Stefano Folgarait, who previously has done four 8c+ to 9a FAs, has done the FA of I giochi della mente 9a in Potrich after trying it for some 25 sessions.

"A route, practically perfect with beautiful sequences and a great variation of holds. One of my best FAs. I bolted this route about five years ago at a crag near my home and at the first time I wasn't even sure it was possible at all, so I never tried it again. Then this year with the stop to travel for covid-19 I started to try it again. The ascent was really unexpected. I couldn't believe it when I for the first time passed the crux."

Could you please say something about the Potrich crag and how many crags and routes in total you have bolted?
Potrich is divided into five sectors and for now there are about 50 routes in total. All the crags I bolted are located in Terragnolo valley (40 minutes from Arco) and for now, the only crag I have published is Al Castello. The other crags are not yet public because they are not finished. In total, I have bolted and made about 100 FA routes from 7a to 9a.

So how come you have focused on doing FAs instead of not repeating hard lines in nearby Arco?
Because in my opinion is more gratifying to make something new. I think I was very lucky to have so many virgin rocks near home. But I also like to try other people's route. I have some project in Arco.

Martina Demmel, who started climbing in 2017, is about to set another new standard for fast progress by sending Joe-Cita 9a in Oliana. The 50-meter test piece, with some 130 moves, was put up by Adam Ondra and it is a link-up of Joe Blau 8c+ and La Morenita 8c+. (c) Julia Cassou

"Still struggling to find the right words to describe what this means to me especially when you haven't even started to dream about it because it felt soo far away! What a crazy too perfect to be true dream;) 5 more tries after the straight lines to clip the chains of this combi beast with the help of low expectations, prime conditions and most important the very best crew around! Muchas gracias y'all for sharing this special moment:) more Infos on my Insta!”.

Amazingly, the 19-year-old began climbing only four years ago and during the last three years, she has almost only climbed outdoors with a focus on onsight and fast sends. Her indoor climbing during the last six months has basically been limited to some competition-style bouldering sessions with the German national team. Otherwise, almost no indoor training, hang boarding or other physical training. Her only physical exercise except for climbing is quick stretching.

During the last three weeks, the 157-cm-tall has done 20 routes 7c+ to 9a, out of which ten onsight. Based on the Top-50 hardest onsights during the last year, she is #1 in the world including all male.

So how are you challenged by being 157 cm tall?
Mostly by having to be a little bit extra creative by finding my own betas or not losing the patience if it's not working directly with the obvious beta😉 but that's the cool thing in climbing that some other sections might feel easier for me when there are lots of footholds to choose from and therefor looking at whole routes it doesn't make a big difference how tall you're because it gets balanced by itself🙈🙃 still there are morpho moves sometimes but most of the time it's still possible the find a solution even if it's way harder but being to do the move, in the end, is even more satisfying no matter what grade you get for it😊

How come you avoid physical training etc.?
Physical training, just like repeating the same exercises, seems to be pretty boring. Maybe the physical progress by just climbing is slower but it is way more fun. Regarding hang- and campus boarding and stuff like this I am pretty happy that my fingers are rather stronger so I do not need it. Stretching is the only thing I do but just a few minutes and like five seconds in each position. Just climbing, also helps to not expect too much because you don't think you have trained so much so, "now you have to be strong". Instead, you can climb more relaxed and free at the wall, I would say. Maybe in the future, I want to push my limits more and also start doing physical training.

Nick Bradley, who previously has done four 8B+', has sent his first 8C, Paint it black in RMNP. "Best boulder I’ve done in Colorado so far. Such a cool line." (c) Michael Montella

Could you please say something about your climbing background and the process taking it down?
8C is a grade that I’ve dreamed of climbing since I was a little kid. I never actually thought it would happen though because I only really sport climbed when I was younger since that was the only discipline that I did well in youth competitions. It was only after I aged out of youth (about 6 years ago) that I started focusing exclusively on bouldering. I had a few years of very slow progress, but eventually I started feeling stronger and was able to do my first 8B+ in 2019.

