Antoine Kauffmann has made the FA of Le théâtre et son double 8c+ in Kronthal. It has been a project since 2007 but even so, Kauffmann only needed 4-5 tries over two days. Uncut video (c) Yann Corby, explains that one possible reason for this is that he found a new very good rest due to the use of a knee pad. The difficulty consists of a four moves 7C boulder going into the rest, followed by an 8c. Previously in 2021, Kauffmann has done The Big Island, for which he suggested 8B+, as well as Aloha 9a (+) in Kronthal. The next stop for him is Flatanger.

Hazel Findlay, one of the best female trad climbers in the world, has done Muy Caliente in Pembroke which she thinks is 8a+. At the same time, she calls it R/X meaning there is a big risk for a very bad fall that could even mean death. Originally the climb was graded E10 7a but later consensus has reached E9 6c, UKCreport.

In the UK, trad climbs are given an overall E-grade based on their difficulty and how dangerous they are to onsight. A very safe 7b+ climb can be graded E5, and so can a 6c with the potential for a lethal fall. An E9 can vary in difficulty from 7c to 8c+ based on how dangerous it is. In some cases, this has meant that due to the use of crash pads, downgrades have been suggested as some routes have become less dangerous.

About 15 years ago, I suggested that you should skip E-grades above E7 and replace them with the American trad grading system. This created a long debate but in the end, the UKC editor-in-chief agreed with my thoughts. For some reason, UKC and the climbing media has kept the E-grade tradition and reported that Muy Caliente is E9. In a follow-up interview on UKC, Hazel says that the American trad grading system is more informative.

"I often think that when it comes to harder routes, maybe E7 and above, using french grades plus the American system of PG, R/X and X is more informative compared to the UK trad grades. The technical grade in UK trad grades don't make sense to me and the single hardest move never really tells you that much about the rest of the route; there could be one of those moves or there could be 10 in a row. So using this system Muy Caliente would be 8a+ R/X."

Lisa Klem has repeated Christof Rauch’s Whiskey in the Jar 8A in Maltatal. The 16-year-old’s previous personal best was 7A+!

“I was very excited for this trip. I had only been to Fontainebleau a couple times before. I don’t climb outdoors very often because I’m a competitive climber. Because of the corona pandemic the last time I climbed outdoors was last summer.

Maltatal is located in a beautiful valley with a fantastic view. The temperatures are perfect for bouldering. At the top of the road it was about 30 degrees in the bus. As soon as you walked down and arrived at the boulders with a jacket it was 10 degrees. This was due tot the glacial stream that was next to the boulders, which provided colder conditions.

Actually I didn’t came to Maltatal to do a 8A at all. I never did higher than a 7A+ in one go before. On day 2 I did my first 7B in one go, on day 3 a 7B+ and the day after that my first 7C and on day 5 my first 8A. When I started on the 8A the crux felt impossible. Together with Tiba and Paul we searched for the beta for the crux. After trying all the moves I did the boulder in one go.

When I was little, 8a seemed tot be impossible. It was my biggest goal to achieve this. I worked hard for it and it paid of. ”

During the last 19 WC's and World Championships in which Janja Garnbret has participated, the 22-year-old Slovenian has won 15 events and been runner up three times. In total she has won 30 World Cups, out of which 13 in bouldering.

No other female have had such success in both disciplines. Jain Kim has also won 30 but all but one in Lead and third in the list is Angy Eiter win 25 Lead WC Victorias. Anna Stöhr and Akiyo Noguchi have won 22 and 21 World Cup wins respectively, and two World Championship wins and all of them have been doing World Cups for 12+ years.

It should be mentioned that Janja sometimes has chosen to not participate in all World Cups, both when she was younger and like last month in Salt Lake City, to not burn out.

Alex Garriga, who the last three months has done four 9a+' and four 9a's, has done yet another two 9a's; La Parada de los Monstruos and El Gran Bellanco both in Montanejos. The first one was set up by Ramon Julian Puigblanque in 2013 and has never been repeated and Alex comments, "With kneepads, I think it is an easy 9a. How Ramón did it is another level."

In the picture, El Gran Bellanco FA Petro Pons in 2003. "Very cool power-endurance route. I think 8c+/9a."

Vadim Timonov has done Nalle Hukkataival's The Finnish Line in Rocklands. "I tried it two years ago. I did it with rope but was too scared to climb it with pads. 1st session for this year 😉" (c) Juliet Lenova

How long do you plan to stay and do you have any specific plans?
I have a lot of high and hard boulders to do 😅. I’m here until the 26 of July.

Matt Fultz has repeated Daniel Woods’ Creature from the black lagoon 8C+ in RMNP. "It took 15-20 days spread out over 4 years. However, I discovered I was using pretty terrible beta, and after working out a different sequence I was able to send it in a couple more sessions. Creature is one of the most repeated 8C+s in the world, but in my opinion, it is definitely a step above all other 8Cs I’ve done, so the grade seems fair."

Amazingly, the 30-year-old did his first 8C just over two years ago and now he has done 17 and four 8C+, all during the last year. He is a superior #1 in the 8a ranking game and getting close to the highest score ever achieved. The 183 cm tall and 74 kg powerhouse has previously explained that nutrition is a major factor to his latest progress.