Alex Totkova, the 15-year-old, who did her first 9a this spring has sent Memento mori 8c in Golyamata Dupka. It took her six sessions but that was because she did not find the right beta. "It was my mistake so therefore it took me a long time".

Last year, she won A Euro Youth Cup in both Lead and Boulder, and in the World Championship, she got the silver in Combined.

Fanatic Climbing has made a full length interview with Julia Chanourdie after she became the third women to have done a 9b through Eagle-4 in St Léger. Amazingly, the Olympian could do all the moves during her first session and overall it just took her ten days out of which some in bad conditions. (c) Julia Cassou

Can you tell us about the process, from discovery to sending?
I checked out the moves for the first time in September. I was able to do all the moves of the hard bottom part the first time I tried it. So, I took my time and checked out the rest of the climb which was supposedly easier but remained quite intimidating nonetheless. In total, the process took ten days of working on the climb. It seems like little time, which is why it is still hard to realize what I just achieved. But I know that I’ve been feeling particularly strong these days. I felt good training, and also at the crag. In addition, the style of the climb suited me well as it was all about power, grip strength and short power endurance. In this climb there is no room for tricks, you either pull on the holds, or you don’t.
Late October, I learned that the French team would not go to European championships, so I changed my plans and decided to spend some time in Saint Léger. Early last week, some holds were still wet and I decided to take some time to dry them out to be able to give the route proper tries. Before that, it was difficult for me to get on it with a real intention to send. But once I decided to actually try to send, my desire for success surpassed everything.

Out of the Top-15 Lead WC ranking 2019, only Sascha Lehmann #10, will participate in the Euro Championship starting in Moscow on Friday. Austria, France, Spain and Italy will not send any athletes. Germany will only send female athletes and only three will participate from Slovenia and two from Great Britain. The only countries sending big teams are Russia and the Czech Republic but no Adam Ondra. There are two Olympic tickets at stake in Moscow but there are not many who want to gamble with the health it seems.

Based on the Top-30 in the only WC in 2020, with only Europeans participating, just three male from the Czech Republic are scheduled to compete in Moscow. It should be noted that Russia set a new record of Covid-19 cases the last week.

David Reeve has published a very long article in regards bolts and highly corrosive crags. We are very thankful for him putting together a short summary.

"There are a number of highly corrosive crags that are notorious for their ability to devour stainless steel – eg Railay, Tonsai, Long Dong, much of the Mediterranean coast, and the Portuguese coast to name just some of them. After several years of study, in part funded by the UIAA, and with the help of many volunteers, this is what I now know about these locations

1. All corrosive crags are sea cliffs, yet very few sea cliffs in the world are particularly corrosive, so there has to be more to the story than just the action of seawater.

2. All corrosive crags are associated with high levels of sulphate, both on the rock surface, and seeping through the groundwater. Sulphate promotes the growth of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) in the anoxic spaces beneath the fixed hanger at the point where the bolt enters the rock. For glue-ins, bacteria occupy the minute crack between glue and bolt.

3. All failed anchors I have studied reveal the presence of iron and nickel sulphides, a clear indicator of the agency of SRB.

4. SRB are well known to promote a destructive process called hydrogen embrittlement within susceptible stainless steels. It can take the form of stress-cracking that looks similar to chloride-induced SCC but differs in a number of ways. It is called sulphide stress cracking or SSC. More alarmingly, we sometimes see embrittlement with very little corrosion, where perfect-looking uncracked bolts can be snapped with a single hammer blow.

5. The nickel content of the stainless steel, in combination with the temperature at which the product is formed has a dramatic effect on hydrogen susceptibility. It is a threshold effect. At 8% nickel, 304 (A2) is likely to give rise to a product that will last no more than 10 years in an environment where SRB are present. At 10%, 316 (A4) is right on the threshold. It is possible that 316 will last for many decades in the same environment. Steel with a higher nickel content would be a better choice, but, without jumping to the very expensive 904, there is currently no commercial offering at say 14% to 20% nickel.

6. A susceptible stainless steel of any type will reveal this weakness by being magnetic to a reasonable degree. By reasonable degree I mean a super-strong magnet will partially lift a bolt lying on a table. If it doesn’t then it is likely the martensite level is below the critical level. Check welds, and parts of the bolt that have been deformed in manufacture. These areas are the most likely to be magnetic.

7. Sea cliffs in Sweden: I’d be very surprised if you have any problems there. Most sea cliffs are fine except for the few that show sulphate accumulation. Most sulphate cliffs in the world are located in regions of continental subduction. Volcanic activity associated with such shifting of the continental plates provides the sulphur source. The exceptions are those associated with the volcanism of mid-ocean, sea-floor expansion, such as the Canaries and Hawaii. It is only when sulphate is present does the whole thing about magnetism become relevant. 304, magnetic or not, has done great service at sea cliffs around the world. These days with 316 becoming competitive in price, I would choose 316 because it is somewhat more sea water resistant than 304. However, if the price difference is large, I’d stay with 304.

The above is purely my opinion and should not be construed as being endorsed by, or a recommendation from, the UIAA. I am always very careful to set my personal opinions apart from those of the UIAA. I am a technical advisor to UIAA Safe Com on the subject of rock anchors, but that’s all I am. I cannot speak for the organisation. However, they have funded a big part of my research over the past few years, and the reason I started my blog was to ensure that my efforts, and those of the volunteers that help me at crags around the world, are not lost. I distrust “experts” and have no wish to be one. However, I’m very happy to tell people what I have discovered, and let them process that information to make their own decisions."

