Kim Marschner has done his fourth 8C, Roadkill in Valle Bavona. He just needed five sessions and actually, all his hardest ascents including his 9a, he has done rather quickly. The 23-year-old German has been focusing on comps since 2015 but only once made it a semi in the World Cup. In the first German selection comp 2021, the 167 cm tall won. (c) Vladek Zumr

"I guess on rocks my size doesn’t affect me that much. I‘m pretty small and at the comps, this is sometimes a disadvantage. On rocks, I just don’t climb the morpho boulders. But I feel like this season I‘m also pretty strong on comp boulders so let’s see how the season goes."

How much and how have you been training during Covid-19? What is next?
A lot. Nearly every day and two sessions a day two times a week. I‘m in the national team and my parents own two bouldering gyms so I can train whenever I want to.

What is next you seem to be in great shape? Next is the second selection comp in two weeks and then back to Ticino I think. Or maybe if we can open our gym I have to work. Don‘t know yet. Maybe not stronger than last year on rocks but in the gym for sure stronger.

Loic Zehani has done his second hardest route ever, Les affranchis 9a+/b in Orgon. The 19-year-old has previously done 27 routes 9a to 9b, out of which 15 FAs. (c) Julia Cassou

"It is effectively a connection between "Sachidananda" (9a+) and "Bronx" (8c+). I added a bolt in between the two to see if it went naturally (otherwise I would have taken it out because they are mythical routes and I especially did not want to modify them). Luckily it goes with a very hard crossing section (about 8A boulder over 3 movements).

To schematize: 6-moves 8a, then a 7C + boulder approximately followed by an 8A boulder to arrive in "Bronx". This gives 20 movements in 9a/a + followed by 18 moves, 8b+ in "Bronx"."

Jonathan Siegrist has done two 8c+'s and his twelfth 9a FA, Big Bursa in Texas. In total he has done 54 routes 9a to 9b, which makes him #6 on that list. "Thought it could be 9a+, but on the best condition day of the season after two days of rest, it sure felt a lot more like 9a. Stoked to actually climb it after such a crazy-ass February of weather! Mega grateful to Clayton for all of his hard work out here.

What was it about the weather?
It was below freezing for a week and many days in the single digits F. (10- and below). Central Texas had about a foot or more snow and had a record-breaking winter storm, it was actually lethal. The whole state has suffered really badly from loss of power and water. But then only 48 hr later it was up to 80 degrees F. (26 degrees). Totally crazy!"

Manu Cornu, who won a Boulder WC in 2019, reports on Insta that he has done Le Pilier du Désert assis in Fontainebleau. It adds an 8B+ start, including four moves with your hands and five with your feet, to the original 8A+ stand start. Manu says that he has been talking to four other guys who have tried it, and that they agree that it is probably 8C+. All in all, the bronze medalist in the World Championship of 2016 says that he needed three months to take it down.

"I start seated with a not very good left-hand sloper and a good right hand, a very high right heel, you have to go get a little pocket then join the down start and go straight for the top. You stay a long time with the pocket on your right hand. It’s hard to take it well and you keep it for five moves."

It should be noted that the FA occurred just three days earlier by a 187 cm tall climber who thought it was 8C. He wants to stay anonymous for the time being. Manu is 177 cm, with just a 170 cm arm span.

Michal Mikušínec skips 9a by doing the FA of Chiroptera 9a+ bolted by Milan Benian in the late '90s. "This short but intense route starts with 10 moves around 8b, followed by a boulder problem with 5 monos in a row. As I'm not very strong in pockets, I spent almost 20 sessions and 50 tries to make it."

Adam Ondra tried it twice in 2019, see this video. The second time it was harder as Michael had glued back a broken hold. "I broke a big part of mono and then I modelled it back. Now it's slightly smaller, so it's doable only with a thin middle finger or with the ring finger(as me)."

Could you please say something about your climbing background and how you train?
I started climbing at age 8. I climbed 8c being 16-years-old and then I started training. Not much, maybe three times per week. Now, I train every day, mostly on spray wall, hang board and core exercises. Sometimes, I do weight training, some weighted pull-ups and deadlifts.

Karoline Sinnhuber has done her 32nd 8A+, Sundance Sit in Zillertal. "Love-hate relationship with the upper part. I think this year was the first time I tried the boulder without a hurting knee. Made the heel sequence soooo much easier. Also found a new micro beta for the heel, which always popped when I went up for the long right move. "With this beta maybe only 8A?"

It should be mentioned that Sundance Sit has been recorded 35 times, and always as an 8A+, in the 8a database. Four climbers have marked it "Soft" and three "Hard". In the 8a ranking game, the Austrian is #8. (c) Paul Lewandowski

Davide Picco, who started climbing at age 19, has done Omen Nomen 9a in Arco. The 28-year-old has now done six 9a's and one 9a+, all in Arco. He explains that he is working full time as a welder and have not had time to travel that much, besides that he loves Arco and it's surroundings.

"It took me several attempts to figure out the best beta to reach the chain mostly because of the last boulder at the very top of the route. Then, once I thought I had found my way, the weather changed: it started raining and being freezing cold, I had sore skin and there was always something wrong in the universe that stopped me from giving my all. I think I fell about ten times in front of the top hold 😂but last week I was finally able put it all together. Even though it was a harsh journey I enjoyed climbing something almost (! ) vertical 😂. It was useful indeed.!

"Jp stay in K2 forever now, in the mountains, where he was the happiest man... Hope we can continue the legacy and honor this warrior of the mountain!"

Jakob Schubert has, overall during the last twelve years, been the best male competition climber in the world. In total, he has made the podium 57 times out of which 48 in Lead. In 2011, he won seven straight WCs, and in total he has won 21 times. The Austrian qualified to the Olympics by getting the Combined silver in the 2019 World Championship, where he also got the silver in Bouldering and the bronze in Lead. (c) KVÖ/Heiko Wilhelm

How do you plan your season before the Olympics?
Regarding comps I plan to do quite a few Bouldering Worldcups before the Olympics since I still feel like the comp experience helps a ton in that discipline. So probably I‘ll do all except the two in the US. Then Lead in Innsbruck and Villars and maybe Chamonix. Training is focused on Bouldering right now and probably around the end of May I‘ll switch my focus on Lead although I‘ll still try to keep my bouldering game especially trying to keep doing some comp style things closer to the Olympics. Speed I keep doing two short sessions a week all the time.

What is your PB in Speed and how do you train for this discipline?
My personal best in speed is from last year july 6,82. and I hope I can get to 6,5 until the Olympics. Focus is mainly on doing rund now and sometimes on some sequences where I feel like I can still improve my technique 😉

What is your goal for Tokyo and who are the main contenders for the medals?
My goal is of course to win a medal, preferably gold 😜 The combined format is very unpredictable even more so with today’s boulder- and routesetting, but I would say the huge favorite is Tomoa and obviously Adam is a big contender as well followed by myself 🤔 But probably almost every athlete has a chance to be on the podium especially since the bouldering wall, I think, there is only one overhang, one slab and a big vertical part, so very slabby design.

Will you do any special training for the expected heat in Tokyo?
Since our competition will be in the afternoon I think it will be bearable. But I will try to train in similar conditions sometimes and be prepared with some cooling utilities. Luckily I prefer to climb in warmer conditions anyways 😉