Natalia Grossman, who has done seven 8A+' and harder since May, has done her first 8A flash, Clear Blue Skies in Mt Evans. The 19-year-old is #1 in the 8a monthly ranking game. Last year she got two silver in the Youth World Championship last year and among the seniors, she was #7 in the Boulder World Cup in Vail.

"Proud of this flash!!! Brooke did this climb second try(a little while ago) and she wished that she had tried to flash it since it wasn’t “too bad.” She really wanted me to flash so she gave me all the beta and I carefully studied the climb before pulling on. Honestly, it was the first time I’ve tried to flash something hard and I look forward to taking my flash attempts more seriously in the future!"

The female is catching up and a good example of this is that currently there are for girls in the Top-15 only bouldering ranking; Natalia Grossman - 8, Brooke Raboutou -12, Alex Puccio - 13 and Katie Lamb - 14. This is by far the highest the female has been ranked in any list since 8a started with scorecards in 2000. Climbing is most probably unique when it comes to gender equality and physical sports. Another example of this is that 15-year-old Oriane Bertone is by far #1 in the Teenager annual boulder ranking.

Cameron Hörst, the oldest son to training guru Eric, has done his second 9a, White Lightning in Wild Iris. "The climb is a link up of a 8b+ called “Heart Full of Ghosts” into the main crux “Moonshine” which is the 9a I did last year. So the first crux is like a v10/11 mono crux that leads you into the main crux (of moonshine) which is a hard v12!"

How were you able to train during the lockdown and what about continuing your football career?
I have a really extensive home gym that consists of a large bouldering spray wall, numerous hangboards, a campus board, and a treadwall. So, I was quite well off training wise during the lockdown (thankfully).

I played football through school my whole life until graduation. I started on the varsity team by the time I was in 10th grade (sophomore). By the time I was in 12th grade (senior year) I was the captain of the team and voted MVP by the end of the season. I had the opportunity to play football in college at small universities but decided to take time off of school to peruse climbing. There is no chance of me continuing, climbing is my real passion and I am focused on that!

(c) Eric Hörst, who also comments, "I was present to see both of my sons send their hardest-ever routes. Younger brother Jonathan (17) climbed 8c just an hour before Cameron sent his 9a. A proud day for coach Horst!"

Noteworthy is that Cameron did his first 8b+, God's Own Stone, at age eleven, and Jonathan did it when he was just ten years old. As can be seen from their scorecard, later they have both focused on doing insights and building a wide grade pyramid which goes in line with the training philosophy by their father.

Segrià, with it's capital Lleida, has been placed under lockdown since this Saturday due to a new Covid-19 outbreak. Lleida is located around one hour north respective south of crags like Santa Linya and Siurana which are outside the Segria county.

Running starts have been part of the competition scene but it has never really taken off outdoors. The parkour world record in wall running is 4 meters so you could just imagine what such specialists could do putting several pads in a row and just wall run up some 8A slabs. In practice, taking two steps back and go for a dynamic jump start might be a possibility to avoid some start cruxes. On the other hand, such starts raise some ethical questions as some will not call wall running ascents as bouldering but instead parkour. Furthermore, in reality, when it comes to especially sandstone and limestone, the shoes must be absolutely clean as otherwise such footholds could quickly become polished.

Simon Lorenzi, #14 in the last World Cup 2019, has done the FA of Coup d’etat, which he thinks could be the first 9a in Belgium. The route was bolted by Micha Vanhoudt in 2016. (c) John Janssens

”It's an amazing short line on an orange wall, really fingery with nice holds. I did like 4 sessions on it in 2018 (I was quite far to doing it) then I didn't try again since this year. It went at my 3rd session this year. I'd say it's the hardest route i've ever done and the hardest in Belgium.

During the lockdown I moved to a friend's house with fews friends because he has everything that we need to train well. Spray wall, fitness and all the stuff to keep progressing during this period. We were really lucky for that.”