This past winter season I had decided to put my full effort into the hardest climb I’ve ever tried, The Game (8C), and I surprised myself by making big links over the course of 3 months. Unfortunately I just couldn’t quite put it together before conditions were too warm, but the silver lining was that trying something that hard for so long got me really fit. I had tried Paint it Black a few days in 2020 and had done all the moves but wasn’t really close. This year, I felt significantly stronger on it and was able to do all of the moves very consistently. The day I sent, I barely needed to warm up, and I had this feeling that I’d just do it, so I set up video on my phone, and did it first try of the day.

In 2021, males seem to have continued climbing hard all around the globe. Meanwhile, there has been a decline in female headlines in the media, as well as hard ascents in the 8a database. Possibly, this relates to girls not having picked up traveling as much in 2021. This is also confirmed by there being just 79 females in the Meiringen starting list while there are 115 males.

Alex Megos reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Hello Kitty 9a+ in Frankenjura which is a link-up between Pantera and Black Label. Next weekend, Megos will compete in Meiringen so now he is doing some comp simulations. There is also a new video out of his FA of Et pour quelques dégaines de plus 9a+ à St Léger, he did last month.

There are 115 males and 79 females on the starting list of the Meiringen Boulder World Cup in the coming weekend. Some big names that are missing are Tomoa Narasaki, Kai Harada and Futaba Ito from Japan, Jongwon Chon and Chaeyo Seo from Korea, Sean McColl from Canada and Shauna Coxsey from UK. On Insta, Coxsey comments why she will not travel to Switzerland.

"I have made the decision not to attend due to the uncertainty surrounding travel. Under the current guidelines when travelling from the UK to Switzerland you must quarantine for 10 days...".

Even so, there are five females and five males from Great Britain who plan to compete in Meiringen. We asked Molly Thompson-Smith for some comments. "There’s a potential for 10 days of quarantining upon return to the U.K. It’s possible to pay for extra testing and leave after 5days with proof of a negative test. I’m not entirely sure about going as it’s not my primary discipline or focus for the year & will be very very expensive for me to attend. We need 4-5 Covid tests which are expensive on their own, plus there is of course a potential risk of contracting the virus and having to isolate in Switzerland, or not even getting there in the first place! GB Climbing are doing everything they can to support us athletes in getting there and back safely but it’s down to each athlete and whether the cost/risk is worth it as the team (apart from Shauna as she’s on a programme for Tokyo) is self-funded."

Karoline Sinnhuber has done her tenth 8A+ just during the last 12 months, Steinschlaggefahr in Zillertal. "This boulder was put up by Chris Rauch a year ago as an 8A. Then a foothold broke (due to not so solid rock) and Flo Schmalzl reclimbed it as an 8A+. Nice crimpy roof with a little jump to the lip, where it's hard to catch the swing. The name arose due to the big rockfall a few weeks ago in the Zillertal." (c) Fabian Leu

What is next?
Well, I‘ll concentrate again on the Nihilist Sit 8B+ and also some other side projects. When it gets too hot I worry that I have to switch to sport climbing again 😩

Alex Garriga has done his second 9a+ in Cuenca during the last week, Following the Leader. "Pure violent intensity. Randomly climbed with one of the bolters (José Rodríguez) with the Grigri.

The route consists of around 23 moves of power endurance. Most of the holds are two fingers and crimps. Then something around 8b to the top. I was very close in October but due to an injury and Covid, I couldn't finish the work. These days I returned doing it earlier than expected."

During the last 12 months, the 23-year-old has done 19 routes 8c to 9a+ FAs and he is #6 in the 8a ranking game. Alex says that there are many old forgotten routes in Cuenca which he has cleaned and sometimes added a bolt to before doing the FA. Still many open projects exist. The reason for him to do so many of them is both Covid travel restrictions but also because he simply like doing all routes he can. "I'm going to start bolting some routes now."

William Bosi has posted a video of his FA of Furia de Jabali in Siurana. Here is his scorecard comments. "My First FA! super fun route bolted by Beto Rocasolano which climbs the line of bolts to the right of jungle speed before joining jungle speed for the top. although its not quite as steep as La Capella the holds are far smaller and i think its definitly as hard!"