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Alex Megos has done the FA of Bibliographie 9c in Céüse after around 60 days of projecting. The 35 m route was bolted by Ethan Pringle in 2009 and the 26-year-old has tried it actively for three year. In the video from 2019, some of the sequences are included. (c) Jenya Kazbekova

” The crux consists of 4 moves in the middle of the route. Approximately 8a+ boulder. You have a relatively good hold and you need to do a big gaston move to a crimp, from there you match on top of the crimp as a pinch. You do a dead point move into a bad two finger pocket and from there a long move to a crimp. Ideally you climb the boulder problem without cut loose, but sometimes my feet cut going from the pocket to the crimp."

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Sometimes the odds are against you, but it doesn't mean you don't have a chance. Yesterday evening, on my last day of the trip, it definitely wasn’t looking good after messing up the first (and only) try I wanted to do that day. I fell relatively low on the route though, so I decided to give it an infamous “one last go”. I passed the crux in the middle of the route, and found myself on the poor rest before the final hard section. Twice prior to this burn I had fallen on the last hard move of the route, so I wasn’t feeling super confident. Nonetheless I started off after the rest with full pace and only briefly slowed down to adjust one hold and to get it perfectly. I passed my ‘trouble move’ seemingly effortlessly and despite being completely pumped out of my mind, I was able to pull off the sequence of the last four moves. After clipping the anchor it seemed like all of the days of work I have put into the route were passing in front of my eyes. With approximately 60 climbing days over the past three years "Bibliographie" has been by far my longest project to date. I know there are many speculations about the grade and I think grades are very subjective. My personal suggestion for the grade is 9c (5.15d). Considering the fact, that "Perfecto Mundo" (9b+) has taken me 16 days of effort, "Bibliographie" with around 60 days and more specific training felt a lot harder. Of course, as the first ascensionist you don't have your perfect beta from the start, you have doubts whether it is possible or not for you, if you are completely missing something, or if you are just not in the best shape. It is always harder to grade something without any other opinion. I am very curious about what the future of the route will look like, and grateful for other people's opinions. Independently from the grade, this has been a very valuable experience for me. It marks a personal milestone in my climbing life, one I would have not been able to complete without the support and help of all of my friends and family. Deep gratitude and thanks goes to all of you! (And yes, there is send footage 😉) Pic @ken_etzel

Ett inlägg delat av Alexander Megos (@alexandermegos) 6 Aug 2020 kl. 12:00 PDT

In 2009 and 2010, Alex won eight out of ten Euro Youth Cups he participated in and in the remaining two, he was runner-up. He stopped competing in 2012, after having tried the World Cupo with not much success. In his comeback in 2017, he was #2 in the Euro Bouldering Championship and later in his second Lead WC, he was also runner up. In 2018, he begun his Olympic dream and won one event in Lead and got a bronze in the World Championship. Last year, he qualified to Tokyo by and he was #2 in the Lead World Championship.

Outdoors, Alex created history in 2013, with the first ever 9a onsight. In total he has done some 90 routes graded 8c+/9a and harder including his FA of Perfecto Mundo 9b+. Interesting is that his trainers Dicki Korb and Patrik Matros, have said that they deliberately have tried to hold him back and instead more focusing on a holistic approach.

"It is about balancing all things out and working hard, for a long term progress. Motivation, having fun and being creative are most important and I am not fan of strict systematic programs where you should doing fixed seconds on a hang board. Sure we sometimes do hang board excercises and we have a general plan but it can always be changed based on current feelings and almost half of Megos training is non-climbing exercises."

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"BIBLIOGRAPHIE" ✅ by @alexandermegos . Having you by my side and seeing every day the effort you are putting into your dreams will never stop amazing me. Behind the scenes of success there is always so much more. I'm unbelievably proud of how you are managing your world. There are many great athletes out there, but the difference is what a person you are. Thank you for reminding me what a huge heart you have and how much you care about being better person every day. Your contribution to this world is really meaningful. I hope you will keep your smile, your attitude and your desire to make this world a better place. Keep pursuing your dreams💫 #carrotsforpower

Ett inlägg delat av Ievgeniia Kazbekova (@jenya_kazbekova) 6 Aug 2020 kl. 7:43 PDT

Adam Ondra comes with the interesting facts on Insta that none of the first 8a to 8b+ never have been onsighted. Here is the list that Ondra refers to but as it turns out, he might be wrong.

8a: Grand Illusion trad, FA Tony Yaniro 1979. It has six ascents in the 8a database, out of which two with 8a+ suggestions and three marked it as "hard". The sixth ascent is from Alex Honnold. In other words, this one might better fit as an 8a+. Mini-doc video

A contender for the first 8a in the world, which has been onsighted by Adam Ondra could be Cosmic Debris 8a trad by Bill Price in 1980. It is located in Yosemite and Alex Honnold has actually soled it.

