Here is the ranking counting five out of six events in the Lead World Cup. The last event will take place in Jakarta on 24-26/9.

1. Jesse Grupper USA 3 532
2. Taisei Homma JPN 3 485
3. Luka Potocar SLO 3 405 Complete results

Yannick Flohé from Germany is fourth with 2 910 points although not competing in Edinburgh. He has said that he will not do more WCs in 2022 and instead he has traveled to Magic Woods for bouldering. Colin Duffy from the USA is #5 with 2 845 points and in theory, he could also win although having skipped the event in Koper last weekend.

Jesse Grupper from the USA was the only one to top out the final route in Edinburgh. Luka Potocar from Slovenia took the silver and Toby Roberts from Great Britain the bronze. Japan was the best overall having five guys in the Top-11. Interview with Jesse is coming up. Grupper commented to IFSC. "I’m pretty ecstatic. After last weekend [in Koper] I definitely felt I was at a low point in competition climbing. I knew I still had it in me, and I have been training pretty hard. I am probably the most fit I have been all season and it feels so rewarding to feel that I am back."

Grupper is one of the slower climber on the circuit and has been timed out. "I was super aware of the time. In qualis I had six seconds left. In semis I had three seconds left. The only way to go in finals was to have no seconds left." Complete results
(c) Lena Drapella/IFSC

Among the females, the routes turned out to be too easy again. First, we saw six double tops in the qualifications, and then Ai Mori from Japan and Chaehyun from Korea topped the semi. Janja Garnbret then topped the final but Mori won on countback as she also topped. "I was feeling nervous before I started because I knew Janja had reached the top, and that meant I had to. But when I climb I just forget about my nerves and enjoy it." Seo took the bronze and was timed out. Complete results

Joe Skopec has done the FA of My Curse (8c+/9a) in Lion's head. His previous PB was the FA of Home Away From Home (8c+) which took him 2+ years to put up. The access situation is very sensitive. Here you can stay updated.

"Fought this route for over one year… I had to push my limits mentally/physically. I trained so hard and gave up so much in life to send this route… It’s time to relax and move on to other adventures in life. Hopefully, my Curse of being so obsessive to complete any goal does not come back for a while. My mind needs a break. I need a break haha. It’s done… it’s finally done… I can sleep in peace :)"

Could you tell us more about this FA?
The route breaks down to 5.13d (8b) to a good rest, v12 (12 moves 8A+), to a good rest, to a pumpy 5.13d (8b) that finishes with huge dyno to the anchors. But the route comes down to more than just the difficulty. Many big run-outs and skipping two bolts during the crux were always a mental battle for me. (I usually only train alone in the garage and don’t have a chance to work my mental game on rock).

Lion's head cliff is always an adventure. The hike in is a minimum of one hour, rap down 100 feet (33m), and then at the end of the day climbing back out with the backpack on is always a bit more tiring than you want haha. Please come prepared for Lion's head. One can easily be stuck at the bottom of the cliff if one is not experienced enough. As for the grade, all I know is it’s harder than the 8c+‘s I’ve tried, so I’ll grade it 8c+/9a. I have no idea what a 9a feels like. Took about one year and a half to send :)

Daniel Fuertes, who, two years ago, climbed Ali Hulk sit start extension total (9a+), has done La menina sixtina R2 8c+ (9a) in .

”The first pitch is an endurance 8c, easy for some people but very hard for me. The second pitch is more tricky with very technical kneebars. Sending the first pitch was the hardest for me. It took me about ten sessions. Once I did the first pitch I also did the second pitch."

Shawn Raboutou reports on Insta that he has repeated Drew Ruana’s Insomniac at Lincoln Lake. It starts by doing eight moves of Wheel of wolvo (8B+) followed by a good rest and then continues through We Can Build You (8B+).

The 24-year-old has previously done a handful 8C+ boulders and Alphane 9A, which was published several months after the ascent. 8a has also received word that he has done one more 9A FA, The Megatron project in Eldorado Canyon - A seven-move 8C low start, with zero resting options, into Daniel Wood’s Tron 8B+ put up in 2017.

If this turns out to be true, he must be considered the best boulderer in the world along with Daniel Woods.

The Edinburgh Lead World Cup starts at 9:00 AM this Saturday with the qualification. On Sunday, the semis start at 11:00 and the Men's final at 6:00 PM followed by the Women's final at 7:00 PM. IFSC has made a statement. "During the event The British Mountaineering Council and GB Climbing will observe a media blackout. As an International Sports Federation we have a duty to continue to provide the global climbing community with information and results from our events, however, during this competition, on official IFSC channels, the media output will be reduced out of respect at this time and in support of the home nation event organisers.

