Alexey Rubtsov, Boulder World Champion in 2009, made his best Lead performance of his lifetime in the Combined Lead final in Moscow. Even so, it looked like he was just going to get the bronze but then all results went his way and he got the Olympic ticket. Actually, without COVID-19 he would not have had any chance. Asking him about his training recipe and how much in percentage he did train the different disciplines and the Olympic training preparation, he most certainly come up with some interesting answers finishing with, “My dream 100% focus on rocks.”On Insta his first words were, “Guys, we are a team and we did it together! Thanks!!!”

“Due to a shoulder injury last year I missed the World Championship in Japan but tried to recover to Toulouse. I started my rehabilitation very intensively and 6 weeks after the surgery I had already climbed 8a onsight on the rocks in Ceuse. Three months after the injury, I returned to the competition to qualify for Toulouse, and I was even able to do it :). But I lost in Toulouse, my shape was still not good.

After Toulouse, I decided to stop concentrating on the combined, as I realized that even in March I still would not be in perfect shape, and I just started bouldering. I did a couple of trips to the rocks and a couple of commercial competitions. On the first dates of the European Championship in March, I was not ready and I am sure that I would have lost it. But due quarantine, all events were canceled and I went to the village. For almost 2 months I did not climb and for a couple of weeks I didn't train at all Then I started doing exercises on the board. In mid-May I was able to go to the rocks. During the quarantine, my shoulder fully recovered, and when I returned to climbing in May, I finally had no more pain.

I spent the summer on short trips to the rocks, explored the new Mega promising bouldering area, Dzhan Tugan, and climbed 9a with a rope. In the fall, I returned to training in the gym. In September we had the combined championship of Russia. I didn't know how I would perform. After Toulouse, I did not practice speed at all, and did not even touch the holds on this wall. Honestly, in qualifying for that championship, I climbed speed with a chalk bag, used it, and climbed the wall in 21,5 seconds, became the last one.

It was a joke but the coaching staff did not understand it and they scolded me a lot :) They even wanted to punish me. I got to the final very uncertainly :). But in the final I decided to pull myself and won Lead and Bouldering, taking the 1st place in the end. Then I realized that at the European Championship I would be in the team and decided that why not try again to play in the combined. I even did 2 speed sessions but I had not enjoy it as always, and I stoped. I started to hope to win bouldering and lead. Although I didn't train lead either :).

How did I prepare in principle?) It's interesting. For the all year, I did strength training, hangs, pull-ups only few weeks on quarantine in April and early May. After that, I did not do this type of training at all, maybe about 2-3% of what I usually did. As a result, a week before the European Championship, I tried to pull up (no extra weight) and did only 20 times :) then for another 3 days my body ached. Although at the beginning of 2019, 100 times was not a problem for me. I focused on improving the body, not strengthening it. I did a lot of stretching, mobility exercises, balance exercises. I climbed 3-4 times a week, only bouldering. But always in the company of strong guys: with Kolya and Sergei, we motivate each other and make us work to the maximum in climbing.

As a result, they also earned medals at the European Championships, Kolya in bouldering, and Sergei in bouldering and combined. I can say that for the last year I completely left training system in climbing, based on the big volume of physical training. Of course, I became weaker, and on the power boulders I am very uncertain now. But I improved other skills. I endure new trainings more easily and feel healthier and better. In general, I am a fan of changing training methods and always looking for new solutions. Sometimes they bring positive results, sometimes negative ones, but in any case it increases my experience and knowledge.

I think I will continue with my current method. I have not done everything here yet and I see weak points. In the meantime, I plan to bring back some strength training. Maybe 1-2 times a week if I don't have a problem with the shoulder. I'm not sure if I will do speed. Perhaps once a week - several races, but no more. I think that the period of focus on victories in competitions has shifted to general development through training. I want to finally learn to climb perfectly to show the beauty of climbing:). Whether I will win at the same time is not as much important for me now.”

We did several site improvements over the last month with the main goal of allowing you to improve and search the heart of 8a - the routes and crags database.

