The Austrian Climbing Summer Series Finals in Innsbruck is live Sep 23-26 on EpicTV

Geila Macia, daughter to famous Spanish climbers Berta Martin and Israel Gacia, has done Aribaba 8a in Montserrat, (c) Israel, as well as her first 8b, Vuelo a ciegas in Totxo del Macana. Interestingly, it was put up in 1986 as the first 8b in Spain. Berta did it ten years ago and comments,

"It is a short and explosive route with a decisive dynamic move at the beginning from two-finger-pockets. Last autumn Geila tried it once and then we went to Hueco Tanks for three weeks, where she did three 7C's. Once we returned she tried it again but then there was the lockdown and we just trained a lot at home. It was the only thing we could do...train. During the summer we focused on easier routes in Montserrat where she also did 8a and 8a+. On September 12th Geila did Arribaba, a very explosive and resistant 8a and we saw that she was very fit she returned to the 8b.

Geila was extremely motivated to go to the project because she was determined to do the dynamic move. The rest of the route is more controlled moves but requires a lot of precision on feet, and there are a couple of more controlled dynamics but she had them well-rehearsed. Many failed tries but her motivation never gave up. Eventually, she coordinated the dyno very well with the movement of feet and hips and went to the anchor... with determination and enjoying the moment."

Mia Krampl, #2 in the Lead World Championship last year and who later qualified to Tokyo, has done her second 8A+, Petting with an alligator in Maltatal.

I tried it few weeks ago and I loved it. So many different type of moves and heel hooks, knee hook... when I saw the boulder it seemed so difficult to me but with some help of my friends who have already sent it and told me the beta, I liked the line even better! Unfortunately I was falling from the last move for the several times on that day. This sunday I went back to Maltatal without the plan of trying Petting... but during the time I was waiting for the colder temperatures to try something harder with the other guys, I decided to give it a go! I've send it in few tries!

Ludo Delmotte has done Quoi de Neuf in Fontainebleau. "This line is composed by an 8A (L'acte 1), then a big no-hands rest, followed by an 8B (L'acte 2). I started to climb in L'acte 1 two years ago and it was my max level. It's close to home so I have been there regularly. This year after the lock down, I climbed L'acte 2. Since June I have tried to climb the full line."

His Video says, "8C trav". "For the grade I think it's not an 8C boulder because it's too long! I think it's more a "traversée" as they say in Fontainebleau. I think we can't compare this line with a boulder. The effort is really different."

The dilemma for the climbers and the media is that it is very hard to understand when the traverse grading scale is used and that the presented traverse difficulty lies in between the boulder and the route grading scale.

8a have for like 15 years reported boulders with capital letters and routes with small letters in order to show if it is a boulder or route presented in the headline etc. Then a couple years later we started to report traverses like 8Cc in order to show that the climb is more of a combined boulder route, using another grading scale.

Ludo has previously just done one boulder harder than 8A and with 7c+ as his personal best route, so the Ali Baba cave in Rodellar should be another great rood option! "I live near to Fontainebleau so I don't have a lot of opportunity to climb in crags... so I don't have a big route project. I hope one day 😉"

We also asked Simon Lorenzi to comment why he recently downgraded Quoi de neuf to 8B+? "If you add up the two passages of the boulder (a soft 8A and a very soft 8B) taking into account the total rest in the middle, it's almost a mathematical rule for me that the rating doesn't go up to 8C."

To sum up, it is great that Ludo and Simon have come forward with their personal grades saying that it is nor fair to get credited with 8C for their ascents of Quoi de Neuf. At the same time, possibly it would be great if all climbers and media could agree how to present and report such boulder routes. On the hand, this is almost impossible as we also need a standard for reporting the hybrid routes starting with sit starts. I mean, should we say Laura Rogora has done the hardest female route in the world when she does a 9b+ in the Ali Baba cave?

