Antoine Kaufmann, whose previous best is No Pain No Gain 9a+, has done The Big Island 8C (B+) in Fontainebleau. Last week, Lucien Martinez was the first of 20+ repeaters calling it 8B+, and Kaufmann agrees on his Insta. "About the grade, it would be easy to achieve one of my biggest dreams taking it as an 8C but it wouldn't be fair... I think it’s more appropriate to grade it 8B+." (c) Gilles Charlier

How many sessions did it take and what about the sit start?
I have not taken the count for the session but definitely way to much. 15 to 20? Actually, I felt at the very last move for the edge at my 7-8th session but then the troubles began. The weather turned bad, I ripped my skin, had to find new beta, felt after the crimp where it supposes to get easier 29 times, etc. Finally, conditions improved and I could send it. The sit is more about a future goal for the next season. I have seen many tries in the sit by my friend Simon Lorenzi, and by the two strong French guys, Camille Coudert and Nico Pelorson. It gave me a lot of motivation to try the sit next year because it suits my style really well. But first I need to train!

What is the hardest boulder you have done before and what is next?
The hardest boulder I send before Big island was General disarray an 8B in Brione (last year). I see bouldering as a way to get stronger in lead, that’s why it’s quite new for me to push myself in bouldering.

I go to Flatanger this summer, I would like to try a long term project. Move (9b+) is the main goal because this line made me dream for years now and I think it suits me really well. Maybe it’s too ambitious for this year maybe not... we will see in September!

Grades are based on subjective opinions but potential downgrades are normally not based on averages of these opinions. Instead, in practice, there is often an element of “The Emperor’s New Clothing”. The reason for this is that most climbers avoid giving personal grades but instead just go use the "topo grade", which is just fine. Other possibilities are of course that a new sequence has been found, the use of knee pads or a broken hold.

The latest example of this is The Big Island in Fontainebleau, which until two weeks ago was the most repeated 8C with 20+ ascents. Then Lucien Martinez did it calling it 8B+ and now also Antoine Kauffmann said the same thing. Basically, both of them used the fact that they had never done an 8B+ before as part of their logic saying it could not be 8C.

Here is the first 8a grading article from 2002. "Rating is based on individual subject suggestions and confirmed by facts and results by the climbing community.

In other words, in some cases, individuals and the media could actually suggest downgrades even if they have never been on the site. 8a has done this for the last 20 years in order to try to present as correct news as possible. If the next repeater of The Big Island calls it 8B+, we will start reporting it as such.

Matt Fultz has done Trieste Sit 8B+, Squoze 8B+ and Sleepwalker 8C+ in Red Rocks, the latter two put up by James Webb. Amazingly the 183 cm tall did them all within 24 hours and he is now the new #1 in the 8a ranking game. He did his first 8C less than two years ago and has now done 13 of them, as well as two 8C+. Only two years ago he was around #15 in the ranking game, meaning that this 74 kilo heavy guy is a great example that late blooming is possible in rock climbing.

"Thankfully the process was a bit faster and more fun than I had expected! 8 sessions for Sleepwalker and 2 mini-sessions for Squoze. There is a fantastic crew in Red Rocks right now, and I expect we will see a few more ascents of Sleepwalker this season."

How have Covid-19 affected your climbing life?
Covid has affected my climbing pretty dramatically. We’ve moved into a 35 feet long RV so we can travel as safely while still staying “at home”. Also, since competitions have been pretty much dead, I’ve been able to get outside more days than ever before, which has been a giant blessing. I’m not sure I’ll ever want to do comps again!

How can you explain being able to step up your game so significantly?
Honestly, I think a lot of my progress has come from my nutrition. My wife, Hailey, is a nutrition coach for climbers. She has guided me on a nutrition journey that has been life changing. It’s been excellent for my recovery, energy, and longevity.

Are you fully professional now?
My wife and I own a strength and nutrition coaching company called Off the Ground. Besides that I am lucky to be on salary with a few brands.

Alex Megos was one of the best youth competitors until 2012. Then he started focusing on rock getting outstanding results including the first ever 9a onsight in 2013. In 2017, he was back at the comp scene and almost immediately finished #2 in the Boulder Euro Champs as well as in a Lead WC. The saga continued, and in 2019 he qualified for the Olympics and claimed the silver in the Lead World Champs. Last year he did the FA of Bibliographie 9c and was voted the 8a Climber of the year.

What are your training and competition plans prior to Tokyo?
You can follow all my training on my board account on Instagram. 😅😂 that's pretty much it 🤷🏼‍♂️. I think on average I spend about 15h only on boards every week divided into five sessions. I do a lot of yoga and some exercises too. I also do some climbing on commercial boulders too from time to time. I did do a comp simulation with the German team last weekend. That was the first time since the CWIF in March 2020. I haven't done speed for almost one year now and let's see how many comps will actually happen 🤷🏼‍♂️.

Do you currently follow any program prescribed by your trainers, or do you just climb whatever motivates you? Who do you normally train with?
Mostly climb what motivates me. No plan yet when lead and speed will be picked up again. I'll see how it goes in the next few months 😊. Climbing mostly with Jenya (Kazbekova) and also some friends from time to time.

Who do you think have the greatest chances of getting a medal in Tokyo?
I don't want to make any predictions about the male Olympic medalists. Anybody could win one 🤷🏼‍♂️.