Our thoughts and condolences are with The Royal Family and everyone around the world mourning the loss of Her Majesty The Queen."

The seventh and last Lead WC will take place in Jakarta on 24-26/9. In theory, Chaehyun Seo can overtake Janja Garnbret but then Seo needs to win both the last two events at the same time Janja will be #25 or lower in both events. In the Top-7 female ranking, five took part in the Olympics. Among the male, here is the ranking counting all but one event.

1. Taisei Homma JPN 3 105
2. Luca Potocar SLO 2 545
3. Jesse Grupper USA 2 522
4. Yannick Flohé GER 2 455
5. Colin Duffy USA 2 390

6. Sascha Lehmann SUI 1 920
7. Ao Yurikusa JPN 1 914
8. Satone Yoshida JPN 1 835
9. Yoshyuki Ogiata JPN 1 745

In theory, also Alex Megos and Sean Bailey can win but they are not listed to participate in Edinburgh. In practice, it is the Top-5 that has good chances of winning. In any case, getting 4 200 points will most probably secure the overall title meaning that if Homma is #5 in both the last WCs or #1 and #25, he will secure the victory. Out of the nine top-ranked males, only Colin Duffy took part in the Olympics.

Stefano Ghisolfi is making progress on Silence (9c) by breaking the Adam Ondra beta. Adam is excited to see that Stefano has taken on the challenge, but thinks the new beta is equally hard.

Alex Huber, who has been a globally impressive first ascensionist since the 90s, has put up the six pitch Ramayana 8b+ on Waidringer Steinplatte in Austria. In the area, the 54-year-old has previously put up two 8b+ and two 8c MPs. Alex worked it last autumn climbing ground-up alone with a soloist set up.

"Ramayana is a new, six-pitch long alpine climb in the Tyrolean Steinplatte which hosts many other alpine climbs like Nirwana, Sansara, Mauerläufer, Highway, and Feuertaufe. It's basically a challenging route with high technical difficulties, but it also needs to be protected with removeable gear. The first redpoint ascent took place on the 18th of July. Thanks to Tobi Ebner for giving me the belay on the ascent. Big thanks to Klaus Fengler for taking the great photos."

Pitch 1: 35 meters, 6c+, Cams, Nuts
Pitch 2: 20 meters, 7a+, Cams
Pitch 3: 40 meters, 8b+, 5 bolts
Pitch 4: 25 meters, 7c, 1 bolt, Cams
Pitch 5: 20 meters, 7c, 1 bolt, Cams
Pitch 6: 35 meters, 8a+, 3 bolts, Cams

Alex Ventajas has been on a trip to where he did four 8c’s and P con fin mas Hulk extension (9a) (c) Silvia Coppola

”Rodellar is one of my favorite spots to spend the summer holidays. I love this climbing style with a lot of knee pads, overhang, and roof climbing. It is like a little paradise for climbers.

Since few days before departure, I wasn’t sure about what to do, but in the end, I took the guide and made up a list of the 8c routes I haven’t done yet. I thought it could be a good compromise between climbing hard and having fun. Also, an Italian friend of mine was coming with me and I wanted to show him different sectors, instead of having to go always in the same place to try one specific route.

In the end, I think I made a really good choice. The 8c routes I choose were super different from each other, so it ended up being a really stimulating and fanatic challenge:

Welcome to Tijuana (8c) is a very demanding and bouldery route, with super powerful moves on crimps,

El hijo libre (8c) it’s pure roof climbing with lots of kneebars and tricks to figure out,

is 40 meters endurance climbing with some hard moves in between.

Hulk extension (8c), a classic in Alì Baba cave: a very physical line with bad holds and crazy kneebars.

After sending it I got curious about the 9a “Proa + Fin de Ali Hulk Extension”, a logical line that connects an 8A or 8A+ boulder problem with the 8c: it’s a super physical route that tires all your body, especially your legs and I managed to solve the boulder quite rapidly and, in the beginning, I thought that if I could pass the boulder I wasn’t going to fall in the second part. Things went exactly in the opposite way: the route in fact it’s quite longer than it seems and in the last few meters hides an infinity of moves! Actually, in the first two attempts, I manage to pass the boulder falling in the last move of the 8c because I run out of strength, and I finally sent the route on my third go.

I found it pretty funny to combine boulder and rope in the same route, so maybe next trip here I would try the original connection “Ali Baba Hulk extension“ (9a+), that crosses the entire cave!”