Dani Fuertes has done Ali Hulk sit start extension total 9b in Rodellar. More info in spanish on his Insta. "For me it is a dream to achieve this difficulty, specially because I’m not a professional climber. I have my full time job as a fire man and my family! Besides it’s a route for younger climbers haha and I’m a little bit old 🙄. But I will go on there! Doing that is my passion with my family, Sílvia and Africa! I have not done any specific training, I have only climbed the route and I have worked it by sections, doing boulder in the crux and training resistance in the last part. I have learnt a lot on a mental level. The route requires to always be very concentrated because you can fall in many sections if you are not focused. Next? Climbing climbing climbing bolting climbing all time!!!🤣🤣🤣."(c) Carlos "citro" Logroño

Originally Dani Andrada did the FA of Ali Hulk sit start extension 9b back in 2007 which has only been repeated by Magns Midtbö. Then last year, Jonathan Flor added some 15 mainly crimp moves and "total" to the original name, keeping the grade. Jorge Diaz-Rullo and Laura Rogora have previously repeated it. In total, the hybrid boulder route has over 100 moves and it took the 39-year-old around 20 minutes to climb including four very good rests. It starts with a around 15 moves sist start boulder followed by some 35 moves before you tie in, then you traverse out of the cave and in total, the overhang should be like 30 meters.

Isabelle Faus has added yet another very impressive FAs to hard scorecard; Sinwav 8B+ in Pine Cliff, Get Laid 8B in Scoop and Glitter addict 8B in Pine Cliff. In total, she has now opened 19 boulders 8A to 8B+ FAs which makes her totally superior in the FA game. (c) Chad Greedy

"For me exploring and cleaning is a constant, I like repeating boulders too, but doing a first ascent is a contribution to the climbing community so for me it’s more satisfying. It also makes the whole experience of projecting harder.. finding, cleaning , figuring out the beta, but I love the challenge. Finding beta is my favorite part, it’s super creative... there’s no videos or pics for beta, so you really have to figure it out... Doing a first ascent means you have to have vision, know how to clean boulders, figure out your own beta, be willing to get dirty, and have faith in yourself that your doing things right and that your project is worth your time. It’s a lot harder! Process is always work, but it’s great to transform something and give a little to the community. Very grateful for all the people who showed me how to open boulders. We have endless projects and I know from exploring that we always have things to do :)

Doing Sinawav was scary! I found it in a solo mission and it’s my favorite thing I’ve found so I really wanted to do it. The day I sent I was in a bad mood, but I finally made it to this ledge before the highball ending.. I normally would have been scared cause I was sweaty and tired but... that day I gave zero fucks... It helped haha :) I definitely tried it with a rope, I always rehearse sequences on highballs. It’s hard climbing and high consequence. It breaks down like 8B to the ledge, after that you really don’t want to fall, and it’s 7C to the top. Bad slopey crimps and huge moves."

Sinawav was put up some two months ago and has not been repeated although Daniel Woods has been close. Two weeks the boulder FA queen repeated Creme de la Crumb 8B+ after some seven sessions of projecting. In the 8a ranking game she is #2 after Alex Puccio.

Paul Jenft, who was #10 in Briancon, has beside his first 9a, done his third 8c+ during the last four weeks, Il n'est jamais trop tard in La Balme.

"It is a route bolted by Philippe Mussato in La Balme. Mathieu Bouyoud did the first ascent of this line last year and he motivated my to try the route. It is composed by two sections where the first is powerful with big moves. Then there is a good rest with two kneebars. The second section is more technical. It begins with a crux with a jump to a crimp and then there are pumpy moves until the top. I needed six attempts during two sessions to take it down."

Adam Ondra has given personal grades for hardcore routes for more than ten years, which makes him unique. The dilemma is that he is the best climber in the world especially when it comes to onsight, meaning that he often does not base his personal grades on the best possibly beta. When Ondra onsights a route listed as 8c in the topo and says it felt like 8c also for him, this should not be used as he confirms the 8c, just that he used sequences that felt like 8c for him.

The guys who should confirm grades are the ones who have worked it so much so they have found the very best sequences. If I spend ten sessions on a route I will most likely be able to do 7b+ or 7c, if it is a route that fits me. If Ondra, or another top climber, onsights it and suggests 7c+. The topo producer should not pay so much attention to this as he most probably did not find the best solutions.

Eva Hammelmüller has done Der Seewächter 8b+, (c) Andre Costar, and Gondor 8c in Ötztal. In total, the 20-year-old has now done six 8c's in 2020 and she is #5 in the 8a ranking game.

"Gondor felt really hard when I tried it for the first time, but I made good progress from each try to the next. I struggled a bit on the lower crux, so I changed my beta slightly. On the next go, I climbed through these hard moves and could send the route straight away! As university starts again in October, I will climb a lot in Ötztal, but I would also like to go to Arco and maybe Tessin or Magic Wood on long weekends. Definitely a lot of outdoor climbing!"