We’re almost there! Huge thank you goes out to the hundreds of climbers who have helped so far. We've improved and added features based on your feedback and would like to put the site through a final round of testing before going live. To give you some insight, our biggest challenge to date has been retrofitting the original data for the new interface. Like any data migration project we’ve encountered some big challenges and have done our best to strike a balance between preserving the old and setting up the platform to be more flexible to accommodate more users and to support new features. If you’re stuck at home, like many of us, we would really appreciate your help by signing up and checking out the new site. Once you’re in you can leave your feedback quickly and easily by opening the widget on your screen. We’re as eager as you to get the new site live and excited to finalise the finishing touches with your help. Sign-up and help us go live.

Irina Kuzmenko has done Super Djin in Triangular lake. As it only took an hour, she gave it a personal 8A grade. (c) Leo Zhukov "It’s more quiet here in Russia with Covid-19. Today our government made something like a quarantine but it’s not so strict." It should be mentioned that in many countries like Italy, Spain and France it is not allowed to go out rock climbing. In some countries like Sweden there re very few restrictions. Also the gyms are open.

In sport climbing, compared to most other sports, there are few written rules or use of referees. Instead, the climbing community creates and circulates their own Practice & Ethics. Beginners are sometimes struggling to understand what is "normal" behavior and what's allowed and what's not. Over time, the general procedure has been modified and in different subcultures different ethics apply. We thought it would be a good idea to discuss and define good style as of today and also give some amusing examples of violations that are practised in order to receive sponsors, glory and points. We're not saying there's a definite line between right and wrong but the fundamental idea is: don't systematically push the border of ethics towards more subjectivity, instead, keep the spirit alive. Here is a list of what 8a thinks are practices within sport climbing that are frequently interpreted in different ways; Green, Yellow and Red card are given. We estimate that about 1/3 of all ascents would not pass community approval. What do you think? Practice and Ethics in rock climbing

All 30 male and female already qualified for Tokyo 2020 will hold their spots. There are still five male and female yet to qualify.

Dear valued partners and friends, We hope you, your families and friends are well. The current events leave no one untouched – based in the Italian Dolomites region, we were among those affected by the crisis very early on. While we stay at home, doing our part to flatten the curve and protect those at risk, we also want to help support our community and industry. Together with gym manager and consultant, Christian Popien, we have started to offer practical professional advice, answer questions, and consult other experts on the subject of crisis management for climbing gyms.

Since 1999, 8a has presented several hundred articles. Here are some of the most visited and commented including one from the famous Norwegian author Jo Nesbö, 6a flash novell on Kalymnos. 8a Glossary Mental games The development of Ethics & Practise Climbers Against Cancer Megos coaches Korb and Matros interview Hörst and his kids progress

Lorenzo Delladio CEO & President of La Sportiva reports that they have started to produce masks. With a great sense of responsibility we first contributed to the collective effort to contain the contagion, closing our production sites in advance: now we are called to commit ourselves to face the second phase of the emergency, to do this we have equipped ourselves with the adequate raw materials to be able to produce a first batch of 55,000 masks that will go to the Civil Protection of Trento, through the Allergo System of Rovereto. In parallel, we are trying to independently certify other materials in order to make us independent even with masks and other protective components and then move on to an industrialized production that will allow in the very short time to reach much more important daily productions. Clearly by converting more machinery and gradually bringing more employees back to the plant.

Eddie Fowke, the well known IFSC official photographer who has covering most of the World Cups for ten years, is back home in New Zealand. "It was a pretty dramatic rush back to NZ, and then I had to move straight into self isolation for 2 weeks. Now due to the lock down in NZ that has been moved to 4 weeks minimum. So quiet times here. I've spoken to many of the climbers, some are handling it well, others less so. One of the most important things for them is that the path back to international competition is made transparent. With this huge upheaval in training, and the emotional cost of dealing with lock downs and the fear of infection, athletes will need lots of time to prepare. At the time I'm writing this the Lead events from Villars onwards are still scheduled, for the climbers thus isn't something they can prepare for with a fingerboard at home. They will need probably 2 months to build their resistance back up to where it needs to be for World Cup level competition. And of course its totally unfair is some climbers get no training, while others aren't affected by restrictions and will come into the events fully prepared. So I know from conversations that this is on the climbers minds. At this stage the IFSC has a tough job, this is unprecedented in not only our sport but all sport. Their role is as governance of the sport, and as such they need to do just that, govern. For someone like me, I have no garenteed income for the foreseeable future. That is tough. But I'm one of many, and I'll get through this. I'm not overly concerned. If I have to go back and work in the prison system for 6 months for example, it's not the end of the world. I have many options, that's just an example. I might end up working to support the health sector, or in tech support, whichever way the wind blows.

Stefano Ghisolfi has during the last three weeks only stepped outside his house when throwing garbage. The food is delivered to the door. Luckily there is a balcony and a garage with his personal training wall. On his Youtube channel he has presented several training videos including training with a table. (c) Sara Grippo My training routine is always stretching or hangboard in the morning, and training on my wall in the garage in the afternoon. I train 6 days a week and for me is important to keep going. I'm lucky to have a climbing wall in my house. No info about going out at all, restrictions are until April 3rd but they already said it is going to be longer, I'm quite sure because it is not stopping yet. Rock climbing is not the priority now, I'm ok to keep training. Maybe in one or two months, it will be possible, nobody knows. Hard to say about world cups, I think Moscow will be postponed again, it makes no sense to do it such in a short time while the Olympics are postponed to next year. The World cup in July seems a bit too early too, competitors are climbing and touching the same holds and even use a rope that sometimes we grab with our teeth, competition is not the safest thing to do now. Follow his daily training on Insta.