Federica Mingolla reports on Insta that she has done quick ascents of two 8c's in Oliana, Fish Eye 3rd go and Mind Control 5th go. The Italian started out as a competition climber but after some years she changed her focus into doing mainly multi-pitches and also opening new routes including one 500 meters long in Greenland.

Could you please say something about how your climbing lifestyle has changed over the years?
I always loved climbing and improving in it but I dislike climbing for the grade. In the mountains, I look for aesthetic climbing and something that challenges me.

What about the injury you posted last September?
Climbing on a multi-pitch route in Val di Lanzo. A big piece of rock broke and I fell for 10 metres on friends. I hurt both my heels. After the injury, I’ve started to train myself again in climbing, so this January I left for Spain in search of something challenging. Oliana conquered me for the climbing style that is perfect for me! Overall I have started again falling without any problems and this will help me to come back to the mountains.

Andi Stull has done in Bishop (CA). Video on her Insta. Last year the 24-year-old did three 8A's and Lethal Design 8A+ and at the time she also talked about the challenges starting to climb at age 18 coming out of an eating disorder. "Over the time I have been climbing, I have recognized that being strong and healthy is far more important than being "light” and will lead to greater physical and mental victories."

Could you please also say something about Kinesiology and DNAclimbing which we can read about in your social media?
This past month, my partner, Devan, and I moved out to Bishop, focusing our time on growing our climbing coaching business, DNA Climbing. During my time in Bishop, I am also devoting myself to obtaining a degree in Kinesiology, as well as growing as a climber. Within the past month, I have been able to achieve a few goals such as earning my certification as a Performance Climbing Coach and sending my mini-proj, ‘Kill On Sight’ (V11).

How was the process taking it down?
I did the stand to it, ‘Standing Kill Order’ (V10) about a year ago. I thought it was one of the most fun boulders I have ever climbed. The movement on it is so good.. crimps, a notoriously finicky toe hook with a fall back into an undercling, pinches, and a pogo to a jug! So much variety of movement is compressed into just a few moves. After doing the stand, I knew I wanted to come back for the sit.

During my first session of trying the sit, I got to the last move and fell. For three more sessions, I continued to get through the “crux” almost every try, just to fall off the top moves. It wasn’t until my 4th session that I was able to finally stick the move and send. This boulder was an unexpected mental battle for me after having so many heartbreaking attempts, but utilizing tools I learned through reading a multitude of “personal development” books proved to be very useful.

What is next?
In the coming months, I’m hoping to get some sessions in on some “bucket-list” boulders, in addition to ticking off a lot of sport climbs in Pine Creek and Owens River.

Theo Blass reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Seb Bouin's new 8c+, Guerre Future in Claret. It is a variation to Guere d'usure 8c which he did last year. "There is a hard power endurance section on bad pinches and slopy sidepulls with a lot of heelhooks and small tricks to keep you balanced. I did not count the number of tries but there were many. The route pushed me to my physical and mental limit. I am very happy and relieved:)" (c) Laurent Dormont

Theo did his first 8b at age 9 and has previously also done three 8c's. We reached out to his father Vlad to get some further comments.
"Theo turned 12 a couple of months ago. In the last few months he did some on-sighting (up to 7c+, he also flashed an 8a), some easier routes (a few 8b and 8b+), and projected a few difficult lines mainly in the local area (including a couple of 9as) but due to sub-optimal conditions and difficult access he set this eyes on a new 8c+ in our local winter "old school" crag Claret, which has easy access and projects for the whole family (including Theo’s sister Alizee who is 8 and quite close to reaching the 8th grade).

Claret is known for its mild temperatures in the winter, its hard grades and sometimes ridiculous run-outs. The route is called Guerre Future (Future War) and it shares some common sections with Guere d'usure, an 8c he did last year. Although he was familiar with part of the crux, working a new very intense section leading directly to the crux of Guere d'usure took him another 5-6 sessions. The route was first climbed by Seb Bouin a couple of weeks ago and Theo did the first repeat. The route is a power endurance testpiece on bad pinches and sloppy sidepulls, climbing through a beautiful overhanging prow, combining compression moves, technique and precise footwork. Theo finds the route much harder than Guere d’usure because there are no rests in the hard section in the middle so there are around 20 hard moves to link. Theo loved the route because the line is very "pure" in his view - you need perfect flow, to do all the moves perfectly, using just the right amount of power to avoid slipping off the bad footholds or missing the sloppy handholds."