Cedric Lachat has done the fourth ascent of WoGü in Rätikon which Adam Ondra made the FA of in 2009. Beat Kammerlander bolted it in 1997 and the name is a tribute to Wolfgang Güllich. It is 350 meters long over nine pitches and it is said to have two 8c' and two 8b+'. Interestingly, Cedric thinks it is his most difficult route ever although having done seven 9a+ as well as many of the hardest MP's in the world including Orbayu 8c. Edu Marin did the first repeat, suggesting an upgrade to 8c+ of one of the 8c', and Roland Hemetzberger did the third ascent. (c) Marc Daviet

Normally, multi-pitches are graded by the hardest pitch instead of giving the whole climb an overall difficulty. Chatting with Cedric he says that, "It's easier to do a 9a or even a 9a+ in a day! Wogü requires a lot of experience."

What he refers to is that if he falls on one of the hardest pitches, he looses so much energy and time so he can not finish the remaining pitches during one day. Cedric projected it for three weeks and it is part of the coming film, Swiss way to heaven. He had a big crew following and he was belayed by Nina Caprez. Noteworthy is that Cedric was one of the best lead competition climbers in the world in between 2001 to 2013. He has won one European Championship as well as two World Cups. The best result in a World Championship is #3. In other words, the 35-year-old should be considered as one of the best climbers in the world during the last 20 years.

Jan Hojer, who has qualified to Tokyo 2021, has during the last few days done three 8c+' as well as one 8c in Frankenjura; I bleed back, Hattori Hanzo, Madonna 2nd go and Lake District, 2nd go. (c) Jan Novak

How was it possible to do all those routes so quickly and what about the WC’s in 2020?
I felt in good shape after the lockdown and took advantage of all the free time I had. None of the routes I did so far felt too close to my limit and as much as I enjoy climbing on different routes every day, I’m starting to feel like I could try something harder soon. I think I might compete in Briancon, mainly because I have a few routes nearby that I’d like to climb but I won’t be competing in Asia or America.

The easiest and the fastest way, for most of us, to improve as a climber is to start to train your "fear-of-falling". At the same time, we spend hundreds of hours training our muscles, very few spend an hour training and practicing falling. If you during your warm-up also include your mental strength, by doing some mini-falls, which could be on top rope in the beginning, you will quickly become a better climber. Once you skip this routine your mental fear of falling strength will deteriorate. At the same time, it should be mentioned that I have never come across an adult climber who was afraid of heights and then was cured of this (wonderful) disease and later could go for long run-outs without hesitating.

A good opportunity with practicing falling is that your belay partner improves the technique and will learn how to give soft falls. Remember that the belayer should always opt for soft falls when there is no risk for a ground fall. This means that heavier belayers should bend the knees or move out a couple of meters from the wall in order to easier give softer falls.

Chloe Pay, who has done her first three 8A's in 2020, has also done her first 8A+, Mind Stream in Smugglers notch. During the last three months, the 18-year-old had done ten routes 7C+ and harder which can be compared to just one previously.

”I’ve been climbing for about 5 years. I was introduced to climbing after joining the local youth climbing team, and instantly, my passion for the sport soared. Up until last year, I had only climbed inside. When I ventured outside for the first time on a team trip, I was disgusted by the knife-like crimps of Vermont climbing and the lack of colorful, plastic holds. However, in a couple of short months, I have come to appreciate the outdoor sport for what it is and it has quickly become my preferred method of climbing. This summer I am hiking the long trail, a 273 mile trail in Vermont that goes from Massachusetts to Canada, and I rope climb during the sport/speed season, but I prefer to boulder.

I don’t think I have ever been quite as obsessed with a boulder as I was with this one. I had never truly projected a boulder before, so it was very cool to see the linear progress with each session. I had trouble managing my skin throughout this process. The climb consists of small, sloping crimps, the warm weather caused my skin to become soupy, and the volume of work put into this sharp, schist problem ended up puncturing and wearing down my skin often. I sent this boulder on my last go of the day at 11:00 pm. My mind felt empty and I was completely in the moment, a feeling I had never experienced while climbing, prior to this attempt. This climb, twenty feet from the parking lot, had been one of my dreams since the first time I went to Smuggs. I never thought I would be capable of climbing a boulder of this difficulty, so this was a big achievement for me.”