8a+: The Face, FA Jerry Moffat 1983 A route in Frankenjura well repeated. Mini-doc video
8b: Kanal im Rücken, FA Wolfgang Güllich 1984 A well repeated route in Frankenjura.
8b+: Punks in the Gym, FA Wolfgang Güllich 1985 A well repeated route in Arapiles.

It should be mentioned that in 1977, Peter Cleveland did (on tope rope or pre-placed gear?) and suggested 7c for Phlogiston in Devil's Lake. Today it is considered a spicy 8a trad route. Noteworthy is that Ondra has not tried any of the routes he mentioned. Interesting is also that in 1975, the first 8A boulder was established, Trice. Comparing the difficulty in between boulders and routes, an 8A boulder = an 8b route.

Oriane Bertone has flashed Le lézard à pompe extension 8b+ in Roche de rame and last week she did L'extremacura 8c in Gravere. She got the beta by her little brother Max (13) who earlier this summer did three 8b+'. Earlier this summer the 15-year-old did her first 8c+ as well as her first 8C boulder. In the 8a ranking game, she is #4 in Lead and #3 in Boulder and consequently #1 overall.

They live in Reunion, a small island outside Madagascar but due to Covid-19, they have been caught in Europe since the start of the lockdown. Here is an interview from last month.

Nathaniel Coleman, who has qualified to Tokyo 2021, skips 8C and does The Grand Illusian 8C+, in the middle of the night, with support from Drew Ruana.

Stefano Carnati has done his fourth 9a during the last ten weeks, The Illusionst 9a in Flatanger. "Perfect rock, crazy holds, bizarre movements. Definitely climbs way better than looks!!! Tried some days last year in the worst possible conditions and sent today after falling off the upper crux." (c) Marcello Bombardi

Charlotte Andre, who earlier this summer flashed an 8A+ in Fontainebleau, reports on Insta that she during a hot and rainy 10 days trip to Magic Wood has done seven 8A's including Foxy Lady 8A, 2nd Go, and Jack's broken heart 8A+. Furthermore, the medical school student flashed four 7C's and The Right Hand of Darkness 7C+ (8A). (c) Vladek Zumr

"My trip was really nice! I managed to tick a lot of classic boulders. Next time I have to find a harder project ;-) but this time I wanted to discover the forest and all the « jam » so I didn’t try a really hard problem. Nevertheless I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a loooooot. I met many awesome people. That’s why I love climbing to. Right now I have to switch to comp mode for the Tout à bloc. If there are some comps I will do the bouldering season."

Your flash record is really impressive. Any special strategy?
I most of the time try to make a good flash attempt but I'm not preparing myself really. I check one or two videos or sometimes I just ask the beta from the people who are trying the problem. I really take it easy and cool. If it’s work it’s cool, if not, no big deal.

You seem easy going?
Outside yes but in comps I’m really stressed. Climbing outside is just climbing for "pleasure" and fun. But as comps are my "main goal", it’s harder for me to take a step back and just enjoy and do what I’m capable of.

What is your training background
Three years ago I had to stop the comps because the first year of medicine school is really hard in France. I studied almost 12h/day from September to May. I could climb once a week for maximum 45min and that was all. Then I succeed my exams and the year after I started to train again and during the last two years I have been training very hard also during the lockdown. I’ve done a lot of physical training because it’s a big weakness for me :-). I’m doing a lot of super short training session like 30 minutes. I train mostly alone because where I live there is not a lot of strong climbers. I was super excited for the World Cups. I was ready and super motivated but unfortunaltey all the comps were cancelled because of the COVID. Consequently I started to climb outside. I went a bit to the local crag and then one week in Font and now the Magic Wood trip.

Iker Pou, who did Action Direct 9a in 2000 and has ever since been one of the best rock climbers out there especially in establishing new big walls up to 8c, continues to deliver. After having trained, together with his brother Eneko, hard during the lockdown, "Dominated, push-ups, abdominals, etc. combined with the roller (bicycle) at home", the 43-year-old came out in excellent shape, making the FA of Free Full 9a and La Ware 9a. The latter is 35 metres with old school action in the last ten moves including two dynos into one-finger pockets. ©HermanosPou

“We would have loved to go on an expedition now, as we did last year to the Peruvian Andes, but this is not going to be, we will have to reinvent ourselves at home, and strengthen the local economy and security. I think we will surprise with something very cool in one of the mountain ranges around us. There are still very interesting things to do here."