Max Bertone has flashed his second 8b in just three days, Le mur des cyclopes in St Léger which actually most have recorded as 8b+ in the 8a database. "Thanks to my friends Liliy Abriat and Sam Richard to have put the quickdraw and explained the beta and details about the holds. Very happy to flash this long and beautiful line!"

Loic Zehani, who previously has done 18 routes 9a to 9b, has done the FA of À contre courant 9a in Orgon. "It is an old 8b bolted by my father over 15 years ago, which had chipped holds. I noticed that it would be possible to pass without these artificial holds by shifting the line a little. With the agreement of my father, I filled all the chipped holds and that gave a very pretty 9a (or 9a/a +), almost completely natural but two at the very start. First, there is a really hard section of ten movements approx 8A+ on small holds in a steep overhang (with a hard-clipping in the middle!) Then directly after a dozen hard movements. It is the most beautiful and natural hard route in this sector. It took me 3 or 4 sessions to do the movements and 2 more to do the route."

Oriane Bertone has done Panonoramix 8c in St Léger and added some interesting comments. "The first section is quite dangerous, and I did it with the rope in the first two quickdraws. In this case, I think it's a soft 8c. If you pre-clip the third and fourth quickdraws you are safe but it's a bit easier energetically. In this case, I think the grade could be hard 8b+."

Oriane's comments go in line with the 8a 8a Practice and Ethics which says, "Two or three pre-clipped carabiners if it is for safety." In practice almost all the ascents with a hard start are done with pre-clipped quickdraws which is good as many injuries have been avoided. One ethical dilemma is when different climbers use a different number of pre-clipped carabiners as this could mean that the difficulty of the route changes, as Oriane points out. At the same time, it is impossible to set a fixed standard as there are so many possible scenarios with "Yellow card - Ethical Dilemma".

From a safety point of view, possibly a bolt should be added in order to avoid potential ground fall because of a hard third or fourth clip. In any case, great to see the ethical comments by the 15-year-old.

James Squire has done his second 8C FA at the Biblins Cave, Ambition, Video. The pic is from his first 8C FA and was taken by Mark Davies.

Would it be possible to add some bolts on top and get a 9a+ or so route? Biblins Cave is in a protected area so you are not allowed to use bolts. If you want to climb higher, the only solution is to bring more pads!

"Ambition is a project I have had for a couple of years. I did all of the moves last season but ran out of time to finish it as Biblins Cave is only open from May-September. The Coronavirus lock-down has forced all climbing walls in the UK to temporarily close so I had to get creative and built a home woody. This was great for short boulder problems but made it hard to train stamina. Luckily outdoor climbing was recently allowed again in England so twice a week my friends and I would climb at Biblins. This boulder breaks down as a 8B+ into a 7C/+ with the redpoint crux being the very last few moves. A few holds at the start also seep after heavy rain making it a frustrating process of finding a day where you feel strong and also having the rock in good condition. I had about 8 sessions last year and 7 sessions this year before finally being able to complete this mega project. Very happy!"

Matteo Soule has done the FA of Dieu Merci 8c+ or 9a in Gorges du Tarn, which was a 15 year project tried by many top climbers. The 13-year-old, who previously has done two 8c's, needed six days to take down the 50 meter route. (c) Mélanie Cannac

It should be mentioned that Matteo did not suggest a grade instead it is a suggestion put forward by Fanatic Climbing, source of the news.

Owen Whaley, who had 8b+ as personal best until three months ago, has done his fist 9a, Arrested Development in Mt Charleston. (c) Chris Weidner

Congrats! What is your climbing background and what about this great peak performance? I started climbing at a very young age with my dad. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada, a great location for rock climbing. I’ve been going climbing outside most weekends for as long as I can remember and regularly spend school holidays traveling to US and European climbing destinations. I had worked my way up the grades to 5.14 (8b+) and V13 (8B). Also, I joined a team and got into competition climbing. I’ve been competing since I was 10, and my best result is 6th place for Sport at the PanAmerican Youth Climbing Championships in Ecuador in December 2019.

Usually, I train at the gym mid-week and climb outside on weekends. But recently after the competitions were canceled and school was switched to online learning due to coronavirus, my schedule allowed me to focus completely on outside climbing and I was able to tick multiple 5.14’s. I got on Arrested Development at the end of May as a side project while I worked other routes at the crag. The route fits my style perfectly, and I was able to do all of the moves by the second try. I projected it for about two weeks.

Jakob Schubert reports on Insta that he during a two day trip to Magic Wood managed to do three 8B+' including a flash of The Never Ending Story. This means the Austrian has flashed two 8B+. Adam Ondra has flashed (3), James Webb (2) and Daniel Woods, Tomoa Narasaki, and Ned Feehally have flashed one each.

”When the borders finally opened, I took the first chance to drive to Switzerland despite the really bad weather forecast. I was really motivated and convinced, we’d find some dry spots. 48h later we had successfully climbed everything that was difficult and dry. The place really plays towards my strengths and it feels like the change between indoor training and the rocks really pushes my climbing abilities.”

When it comes to competitions, the 29-year-old could be considered the best male Lead competitor in history. Two times he has won the Lead World Championship and in total 21 World Cups wins including three in Bouldering. In 2011, he won the seven straight World Cups. Outdoors, he has done 30 routes 9a to 9b+ and in Bouldering three 8C's. In other words, overall he should be considered #2 after Adam Ondra. Here is a video that sums up what Jakob did during the lockdown and until the end of May.

Max Bertone, who did his first 8c last year, has done his first 8b flash, Abregenief in St Léger. His father Stefano says that the focus right now is onsight and flash and comments. (c) Oriane Bertone

"A friend of Max (Sam Richard) was working this line. Fortunately for Max, he has the same size as him and knew all the holds and beta in detail. So Max chose to try the flash with the help of his friend Sam and managed to follow his instructions on the hard section of the route. He onsighted the easier final section after crux."