Bertrand Martenet has sent us an interview with Alex Huber, in regards to chipping. Huber is one of the true climbing icons that put up some of the hardest routes in the world in the mid 90'ies. He was also an active spokesman questioning the first 9b and 9b+, for which we now know he was totally right. In 1994, he put up Weisse Rose as an 8c+ which now he considers being the first 9a+ in the world.

You have climbed and bolted some of the hardest routes of the 90's, including Om (2nd 9a), Open Air (1st 9a+) or Weiße Rose (9a/9a+). When you have opened new routes, have you ever chipped holds or used Sika to improve the route or change the difficulty?
All my first ascents are completely natural and in this I followed my conviction that this is essential for our sport. If a piece of rock is changed in any way, where would be the challenge? Manipulations of natural rock eliminate any sportive challenge! On the other side, I see the point that in certain cases reinforcement of holds in existing routes could make sense. In my route “Resistance” two crucial holds got re-inforced as they were endangered to brake off.

Many hard routes are often manufactured, with some chipped holds and/or glued. Sometimes holds are even created from scratch using Sika. Here are some famous manufactured routes: Dura Dura, First Round First Minute, La Capella, Move, La rage d’Adam and many others. What do you think of this trend?
I do not know all these modern high-end-areas, but I am convinced that it depends a lot on the nature of these areas. As I see areas like Margalef, Santa Linya and Oliana have generally superb rock, but not on the very overhanging zones where you find the super hard routes. The surface seems to have many loose flakes which would make these un-climbable without Sika. For me, these routes have no sportive value compared to all-natural routes.

Today it seems taboo to talk about chipped holds. If you ask an athlete if a route is natural or not, they often won’t answer. Why the silence?
I guess that nobody wants to confront the judgement of the climbing society. Silence is always a good way to bypass a crisis and with the next upcoming news, the crisis is surmounted…

Some route setters will reinforce existing holds with Sika. Do you agree with this practice?
To some certain extent, I agree with the reinforcement of holds in existent routes. An example is the above mentioned route “Resistance”. It seems that some of the world's top climbers create their own projects at the crags, like one would at an indoor climbing wall. For example, routes like Dura Dura or Hugh are almost entirely chipped, in almost blank walls, which would otherwise probably not have been climbable. What’s your take on this?
For me, these routes have no value as the first ascenionists didn´t take the challenge which offers the natural rock.

Today the hardest grade is 9c. Do you think this is in part due to manufacturing routes at a high level?
As I know “Silence” is full natural and therefor the development of high-end-routes does not depend on manipulation. It´s just very poor that some individuals do not practice the fair-play and leave the potential to coming generations.

Traditional climbing seems to be governed by fairly clear rules. For example, we don't put bolts in cracks and chipping seems totally forbidden. Why are the ethics in sport climbing not more precise?
The rules in sport climbing are simple and clear, but as there is no official control, some individuals make their own rules. But for me it is very clear: the personal freedom ends where it interferes the interest of others.

Do you think sponsors have any responsibility in this debate? Are sponsors pushing athletes for results (new routes or difficult routes) and indirectly at the expense of ethics?
It is wrong to search others who might be guilty of the creation of manipulated routes – it is always the invidiual climbers who decide not to follow the fair-play.

Roxane Durand has done her hardest yet, Spanish Caravane, a 50-meter test-piece in Verdon, giving it a personal 8b+ grade. Interestingly, the 36-year-old did her first 8b less than two years ago and now she has done 12 routes 8b and harder. Her grade pyramid is very wide and solid including also almost 400 onsights 7a to 7c+.

"My friends told me to go in this route cause it's a to-do route. It's soooo long, a real marathon, but it's my style, long and physical. The beginning I did quite quickly but I needed more time to find my betas in the crux in traverse. Finally, it took me only 6/7 days and 13 goes to get the route, and I didn't find any moves really hard, that's why I think it's not 8c but more 8b+. On the 12th go, I fell after all cruxes cause i didn't remember what to do! But the route is so funny and enjoyable that it wasn't a problem to make another try. Thanks a lot to Leo my belayer and support!"

How come you have done almost all your hardest routes 35+?
I never stop to progress. I moved to Nice 3 years ago and because of that, I climb much more outside than before. I had many injuries when I was climbing indoors but since I climb much outdoor it's way better.

Adam Ondra has presented some interesting thoughts in regards chipping. Here is part of what he says.

"Myself, I have changed from a purist to more pragmatist over the years. Having climbed in many areas and seeing the evolution of those crags, putting up quite a few routes myself, I care more about leaving nice and safe routes and using more “aggressive” ways of cleaning. Without this practice, some areas would not exist or they would simply be not nice to climb. Take for example Margalef, one of the most famous climbing areas. All the pockets are extremely sharp there and without filing down the edges of the pockets, most routes would be just incredibly painful. With the use of glue, it is very difficult to draw the line between reinforcing holds (avoiding existing holds to break) and creating hold. My rule is to use as little glue as possible. Rather just try to get rid of all possible loose holds and reinforce something only when it is necessary, especially when I do not manage to “hammer down” or “crowbar out” certain loose blocks, yet it still feels loose and dangerous. “Reinforcing” a flake that barely holds its own weight is already creating an artificial hold for me. Nevertheless, putting up new routes is a lot of work and we should embrace all the guys and girls working hard at the crags, putting up routes that we all can be entertained by. On the other hand, it is a very difficult ethical question to set clear guidelines on what is OK and what isn’t OK when you put up a route."