1) Edit crag information: You can now edit the coordinates, description and access information on every crag's info page. In the access information field, you can inform the community about possible access regulations and parking rules in your local crags, and provide details on how to get to the crag. In the description, you can add historical context, route recommendations, and other info such as where to stay and when to visit. Please provide information only for crags that you are well familiar with - locals should stay in charge of their crags.

2) Fix route names: On every route info page, we placed a "report spelling" button in the top right corner where you can submit a spelling suggestion that will be reviewed and then go live within 2-3 weeks. This is also an easy way to merge routes, if they have a similar grade and the same spelling after the suggestion and are in the same crag. See the Improving the database post in the forum for more details. Today, we made 400 suggestions go live, thanks to everyone who contributed!

3) New improved search: We have improved the 8a search to facilitate finding crags, routes and users. You can also combine route and crag names to improve the precision of your search. Recent searches are now also saved.

4) Bug fixes: Among smaller improvements and fixes, we caught a big one thanks to a report through the forum: In the trend graphs and ranking, we fixed a bug that sometimes made ascents enter the ranking even though they were excluded from rankings.

Natalia Grossman, who previously this summer did four 8B's, has done six boulders 7C+ and harder including a very impressive 2nd go ascent of Lethal design 8A (+) in Red Rock. (c) Ross Fulkerson

"We started climbing in one area but it was too hot so we went into the canyon where Lethal Design is located. On my first try, I had to drop off since I didn’t know where I was going but then I sent the boulder next try after getting beta! The past month I have been climbing at the US Team centre in Utah and I think climbing with other strong females has helped me be in shape. Currently, I climb outside about once a month due to school:("

She is studying Psychology and business at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Jacopo Larcher, one of the very best multi-discipline climbers in the world, has done the FA of Sprengstoff in Lorünser Wändle. (c) Babsi Zangerl

"The route was a project bolted by Beat almost 25 years ago and it has been tried a lot by many climbers during the last decades (the route got a little bit harder since Beat bolted it, as several holds broke off). It’s a really cool power endurance route with a really weird shoulder move at the 3rd bolt, which is probably the crux of the route. I checked it out and tried it a bit in the past. Last fall I tried it more seriously for some days, but I always got stopped by the crux move. Last month I started working on the route again, focusing mostly on the shoulder move; luckily this year I felt more solid on that move and after a couple of more days of trying I could finish it off. I was super happy because it’s such a cool climb and a route which is somehow special for the local climbing community.

The crag is located next to a quarry, which now got the permission to extend its property and which could potentially decide to blast all the sectors :( We will get to know more about all that in the next weeks, but I really hope the local climbing comunity will find a way to preserve this beautiful and historical crag!"

Jonathan Siegrist, who has done 51 routes 9a to 9b, has done his third 9a+ FA in 2020, Full Metal Brisket in Summersville Lake. It was bolted some 15 years ago and it took him eight sessions to take it down. Jonathan's next plan is probably to do some trad climbing. More comments on Insta.

Full Metal Brisket (5.15a/9a+) -- First Ascent! from PhysiVāntage on Vimeo.

Anna Piunova, a professional climbing photographer and the editor-in-chief on Mountain.ru, has helped out getting some comments and pics from Victoria Meshkova after she won three gold and an Olympic ticket in the European Combined Championship. Last year, the 20-year-old did eleven Boulder and Lead WCs and her best results was #11. Five weeks ago, she tested positive for Covid-19 and could just do five indoor sessions as a preparation for the competition.

"I don’t believe that I’ve got three golds. My overall goal was to get an Olympic ticket and these three medals seem in the background. I thought bouldering was my strongest discipline but surprisingly won the Combination because of Speed and Lead. Bouldering is an unpredictable discipline for me. It depends a lot on the route setters team and what kind of boulders they set. It might happen that routes just didn’t work for you, for your style. I was more certain in Lead. When I saw the route I understood it’s my style and I just have to find a rhythm and keep moving. I forgot about emotions and just enjoyed climbing.

