Ryuichi Murai has done the FA of Nexus in Shiobara, which he started to project in 2016. The 27-year-old has previously done two 8C's there and Nexus is a new link-up of two 8B+'. In an Insta video, from last week, he fell after being on the roof in 1.45 min including doing a 360 move. "Nexus is composed of nearly 40 moves, and I clearly memorized all the moves, such as the feeling of stepping on a small edge and the height of the centre of gravity." (c) Momoka Oda

Have you done any specific training before sending?
I have no special training for the project. As training, I practised each part repeatedly until my body moved smoothly. In practice, I climbed UMA(V14) countless times until I felt no load. Visual mental image training was also very important for smooth movement.

Last summer 2020, by bike and in only two weeks, Belgian climbers Nico Favresse and Seb Berthe climbed the famous Alpine Trilogy (composed of three historical 8b+ multi-pitch routes: Huber’s End of Silence, Des Kaisers neue Kleider established by Stefan Glowacz in the Wilder Kaiser massif in Austria and Silbergeier in Switzerland's Rätikon put up by Beat Kammerlander). To add some more spices to the adventure, they brought... their dogs, Koux and Bintche!

Eva Hammelmüller, who did Underground 8c+/9a in Arco in May, has done Aerodromo 8c in Terra Promessa. "Arco is always great for a weekend climbing trip, as it is not far from where I live and there are many hard routes. Plus, it feels kind of like a holiday ;). I‘ve already tried the route ‘Aerodromo’ two years ago and it felt pretty impossible; thus, I really wanted to go to Terra Promessa and try to finish it off, and I am very happy that it worked out so well! On the next day, I also climbed ‘Projekt Tribout’ (8b) and ‘Lo Hobbit’ (8a/+). Next week I’ll be off on a rock climbing trip in Turkey with the Austrian Team! Looking very much forward to it!"

Michiel Nieuwenhuijsen has done his third 8C in 2021, Dreamtime in Cresciano. Interesting is that although doing his first 8B+ in 2013, in the last three years the 187 cm tall and 34-years-old has been on steady progress.

"This one was a bit longer in the making. Lets be honest, who doesn't dream of dreamtime? I was thinking of Dreamtime for years. But finger injuries, snow and rain kept me from really trying it. With Newyear, it got serious and I went for it. Did it in 2 parts, but was doubting my beta for the crux (the long move) a lot. Did it with the heel with the new year, but was never happy with the small/sharp edge. Now I came back and with some micro changes was comfortable with the jump. That motivated a lot. Still needed 3 sessions this trip to get it down. So good, so classic. Just Dreamtime."

How can you explain your great continuous progress over the last three years? It kinda feels like I am getting a little better every year. But it is hard to say. I think that it helps that I focussed a bit more on the hard lines this year. Taking extra rest days (one day on one day off) and trying less easy lines. What also helps, is that we have a nice little hardcore group in my home gym (Tim Reuser and Don van Laere), and we go HARD together. Always on the spray wall thinking of harder and harder problems.

Possibly you are close on your project or plan to go on a trip within some weeks? How should you prepare yourself to be in your best shape? In general, the best piece of advice is to just reduce your training volume a bit and make sure you do not get pumped during your sessions. Focus on quality and instead of pushing hard in your sessions, work on your technical skill and take longer rests also during the sessions.

On the other hand, you can train your maximum power on the campus board pretty intense so your muscle fibres are fully recruited. However, just do a couple of moves each time and do not make long-dead hangs. It should be mentioned that campus sessions should only be done by adult experts that have been climbing for many years. For most, actually, the most productive training in the short run is to work on your flexibility for some sessions or why not just go for some yoga classes.

Taking some breaks from climbing and doing other things will get you more eager to climb and your muscles will be at their prime. Furthermore, make sure you eat and sleep well and you will feel like an athlete preparing for the Olympics. Then it is time to deliver :)

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Alexander Rohr reports on Insta that he has done Pirmin Bertle's Meiose in Charmey which originally was graded 9b. As previously Alex Megos has said, Rohr thinks that what Bertle did was a 9a+ elimination. (c) Jan Virt

"Well, I did it in more or less two sessions. On day one I was focused on giving some beta for Alex to give his flash try on Chromosome Y. So I climbed on that one a lot and later I put in the draws on Meiose. We then returned for that one the next day and he sent and I blew the last move into the mono. I spent one week in France for some climbing and returned for Meiose. I put in the draws and sent it the next try. We both did the exact same beta which is probably 9a. The one Pirmin used is good, but not logical, as my opinion is that a route should be graded based on the easiest method and not some made up cruxes."

It should be mentioned that when Adam Ondra did the first repeat he called it a "Low end 9a+" after having done it on his third go. This was in 2018 and then Pirmin responded on his blog, "I clearly refuse a downgrading of Meiose. Using it as a 9a+ reference for Switzerland would mean to block the way further up for almost every actual 9a climber of the country."

Vita Lukan has during a two weeks trip to Rodellar done 17 routes 8a and harder out of which eleven onsight or flash. Her hardest were Cascavel 8c/+, Welcome to Tijuana 8c and Florida 8c. During the first week, the Slovenian onsighted one 8b+ and one 8b. In the 8a ranking game, she is #3 and actually, only her sends the last two weeks would have put her as #4.

How was the last week?
In the last few days, I was mostly working on my project Cascavel 8c/+. It is located in the same sector as Geminis but it is a little shorter with some powerful moves. It took me 4 days and 11 tries to connect it from the bottom which made it my longest project so far. Although my main goal was to top this route I was still climbing other routes in different sectors. Welcome to Tijuana was on my wish list since we have arrived and it was a pleasure to climb such a legendary route.

I would like to mention that Welcome to Tijuana was a team ascent - also Mia Krampl and Domen Škofic sent it!

Attila Zsombor Radics, #4 in the Combined Youth World Championship, has done his first 8B+, Non Plus Ultra (low), after six sessions. "After a semi-successful competition season, I was ready to jump back on the rocks and have a good time in nature. I needed to find a new project and I happily set my eyes on this one. This boulder has a pretty technical and unique style. I had to acquire how to toe- and fingerjam properly in the roof and how to accept the failures throughout the process. I think I had had the decent power from the beginning but I didn't have the proper technique and it took me quite a while to figure out the best beta of every move. Finally, after a long and tiring school day, I could get to the crag and managed to climb this project and not just the feeling was 'non plus ultra'."

What are your winter plans?
Climb as much as I can and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to climb around Europe as well and of course to find a new project 😉