David Firnenburg and Stefan Scarperi have done Pornographie 9a in Céüse. Alex Megos did the FA last year, commenting on Insta. "The guy who bolted it named it "Pornographie" and I'd say it felt like 9a. I only gave it 4 tries so I wouldn't be surprised if repeaters find new holds and betas and it ends up at 8c+."

Only in 2021, it has had eight repeats and most did not use a knee pad as Megos did not use it during the FA. We asked Scarperi, in the picture, why he thinks it has become so popular and what about the grade?"
I think it got so popular because it's the only short route (15 meters) of this grade in Céüse! With kneepad, it's 8c+ because it helps a lot, without it's 9a I would say!"

Firnenburg: "The way I climbed it felt like soft 9a in comparison to the other 8c and 8c+ I did here. I am close on Le Cadre 9a which feels slightly harder."

Joshua Ibbertson, who did his first 8b+ at age 12, has done his second 9a, Northern Lights at Kilnsey, after some 20 sessions. The historical route was bolted by Ben Moon some 25 years ago and then Steve McClure got the FA in 2000. Previously, it has only been repeated by Adam Ondra, Alex Megos and William Bosi.

"I first got on it in June, right after I did progress (8c+). It’s the line directly to the right so was the obvious next choice. The route is super sustained, so I saw it as a great opportunity to work on my power endurance (which was definitely one of my weaknesses). Obviously with it having so much history added to the motivation! Especially belaying Ben (Moon) and watching him get so close.

I didn’t do any specific training for the route apart from training on the route itself. Some days I would be too tired, or conditions wouldn’t be good enough to redpoint, so I’d just focus on doing links and laps on sections, for training. I fell agonisingly close a few weeks ago, after my foot got stuck round the rope! To add to the frustration the route got soaked a couple of days later. I had to leave it for a while to let it dry. Yesterday, it finally dried enough to redpoint from the ground. I was really happy with how the send go went I felt in control and relaxed meaning I could enjoy the climbing. I even surprised myself by shaking out on what was previously one of the crux moves for me!"

What is your next plan?
Go surfing for a few days. Then I need to get back to training. One of the things I really want to do next is try and find/bolt some routes of my own.

The route setting in the Youth World Championship in Voronezh, Russia, was excellent, at least from a difficult point of view. There were very few ties in the finals, almost all boulders, as well as most routes, were topped at the same time as very few climbers did score zero zones. The number of routes set must have been at least four times as many as were set in the Tokyo Olympics, where we saw several big mistakes in Bouldering. The main reason for this has probably to do that the route setters in Russia were as strong as the competitors and also that there was a female route setter. (c) Leo Zhukov

Gabriele Moroni has done Der heilige Gral 9a in Frankenjura. The Italian is a former successful competition climber who got the bronze in the Euro Boulder Championship in 2004 at age 16 and then he stopped competing in 2018 when he also won his first World Cup. Gabri is also a Frankenjura expert having previously done six 9a's and one 9a+ there.

How come you have developed into being a Frankenjura expert?
I spent a lot of time in the Frankenjura in the past that I got to know many of the crags and harder routes. This was my first trip after some years of absence and now I am very psyched to spend more time there again. It was a last-minute decision to spend the holidays in Germany. Once I got to the FJ I realized the route was pretty dry so I immediately started trying it. During our 10 day stay, we had the typical Franconian weather with several rainy days. But eventually, the route stayed more or less dry and I could finish it on probably the last 2 days window of decent weather!

You’re an olympic champion, how do you feel? (c) Lena Drapella
I'm very happy, still trying to assimilate it a bit better. We were all dreaming about the possibility of winning a gold medal when we thought about Tokyo but, honestly, I didn't see it possible at all. We came with the illusion and the objective of getting into the final. And once there, the goal was to enjoy ourselves. I don't really know how to explain the result. I think the key was that I knew how to manage the mental part well. I didn't think so much about the result or what I had to do to win, but I focused on climbing and doing my best.

How did you experience the last test of the final, the lead final?
When I finished my turn, I saw that 38+ put me first. I started to calculate to see what had to happen to win the gold, but when Jakob Schubert managed to overtake Adam Ondra, I didn't want to celebrate too much in case I had made a mistake in my calculations, I didn't want to celebrate anything too early. When I saw that it was gold, I was very happy. We are friends with Jakob, the Austrian climber, and it was very nice. It was an honour to compete against him, against Ondra and against all the climbers in the event. Just a few years ago I was watching videos and dreaming of being like them, they are legends of climbing.

Who did you think of when you saw that you won the gold?
In my family, who have always been cheering me on and supporting me, covering thousands of kilometres. And my coach, David Macià. We are a team, I couldn't do anything without him. He is 50% to blame for what we have done. I've been training with him since I was 11 years old and we understand each other very well.

Do you think this gold will help climbing to grow?
I think the fact that it is on the Olympic programme will help the community to grow a lot. It has been growing over the years and it is a very visual, very attractive sport that can get people excited. In terms of competition, what I and the rest of the guys on the Spanish national team need is a private facility so that we can work in peace and do our own training sessions and not depend on a commercial gym, where we train with clients who don't compete. It is complicated to prepare for competitions like this. Before the Games we had to go to Austria to train, for example.

Why do you like climbing?
I like climbing because it's what I've been doing since I was a little boy and, in the end, it's part of my life. Besides, I really like competing, that feeling of nerves and tension of only having one attempt and not being able to fail and the good atmosphere we have among all the climbers.