Marine Thevenet reports on Insta that she has done New Base Line 8B+ in Magic Wood. (c) Clement Lechaptois

"I think it took me 7 sessions! I tried it for the first time at easter 2019! Not sure if there was only one key 😂 I believe that the last months I earned a lot of expérience by trying harder boulders; I did a lot of moon board and smartboard training; and... I am on holidays so it is easier to climb when the conditions are good and when I am rested!"

In total, the #7 in the World Cup in 2014, has now done 56 boulders 8A and harder out which 14 only in 2020. The 31-year-old lawyer retired from the competition scene in 2016 being #19 in the World Championship.

Nico Pelorson, who previously has done one 8C, reports on Insta that he has done the third ascent of No kpote only in Fontainebleau. It was put up as a 9A by Charles Albert, who climbed it without shoes and has later been repeated by Ryohei Kameyama who suggested 8C+/9A. Now Nico says that after finding better beta and using climbing shoes he calls it a "solid 8C"!

Comparing the videos we can see that the biggest difference is that Nico using two heal hooks, creating different beta also for the hands. In the picture by Hugo Parmentier, we can see part of the the new beta.

"It took me about eight sessions, seven last year and one this year. I did a super hard training of biceps and triceps with Lucien Martinez. I saw Rhyohei pass with a heel instead of a toe like Charles in a photo. So I tested this beta and it was much easier. In fact, in all the boulder, I did only one move common with Charles."

The 23-yer-old has previoulsy done six 9a's out of which four FA's. This summer he did a 9a FA in Céüse but beside working an extreme boulder project not tried any hard boulders."I prefer route climbing but maybe I am a better boulderer ."

Petr Resch has done the FA of Prsty houslového virtuosa 8B+ in Petrohard, video, after some 15 days of projecting.

So please explain how it is possible to set a new personal best at age 46?
I have been preparing every year 300-600 new boulders for the "Petrohradské padání" event for almost twenty years. About 300 boulders 8A and more (a total of 5000 boulders). Last year 8B and 8B/B + where the 8B was confirmed and the 8B/B + has not been repeated. It is mostly about climbing on small edges. This winter I started testing the traverse for 8B+. Due to the Coroana virus pandemic, we had to cancel this year's Petrohradské padání. I didn't climb all summer because of the heat and I trained. As soon as the temperatures dropped, I returned to the project and climbed it relatively quickly. As I got older, I changed my eating habits significantly and I train less with a focus on my weaknesses.

Petr Blaha has during the last three weeks done three 8c+' in Gorges du Loup, including the FA of La constante de Boltzmann." My own personal ineffable connection at Déversé. You start with New Power Generation, at third bold decide the left clip is a hard bolder on its own, so you flow left with Magma, after crazy high foot decide it's boring and you want to rise and shine, so it's up in Jouleman till you get to the Zulu man, then the jug is too big, so you scorn it and go back right with Soul of fury to the chain. Only way up now is with Ultimate Sacrifice, so that's what you do until you have nowhere to go." (c) Roman Bayon

Helena Lipenska, WC finalist in both Boulder and Lead also born in Czech Republic in the same age group, has helped us out with some questions to the 44-year-old doctorate in theoretical physics.

What keeps you so motivated in climbing during all these years? It is absolutely admirable and very motivating for our generation.
Answer to this question requires a reflection on the topic of climbing and aging. There is no reason to lie to ourselves - climbing is a sport for young ones. As they say “technique is another side of strength” and with years our physical abilities are degrading. Where to start if one wants to fight entropy? First thing is to keep motivation high. There are two points of view on how I kept my motivation. I would say that I kept it due to my outstanding patience, ability to stay concentrated both in the short and long term prospective and widely diversified portfolio of my goals and projects. My friends would tell you I am a psycho. I really have no idea why. Training on a campus board at 1 am is the most natural thing in the world. Then you should avoid any injuries. Here I am just lucky and I am not inclined to any injuries. It is also not an easy task to make harm to those massive pegs I have instead of fingers.

This takes us to the question of weight. If you want to climb tough routes, you simply can’t afford to carry any extra weight with you and with age it becomes more and more difficult. After Abyss my weight started to slowly go up, last year I worked a lot and did not climb that much, so when after Christmas I stepped on the weight, I was really scared. That was how I first time in my life started to eat healthy. Then, due to the quarantine I’ve started to cook and now my weight is back to where it was 25 years ago and my physical condition is like during Abyss times. During the quarantine I kept training on my home wall 3-4 times per day and results are visible.

Tor Johnson just posted on his Insta, "Don’t skip legday! Just finished my 3h kneebarsession. #kneebartheworld."

