Allanah Yip won the Pan-Am Continential Championship in Los Angeles meaning she will be going to Tokyo. The Canadian was #5 in Speed, #1 in Boulder and #3 in Lead = 15 points. Runner-up with 36 points was Alejandra Contreras sharing the same score as #3 Lauen Bair. Interesting is that she just barely made it to the Top-8 final as she was #7 in the qualification, commenting on Insta, After two rounds of competition where I struggled to keep it together mentally and physically, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to fight for the last Olympic spot..." Allanah's victory was rather expected as she was #18 in the World Championship and #13 in the Toulouse qualifying event. Video and complete results.

Stefan Scarperi, #16 in the Euro Championship last year, has done his first 8B flash, Wrestling with an alligator 8B in Malatal. A few days earlier he also did Bügeleisen 8B+ in just one hour and now he is wotking the sit. "The grade of the sit is 8C and I think if I will get it the next time I can climb on it." During the last five days he has also done seven more boulders 8A to 8B including one flash.

"Together we face the longest multi-pitch climb in history: 700.000 pitches and 9,5 million meters from Olympia to Tokyo. To ensure a timely arrival to the venue for climbing's Olympic debut, all routes and boulders climbed and ticked in the Vertical-Life app through 24.07.2020 will count. Some of the world's best brands are supporting this expedition, and great prizes will be given out at every milestone!" More info.

Nico Januel reports on Insta, including a video, that he has done the third ascent of La Force in le Toit d’Orsay calling i 8C. FA Alban Levier graded it 9a sport or 8c+ traverse and Nico comments. "The traverse grade is a specific Fontainebleau grade I never understood. Who decided a boulder problem had to be 1 or 30 movements? You definitely had to put different ability in, but it’s still bouldering!! (I really think we have to stop with the traverse grade."

jose luis palao has done his first 9a+, La catedral delos narcos in Santuario. (c) Andrés Giménez During the same day he also did La catedral en hipoxia ext 9a which has a shorter and different exit. "The cathedral of los narcos is a great crossing that goes through sections of 3 different routes and is the combination of all of them."

Piotr Schab has done his ninth 9a+, Joe Mama in Oliana. (c) Marcin Szymkowski The same day he also did Blanquita 8c+. "I've tried the route a few times in the previous years but never really focused on it. This time it took me 4 days to climb it with a breakpoint in my 3rd day. Funny thing was how quickly it came from "very far" to "done". Climbing still surprises me :) The main goal of the year is Perfecto Mundo 9b+ in Autumn, but I plan to visit Rocklands in July and Villanueva in April/May."

Lee Hak-Jin from Korea, who started climbing 15 months ago doing 6a's, has done Greed 8c (+) at Railay Beach. Amazingly, this was the first time he climbed outdoors. Previously his focus had been competitions and he won the Asian KidsCombined Championship in August. The 12-year-old is 170 cm tall and weighs 50 kg. His trainer is Han Man-gyu. "He trained at the center three times a week for six hours a day from the beginning, and on Saturdays and Sundays, he made bouldering and lead climbing for more than six hours. All students who come into the center for a career are trained for three to four months. The training method is only for six times a minute, with jawrest, pinch, pocket, and H.I.T training. After this course, endurance, interval training, and then running. The important training method is onsight exercises. New routes with 50 - 60 moves are being created every day. After five months of training, he won a small climbing tournament and became a self-confident and hard-working student. What I've seen and felt since then is a big deal."

Rock climbing is in comparison to other physical sports unique on many performances categories; Gender: Angy Eiter almost at the male top level. Age span: World-class performances between 9-45 years Specialization: Ondra world-class on 3 move boulders and 900m MP. Training: Most of the best wihout a structured training program Late Bloomer: You can continue progress at 40+ With Lee Hak-Jin (12) doing 8c (+) after just 15 months of climbing, we can now also add this to the unique list of the rock climbing categories and performances.