Martin Stráník has done his 13th 8C, Double Back-Flip in Bahratal and here is the video. It was put up in 2012 by M. Scholz as an 8C/+ and Stranik made the second ascent. "I needed just two sessions to complete boulder, great power endurance climbing on beautiful sandstone! Soft 8C in my opinion."

Stranik got the silver in the Boulder World Championship in 2007 but actually, 2021 has been his best competition year since he started to focus on Lead some years ago. In the overall World Cup, he was #6 after having been on the podium twice.

How come you think you are in such good shape? Could it also relate to the new perspective of being a father?
For sure it is because of preparations for this year's World Cups, training went well, I felt fit and confident and have had a good season. Spending time with the twins are really great and mind-clearing. Then I am even more motivated to climb and train hard. They are 16 months now, soon my climbing partners.

How come you have switched to Lead in comps but still focus on Boulders outdoors?
I am basically a boulderer but in last years I found that nowadays power endurance lead routes on comps fit me well and I really enjoy trying hard on them. I am a power-based climber and what lead routes are about and not about parkour moves and hard slabs, what is hard to train for me.

Camilla Bendazzoli has done her third 8c, Mr Teroldego in Arco. "As regards the process the route felt good in the first part, the hardest in my opinion, since the very first tries, but there is a second crux in the upper part which is trickier, mostly because success depends on the conditions of the day. In my case, on Saturday there were excellent weather conditions and I was able to stick the move and reach the top. It was a really lovely day spent with friends :)" (c) Georgia Tesio

Climbing has the full interview where Anna Hazelnutt says, "I think the route was actually relatively safe." Impressively, Anna started to trad climb in 2021 and this was her first ever hard trad route. The videos is excellent and it sure does look scary. Actually, twice her placed gear falls out!

It says 5.13a/b R (7c+/8a R=dangerous) in the Youtube presentation which is strange as it previously has been considered 8a/+. Furthermore, the R added after the grade should mean that you probably will seriously injure yourself if you fall in the wrong place. In practice, a "relatively safe" 8a/+ does not convert to UK E9 grade which only a handful of females previously have reached. The UK grading system is based on a combination of how hard and dangerous it is to onsight trad routes.

Darius Rapa, who won the Imst Euro Youth in Lead and got the bronze in the Euro Championship in Boulder this summer, has done Black Cobra (2) 9a in Herculane. Adam Ondra put it up in 2018 and interestingly the 15-year-old had 8b+ as his previous best and only needed five tries to take it down. (c) George Stroie

"This weekend I went to Băile Herculane and I thought it is time to try hard so I did🤌🏿. I had no expectations for a top this weekend but the conditions were perfect with an amazing grip on the wall and I knew that if I would not do it now, I would have to wait. The route was done in the 5th attempt and I’m glad to be the first Romanian to do a 9a🇷🇴 and also get the 4th ascent of Ondra's route. Maybe it is 8c+ like Adam said."

How come you have not done any 8c's or 8c+' before?
Because my coach, Robert Cohn always told me to do grades on fewer tries and I didn't quite try 8c's. He told me that I should go on a lot of 8b's and 8b+' so I gain rock experience.

How many sessions do you train per week and for how many years have you done so?
In the last couple of months, I trained 3 hrs per session 5-6 days a week. During the last month, I have climbed outdoors every weekend. This summer I have been training a lot also in Innsbruck before and after different comps.

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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