What is next?
He has a few projects to work on now, mostly in the local area or up to 4-5 hours driving from our place (we have decided not to travel further to reduce our CO2 impact and also because we are lucky and privileged enough to live in an area close to many amazing crags). He will also do some local and national competitions, mostly for fun and to gain some experience – we have been trying to avoid competitions in the past but at the same time we want to ensure that if he decides to do more competitions in the future, he is not completely out of touch with the competition world.

The male boulder final in the Olympics was a bit of an anticlimax finishing with a total fiasco as everyone flashed the zone and then none of the seven Olympians could make any further real progress. In fact, it is not that uncommon that nobody tops out the last boulder and there is no celebration but instead just failures at the end of the event. In the last Boulder World Cup in Innsbruck, none of the 6 + 6 males and females actually did make even the zone on the last boulder.

One simple option to increase the excitement and to almost guarantee that the last boulder will be topped out would be to give everyone, that has a chance of winning (or making the podium), one more redpoint attempt. This would mean that the finalists would start to cooperate and share beta as soon as the climbers would fall off.

There are several twists that could increase the drama and make the final more successful:
1. Most likely, the climber who is #1 after the last boulder will top out also the last boulder as he/she will see climbers topping out and can copy their beta.
2. As for Tokyo, the last climbers would probably have saved some attempts* on the last boulder as they became aware that it is too hard.
3. The third guy last out knows that topping would mean a podium is guaranteed. If not topping, he/she could drop to #6 or so.
4. The runner-up before the last climber out might want the last climber to top out as this will secure his/her silver while the lowest-ranked climber does not want the last climber to top out.

When it comes to the Olympics, Nathaniel Coleman had already secured the win and any further redpoint attempts would not have changed this. However, a change of the rules would possibly have meant that some possibly had saved their attempts on the last boulder, like in high jumping, in order to be able to win and put pressure on Coleman.

In practice, most likely, Tomoa Narasaki #3 and Mickael Mawem #2 would only have tried the last boulder once or twice and saved the last attempt to have a redpoint go. In theory, even Adam Ondra who was #6 could have won if he did it on his second try, i.e. his first redpoint try. In any case, even by doing multiple tries as he did, Adam could still have been #2 if he would have been the only one redpointing it.

Marco Zanone, who just did his first 9a+, has done Estado critico (9a) and in Siurana. (c) Esteban Lahoz

"Estado Critico is a well-known route situated in the El Pati sector in Siurana and It became very famous since it was the first 9a ever onsighted (Alex Megos). I've always been attracted by this route, but I was intimidated as well since the first part it's very steep and because it looks huge when you look at it from the ground. During the first tries, I actually realized it was shorter and less endurance than I expected. The first 40 moves around 8a go by very quickly until you get to a good rest. From there on, the route turns right, getting into the crux which suited me well since day one. The fact that I was trying this route after First Ley (9a+) made me really strong in the head and of course I was feeling super fit, especially on short and hard sections. Passing through the crux from the bottom was not a problem at all, actually on my first try from the bottom, on day two, I basically fell at the top, a few moves before the top out. I was definitely very surprised about my endurance which has always been my weak point.

Then I had to leave Spain for a couple of days of work and once I was back I felt very motivated to try my best. On my third try of the day, after messing up once below the highpoint, I clipped the chain of this beast. I must say I definitely felt it easy for the grade, especially if you are tall, which helps a lot on the crux sequence, but I must also say I'm feeling in very good shape."

How can you explain being in your best shape ever?
I don't know if I'm witnessing the best shape of my life but I'm climbing that hard simply because I have more time to spend on the rock. In 2021 I worked a lot as a filmmaker and my time for rock climbing was very limited, but from mid-December on, the work slowed down and I could finally spend more time on the rock. At the moment I'm living in Spain, working on a film project about exploration in Norway while climbing in these world-class areas. So yeah, I'm feeling in great shape but the fact that I could invest more time on the rock it's giving me extra power. :)