Martin Keller reports on Insta that he has done his 18 year nemesis, Dreamtime 8C (B+) in Cresciano. The 42-year-old did Unendliche Gesichte 8B+ last month after having projected it for 16 years and the full story was as inspiring as amazing.

"This spring was different though! Despite approaching my 43rd birthday I was clearly in the best shape of my life as I “suddenly” had been able to send several hard-multi-year-nemesis-projects of mine like “Riot Act, low, 8C’ish” in the Frankenjura , “Ill Trill 8B+” and “New Baseline, 8B+” in Magic Wood." More info to come. (c) Hannes Kutza

At the same time, Yannick Flohe (21), #3 in the Boulder World Champion last year, has also done it possibly in just 4 hours and there is a video out on his Insta. "Quick ascent. Skipping the big move and using the crimp felt easier for me.The conditions were better than expected even though it was raining a little bit in the evening and quite humid in the morning. I chose the „cheating beta“ going to the small crimp and skipping the big move. I did the stand with both betas but the crimpy one felt more solid. Might be 8B+\C but I don’t care 🤷🏽‍♂️"

Angy Eiter, four times World Champion, has done the FA of the 50 meters and very steep Madame Ching near her home in Tyrolean Oberland, after two months pf projecting. The 154 cm tall compares the difficulty with La Planta de Shiva a 9b she did in 2017. "This route is a present from my husband Bernie that he put up in 2018. He handed the route to me and I started trying it. I found the sequences very hard and thought it’s maybe not possible for me. In May 2020 after the first lockdown, I made a virtue out of necessity and started projecting. My first steps on it were quite humbling. I failed many times and was really at a loss sometimes but performance and more efficient tweaks in my method paid off. I could tackle some sequences and simultaneously needed less rope-hanging rests in between... until the whole route was done, finally. I couldn’t believe it. This was the moment where all the hard work finally paid off! Thanks to all the yelling crew!! 🤘🏻😍 • Great experience trying something completely without traces, being the first working out a beta, holds frequently broke. Please keep in mind of the grade: I am the first, can just rely on my beta, I am much shorter than an average climber, was wrong several times in the past. •"

Video and more comments here. (c) Raphael Pöham / Red Bull ASP

Combining her outstanding competition track record with doing eight routes 9a and harder, including two 9b's, Angy is by far the best female climber out there. When she won the World Champion title in 2007 in a super final on the male route, with some extra holds in the start adjusting for the height difference, she made it further than one of the males. The route setter Francois Legrand said he believed that Angy often could make it to the Top-8 final if they had taken her length into consideration on the less steep sections.

Karoline Sinnhuber has done her tenth 8A+ in 2020, The Raper in Magic Place. "Tried it last year, but was too weak for the first move, psyched! Now getting ready for the riddler. A good day out with the crew! It was -5 degrees at the parking and we had to pass the river for the approach. luckily we had some hot stones, otherwise, it would have been too cold 😄 I‘d prefer to train in the gym instead of still going outdoors... brrrr."

In the picture by Fabian Leu Karo does Running sushi 7C. The other pic is on The Raper. The Austrian is #8 in the 8a ranking game.

Philipp Gaßner has done his second 9a, Marsupilami in Kochel after some ten sessions. In 2014, at age 14, he did his first out of twelve 8c+'. Picture by Basti Scheibel on Nangijala 8c+.

"The route was first ascended by Toni Lamprecht in 2006 as Kochel’s first 9a and it is probably still the hardest testpiece in the area. The route represents the style of hard rock climbing in the bavarian pre alps pretty well. It’s 30 meters long and it can be characterized by a lot of very technical and physical moves, finishing with the bouldery crux on the top. In total it took me 15 tries to send it plus some tries to figure out all of the tricky and complex beta. On top of that, it was super nice to spend the day with Toni, who has put so much effort into establishing all of the hard climbs there."

How can you explain your great progress in 2020, having done also four 8c+'?
I tried to focus on certain projects instead of spontaneously trying routes that I am psyched on but then don‘t complete. I also managed to climb with a better mindset than I‘ve done in previous years.

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As the Asia Combined Championship was cancelled last weekend, Jongwon Chon and Chaehyon Seo have qualified to the Tokyo Olympics 2021 based on their results in the World Championships last year. The coming weekend, it will be decided who will qualify from Africa as well as from Oceania. If these two events also will be cancelled, Harrison Campbell, Oceania Mackenzie, Curtis Calrin and Rachelle De Charmoy will make it Tokyo.

Niky Ceria reports on Insta that he has done the fourth ascent of Gioia 8C? in Varazze. "Since kneebar didn't suit my interest and the original beta didn’t fit my skills, I took more time and I finally figured out a different method which came out being less skin dependent and slightly more powerful."

Here is how the boulder was presented in 2015 on 8a. "It was set up by Christian Core, the former World and European Boulder Champion who twice has won the World Cup, as an 8C in 2008. Later, Adam Ondra and Nalle Hukkataival repeated Gioia and gave it the personal grades of 8C+ and 8C/+, respectively. These ascents established Gioia as one of the first upgraded hardcore boulders in the world. During the years, many more have tried to repeat it with no success and many believe that Gioia is the first 8C+ in the world. What is not well known is that there are five glued holds on Gioia. A week ago, Dave Graham and Daniel Woods started to work on it and Dave actually found a new kneebar making the crux possible easier and later, a foothold broke, making the crux on the 8A+ stand version significantly easier. The next day, Christian glued it back trying to make the foothold as in the original shape and size. This made the Burrow Files publish a critical article and the controversy was out. Christian is very sorry for this as he just wanted to preserve Gioia in its original shape as the boulder and it's difficulty is important in the history of bouldering. Picture is from Core's FA."