Martinez has done Nuria (8c) and Taladrina (8b+) in . (c) Bรกrbara Garcรญa Garcรญa Inรฉs

In 2020, she climbed four 8c's, and since then she has focused more on competitions. This year, the 17-year-old placed on the podium in both Lead and Boulder in the European Youth Championships.

The Antwoord 8A+ by Karoline Sinnhuber
Karoline Sinnhuber has done The Antwoord (8A+) in Zillertal. "I actually didnโ€˜t plan to try this boulder, because the start move and start position are really awkward. Anyway, somehow I landed there and checked out the moves. It took me a while to figure out the first move with the weird heel and almost in a lying position - but it worked out ๐Ÿ˜Ž" (c) Fabian Leu

Great to see you back sending hard, have you had an injury layoff?
Iโ€˜m also happy that Iโ€˜m back in business after a partly ruptured pulley in June and an inflammation in July/August. It definitely sucked, not being able to crimp hard ๐Ÿ˜ there is still a bit of inflammation in my finger, but I can crimp - and thatโ€˜s all that counts ๐Ÿ˜„

TTT 9a by Stรฉfanie Lo Piccolo (37)
Stรฉfanie Lo Piccolo has repeated her husband, Cedric's Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Fanatic Climbing has made an interview with the 37-year-old and mother of two children, who twice got a bronze in the Youth World Championship.

"After the Covid period, I was in good shape. The gyms were closed, the children were back to school, and we had more time to climb outside. In the space of a year, I did a lot of hard climbs: the tough 8c/+ of โ€œTango Tonikโ€ at Dรฉversรฉ and several others lines in the 8c range. The shape was back. In the fall of 2021, I saw Petr Blaha try โ€œTTTโ€ and it caught my attention. I did 4 sessions in October 2021 in order to find my methods. This spring, I went back on the route and started doing good links."

During the last three weeks, she has worked it intensively and she thanks Matteo Gambaro who found a new knee bar that unlocked the first crux for her.