Dani Andrada reports on Insta that he has done yet another 25 FA's in Alquezar from 7b to 8c+/9a, Apego del Monje. In total, he spent 53 days in Alquezar. (c) Carlos "Citro" Lograño

The 46-year-old has previously done 75 routes 8c+/9a and harder which makes him #3 on that list after Adam Ondra and Alex Megos. In total, he has now done more than 4 500 routes 8a and harder and bolted more than 900 routes. However, when it comes to bolting and doing hard FAs, "La máquina" is totally superior in the world. In practice, the number one reason why the areas 1-3 hours west of Barcelona has become the hardcore epicentrum in the world is thanks to Andrada.

Thea Wulff, who did her first two 7C+' at age 13, has done her first 8A+, Euro Trash in Little Cottonwood. (c) Quinn Mason

Could you please say something about your climbing background and how you took it down?
I’ve been climbing for 9 years, but I mainly focus on indoor competition climbing (I’ll be competing at the Salt Lake City World Cups in a couple of weeks). I’ve been trying to get outside more often, but it’s hard to find the time with training. I just moved to Salt Lake City and Little Cottonwood Canyon is only 15 minutes away, so I wanted to check out Euro Roof. On my first session last weekend, I did the 7C+ start, and tried the 8A+ moves but was too tired to give a real effort. Natalia Grossman was working the 8B, so we decided to head back out yesterday, and both of us sent in under an hour! Until this climb, I hadn’t seriously tried any other 8A+ boulders, but now I’m more psyched than ever to get on some more hard outdoor blocs!

Jonathan Siegrist has repeated James Litz' Ace of Spades 9a+ in Poptire. Actually, Litz did not grade so the proposal came from Daniel Woods who did the first repeat and Jonathan agrees. (c) Matt Pincus

"I first came to this crag in 2017 and I had a really good trip, I climbed everything in the cave more or less but I just did not have the bouldering power to really imagine being able to try this route. My climbing has changed a lot in the last several years as I have gotten much more powerful (at least for my low standard!). So it was nice to come back and do this route in a couple of days.

As for James Litz, he is an incredible dark horse and has been a fixture for hard bouldering first ascents in the US for many years. These are his hardest routes, and in many ways his opus, or at least it would seem. I am not sure how much he climbs any more but he is one of those names that command respect from those who know who he is."

8a interview with James from 2018, talking about his possible 9b FA.

Jana Vincourková has had an amazing April after getting out from lockdown, doing three 8A+' and a flash of Red Hot Tortilas 8A. In the 8a ranking game, the 23-year-old Czech is #7. Here are her two latest videos showing her impressive ascents; video #8 and video #9.

"Finally after being locked in the town for three months, we finally could travel in April. In total, I spent eight days on the rocks already, yaay. We began around Brno where I managed to send 8A+ and 8A. Then we travelled for our first bouldering trip to Sněžník. We spent six days there. On the first climbing day, I was able to send 8A+ boulder “Nesplněný sen” which was a really good start of the trip for me. The next day I started another 8A+ boulder but wasn't able to send it that day, but I flashed an 8A that Lucie Hrozová had flashed a couple of weeks before. Two rest days later the conditions were so good and I managed to climb that boulder which I said was 8A+ named Ko-Fan.

So those five 8ish boulders I did during two weeks. All I can say is that the hard work during winter is paying off so far. Mainly hang-boarding on small crimps with weight and I also did some pull-ups on small crimps with weight and some maximal weight pull-ups on jugs. There I did a big improvement which helps me now a lot. We also twice a week did a Moonboard session.

Next I am going to try some harder boulders and see how it goes and hopefully I will send some 8B boulder again this year or even harder. The season has just started so we will see. :)"

Michiel Nieuwenhuijsen reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Le Pilier du Désert assis 8C in Fontainebleau after just four sessions, beside two sessions doing the 8A+ stand some years ago. The 34-year-old and 187 cm tall did six 8B+' last year and also his second 8C, The Story of two world's. (c) Bart Van Raaij

Interestingly, Manu Cornu who did the second ascent thought it was 8C+ but the third ascentionist, Nico Pelorson says he leans more towards 8B+ as it just took him three sessions. It should be noted that Nico has previously downgraded two 9A's.

