Almost all the best rock climbers have a wide grade pyramid, i.e. instead of just focusing on setting new grade PBs, they also enjoy climbing easier routes. In the long run, such an approach has shown to be the most successful in terms of long term improvement and making climbing your lifestyle.

Sure, quick progress is great, and in practice it is often quite productive to do some specific training and start a long term PB project. Lately, there are many great online coaches offering fast progress based on focusing on strength and endurance training. The dilemma is that such training focus could be counterproductive as your technical and tactical skill might not follow the same steep learning curve. Furthermore, if only focusing on progress, you might lose part of the climbing lifestyle where you also appreciate nature, friendship, travel, adrenaline etc.

One option for getting both sides could be to focus on creating a grade pyramid based on a multiplication *4 while you also follow a training regime. In other words, if your personal best is 7c+, make sure you have done four 7c+ and/or 16 7c's before starting to project an 8a. The good news is that such an approach is that your 8a project will be done much quicker, in comparison to if you just have a couple of 7c's in the bag.

Nico Pelorson reports on Insta that he has done the second ascent of Simon Lorenzi's Soudain Seul 9a in Fontainebleau. No grade comment by the 23-year-old who previously has done the second ascent of another 9A, No Kpote only giving it 8C as his personal grade. (c) Denis Si

Nico did The Big Island 8C, the stand start of Soudain Seul, in 2018 and has been working it from the sit during this winter. He has previously done more than a handful 9a's and previously commented to 8a, "I prefer route climbing but maybe I am a better boulderer."

Lucie Hrozová has done her second 8A+ in Petrohrad in just a week,
Ramínka v prázdný skříni, and this time it just took 40 min. It was put up by Rosta Stefanek and has been repeated a handful of times. " I was so surprised :D, I even had not tried or cleaned the upper part. I didn't plan to go to the top, but it is only hard first moves and since I did the start I was like okay, I will try to climb it to the top 😅."

The 14 times Ice WC medalist does not want to comment and says, "I also stop writing hard or soft because I really just don't want to think so much about grades and analyse that much ;) but for me personally obviously relatively easy."

Martina Demmel continues her rampage in Oliana by onsighting her first 8b+, Los Humildes pa casa. The almost 50 m classic was put up by Dani Andrada in 2004 as an 8c. All 43 individuals who have star marked the route have given it five stars. "No words for how much this means to me! Feels so crazy good when everything luckily works out perfectly during that only ONE chance:) especially on such a tufa kingline with tons of kneebars! The pump almost threw me off on the final slab... Thx Blondi for cheering me up to fulfil a little dream:)"

Then one hour later, the 19-year-old redpointed another Oliana 50 meter stunner, Joe Blau, on her third go. It was bolted by Joe Kinder, and none out of the 29 recorded ascents have marked it as soft. "Seems like once the sending train is rolling, it's not that easy to stop again;) This was literally one of the most unexpected sends ever by still being pumped from the onsight an hour before but therefore I had the right commitment and flow in my movements! Mostly about getting through the resistance lower half but mentally it just starts there and isn't over till you survived the top slab! 3rd try in total but the first real attempt from the ground after sticking the jump! What a surreal day!!!"

Martina, who started climbing in 2017, first appeared on 8a one year ago with the headline Amazing progress via onsight and outdoor focus. "In spring 2018, I had enough of these dusty gyms and since then I'm only climbing on rock. I only climb on rock, I don't do any other training for power or endurance. But I do a lot of stretching every day which helps me pretty much especially because I'm quite small (1,57m)."

During the last year, she has recorded 858 ascents in total out of which 70% onsight. Last year she was the first female in the 8a history who was #1 in a ranking game. Today, she is totally superior in the Top-50 onsight ranking game. Noteworthy is that the only other climber showing such an onsight focus on 8a is Adam Ondra in an interview in 2004 being 11-years-old.

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Bella Jariel, who earlier this winter has flashed her first 7C+, has done Collateral Impact 8A (+) in Gunks.(c) Jennie Jariel

"I first tried Collateral in January, but I didn’t start projecting it seriously until early this month. Although I figured out most of the moves early on, it took me four sessions to finally piece it all together. My first few attempts today felt terrible, and I couldn't even stick the crux move in isolation. Had one decent go from the bottom, so I decided to just go for it. By some miracle, I stuck the crux and found myself at the top."

Please say something about your climbing background?
I’ve been climbing for over 12 years, but I mostly focused on competitions. With COVID and having recently moved closer to outdoor areas, I’ve gotten the chance to find some projects on real rock.

Andrea Gennari Daneri from Pareti has shared the story how an access problem could be solved in Italy by defining crags as "adventure terrain". The background was that a landowner wanted to close the crag due to a recent accident. (c) Pareti - Annalisa Caggiati climbing in "Clandestino" sector, Fosso Dell'Eremo

"On March 2, 2021, a 68-year-old climber fell off one of the various crags of Fosso dell'Eremo area (Marche, Italy) due to an error in the abseiling operations after a solo ascent. Following this event, the owners of the area, also owners of the nearby quarry, have forbidden access to the crags indefinitely. Local climbers, anticipating the ordinance of the mayor of the town of Piobbico in whose municipality the best crags of the entire Marche region are located, have issued a request not to frequent the entire area until further notice. This is to demonstrate a sense of responsibility and a willingness to collaborate with the authorities in order to reopen all the crags, including that of Fosso. The climbers propose to arrive at a definition of all these crags as an adventure terrain on which neither the owners nor the local authorities can be called into argue in the event of an accident. In Italy, in recent months and from north to south, there has been a succession of closures of small minor climbing sites, usually located in private land. If the local climbers, led by the regional delegate Fasi Alessandro Angelini, succeed in this challenge, it will be a formidable precedent that could be imitated throughout the country, so as to avoid further closures. At the moment in Italy, unless for very few crags scattered in the country, there’s no regulation and even definition about their access and use."

Dave Graham reports on Insta that he has done First Ley 9a+ in Margalef. This high class route was put up by Chris Sharma and is an easier left exit to First Round First Minute 9b. (c) Andrew Pawlby

Did you find any new kneebars?
For my beta I only use one new kneebar that Jorge (Diaz-Rullo) found. But I cant really put it in the same way as Jorge so it was helpful but not enough hahaha.

Theres a very key hold that broke off in the crux which makes it definitely harder. It was the horizontal crimp you jumped too in all the famous photos. Its completely gone, now theres just a diagonal slopey edge. So there may be a new kneebar but we are missing a key hold haha!!!

"At the end of the sesh I did the last boulder of FR from the rest to the anchor feeling solid, so now I’m super motivated to go back give it some proper burns!! Felt great in La Capella and Furia de Jabali the past couple of days, the two other 9b’s I want to do, so finally feeling some momentum behind my climbing after what seems like a lot of months of trying really hard with very little progress 🙌🏻"

In a previous Insta post, the 39-year-old has stated that ten years ago he could not do any of the moves om FRFM. Dave did Action Directe as his first 9a in 2001 and since he has been one of the leading rock climbers in the world. Last year, he did his first-ever 9b, and in total he has done some 25 routes 9a and harder. He has also done some 20 8C boulders.

Max Bertone has done Mysterio 8B in Fontainebleau in just two sessions. In the video, we can see the 13-year-old's extreme hip flexibility, just as his sibling Oriane, while he does Le vent dans la plaine 8A on his second go.