Alfons Dornauer reports on Insta that he has done Stefan Fürst’s 1996 test-piece in Geisterschmiedwand. Stefan first graded it 8c+ but as nobody could repeat it, it become a 9a. Then Adam Ondra made the first repeat suggesting 9a+ which was confirmed by Roland Hemetzberger who did the third ascent. (c) Misha P

” I started to work on the route in the autumn 2021. Already on my first sessions on the route I made some good progress. The crux section definitely suits my style so I continued to work on the route this spring season. However I broke a tiny and a crucial intermediate hold in the crux section. I was still able to do the crux quite solid but didn’t made good progress from the ground. Since the little rest before the crux is not as comfortable as expected it was crucial to climb the first part of the route which is around 8c/+ as efficient as possible. Somehow I lost a bit of motivation and decided take a few weeks off from trying it…So after 2 to 3 weeks I came back with full motivation and was able to send it within a few sessions.

One of my greatest weakness is definitely to be persistent when it comes down to finish off a project. Before I wasn’t really impressed by someone sending a route or boulder by projecting it for such a long time. But it’s definitely an ability not really easy to learn when you are impatient. Moreover it was great to see how little adjustments can be decisive to finish it off. Personally it’s an ascent I am definitely pretty proud of.”

Sebastien BOUIN reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Adam Ondra’s Thor's Hammer 2 (9a+) in Flatanger. It starts by jumaring to the anchor of Thor’s Hammer (9a), bolted by Magnus Midtbö.

The big plan is to do it from the ground creating a potential 9b+ but there are also easier and harder link-up possibilities. Seb is also talking about the possibility to bolt and continue another 50 meters to the top above the amazing cave. However, as it stands, bolting new routes is not currently allowed. Marco Müller

This is an opportunity to combine your passion for climbing with your professional expertise. You’ll get to design interfaces that tens of thousands of people rely on in a wide range of situations, many of which are related to climbing.
As a Senior UI/UX designer, your job is to create designs that turn innovative ideas into reality. You will work on sketches with the product team and turn them into wireframes and eventually designs that are ready for implementation, before closing the circle by joining in on the QA. You’ll be in charge of building and maintaining our design library in Figma to make sure that we achieve consistency in our features across different platforms. You’ll go beyond making wireframes pixel perfect, you will be part-product-owner, part-UI-designer. To manage all of this, you will rely on your ability to work methodically and to think analytically, as well as your deep understanding of how humans interact with software to solve problems. Whether that is a climber lost in a forest without reception, or a gym owner trying to set up a boulder circuit for a friendly competition amongst a training group.

Requirements:
- You like to think hard so that people who use your interfaces don’t have to. You understand that an interface is between a human with emotions, and a piece of software with logical constraints. You like to find ways of making that relationship as simple as possible.
- You have the proven ability to build off of, and create from, roughly staged ideas and requirements across products to identify patterns, and create simple user experiences.
- You are committed to quality, that’s why you see details in implementations that no one else catches, and point them out.
- You are able to work in an international, partially remote, team.
- You are experienced with Figma and enjoy working with it.
- The ability to write CSS and/or HTML code is a big plus.
- You are fluent in German and English and able to communicate clearly.
- You are willing to travel to South Tyrol in regular intervals (min. 6 times a year).

Sound like you?
Great, we would love to hear from you! Please send the following to [email protected]:
- Your CV in English or German, highlighting your most relevant professional experience, as well as a short list of your favorite climbs.
- Either a one-page write-up (Cover Letter) in which you briefly introduce yourself and tell us why you would like to work with us, or an interface that you have designed with a brief description of what motivated your choices in that design.

About us:
We are a team of roughly 35 people from more than 12 countries that share the common goal of creating software and digital solutions that express our passion for climbing. Our office is located in Brixen, South Tyrol, but some of us work remotely and visit sporadically. We have five main products - the Smart Climbing Gym software, NO-Q, the result service, 8a.nu, and the Vertical-Life App. While we’ve been focused on the first two in the last two years, we are now expanding our team and itching to better connect and improve 8a.nu and Vertical-Life. Join us to make it happen!

See other job openings at our website.

