Martin Tekles, who was #9 in a World Cup in 2017, has done his second 9a, Pure Dreaming in Arco just six weeks after his first. The reason for the 29-year-old beeing a late bloomer outdoors are that he previously has focused on competitions and getting a Master degree in Psychology.

Alex Puccio, runner-up in the World Championship in 2014, has done her 31st 8B, Wheel of Fortune in Clear Creek Canyon. (c) Robin O'Leary In total, the 30-year-old has done close to 200 boulders 8A to 8B+, meaning she has the best female ticklist out there, in spite of having had several injuries. In 2015, she required surgery to repair the torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus ligaments in her left knee. One year later she underwent a spinal fusion surgery. Both injuries she got during the Vail Boulder WC. Last year, she had to do another ACL knee surgery. In spite of all these surgeries, she has made the WC podium 14 times. In total, the 153 cm tall has done 37 World Cups and made it Top-10 all but once. She won her first in 2009 (Vail) and the last in 2018 (Vail) which also was the last WC she entered.

"Owners and managers of indoor climbing gyms are in an incredibly powerful position to help influence the growing population of climbers by helping to raise awareness and inspire action. The InsideOut® Challenge looks to turn climbing gyms into powerful allies in conservation, helping gym managers highlight environmental stewardship and climbing advocacy opportunities and mobilize their members to help protect outdoor climbing areas." More info Here are the 8a access recommendations we posted in 2010 together with the Access Fund. Remember that experienced outdoors climbers could also inform those not yet aware of the best practice.

There are now more than 5.5 million star rated ascents in the 8a database. Through the advanced search you can find the highest rated climbs by stars, grade or onsight percentage etc for different crags and countries. You can also check directly through the crag Tick List and some of the crags that stick with high ratings out are; Phalz, Montanejos, Schleier Wasserfall, Donautal, Bohuslän, Wild Iris, American Fork, Terradets and Verdon. Among boulder areas; Val Calanca, Eldorado Canyon, Devil's Lake, Newlin, Brione, Poudre Canyon, Mt Evans and Yosemite stick out. The most popular climbs are found in Kalymnos and Fontainebleau.

Drew Ruana reports on Insta that he has done tha FA of Pegasus 8C in Joes Valley. It is a five move 8B link-up to an 8A+. "This boulder in total is around 13 moves, definitely more on the power endurance side. Feels on par, if not harder than some of the 8Cs I’ve done." Video (c) Brennan Robinson The 20-year-old, who was #13 in the Combined World Championship, has previously done one 8C+ and four 8C's, all of them the last year. At age 16, he did three 9a's.

IFSC reports that due to the Coronavirus outbreak, there will be no WCs in China in April. The same goes for the Continental Championship. Further more, "President Scolaris updated the IFSC Executive Board on a series of ongoing legal issues, in particular relating to the Japan Mountaineering & Sport Climbing Association (JMSCA) appeals currently pending at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)."

Arne Farestveit, 187 cm tall, has done his first 8c+, La Rubia in Villanueva del Rosario. "I started climbing at around 11 years old, and have always been drawn to outdoor climbing the most. I went to Villanueva Del Rosario (aka Chilam Balam cave) during Christmas and tried La Rubia about 5-6 sessions but wasn’t really close. This trip, however, I felt way stronger and managed to do big links already on my first day. 3 sessions this trip, so in total 7 or 8 sessions. My goal was to climb 8c+ before I turned 18 and I managed to do so with a few weeks to spare. Super happy right now..."

Coudert Camille started climbing at age 18 and only indoors for the first 18 months. Then he started logging boulders in Fontainebleau in 2015 (from 5b) and eight months later he did his first 8A. The following years his impressive progress has continued and now he just did The Big Island 8C, in just six sessions. At the moment he has three 8C projects and says he is not far from doing No Kpote Only 9A. He will also put on a knee pad and start working the sit project of The Big Island (9A?). How can you explain your great progress and what did you do before climbing? I have never been sporty. I just tried different sports without ever getting hooked; tennis, rugby and swimming. I tried climbing by chance and I immediately hooked and since then I have always been motivated to progress. Each year I always set two extreme projects well above my level that I try seriously and in parallel, I alternate the sessions between extreme and easier projects. Besides that, I do volume sessions of easy boulders.