Stefano Ghisolfi has done the FA of The Bow 9a+ in Arco. In total, the Italian, who has also been one of the best Lead competition climbers in the world, has now done 18 routes 9a+ to 9b+. (c) Sara Grippo Video starting 1.40 showing the amazing crux. Uncut video from below.

"I started trying the route after the lockdown and then it came warmer and warmer weather, so I was thinking about stop trying this summer and try again next fall, but I kept going and finally did it yesterday. The bow move is kind of crazy, when I was trying at the beginning it felt weird and quite impossible, but probably it is the easiest and only way to do it."

Molly Thompson-Smith, who was #7 in the World Cup in 2017 at age 19, has done three 8c's in Frankenjura the last six weeks.

"With no competitions up until now, and the GB Climbing Team not sending anyone to the upcoming World Cup events, as no climbing walls are open in the UK, I could focus on rock for more than short December trips to Spain for the first time ever! I’ve been with Jan (Hojer) in Germany since the U.K. lockdown began in March, and have been making the most of the lighter restrictions over here climbing on rock in the Frankenjura.

After the surgery I had on my finger in 2018, I didn’t think I’d ever climb in the FJ because of its intense and fingery style. So before our first trip I was a little nervous, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I really liked the short and powerful style. I’ve just been picking routes I’m psyched for and trying to do them quickly (mostly within a session or two) rather than choosing any long term projects. I’ve not really done that much on rock so I wanted to get more comfortable with the process of climbing something- it’s pretty different to comps!

It was cool to be able to do some 8c’s and 8b+‘s fairly quickly and this has given me a confidence boost in my current shape as well as motivation for more. I'd like to try some 8c+‘s or 9a’s this summer just to see what they feel like! We’re back to the Frankenjura again next week and then maybe on to Céüse. I’ve never been there before and I’m sure I’ve been missing out on some great climbing! "

Niki Rusev has done his first 9a, Napred I Nagore in Karlukovo. It starts with a 30 m 8c he did last month and then adds a ten-meter 8c+ roof followed by a five-meter 7B+ boulder. Ivailo Fazata put it up in 2015 as the first 9a in Bulgaria. "He taught me how to love climbing, taught me how to be disciplined and believe in myself." (c) Ivan Totev

"The hardest move on the 8c (Napred) is the last big jump for a hole. Then you must go to a very big crack. Then you slowly move your knees along the slit, as they are clamped, because there are no holds. Then the ceiling is turned. It gets even bigger. To send the 9a you have to go out through one of the eyes of the cave, and right in the end, there is a difficult boulder." More info on his Insta.

If you do some route reading before you go for an onsight, your chances for success will improve. Start by looking for places where you can rest. Then try to identify the cruxes. Often they begin like 50 cm above a clip. Look for different solutions that could be used. It is valuable if you can do the route reading together with a friend, just like in the world cup, although your friend will not try to onsight it. Explain and share your thinking and solutions.

When it comes to safety, it is quite normal to have the first or even second quickdraw pre-clipped. Possibly a friend could help you out with this. Alternatively, you could use a clip stick or just grab the first quickdraw to reach the second bolt. Once you start climbing, most top climbers think it is ok to down climb once if you mess up. When it comes to belaying a friend a route you also would like to try to onsight, it is in the grey zone, as also safety is jeopardized. Any belayer that learns from belaying, even if always looking down and never looking at the climber, could later not claim to onsight it. It should be mentioned that onsight ethics were much stricter in the early days of sport climbing as you were supposed to place all quickdraws on lead. Anybody using the ethics of today, as above, would be laughed at.

Fabrizio Peri, who did his first 9a at age 42, has done his third, The Bomb in Collelpardo. "Before the lockdown I managed to send a project that I had been trying for two years. It is a connection of about 90 movements which starts with the most of the 8b+ Callagan and then continues with a 10 meters traverse into the second half of Sitting bull of 8c+/9a."

So how is it possible to be in peak performance almost 50-years-old?
It's possible if you have a great passion and if you like to always train to the maximum ... and you must be lucky to not get injured. I am a lover of training and I like to study and always try new methodologies. I am a military teacher of physical education and climbing and I can train two times a day for an hour and a half per session.

Charlotte Andre, who was #14 in Chongqing in 2018, has flashed Le mur du son assis 8A+ in Fontainebleau, video. She was mainly a competition climber before the lockdown and had just bouldered few days in Font previously. Before she made the second ever 8A+ flash, after Ashima Shiraishi, she had just done a handful 8A's and now few days later she has done eleven. (c) Block’Out

"It was the first time I was in Font for ten full days and with a genuine drive to climb after being in lockdown for two months. The first days I discovered a new (for me ) but "classic" area: Le cuvier rempart with the first 8a of the forest and the "big five" famous and incredible boulders. Then, I realized that my fingers felt very strong. Manu (Cornu) told me that he tried the perfect boulder for me the previous week, a basic and short boulder, where "you are able to hold the crimps or not". I decided to try this problem but I was not thinking of flashing it. Once there Manu gave me all the betas. Just before trying, I was thinking to climb the stand 7C but he advised me to try directly the sit start... And well it worked!

I crushed the crimps one after the other. I was focused on my climbing and just thinking to go to the next hold. When I got the last jug, I started to realize I could do it and started to think and shake.... It was such a struggle in the easy mantle, haha."

Patxi Usobiaga, one of Adam Ondra's trainers, has done the FA of La Fuga 9a in Coll de Nargo. The 39-year-old has now done 15 routes 9a and harder, most of them prior to his traffic accident in 2010 when he sustained an injury to a disc in his neck. In both 2006 and 2007, Patxi was the 8a climber of the year and in 2009, he won the World Championship. (c) Alexander Hick

"During the confinement, the first month we were sick for a month at home. We do not know if it was the Covid-19 since at that time there was no option to do any test. Once we recovered, we started training at home. It was a very rare moment, since the social status, fear and situation meant that you did not have a motivation to train. To train, you need to have a goal, and the goal was unclear.

Due to my old injury, I had to undergo surgery a year ago where they transplanted a disc, that is, they put an artificial disc (C5-C6) on me, and little by little I felt better. It is true that I have limitations, in big overhangs, I am very limited, but in the process of not so steep climbing, it is really as if there was no injury."

It has been announced that there will be no international comps in China in 2020, beside trials for the Olympic 2022. This should mean all three WC will be cancelled as well as the Olympic qualification. If there will be no Olympic qualification event in 2020, Chaehyon Seo and Jongwon Chon will make it based on their results in the World Championship. Source: Canadian Climbing News

Jakob Schubert and Johanna Färber won the first leg of the Austria Summer Series.

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