Adam Ondra took a break from competitions after the Olympics in Tokyo last August, where he was #6. Part of the reason was to restore energy before the Olympic qualifications start in 2023 and also as his wife Iva, #25 in the WCH in 2019, gave birth to Hugo at the beginning of May. During the last ten months, the 29-year-old has redpointed 20 routes 9a to 9b and onsighted ten routes 8b+ to8c+. The only IFSC comps he has done in 2022 were the European Bouldering Cup in Prague in 1/5 and the Chamonix Lead World Cup, winning both.

How much and How did you prepare for the Chamonix World Cup?

I took a break when Hugo was born to have more time to really enjoy those special moments. After 3 weeks I got slowly back into it and I reckoned that Chamonix would be good timing to get back into shape. So it was around 5 weeks. Training for lead comps is the most enjoyable for me as it includes bouldering on spraywall, occasional bouldering at my home crag when the weather is good, doing circuits on my home wall and climbing on the lead wall in Brno. Pretty much similar preparation like for outdoor sport climbing projects. Carrying Hugo around the home is a great active recovery:-) I went on the rock a few times when there were some colder days in Slovakia to Krpcovo (3h away) and Derava skala (1h20min away). Both crags have quite a bit of potential and I will definitely be back. It was a wonderful time as long as I don't have to train for speed and I can enjoy my time with my wonderful family.

What are your competition and rock plans for 2022?
I am planning to do European Championships in Munich and then only rock climbing until spring next year. Quite a few projects in my mind around Europe and hopefully we will be able to travel around as the whole family with Iva and Hugo.

Eleven males and twelve females participated in the World Games in Birmingham, USA. Kokoro Fujii and Mao Nakamura won the semifinals. Into the finals, Nicolas Collin started first and did all four problems in just six tries winning over Kokoro needing eight attempts. Among the females, Miho Nonaka was the only one doing three boulders.

1. Nicolas Collins BEL 44 (6) - Miho Nonaka JPN 34
2. Kokoro Fujii JPN 44 (8) - Katja Debevec SLO 24 (3)
3. Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 34 - Mao Nakamura JPN 24 (5)

It should be mentioned that several athletes like Natalia Grossman and Adam Ondra, who had qualified to the World Games, did choose to not participate. Furthermore, the quota included max two athletes per nation and gender.

Matteo Soule has done the FA of Sonawolf (9a) in La verrière. The 15-year-old did his first 9a this spring. At age 13, he did the FA of Dieu Merci in Gorges du Tarn. It is still unrepeated and nowadays listed as an 8c+/9a. (c) Sam Bié

Christian Mercene has done Andy Raether's Manphibian (9a) in Mt Charleston. "I started putting in work on Manphibian this season after I sent the first section (Spyfiction 5.14c) last year. After about 13 days of consistent and steady progress and punting on the last hard move twice, I was able to finally send!" (c) Matt Levy

Did you do any specific or replica training?
I followed a power endurance work out called the 30/30s that I got after listening to Joe Kinder on the Nugget climbing podcast. I chose 6 boulder problems that feel consistent with the moves of Manphibian. The workout would consists of 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest 6 boulders in a row. After each week I would decrease the rest time between reps. On my second day I would train on a spray wall replica that mimicked the intensity and time under tension/ rest of Manphibian.

Sebastien BOUIN has done the first repeat of Adam Ondra’s, from 2013, Iron Curtain (9b) in Flatanger. The 29-year-old has published the full story on Insta, saying that due to his use of kneepads his personal grade is 9a+. The French has previously done seven routes 9b to 9c. (c) Marco Müller

"This year, I decided to return to Flatanger, without any real fixed objectives. I’m leaving myself open, and I will try what inspires me. So I started with Iron Curtain. The rock is so perfect, and the line is so cool. It took me 14 tries to do it, and 5 climbing days. I used kneepads to send it. I think the line is easier with kneepads. You can do the crux a bit differently. It's still quite hard, but less demanding on the shoulders, and more of a conventional boulder problem. Adam proposed a 9b grade without kneepad. And I am quite sure of this grade if you are not using kneepads. Regarding the time and investment it took me, it could be more 9a+ using kneepads. This line is exceptional."