Jorge Diaz-Rullo has done the first repeat of Beto Rocasolano's Trinity 8C in Cueva de pelayos, Spain. Beto has earlier referred to this 45 moves boulder route as "The Wheel of Life from Madrid." Jorge is #8 and #1 in the bouldering and routes ranking game, respectively. Here are some follow-up questions with Jorge, who is also the #8 8a Climber of 2020. (c) Javi Pec

Which was your most memorable send in 2020?
El bon combat 9b cost me the most and was a big mental struggle I faced for two months because this route is my anti-style in which everything happened. I had some setbacks that were not favourable, a fight that I will never forget!

What are your strongest point in climbing?
My strong point has always been my head. I have trained it a lot and I recognize that part of my success relates to this. The rest of the points, I think I have a lot of strength in my fingers, and technically I am good at finding my methods and doing strange things with insteps, knees and heels. On the other hand, I consider myself quite bad in traction force and speed.

How did a normal week look for you in 2020?
It depends on where I am, if I am in Madrid I usually do a double session training and then rock climbing, sometimes I also work as a route setter. If I am travelling I always climb on rock, whatever the conditions and I usually climb as much as I can, sometimes less due to my skin. If I can climb ten days in a row better, haha!

What is your ambition and plan for 2021?
I like to improvise, and even more, after the pandemic that has screwed up all our plans. For the moment to train and return stronger to Catalonia.

It can also be mentioned that Jorge has made an Insta post where he like Adam Ondra says that knee pads are part of the game and that it is actually great that some lines have become easier making them possible also for less strong climbers. "The beauty of this is that it seems that now climbers are more interested in doing a line for its beauty, leaving aside its difficulty."

Here is another more advanced option Climbing a Chair.

Fanatic Climbing reports with one hand that two times Para World Champion, Solenne Piret, born with one hand, has done Onde de Choc 7B in Fontainebleau. (c) Arthur Delicque

"Christophe Cazin showed me that boulder 2.5 years ago when my level was barely 6C in Font. I’ll admit that I didn’t believe in it at first, but Christophe remained adamant it would eventually work, so I’d give it a few goes every 6 months or so… It was a kind of yardstick. But then I spent a whole year on the comp circuit and didn’t have time to get on it, and in September 2020 I started training with Guillaume. I felt like I’d improved, and that I was finally ready to really commit to it.

After that I must have tried 3 or 4 times without much belief, then 2 sessions on the rope last October, and finally 2 ‘redpoint’ sessions… These last two proved tough, because I was suddenly pretty close to sending, and I fell several times from the very top… Yes, for me this boulder problem is far from over once the left-hand lands the last good crimp! It was super frustrating!"

Adam Ondra has written an interesting post on Insta commenting on when he uses different types of shoes. "For all kids and teenagers, female versions will most likely be the better option. Your weight and shoe size will be a pretty decisive factor for the perception of the stiffness."

It can also be said that the softer the shoes, the more you train your feet and toes. Old 8a article saying: Train with soft shoes and perform with stiffer ones. The picture shows Ondra's 44-sized foot compared to one of the 39-sized shoes he has been using.

Gonzalo Larrocha has done Supernowa in Vadiella, suggesting a personal 8c+ downgrade. The 36-year-old has previously done 20 routes 9a and harder in the last five years, but including also his personal grades it would have been 25. "Excellent endurance route. I think I used 21 kneebars out of which several have not been used before, so I think it lacks a bit for 9a."

Oriane Bertone has done Antoine Vandeputte's Super Tanker 8B+ from 2007 in Fontainebleau. In the 8a ranking game, the 15-year-old is #4. "I was a little bit lucky because it is now snowing in the forest in Font! I was surprised to top "Aresie" in one session some weeks ago. After that, I told myself that I could try the super classic extension of this boulder. I had seen Jan Hojer's magic video on this boulder, which is much taller than me :-). So I always thought that it was for me an impossible dream line. Finally I was very happy to top the boulder two sessions after Atresie, with almost the same beta!"

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