Alex Puccio reports on Insta that she has done Medow Lark Lemon 8B and Hungry Hungry Hippos 8A+ in Red Rocks. (c) Robin O'Leary

The 32-year-old has been the best female outdoor boulderer during the last 15 years, in spite of having had several bad injuries and also competing actively. She won her first World Cup in 2009 and her most recent in 2018 just before she stopped competing. In 2014, she got the silver in the World Championship.

How are you recovering from your last shoulder injury?
Injury is doing a lot better. It’s not 100% yet, my muscles around the SC Joint get quite sore and fatigue quicker which I have to watch out for as it then makes my shoulder more vulnerable. Outside climbing is definitely easier on it since a lot of the moves are more static and also you can rely on more technique. :)

What are your 2022 plans?
I’m psyched to start training this next month and in April- May we are planning a trip to Europe. We want to go to Magic Wood, but probably some other places as well around Europe. :)

Vroni Gaßner has done The Pianist (8A) in Val Calanca and The Arete with the Pocket (8A) in Chironico. "I was pretty surprised by taking down, The arete with the pocket, an old project of mine, and, The Pianist in only one session each during this trip. Happy about seeing progress!"

How can you explain this peak performance and how much do you train?
I didn't do any specific training. Just continuous bouldering on a 45-degree wall and outdoors. :) Normally, I train two days a week in the gym. At weekends, I usually try to climb outside for two days, depending on the weather and time I have.

IFSC has started to announce who will participate in the World Games. Based on the quotas it seemed that Tomoa Narasaki was going to miss it based on that Japan would fill its country quota as Haruki Uemura won the Youth A in the Lead Youth World Championship. Now, it has been confirmed that Narasaki will participate in Lead, meaning that Japan has withdrawn Uemura from the event.

IFSC has also confirmed that Mejdi Schalk from France will participate which means that probably Adam Ondra (or Sean Bailay) has withdrawn from the World Games.

Stefano Ghisolfi has done L'Arenauta in , which was bolted 20 years ago. His mini-documentary gives you all the details. "The first part, the less overhanging, is 7a to the first chain. From there starts the roof part, around 20m almost horizontal roof. The first section of the roof is not super hard, around 8b+, and then there is a bad kneebar and from there starts the real challenge. A hard section on pockets with very bad feet, some ten intense moves. The line does not cross any other route, it is one of the purest and most logical ones, straight in the middle of the roof. The place is amazing, close to the beach."

Marcel Remy was born in 1923 and has been climbing actively during the last 90 years. He celebrated his 99th birthday by climbing in his local gym in Villeneuve in Switzerland, leading a 16 m tall 4c after some regular warming up. (c) Hannes Teil for Mammut

The first time, out of seven times, Marcel has made it to the 8a headlines was in 2015 when he did a 5c in Leonidio. Two years later at 96, he did a 12 pitches 5b+ and then took a paragliding tandem down. Later this year, a short documentary about Marcel's climbing life will be released.

Alex Johnson and Allison Vest have done Power of Landjager (8A) in Hueco Tanks (TX). (Alex)"Hueco is harder than I remember. It felt really good to top something out. I remember trying this boulder a decade ago and it felt hard. It was nice to return as a stronger and better climber and put it away. Few more days left, hope the tops yield!" (c) Allison Vest

Dylan Chuat, who previously has repeated seven 9a's, has done the FA of Un bel été (9a) in St-Triphon which was equipped by Samuel Ometz. "My first first ascent! The route is really mythical and hard! It's mega complete, from top to bottom with not too much relaxation except in the middle and a big big crux at the top which is a very technical jump to an undercling!"

In the last two years, he has won the Swiss Lead Championship as well as being runner-up in Boulder. On Insta he comments on his FA grade proposal. "I think the grade deserves a + but I think all the attempts I gave was because of my mentality so I prefer to grade it 9a."