Which are the most impressive ascents in the history of climbing? Here is my preliminary list. Only one ascent per climber? (Originally the "groundbreaking" was used instead of impressive.

1. Erebor 9b/+ Laura Rogora 2021
2. FA Silence 9c Adam Ondra 2017
3. La Planta de Shiva 9b Angela Eiter 2017
4. FA Meltdown 8c+ trad Beth Rodden 2008
5. FA Action Direct Wolfgang Gullich 1991

6. Bain de Sang 9a Josune Bereziartu 2002
7. Lucifer 8c+ Ashima Shiraishi (11) 2012
8. FA Es Pontas 9b DWS Chris Sharma 2008
9. OS Estado Critico 9a Alex Megos 2013
10. FA Hubble 9a (8c+) Ben Moon 1990, OS Le roi du pétrole 8c Charlotte Durif 2010, FA Open Air 9a+ by Alex Huber in 1996, La Rambla 9a+ Margo Hayes 2017

Big walls are not included but if so the FA of The Nose 8b+ by Lynn Hill in 1993, should be #1 and possibly #2, Magic Mushroom 8b+ by Babsi Zangerl in 2017. Also, the FA of The Dawn Wall 9a by Caldwell/Jorgeson in 2015 would have qualified to Top-10.

"My name is Staša Gejo, I am 23 years old, 175 cm tall, and I have won medals at the World level competitions when I weighed 67 kg, 57 kg, 62 kg, 65 kg, 69 kg and 67 kg again. I had lost 10 kg in my teenage years, making me lose my periods, get prone to injuries and fall down this deep hole of never-ending starving, which luckily came to an end in 2017. I won all the possible titles in the Junior category by eating 1200 kcal, running 4 times a week and climb 5 times a week, all while attending a difficult high school programme IB (International Baccalaureate). Didn’t last long until I burned out.

Mom and Dad took me to a nutritionist, a very respected doctor in the Serbian sports scene, dr. Marija Andjelković, who helped me rearrange my food intake, start eating more, and train harder. After a few years, I now have 50% muscle mass, 13% fat and a BMI of 22.2. I feel healthy, strong and confident.

I am pretty sure we all know that feeling when you are aware of all the scientific facts and experience with weight loss, you know exactly what the correct way to go is, just that the only little thing that is missing is your belief that it will work at all. We have all been there: googling the fastest or easiest way to lose weight, not even bothering to check sport science books on it, cutting carbs, sweets, following trendy diets, what not, only to achieve unsatisfying goals. This is the point where some people give up, some people stay consistent or find a normal long term diet, but some go all in – starving mode.

This is a form of punishment too, you ate 'so much' until now, well no meals deserved. I took out eating dinners and drastically reduced my caloric intake to 1200 kcal. Later I found out that pretty much everybody who was abnormally skinny did the same. Some big names too. What happens after half a year is 10 kilograms deficit, much lighter and very enjoyable climbing. After a year, fatigue happens, cuts and burns from volumes stop healing, the hormonal response in females shuts down followed by an absence of periods, shoulder injuries become more frequent… your body basically enters survival mode and cuts down all the other functions. Even climbing becomes hard, it becomes impossible to energetically follow up all the demands of the training. Besides, you are dizzy all the time and obviously hungry. But you lose the desire to eat anymore, you don't know what would even make you satisfied. So the circle goes on.

If such a trapped person has good family support, caring friends, and specialist doctors to help, this can be solved. Very easily. The person just needs to be convinced that any deepening of such habits may lead to death. At some point, at least. Such a shape is usually not sustainable. It may last for two years, but then something breaks – the psyche or the body, literally."

Joshua Ibbertson, who made his first 8a headlines at age 10 doing two 8a's, has done Batman 9a/+ at Malham. The was the 17-year-old's third 9a and harder and all of them with Steve McClure as the FA. (c) Marsha Balaeva

"Batman is hands down one of the coolest routes I’ve ever done. The sequence is just awesome. There are lots of deep drop knees and interesting body positions. I was inspired to try this route after I did Rainshadow last year. I got pretty close in the spring when I got on it after lockdown, but in the end it got too hot. I realised that I needed to work on my power endurance so that I would have enough left in the tank for the final boulder problem. So during the Summer, I got on lots of routes that would help with this.