Martin Keller (43), who just did Unendliche Geschichte 8B+ in Magic Wood, shares some insight in regards humidity, friction and fans which he has learnt from this boulder, and part of it, goes against what most think.

"The "optimal" combo between humidity/temperature/rock/hold and skin-condition is different for every climber. Generally, boulderers are looking for colder and drier conditions as the skin gets harder and doesn’t roll over holds anymore (as is does when its warmer and the skin is soft). However, on certain types of rock (very) hard skin means less friction. The Bruno-block in Magic wood is super polished from the river; it feels like glass/ceramic! Try to hold a glass with super dry/chalked hands; it will slip through your hands. But when the glass is a bit humid/condensated you will suddenly recognize way more friction! That’s exactly what happens at Unendliche Geschichte - it's super slippery and hard when it's dry and you have dry and hard skin... but super grippy when it's humid/condensated. For this reason, spring/summer is best! A cold night with colder rock and then a thunderstorm in the evening (warm/humid air) will bring you best conditions down there ;) otherwise, spray the holds/hands with water helps to, but it never is as good as a thunderstorm and/or some mist ;)

A lot of people have sweaty hands and then colder temps, wind and may some antihydral can help As I suffer from really sweaty fingers antihydral (properly applied) helps me a lot. Still, I have very soft skin which is not an advantage on granite or gneiss. Wind helps a lot, especially in areas like Magic Wood where many blocs are sheltered from the wind. And as wind isn't always "available" I was looking for a way to bring some wind to my projects. That's when I started to bring a ventilator to my projects in 2016.

The picture is from Ninja skills sit 8C/+. When it was super dry and I kept dryfiring from the crux... I did produce some "foggy-conditions" with the fan ;)."

Olga Niemiec, a mother of two from Poland who is an international route setter, has done her first 8A+, Amores perros in Botzeta. (c) Marcin Ciepielewski

"I am excited that I can climb on this level and continue to improve as a climber. It’s hard to reconcile intensive training and being a mum of 2 active kids, but I am happy that it’s possible :)" It took me 5 sessions in total (including 2 sessions on the first part of the boulder, which also has a different ending called "Amores Perros dla leszczy" graded 7C+). After sending the easier version it was obvious that I should try the harder one. Which I thought is graded 8A, so it seemed reachable. Despite doing all the moves in 30 minutes, linking them all took three more sessions, and in the meantime I realised it's graded 8A+ :)"

Iziar Martinez has done her fifth 8c, MotivAcción in Cueva del Arnal. "Well I went to this cave in Cantalejo, it's like my comfort zone. I go there since I was 11-years-old and I only had two routes left and one of them was the 8c. So I tried and I did it on my 6th go."

Martin Keller, famous for his long term solo projecting, has set yet a new standard taking down Unendliche Geschichte 8B+ in Magic Woods after working on it for 16 years. (c) Hannes Kutza

Finishing his work as a teacher in a university in Zurich at 4 pm, he sometimes drives 2.20 h to Magic and starts bouldering at 7 pm. Although he has to wake up at 5.45 am he is normally not back and in bed until 2 am. "Can be 4 or directly to work as well... not recommended though ;) For all kilometres CO2 compensated at least... and commuting to work by train only... at least."

The 43-year-old is also one of the first who started using fans and he is a condition/friction expert often carrying several fans as well as a humidity meter. A separate article is coming up. More info on his Insta and on his Coaching page.

In total, he has done seven 8C's out of which Ninja Skills Sit is his hardest and it has not been repeated. "Ninja is one off the best boulders for sure. An interesting fact is that I managed to close down so many of my nemesis-boulders during the last two years... its cool to see to be able to step up your game with 43 again and keep dreaming about those lines :)"

My “Never Ending Story” started back in November 2004 when I had been able to send “Part 2” for my second 8A-boulder. But the first part of the line with its crazy river polished slopers always had puzzled me. The friction was so poor that I constantly dryfired off somewhere. In 2007 we had a session during a thunderstorm. The holds started to condensate but the friction suddenly had been amazing! It turned out that these polished holds had way better friction when they were totally humid! Something totally new for us! A few thunderstorms later and I had climbed the first part as well and I had started to try to link the two parts. But somehow the first move of the second part kept throwing me off on link. I did go back every year since and came close many times but somehow never managed to stick that move. Eventually, the weather always turned “too dry” and/or I had been sidetracked with other projects!

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. So when the warm and wet conditions had arrived, I was back at “Never Ending Story” and really did stick my nemesis move after a few sessions for the first time ever! The bummer was that I slipped off from the last moves before the top. But I was just super happy to have done that move that had shut me down for the last 13years.

Unfortunately, the conditions got too dry soon after and I started to feel too tired from the long season! I took my usual summer break from bouldering. After that, I worked myself back in shape only to fall off again with totally numb fingers on the last move during an early snowstorm. A few sessions later and another slip off the last moves I finally was able to finish it up! Despite numbing out in the end and therefore overpowering and injuring my ankle while going for the top hold I was able to keep it together and finish off my personal “Never Ending Story”. 16 years after touching this beauty for the first time my dream had come true! But looking back at it the last 16years have been the real dream. So grateful for that journey and its experiences!"