Paul Robinson, world record holder with 1 008 boulders 8A and harder, has just had a double disc replacement during a three-hour surgery through his throat. The 33-year-old has been an enthusiastic boulderer since age 15 and has put up FAs all over the globe. Last summer he did his 22nd 8C, but then he more or less quit.


Could you please tell us why you had the surgery?
I lost 50’percent of the strength in my right arm about 6 months ago and tried P.T. etc but nothing helped because the nerve was impinged by the herniated disc. So they do they had to take 2 discs out in my neck and replace them with fake ones. It happened from so many years of falling from bouldering. This is something that I think we will start to see more of in the future with more people bouldering.

I am not sure how long I have had the herniations for but they slowly got worse and worse until one day I woke up in the night in really bad pain. I tried to climb the next day and my arm did not work. I think that big falls are the main issue. They are really demanding on your spine. I will probably not be able to climb many highballs anymore. I think if people have more pads that will be good to make the fall softer.

When will you start climbing again and will you be fully recovered?
I will be able to start top roping in 6 weeks. They said I should be to 100 percent within 6 months.

Here is an 8a interview from 2010 when he was one of the pioneers creating climbing films. He also has a Youtube channel where his latest video is titled I'm Back! Road To Recovery. It should be mentioned that other boulderers too have undergone the same surgery caused by too much bouldering falls.

During 13 days in Crevillent and Tarbena, Dani Andrada reports on Insta that he has done 23 routes 8a to 8c/+ including personal grades up to three grades lower than the official ones. His hardest was Ataxia, in the picture, which he thought was 8c/+ although graded 9a. "I would like to say that these are not downgrades but an opinion and it is only mine."

Jonathan Flor has given the same message on his Insta and for the hyperextension of Ataxia, originally a 9b, he thought it was 8c+/9a."These grade adjustments are not a war of egos or anything like that as has been said, I simply give my opinion, I don't like to be misled by these things."

Dani has previously done some 75 routes 8c+/9a and harder and Jonathan some 40. It should be pointed out that history shows that downgrades are rather common, especially in Spain.

The most comprehensive 9a statistics are found at Escalade 9. In practice, as many of the most repeated routes are subject to downgradings, the stats also include 8c+/9a. Overall, 525 climbers having done 883 routes 8c+/9a or harder are listed. Spain dominates with 256 routes as well as with eight out of the Top-10 most repeated ones, see below.


Countries with most 8c+/9a and harder
Spain - 256
France - 157
Italy - 83
USA - 65
Germany - 56
Austria and Switzerland - 46

The most repeated ones
46 Estado Critico - Confirmed upgraded due to broken hold.
40 Era Vella (8c+/9a) - Only two repeats in last 2.5 years after downgrading debate and broken hold
33 Underground (8c+/9a)
29 La Rambla 1 - FA 8c+ of Alex Huber and later upgraded
27 Action Directe - FA 8c+/9a by W Gullich in 1991
27 La Rambla 9a+

23 Esclatamasters (8c+/9a)
23 Papichulo 9a+
22 Sellecio Natural (8c+/9a)
21 A Muerte (8c+/9a)

It should be mentioned that one reason that Spain dominates the statistics is that extensions are really popular there. Several of the listed routes are also variations of other 9a's. The stats also suggest that the softest grades are found in Spain. Possibly, the development of knee pads contributes to part of the downgradings. In total, 20 climbers have done at least 26 routes 8c+/9a or harder, out of which seven are Spanish. At the same time, 82 French climbers have done 8c+/9a or harder which can be compared with 67 Spaniards, 65 Americans, 60 Italians and 41 Germans.

Adam Ondra has ascended 209 routes of these grades, which is more than anyone else. He is followed by Alex Megos with 91 ascents and Dani Andrada with 76. In total, there are 30 females listed. Laura Rogora has ascended 17 routes, which is most of all females. Runner-ups are Anak Verhoeven with 10 ascents and Angy Eiter with 9.

Pietro Radassao, who has previously done three 8c+ FAs in Frosolone, has done the FA of Ultra Istinto 9a in Oratino. (c) Francesco Guerra

"Ultra Istinto" is a 40-meter long route that I bolted in the Oratino crag called "La Rocca" in 2020, very close to my home. In December 2020 I climbed the simpler variant "CBD" 8c (bolted by myself the same year) which avoids the final boulder problem exiting at the top right. The route consists of doing all the hard part of "CBD" and at the top after a good rest there is a boulder problem of 8 movements on small holds, in my opinion 8A boulder.

I climbed CBD on 12 December 2020 in a few tries and "Ultra Istinto" after 1 month and a half of work interrupted by even long periods of 1 week of bad weather in which I could not try the route. I am a training fanatic, in the last 5 months I have trained almost every day (140/150 days) and to climb it I did a lot of bouldering, using both tools such as the Moonboard alternating sessions of maximum strength."

In total, Pietro has put up some 100 routes. Out of his 8c's and harder, none have been repeated. Almost all his hardest routes have been established during the last three years, after he started to train much harder. The 25-year-old lives a couple of hours south-east of Rome and has only four times been on climbing trips abroad. The last time was in Spain in 2018.

Caroline Treadway has created a VERY strong documentary of the eating disorder she faced and later saw within the climbing community some 15 years ago. Angie Payne and Emily Harrington, two of the very best female climbers back then, explain their struggle and how they come out of it.