Marco Müller, who previously has done all the six 9a's he has tried, has after some 15 sessions, done the second ascent of Sascha Lehmann's Schwarz Mönch in Gimmelwald, suggesting an upgrade to 9a+. On Insta he says, "This route felt significantly harder than any other 9a's I've climbed, which is why I think it might be 9a+."(c) Benjamin Weber

Could you please say something about the process of how you took it down?
I really enjoyed the process of trying this route. The first time I climbed the first part ("Renardo Rules" 8c), I came into the crux of the extension pretty pumped. After that, with each session, I was able to tweak my climbing and find some microbeta. Even though I fell at the same spot on almost every attempt, it felt better and better until it finally worked out.

Anastasia Sanders (USA), who got the gold in Lead in Youth B by topping out all four routes, won again in Boulder by being the only one to top out all four boulders in the final. Silver medalist, as also in Lead, was Meije Lerondel (FRA) who also was the only one to top out all boulders in the semifinal.

Among the boys, Nikolay Rusev (BUL) won the gold in Youth B by topping out the last boulder with a big jump directly from the zone. Soratu Anraku (JPN) was last out but did not get the zone until it was three seconds left and did not have time for a proper dyno. Rusev immediately made a high 5 with Anraku and then ran across the stage and started to climb on Boulder 1, in his sneakers, but was called down as he got the second last hold. run around and started climbing 1. Anastasia Sanders USA 44 - Nikolay Rusev BUL 34 (c) Leo Zhukov
2. Meije Lerondel FRA 34 - Sorato Anraku JPN 34
3. Sina Willy AUT 22 - Augustine Chi USA 23
Complete results

Tamas Zupan came to Sustenpass for the first time in 2015 and directly started to dream about flashing Sputnik 8B. Then during a very cold night session three weeks ago, magic happened. Video of Insta

"Each year I went out, looked at the boulder, and then determined that next year. Then, I had to stop for almost a year due to a back injury. It was hard to recover myself both physically and mentally. I was motivated and made a special, almost 1 year training plan to get stronger, including 6 months of climbing in 60 degrees overhang wall (where else) and campus, all with 17kg extra weight. I also paid attention for eating and stretching, which wasn’t really typical for me before. In this time I could avoid injuries and I was already in my top shape at the end of the vest period. I continued training and waited for the snow to melt in Sustenpass.

After a climbing day in Brione, I decided to go to check the boulder with my friend Tomi Agócs. It was around midnight. 4-5 celsius, all holds were dry, except for the top out, which was completely wet. After about 30 minutes of warming up, I was captured by the feeling that I had no chance of falling today. I could call it “flow”. (It was like when Yoda lifts the X-wing using force out of the swamp, or when Neo “starts to believing at last,” or when Thor gets Mjölnir back.)

Suddenly I felt like a superhero. Apparently, I wasn’t, but my brain believed my body. I sat under the boulder and simply climbed. The starting move, - which is one of the cruxes - went relatively statically, and I preferred to send the big cross move to prevent my feet from accidentally slipping down. After the cross move, the chalk had already soaked from my hand, a small step was broken, so I had to pull myself together to do the remaining 2 meters. It took me over 5 minutes… But it worked out!"

Jakob Schubert, who got the bronze in the Olympics, has flashed his third 8B+, Anam Cara in Silvretta. The Austrian was also super close to flash Memento 8B but touched the crash pad. Both problems were put up by Bernd Zangerl who originally thought they could be 8C+.

Hamish Macarthur from Great Britain, who some days ago, become the Boulder Youth Champion, won also in Lead. As he won the semi, he started last out and needed to Top in order to win on countback over Paul Jenft, who was #3 in Boulder. Third in Lead was Rei Kawamata, who was runner up in Boulder. Complete results

In two very tight Duel Speed finals, Mia Krampl and Stefano Ghisolfi won against Jessica Pilz and Michael Piccolruaz. The routes, different for males and females, were like 30 meters long and the fastest time was just over one minute. Full report and complete results.

Stefano Ghisolfi suggested a personal 9b+ grade for Bibliographie based on that it took him a similar time to do as his previous 9b+'. Measuring the invested time is the easiest way to suggest personal grades, as long as; Style, Conditions, Form and Beta for the climber are optimal.

The Time Comparison Grading diagram suggests that there is a one-grade difference for Onsight, Flash, 3rd go, 3 days and 15 days. On the other hand, going down in grades, the percentage of the subjective feeling in the muscular effort has been estimated. It should be underlined that all these numbers are just guesses made in order to show the principle of the Time Comparison Grading.

Adam Ondra comments on Insta, "After the Olympics, I am not very motivated to go to the competitions, but 🇮🇹 Arco @rockmasterfestival is not just a random contest."

Yesterday, he worked the boulders where they will compete on today on a redpoint KO formula where two, out of eight, will be eliminated after each round, where they have three attempts. On the third boulder, only one will be eliminated and then the Top-3 will compete for the victory on the final boulder. Ondra describes the boulders on his Insta.

In the Duel, two athletes compete on identical routes and the first one topping out the 25-meter route advances to the next round. Also here, the athletes have been practising the route. Ondra has won five times but Jakob Schubert got the victory the last time.

11.00 Female Bouldering KO
15.00 Male Bouldering KO
21.00 Duel for Female and Male
Live-streaming link

Laura Rogora (ITA), Giorgia Tesio (ITA), Molly Thompson (GBR), Vita Lukan (SLO), Mia Krampl (SLO), Fanny Gibert (FRA), Eliska Adamskova (CZE) and Jessica Pilz (AUT).

Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), Adam Ondra (CZE), Martin Stranik (CZE), Domen Skofic (SLO), Yannick Flohè (GER), Nicolai Uznik (AUT), Ludovico Fossali (ITA), Michael Piccolruaz (ITA).

Adam Ondra made the FA of Change in Flatanger as the world's first 9b+ after some 20 days project. The next year he finished bolting of Project hard, later renamed to Silence. It starts with a 20 meter 8b, followed by easier climbing separated with kneebars and three boulder problems graded 8C, 8B and 7C+.

Just for the famous 8C boulder where he goes feet first, he invested 70 hours during 5 trips in 2016-17. Add to that eight weeks of specific training including on an average three sessions a day. Furthermore, he did specific visualization mental training as well as was working intensively together with physiotherapist Klaus Isele. In the Flatanger basecamp, Team Ondra built a bouldering wall so he could warm up there and go directly to his project.

Stefano Ghisolfi has posted on Insta that while comparing Bibliographie in Céüse, he says his previous two 9b+' took similar time to take down so therefore, he thinks they are of the same 9b+ difficulty. In total, the Italian projected it for 25 days during three months. "In the end, I felt good on it from the beginning, found new beta for the crux (switching left and right hand compare to Alex), and new beta for the second crux." (c) Jan Novak