Gio Placci has done Underground 8c+ (9a) in Arco and amazingly, it was on his 30iest day on. Even on the day before he did two indoor sessions and spent five hours in train and bus to reach Arco. He lives two hours from the nearest crag and he goes always alone to Arco which takes 2.45 hours if he is lucky to commute with a car. Last year he was #8 in a Euro Youth Cup but this year he focused on outdoors and have had a great progress. (c) Sara Grippo

"This year during the lockdown I was able to train very well in my home gym with my little brother. I trained two times all days for about 60 days! Due to the fact that just one comp took place, I could focus on outdoor climbing and I was able to send nine routes from 8c to 8c+. I live far away from Arco but I love this place and almost every weekend I go there to climb." The 19-year-old has just started the University and says that, "For me it doesn’t change so much if I rest or not, mainly only before competitions. Outdoors, I usually set a goal and I rest only for this. For example now I’m training to do a 9a in Arco, so I’m waiting the best conditions. Underground was nothing special and the send was very unexpected. I did it just as I was "training" during my third day on it. The first time I got made the first crux I sent it!"

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Buster Martin reports on Insta with a picture by Andrew MacFarlane that he has done Hubble at Raven Tor. It was put up in 1990 by Ben Moon as the first 8c+ in the world but later the UK scene have called it 9a although no of the first repeaters did upgrade it. Buster used the same knee pad beta as Matt Wright just did but did not mention any grade in his post. He has previously done one 9a+ and one 9a in Spain.

"The most technical piece of climbing I've done and maybe less of a test of power than you may think. It’s all in the subtleties and working them out. Yeah, you need to be strong but a twist of the wrist by a few degrees, hips in the right place or getting your fingers on the right ripples on the rock is what really gets you up this thing."

Buster says he took it down after some six sessions out of which four this year. One of the reason he tried it again was because Mat Wright find the knee bar.

So what do you think about the grade? It's obviously easier with the knee pad but compared to the other high 8s I have done at Raven tor then I think it is 9a.

Although we can hope travelling to crags and competitions abroad will be allowed in 2021, it will most likely not be as until 2019. In other words, we will most probably be climbing more locally next year so this is where the development focus should be put. This could mean rebolting old routes as well as adding in more bolts on scary old-school routes. Other possibilities to improve the local climbing could be to build better landings on boulders as well as platforms under routes. Taking it further could be to cut down some big trees in order to make it sunnier and dryer. It just might be that there are some hidden treasures out there that now are covered in moss.

An example of this is a new developed sector in the middle of the biggest crag in Utby in Göteborg. Actually the trail passed directly under it but it just did not look interesting and it was wet most of the time due to all the trees next to it. Now after the municipality helped out with cutting down many trees and it was bolted, it has become the most popular crag in the whole area. It should also be possible to update and make a real topo with valuable info instead of just finding lines and grades on the internet.

It is important to underline that before starting to bolt and cutting trees etc, you need to get a permission for this. Remember that developing your local crags will have a significant positive impact on the environment as it is expected that it will also reduce travelling.

Iziar Martinez has done her fourth 8c, Suma cero in Cuenca. "I went to Cuenca this weekend and my trainer told me I had to try something hard so I tried Suma cero 8c. I thought I could do it and the route was really cool and I did it in six tries." (c) Javi Pec

James Webb, who previously has done five 8C+', has done his 8C #30, Dicktopia in Camp Dick. "The bloc took me two sessions. I climbed it first try on the second day. Most definitely suits my style quite well. Right now I’m back home in South Lake Tahoe, CA and the fall season is just kicking off. I have a lot of projects here so hopefully, we’ll be able to put some down soon!"

"This decision was not an easy one for us, but the health of everyone involved clearly comes first. We consulted with the coaches and also obtained the opinions of the athletes. From our point of view, a posting to Moscow due to travel warnings and restrictions is not responsible. " reports Austria Climbing on Insta. In other words, no Austrians will travel to Moscow to compete in the Euro Championship 20-29 November.

The last male and female from Europe going to the Olympics will be selected in the Moscow event. This means that Jakob Schubert and Jessica Pils are the only Austrians going to Tokyo 2021.

It should be noted that according to the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, a travel warning of the highest level 6 applies to Russia.

If the Moscow Championships are cancelled, Jernej Kruder from Slovenia and Ievgeniia Kazbekova from Ukraine will get the Euro Olympic tickets due to their results in the Combined World Championship last year.

If a boulder is much easier if you are 175 cm tall, then a 165 cm tall guy doing the FA needs to consider this once suggesting the FA grade. It could be the same if a guy with fat fingers can't squeeze in two fingers in a pocket, meaning he has to use just one finger or go for another beta. If it then feels like 8A he might opt for 7C+ or lower. If you are not using climbing shoes it might be hard to understand if it is easier with shoes so no blame on Charles Albert and his 9A proposal on No Kpote only but he has to be careful in the future suggesting 9A's.

Grades are based on the best possible sequence and also for the perfect size of that climb. A dyno where it is (almost) impossible for climbers below 185 cm should not be graded 9A based on how it feels for the 170 cm climbers. That dyno grade should be based on how it feels for the 185 cm guys, which might be 8A.