Adam Ondra has the last ten years focused mainly on competitions and hard routes neglecting hardcore boulders. With the Covid-19 he found some new boulder link-ups around his home and last week he opened two 8C+'; Brutal Rider and Icebreaker.

This spring, I had the goal of sending Brutal Rider, which despite being super long for a boulderproblem, it is a pretty logical and obvious line and I wanted to get it done. While I was working on Brutal Rider, it got wet for a few days in Sloup cave, so I moved to Holstejn to try not that obvious linkup of an 8B into Iceberg 8C. This linkup became a few days later Ledoborec (= Icebreaker) 8C+. It is one of the hardest pieces of climbing I have done recently and I reckon it could be about 9b/b+ sport route. The next day Brutal Rider was dry and despite the river flooding the base of the cave, we made it work using wooden pallets and I was able to make FA of this problem as well. Brutal Rider is slightly easier, it could be about 9b sport route. (c) Petr Chodura

Great video of Brutal Rider 8C+ in the Adam Ondra episode #68

Matteo Gambaro, who just before the lockdown did an 8c+ FA in Albenga has made one more, 8 Anni Dopo.

"In 2012 I made the FA Of "Blow" 8c. (c) Andrea Gallo. In 2015 I made the FA of the right path called "The return of the Jedi" 8b which has a difficult section at the top. After the rains my most difficult projects were wet so I decided to try a link between the two lines. The first hardest part of the 8c and the latest hardest part of the 8b. It was challenging to reclimb it eight years after "Blow" also because a hold and support for important foot broke. It was very nice to be back on the road with a new motivation!"

Jana Vincourková has had a great weekend that started with doing her first 8B, Jaxitax in Moravský kras, video. Then she did the FA's of Napříč Amerika 8A+ and Michigan 8A in Slapsko.

"After sending a few 8A+ I was thinking about taking it a little bit further and try to some 8B which I set in January as the goal for 2020. Also, no woman in Czechia has ever done 8B before, so it was motivating even more. Anyway, one day we arrived in Moravian Karst-Sloup. My boyfriend tried some boulders there and by the way, told me that this one is Jaxitax-8B (FA by Adam Ondra) and that it could fit my style. So why not to try it and I have to say that it went very well. It was amazing feeling.

After that, we went to another bouldering area where we explored some new boulders and I ended up this weekend by sending another 8A+ FA, 8A FA, 7C FA. The grades were confirmed by strong Štěpán Stráník and by boyfriend Martin Švec right away, I was just lucky to send it as the first one."

Max Bertone has had some amazing weeks after the lockdown having done seven boulders 8A or harder including A Lay's Blaise assist, in the picture, and Les Ombres d'opaline (Direct) which he thought were 8A+ and 8A respectively. His father Stefano gives some updates.

"Max is just 1,52 and the boulders in Font are not easy for small climbers. He gradually sought solutions and found specific betas to solve his extension problems. He managed to send some very nice lines and came close to send his first 8B, falling at the last movement of "Saruman bas" twice, just before the end of the trip. He was very sad to leave Font, but the heat is coming and the season is almost finished in the forest.

We stay now one month in the South East of France, near Chambery. A little bit of rest and of lead in "La Balme de Yenne". In July we may go to Innsbruck if crossing to Austria is possible. In August we don't have a program yet but we stay in Europe. We will come back to Reunion on September 3, but Margot (the twin sister of Oriane) joins us on June 16."

There are several ways on how breathing can improve your climbing and here are some examples. You could try it out or even take some Yoga breathing lessons in order to best use your breathing while climbing.

1. Breath before you set of = Increase focus and concentration
2. Less nervous by thinking of how you breath
3. Get more alert/stronger by hyperventilation (fast breathing)
4. Improved resting by slow, long and deep breathing
5. A focus on breathing will make you more relaxed while climbing
6. Hold your breath while doing the crux

Just close your eyes and focus on breathing and notice what happens in your body and soul and you are halfway there.

Laura Rogora, who has qualified to Tokyo 2021, reports on Insta has done her first 9a+, Pure Dreaming Plus in Arco. It is a 50 meter link-up, mainly in 45-80 degrees overhang, put up by Adam Ondra, which never has been repeated before. Stefano Ghisolfi took the above picture and says,

"I knew she had the power to do it but I'm very impressed how fast she did it. She definitely has the potential to climb 9b, maybe a long and endurance one and I'm talking about what she can do right now. Who knows in the future... maybe even more. I think the gap between men and women could be even closer." The 18-year-old has now done eleven routes 8c+/9a or harder which is more than any other female. Second picture by Sara Grippo

Katherine Choong, who did her first 9a last year, has done So-Ya-Hé 8c in Soyhières. (c) Isabelle Bihr

” It's a route I had already tried last year between projects. But often, when the project is at home, I put less pressure on myself to finish it and I had left it aside. In fact, I haven't done any difficult routes in my area. But with the current situation, it was an opportunity to climb in the area next to my home. In my region, the routes are rather vertical, bouldery and short, but this one is a little more overhanging and less bouldery.

I've always enjoyed having outdoor projects next to competitions but this year is the opportunity to devote even more time to it. I have a few ideas but no fixed plan, as the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 have to be taken into account.

Martin Bergant, #4 in the European Championship, has done his first 9a, In Time in Sopota. It is a seldom repeated spectacular Jernej Kruder route with an 8A dyno followed with more hard boulders sequences. The 24-year-old has been an active competition climber for ten years who had his best year last year after previously having struggled to reach the semi.

”Since the start of the covid-19 pandemic all the competitions are postponed or cancelled, so now I am able to put all the focus on climbing in rock for the first time in my career. Like all the other climbers did a lot of fingerboard training and increased my finger strength during the lockdown. Obviously I can already see the progress I made and managed to send my first 9a, In Time. Now I want to stay in this flow and see how many hard routes i can climb until the competition season restarts.”

Jan Hojer, who has qualified for Tokyo 2021, has during the last two weeks done eleven 8c's in Frankenjura, out of which three second go.

Any thoughts of going for an 8c+ or even 9a :)?
Aren’t you the one that says building a base to your pyramid is important?! :-) When I was younger I did a lot of 8b+‘s in the Frankenjura and then skipped all the nice 8c‘s and 8c+‘s and did AD. I haven’t been back in almost ten years and right now I’m enjoying climbing on different routes every day, rather than focusing on just one or two projects. But don’t worry. I will take advantage of all the free time and try a few hard routes as well this year. Maybe I’ll have a few trips where I focus on onsight climbing too... but who knows. I’m loving the freedom of my empty schedule right now.

What about indoor and competition training like Speed?
I haven’t been inside for almost three weeks. But I go home in two days to focus on training for a little while and also add a couple of speed sessions to the mix.

Since 2014 the annual CBJ Grip List survey has provided insights into the top climbing hold and volume brands from around the world. This year, they are adding a brand-new set of awards into the mix focused on the homewall setter. This year’s survey is open to any route setter, even if your only experience is on a homewall. In addition to voting on their favorite hold and volume brands in general, CBJ are asking route setters to vote on their favorite hold and volume brands specifically for homewalls. They will give away some random prizes to respondents, including holds, volumes and CBJ swag.