Luca Bana has done the FA of Extrasistole galoppante (9a) in Cornalba. The selfie is from the ledge where the route starts.

"Extrasistole galoppante is an impressive 30 meters line bolted in 2010 by Yuri Parimbelli on the heart-shaped rock at Cornalba's crag. Tried quickly by Adam Ondra during the days doing the FA of Goldrake 9a+, the same year. Later it has seen rare attempts by a few other people but remained unclimbed. I tried it out of curiosity for the first time two years ago managing to do all the sections and some promising links in a few sessions, but not enough for the send. Last year I basically had not the possibility to try it due to the pandemic restrictions. This winter I went back to Cornalba full of motivation. The feeling on the moves was good from the beginning but I had to regain some specific endurance and fight a bit against the conditions, until the 26th of December when I finally made it to the top on my 5th session of the year.

Surprisingly, the process for the send has been more intricate and mentally harder if compared to the rapidity with which I climbed 'Goldrake', probably due to a variety of factors and beyond the fact that a FA requires on average more time to complete: for example, the difficulty to find good conditions as a result of the full sun-oriented face (quite bad for the small low friction holds on the crux), the possibility (for me) to do only 2-3 good attempts per day or the uncomfortable and unusual location of the route on the wall. Regarding the grade, I suggest a personal 9a, also if compared to other routes such as Goldrake itself and considering the effort and the time invested for sending. "

Niki Rusev has, after just two sessions, done Jungle speed (8c+) in Siurana. It was originally 9a but most consider it 8c+ now. “ Really hyped I figured out surprisingly fast all the moves and in the second day I managed to send it. Even with the broken crimp at the first jump crux I think hard 8c+ is okay for it:)“

The 15-year-old has previously done two 9a’s more than a year ago. The Bulgarian is also a very successful competition climber who in 2021 won the Youth World Champion in Boulder and in the European Championship, he won in both Boulder and Speed. In Lead, he has gotten one silver and bronze in the European Cup.

There is a video on his Insta, where he comments. "One interesting fact is that the name of the line is an idea from a Bulgarian (Alex Yanev). The incredible Markus Jung bolted it in 2009 and trough the whole climbing trip they played one board game called ,,Jungle speed”."

On December 30, 8a has reached the benchmark of 100.000 members. We are impressed, surprised and happy! Such an overwhelming response would have seemed like a wild dream when 8a went online as a local site in 1999.

And what a colorful bunch we are!
In 2021, the 8a-community logged 524.971 ascents in 95 different countries. The favourite grade climbed was 6c / 6c+. Much has changed in two decades, one thing hasn't:
8a has always been a project „from climbers for climbers” - and it will continue to be so.

We want to thank all of you for making 8a what it is!

Alex Megos has made a long Insta post about that he thinks his FA Pornographie in Céüse should be downgraded to 8c+ due to many repeaters have found a no hands rest using a knee pad. However, if you climb it in the original way without a knee bar you can still tick it as a 9a, he thinks. Overall, his opinion is that a route can have two grades based on the whether you used a knee pad or not.

Adam Ondra has made a down grade update of Chilam Balam to 9a+, in his logbook, which he did in 2011. Bernabe Fernandez did the FA in 2003 and suggested 9b+. Dani Andrada has also previously called it 9a+ but the consensus has been 9a+/b among the six repeaters who all used knee pads. The dilemma is that Fernandez did not use a knee pad so should he in the history books be called the first climber to have done a 9b+? Could, in fact, anyone up for a 9b+ grabbing climb it without knee pads?

My personal opinion is that anybody is free to climb in any style he/she wants and claim any grade but it is important to be transparent and honest. However, when it comes to media reports and especially ascents of historical importance, we have to base the grade on that the best possible equipment has been used.

If a female onsights Pornographie without knee pads, 8a will call this the first female 8c+ onsight in the world, even if she placed all quickdraws by herself.

I sent a draft to Megos and he responded. “ I'm not too bothered about up and downgrading. I just wish people would be honest and not just tick any grade even if it felt easier for them.

Adam Ondra has done the first repeat of Stefano Ghisolfi's The Lonely Mountain (9b) in San Paolo. "A little harder than Erebor, actually the first part is shorter, but involves one really hard crux. Hard to grade, but probably doesn't brake the 9b+ barrier. Tried one day after Erebor and this trip two days."