"When I climb I always look for kneebars just as much as I look for holds. Finding a kneebar is often game changer when you try to send climb that is on your limit. Kneebars is not just about resting and making moves easier. Sometimes you can do totally new sequences using a kneebar. Some people say that using kneepads are cheeting as they make the climbs easier. And they are right. That is the point! The same thing was said about climbing shoes and chalk when they first came around. Nowadays it seems very strange to climb without chalk! I'm sure kneepads are here to stay and I think they should be part of any climbers standard setup just like climbing shoes and chalk bags.

I train my kneebar skills at least once a week. Some people say they only use kneebars when they have to. That is strange to me. Technical kneebars requires a high level of skill and specific strength just like healhooks or dropknees. If you don't practice it, there is no way you will get the most out of the kneebars when you really need them."

Antoine Maire, who has done seven 8c's in 2020 but started to focus on bouldering one month ago, has done Quoi de neuf outside Fontainebleau comparing it with an 8c+ route. Previously the hybrid climb has been making headlines as an 8B+ or 8C boulder as well as an 8Cc traverse. It took him two sessions to do the first 8A part, three sessions to do the second 8B part and then another three sessions to link them together.

"So happy! I'm working on La Force extension now! I think it's not a boulder or a traverse but it's like a route because it's like 30 moves of power endurance so I suppose it had to be a route grade.I think it is a hard 8c+."

Zhao Lei, Team Manager of Chinese Climbing Team, has published two videos on his Insta from the China nationals in Speed. Qixin Zhong, 165 cm tall, set a new unofficial world record in Speed at 5.35 among the male. Previously the 31-year-old has won 12 World Cups and 3 World Championships. He also won the last WC in 2019 at 5.49 which was his first victory in three years. It should be noted that in the video, Qixin's opponent Cao Long is ahead until his foot slips in the very end getting very close to go under 5.30 it seems. In training, Cao has done 5.25. The official world record is 5.48 set by Reza Alipour in 2017.

It should be mentioned that the new world records were set on an certified wall but in order to set a new world record, it has to be an IFSC competion with an IFSC Jury President. Among the female, Lijuan Deng won at 6.74 which can be compared with the official world record at 6.995 by Aries Susanti Rahayu. Lijuan is 20-years-old and last year she only participated once in the World Cup where she was #5 at 7.40.

Tom Bolger, who previously has done eight 9a's, reports on Insta that he has done Gancho Perfect 9a (+) in Margalef. (c) Eduardo Navarro

"Gancho perfecto is an awesome steep route bolted by Chris Sharma. I was super psyched to complete this project as I had a bit of a mental barrier with the route having fallen on the last move! Psyched to carry on with the run of form that I have this year :) enjoying the climbing to its most! The route has three main boulders with a heartbreaker finish, a dead point from a shallow two finger pocket to a slopey hold on the lip of the overhang, that last move is as much mental as physical to hit it right ...."

Jakob Schubert, the best male Lead competitor the last ten years, reports on Insta that he has flashed Lichtjahre 8c+ and Goldrausch 8c. It should be mentioned that Lichtjahre has been considered a hard 8c until a hold broke and Alex Megos suggested an upgrade. Furthermore, Jakob is one of the open climbers being honest having several times given personal grades. Olympian Michael Piccolruaz gives us the story.

"I kind of demo climbed Lichtjahre. In Goldrausch he got the beta from Heiko Wilhelm. Always pretty much in control 😅 he followed the beta we gave him quite exactly as we said 👍".

Dave Graham reports on Insta that he has done Ali Hulk Sit Start Extension Total 9b in Rodellar. The story he has published is as good as it gets finishing with, "One of my most memorable and rewarding ascents in my life 🙌🏻"

Here is how it begins building up the dramaturgy, "The day it went down I had zero expectations to climb it 🤣 It was one of the last hot days we had, particularly humid, and not a lot of wind, I was tired from trying No Pain the day before, and had some nagging splits that needed tape, so I sat myself down at the start whimsically for a good old training burn, planning to fall at the first crux..."

The 38-year-old has been one of the leading rock climbers for the last 20 years. He is also known from videos and social media for his energy, expressing and adding detail after detail for whatever climbing subject he is talking about with often a philosophical touch. On Insta he has 101 000 followers. Chatting with him means he clicks on Enter 50 times just within a ten minute interview adding interesting comments. He is also very very popular and familiar among the hard core elite climbers as he has been on the road for like 20 years. The coming Mellow Climbing video is something to look forward to ;) There is also an 8a interview coming up as soon as there will be some rainy rest days in Rodellar, we have been promised.

Interesting is also that Dave says there are three harder sit starts possible in the middle of the cave most certainly kicking up the grade.