I climbed a lot outside in Bakhchisaray in the Crimea area in the spring’s lockdown and after climbing I did a lot of physical training following Dmitry Sharafutdinov’s programme. It was not hard for me to find motivation as I like doing physical and fingerboard staff. I climbed and walked a lot, getting some fresh air, monitored my diet, and didn’t worried. After coming back home from Crimea I was much stronger. Later in July, I felt big progress in Alushta where we came for the national team training sessions. I’ve got the nerve to climb, my leg’s technique changed and the mobility in the hip joints improved."

Eva Hammelmüller, who previously in 2020 has done eight 8c's, has done her first 8c+, Tunnelblick in Achleiten. The 20-year-old is #3 in the 8a ranking game.

“Tunnelblick is a 30m long route on pockets with a crimpy crux at the top. It took me 10 tries to send it and I loved the progress of getting closer with each attempt!”

Adam Ondra is waiting for good conditions in Margalef needed for doing Perfecto Mundo 9b+. Meanwhile, he has sent three 9a's bringing it up to 182 which can be compared to the runner-up Alex Megos having done some 80 routes 9a and harder.

Victimas Perez: My nightmare, tried a few days back in 2015, a few days this trip, usually tired and when conditions were too bad for Perfecto. Today sent with severe humidity.
Direcya Bongada: Start like Directa Rodellar, finish in Bongada. It is link-up, but honestly, as a line it is the most direct and logical one. You do all the hard part from Directa Rodillar 8c+/9a, good kneebar and all the upper part of Bongada. Unfortunately the kneebar is too good to make any harder than hard 9a, maybe 9a/+, but definitely not 9a+. 1st real try after both Directa Rodillar and Bongada, in the very last minutes of the day.
El Potro: Start like Bumaye, then go straight up. Really good short power endurance. More info on Ondra's Insta (c) Petr Chodura

The route setting in Moscow was in general great, but unfortunately, the Lead Combined finals were way too easy. Jan Zbranek, who is also doing the job in Tokyo, was kind enough to answer some questions.

Did you get instructions to make the Combined routes easier?
We don't really get updated instructions for every comp. The guidelines never change: One top is perfect. I think we just didn't realize how tired we were after 14 days of setting. I think this was last of this crazy marathon competitions. And no matters what format we use in the future, or if we get some help of the testers, after 7 days of setting we need a rest day. This would help us to maximize the chance of hitting the right level.

What about letting one or two of the guys not making it to the final testing the final route?
As a chief route setter you have to know your tester very well. It is like you ask someone to taste a wine for you. There must be a strong connection between you and the tester. So it is harder, then you may think, to find a good person. Each experienced route setter is usually aware of his strengths and weaknesses. It is very special gift, when competition climber is also able to do this. And I don't even want to start the discussion about the conflict of interest, that we may create by picking let say Russian athlete in Moscow... So right now, I want to use this Russian experience as a motivation to get in better shape for the upcoming season and do a better job. 🙂

Do you have any other alternative to increase the chances for making the route perfect?
For Tokyo, we have strong setters on the team. Also, we have to set "only" 4 routes. This could help to increase the chance to set a perfect route. But it is a complicated question. The athletes going for the Olympics are younger, stronger, more talented and they get from their federations definitely better conditions for training than the route setters. So yes, sometimes it can be a little stressful, trying to imagine how much better will they be at the Olympics. But right now I feel like we are pioneers of our job and if we do it well, maybe in the future, there will be an opportunity for the competition route setters to work directly for IFSC. This could mean a stable job throughout the whole year and maybe also some time for training. This could also attract the top climbers to join the route setting team and help us to keep the gap between the climbers and the setters small.

Tokyo route setting team:
Lead: Adam Pustelnik POL - Chief, Hiroshi Okano JPN and Jan Zbranek CZE.
Bouldering: Percy Bishton GBR (Chief), Manuel Hassler SUI, Katja Vidmar SLO and Romain Cabessut FRA

Ryohei Kameyama reports on Insta that he has done the first repeat of Dai Koyamada's Sanctum 8C/+ in Shirakawa. It just took him five sessions to do the super steep problem. The 23-year-old has in total done some ten 8C and harder. "Paradigm 8B+ is my next project. This boulder has not been repeated yet."