Moritz Welt, who previously has done six 9a's, has done two 9a's in Frankenjura;
Nice Freshly Baked, FA by Alex Megos: "Nice addition to Shangrila! Lots of tries last year, 1 session 4 tries this season." (c) Lars Decker
Working class, FA Markus Bock: "Too many tries in 2018, 3 tries today. Doesn't feel like 9a... basically some easy warmup climbing into an 8-move 8A+ boulder."

The 19-year-old has furthermore since April done six more 8c+' in Frankenjura and he is #1 in the 8a last month ranking.

How were you able training during the lockdown being in such good shape now and what is next? I'm living in the middle of Frankenjura so I was able to do a lot of bouldering alone and climbing with my family. Yeah, recently trying Corona 9a+ here in Frankenjura and planning to spend some months in Ceuse this summer!

IFSC have published a Covid-19 Addenum. Here are some of the new interesting rules and regulations.

In order to guarantee social distancing no video demonstration will be provided in the isolation area. Demonstration videos will be published on a reserved YouTube channel the day before the competition at 12.00 local time.

"In order to guarantee the same stay in warm up area to all athletes, the first athletes to climb will be allowed, 45 minutes before their supposed climbing time, to move to the warm up area and next athletes will be allowed every 5 minutes. The isolation/holding and warm up area shall be monitored by the IFSC officials.

Athletes shall wear mask in isolation, holding area and generally when social distancing measures cannot be applied. During observation time all athletes and officials shall wear their mask.

Competition Doctor shall test all the registered Athletes and Team Members before they are allowed to enter isolation / holding area: in case of body temperature (checked with a contactless thermometer) > 37.5 C° or in case of symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath, loss of sense of taste/odour, sore throat, cold, aching limbs) Team Members shall not be allowed in.

No handshakes, no hugs, no kissing from athletes or prizegivers shall be allowed."

Alexey Rubtsov, Boulder World Champion in 2016, has done the FA of Iordanit 9a in Lietlahti Park. It was bolted in 2015 by Sergey Shaferov and Rubtsov has projected it for a total of five days, out of which three this spring. (c) Nikita Tsarev

How did you train during the lockdown? I spent 8 weeks in a house 200 km from Moscow with my family in the forest, next to a river with no neighbors. I trained every day, without a climbing wall, but I had holds for pull-ups and boards. Honestly, it was a very productive period, and after returning to the gym I climbed all my projects in the first training session despite a long break in climbing. Sometimes it’s good to be alone with yourself. Now I have the opportunity to climb on rocks in Russia. Quarantine still exists, but I can travel to some regions.

Laura Rogora, who has qualified to Tokoyo 2021, reports on Insta that she has done Underground 9a in Arco. (c) Sara Grippo In total, the 19-year-old has now done 12 routes 8c+/9a and harder which is most of all female. Her first she did four years ago.

Eva Hammelmüller, who made two podiums in the Euro Youth Cup last year, has had three great weeks having done three 8b+'and three 8c's including the FA of Covid-20 in Weyer Neu. "I’ve been trying this route since I was 14 years old, and having it done now is unbelievable. The route is steep, powerful, and feels amazing to climb." More comments on her Insta.

So how is it possible to be in the best shape in your life so short time after the lockdown?
Maybe some quality time with the beast maker wasn‘t too bad for me😋

Filip Schenk, has done two 9a's in Arco; Pure Dreaming and Underground. (c) Alessandro Larcher

The 20-year-old lives in the Dolomites and started to climb in the mountains around Val Gardena since he was six years old. During the last six years, he has won eleven Youth Cups/Championships including one World Championship in Bouldering.

"During the lockdown, I had quite good possibilities to train also on a climbing wall at my home so I was able to continue with my training. Now when we can travel again in Italy I spend a lot of time on the rock and so I am feeling in really good shape on the rock at the time. This year I will spend as much time as possible outdoors and I am looking forwards to go to Céüse this summer if we are allowed and maybe also to Spain this autumn."

By clicking on "Ascents" in the upper bar, you can follow all ascents from your Friends, Crags and Routes you want to stay updated on. This will later also be shown and updated automatically in a pop-up bar to the left. The improvements will continue next week.

Anak Verhoeven, one of the best female competition climbers since 2013, reports on Insta that she has done the FA of Kraftio 8c+/9a in Belgium after five days of projecting. In total, the 23-year-old, has done ten routes 8c+/9a and harder which puts her #2 in that list. (c) John Janssens

"I have given the route a name: ‘Kraftio’
When you read it out loud, it sounds like ‘Graftiaux’. 
Chloé Graftiaux was a Belgian climber who died in the mountains almost 10 years ago. She was 23 years old when she died, which is my age now. The name of this route is an homage to her.

During the lockdown I trained at home on a small wall in a garden shed. It’s not high, but I was so glad that I had the possibility to keep training. When the confinement ended I didn’t feel too much out of shape and I quickly felt strong again."