In total, the 28-year-old has now done 24 routes 9b to 9c which can be compared with nine for Stefano Ghisolfi and seven for Alex Megos, Jakob Schubert and Chris Sharma who are runner-ups on that list. Note that grades are subjective meaning the above figures are just estimations.

Ryuichi Murai takes down Floatin (8C+) in Mizugaki with a unique sequence. Hardcore bouldering does not get much harder and cooler than this. The 27-year-old has now repeated 14 8C's and put up three 8C+.

Adam Ondra has answered a question in the forum related to his comments of his latest 9b FA, where he said it is an 8C+ boulder followed by an 8b route.

"I believe that 8C boulder means 9a+ route and 8C+ boulder means 9b route. In case of Kout Pikle 9a+, you climb an 8C boulder and then you still need climb sustaines short power endurance section of 8c. But if you are lead climber and you make it through an 8C boulder, you cannot be ultra pumped and 8c on its own is not too bad for a 9b lead climber. Interestingly, I think that if the 8c topout was 7a topout, the route would be still 9a+. Maybe soft 9a+, but still 9a+. With 8c topout, it is hard 9a+ or maybe 9a+/b. In my case, I was fighting like hell in the upper 8c part while sending, and I had fallen once in the upper section before (arriving there in the end of the day, very tired), but I do not think that many people will fall in the upper part (if anyone will ever bother trying this funky routes).

For pure boulderer with no endurance, 8c part could actually be the obvious crux, but sport climbing routes are given sport climbing grades... In case of Taurus, it is 8C+ boulder and the topout of 8b doesn't add or change any difficulty. It might be mentally unnerving (I slipped once there), but that's all. And 8C+ translates to 9b route in my opinion. I would like to conclude that adding extensions or lower starts does not necessarily change the grades, as the the grades are suprisingly wide. And I guess that it is quite difficult to understand for many climbers and ignoring this fact is often causing confusion in grading."

The grade discrepancy diagram from 2012 follows Ondra's opinion although possibly an 8A boulder of 2021 is possibly more 8b/+ at the same time as a 6C boulder is equally hard to do as a 7a+ route.

Sergei Topishko, who previously just have done one 8B+, has done Off the Wagon Sit (8C+) in Valle Bavona. (c) Fedir Samoilov

Sergeii has been a very active competition climber during the last twenty years and in 2015, he was #4 in a Boulder WC. However, during the last six WCs since 2019, he has not made semi.

Please describe the process taking down your first 8C+?
Well, it started this April when I first tried to do the stand start. I did it super fast and left the sit start to my last day of that trip. Sadly conditions were not the best on that day to make the cross move, so I was sure that I am gonna do it for sure the next time. And, better late than never it happened on my 2nd sesh today, just after a quick warm up from the first try.

How can you explain the great progress at age 33?
It’s hard to say about the progress this year. This boulder fit me a lot and I am trying to spend more time outdoors during the last few years. Maybe I just became stronger… Age is just a number, when you have no injuries you can climb.

What is next?
I tried La Rustica today after sending Wagon and made the crux move to the pocket for few times, so I think I will put it together this trip. Dreamtime is also nice one, I think I will do it, and Poison the well (I tried this one in spring it was not so bad actually and I think I am ready for it now). I still have a lot of time in Ticino, till 13th Jan

What are your 2022 plans?
I will take part in European Champ for sure and some of the world cups, or maybe better clime some more 8C/+. You never know what’s better. I like comps too, but when you just compete and don’t climb outdoor, it’s not about climbing you know

Adam Ondra has made the FA of Taurus (9b) in Moravský kras and there is a video on his Insta. "HARD. Very bouldery route, first 9 moves are definitely 8C+ boulder problem, then 8b topout where I fell once due to numb fingers. Super glad to finish it off before the season was over."

More comments on his Insta where says that he has probably never spent so long time solving a boulder problem as he did at the start of Taurus. Interesting is that the crag closes 1/1 due to bird nesting. Adam also says that there are several harder lines at the crag which he will check out in 2022. In spite of having focused on the Olympics, in the end, he is yet again #1 in the 8a ranking game.