Getting back on the route a few weeks ago I felt I’d made massive progress, especially my power-endurance. I was able to consistently have good burns into the crux. The send go was a really great experience, everything came together nicely. The route flowed well; the conditions were good. It ended up being much less of a fight than I expected. The crux, where I’d been spat of lots of times before felt so different! After I’d got through that it was just a matter of staying relaxed on the headwall. By comparison, the climbing is not as hard, but it’s still droppable if you lose concentration or are pumped out of your mind! This season has been so much fun, climbing with family and friends …trying hard, sharing beta, cheering each other on, having the crag banter…for me that’s it’s what it’s all about."

Molly Thompson-Smith has done her third 8B in 2021, Steppenwolf in Magic Wood. Interestingly, all her 8B's she has done on her second session. Video on her Insta, where she comments. "Unfortunately I hurt my pulley on this go so that could be the end of my climbing here🥲"

On which hold did you get that pulley injury and how were you able to continue?
I think it was after I matched the second hold… I caught the third one really badly on that try but somehow stayed on. Then there was a lot of intense full crimping afterwards.

Laura Rogora reports on Insta that she has done the first repeat of Stefano Ghisolfi's Erebor 9b/+ in Arco. Ghisolfi comments, "I just want to tell you that Bibliographie is not so much tougher. If you haven't booked your 2022 holidays yet take it as a suggestion 🙂. " (c) Overchalked

As it stands, only six male climbers have done routes harder than 9b/+. The 20-year-old Italian, who is only 1.52cm tall, had previously done 19 routes graded 8c+/9a to 9b, which is significantly more than any other female climber. She did her first 9a at age 14, and since then she has won 15 IFSC events including two World Cups.

Alex Megos, who the last week flashed his second 9a, reports on Insta that he has flashed Chromosome Y 8c+ (9a) in Charmery. The beta he got from Alexander Rohr. "I do agree though with most repeaters and I also think it's rather 8c+."

Later he tried Pirmin Bertle's harder version, Meiose giving a personal 9a grade. In total. the German has now done 101 routes 8c+/9a and harder which is second-most in the world after Adam Ondra. "The way @pirminbertle climbed it, it is 9a+. That's not the way it makes sense to me though as it eliminates some holds that are totally in reach and in the line too."

So what about calling Bertle's version Meiose eliminate 9a+?
Yeah maybe. It just isn't very clear what's allowed to grab and what's not. I know the way I climbed it is easier than what Pirmin did but I could still clip all the bolts and I was always in reach of the line of bolts.

Kajtek Pawelec skips 8c+ and does The Essential in Frankenjura as his first 9a. "Once I passed the third clip I managed to send the route. The main crux was the thumb-gaston section, in the beginning, fingery face wall part suited my style really well. 9 days, super happy ☺️"


How was the process taking it down and what about skipping then 8c+ grade?

I was just curious how 9a would feel like. I found this route attractive as also one that seemed to suit my style really well. It turned out that fingery crux was indeed quite manageable for me. An interesting thing is that the upper part after the third clip was supposed to be the crux. For me the beginning was and after I passed this I sent the route.

How come you are so strong on fingery cruxes?
Well, I always found myself strong on small holds. Besides that, I got into hangboarding in recent years what was more like improving my strengths instead of reducing week spots. Sometimes finding a suitable project and improving in strong areas can be more beneficial than focusing on your weaknesses. Training is a crazy complex process that I found not only on myself but also with people I’m working with as a coach.

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During the Swedish Female Youth A Bouldering Championship, nine out of the 15 competitors did score zero zones in the qualification. Some of the girls that did not score any zones had travelled 760 km. Imagine how much more fun it would have been for most of the young girls competing, as well as reporting their results to their parents, relatives and friends, if the boulders had included two zones.

It is almost an impossible task for the route setters to challenge the very best as well as the not so strong with just one top and one zone. We did see this problem during the Olympics and it happens often in the WCs as well as in the WCHs. Sure this is a hard fact for the not so strong but it can also be a big negative for the spectators.

However, the biggest problem with having only one zone is the youth competitions. The experience of understanding that the zone is out of reach and then having to explain the zero zones in the result list must create anxiety for the kids. This goes against everything when it comes to kids competitions which should be about being challenged and having fun with friends instead of facing zero zones.

It should be mentioned that when it comes to the finals during the Swedish Championships, none of the six girls did top any boulders! Two zones will obviously not solve the dilemma that it is very common that the route setters make the boulders too hard, no matter if it is the Olympics, the World Cups, the National championships or a local comp in the gym.