Natalia Grossman, who was #3 in Meiringen, has done her 13th 8A+ the last year, Euro Trash in Little Cottonwood. In the 8a ranking game, including also four 8B's, the 19-year-old is #7. "Felt amazing to spend some time outside! Surprised myself with a 3rd go send and felt really close on euro roof sit!"(c) Sean Faulkner

How was your feeling in Meiringen understanding that you have taken yet another step?
After taking such a long time away from competitions I didn’t know what to expect. I had been training hard during the previous months before Meiringen and I felt strong, however, I definitely surprised myself with my results! It feels really good to have been able to perform well in all three rounds of the competition and I’m very excited for the rest of the season.

What goes through your mind during the finale and how do you handle the mental pressure?
During the final, I had no expectations and I simply enjoyed the moment. It wasn’t until the last climb when I realized that if I got the zone I would secure my spot on the podium. Knowing this information made me lose my focus a little bit, but I was able to recenter myself and find a top on the final boulder!

Mental pressure can be tough at time but learning to release any expectations I may be carrying has been very helpful. I’ve also found that if I remember to enjoy the moment, the mental pressure seems to float away and I am able to have fun and stay positive which allows me to try hard and perform to the best of my abilities.

Adam Ondra makes the FA of Yorkshire 8B/+ but fails doing The Edge problem. A few weeks later Martin Stranik did the FA (video) of possibly, "the hardest 8B+ in the Galaxy", according to Adam.

La Sportiva presents Hura (free) the short movie dedicated to the young climber of Egyptian origins. The difficulties, struggles and revenge of a Muslim girl who grew up far from home in search of herself. Wafaa was raised was by her grandparents together with her sisters, as her parents had already moved to Italy. At the age of 9, Wafaa joins her parents in the Bel Paese where she encounters and grows up in a totally different world from that of her childhood. She learns a new language, she approaches a different culture, more open to a woman of her age, and she knows climbing for the first time.

In fact, at 15, thanks to the generosity of the father of a friend of hers who pays her for her first course, she begins to practice this new sport, which in a short time becomes for her, a form of pure freedom. Hura, as they call her in Egypt.

For Wafaa, however, practicing sports is not as simple as for other peers: due to her origins and her religion, her father does not approve of certain influences of Western culture in her life and Wafaa is forced to go to the gym in secret to train.

At the age of 18, the scenario is to return to Egypt to continue her life there, as tradition dictates. For Wafaa it is now unthinkable to abandon the life she has built on her own up to that moment, to leave the gym, the holds, the companions who belay for her, the friends, and for this reason she decides to go and stay with friends in Finale Ligure, where she finds a new family, support and understanding. In the Finale area she manages to climb challenging pitches such as "Radical Chic" (first 8a Finalese in Montecucco) and the famous historic pitch "Hyaena", of well-known local Andrea Gallo, signing the second female ascent. In these years Wafaa consolidates her new roots in Liguria by moving to the social farm “Il Bandito e la Principessa”. Today, at the age of twenty-four, Wafaa continues her life in Finale Ligure, dividing herself between passion and work, freely, choosing who she wants to be every day. On top of that, Wafaa Amer joined the La Sportiva athletes’ team in 2019.

Here are the most interesting Speed news from the finals in the Euro Youth Championship that took place today.

1. Alberto Gines Lopez, who will compete in Tokyo, did 6.81.
2. Four golds to Russia and but western Europe is picking up.
3. Leander Carmanns (16) from Germany did 6.36.
4. Nikolay Rusev, who won in Boulder, was #2 with 7.37 training Speed only 2 hours a week.