4sport.ua has published some interesting 9a+ to 9c stats. From the diagram we can see a strong increasing trend of more ascents although there was a drop the last two years of 9a+ ascents. One reason for this could be that many top climbers did not have time to focus on the rock as there were busy qualifying for Tokyo. In the second diagram, we see how superior Adam Ondra is. He has done 66 routes 9a+ and harder which can be compared with Chris Sharma and Alex Megos with 22 and 20 respectively.

Martin Tekles, who was #9 in a World Cup in 2017, has done his first 9a, Sanjski par extension in Osp/Misja Pec. "I tried the route for 5 days, the first part (8c+) took me 3 days. Definitely I great start into 2020. The last years I concentrated very much on competitions and my studies at university that I finished 2018, so not much time left to go outside. And last year also mainly competitions and rehab from a broken foot in February. As comps didn't work out the last two years I wanted to change something for 2020 and go outside much more often, good training and motivation for comps I think. Let's see what 2020 will bring."

Austin Purdy has done his first 8C, The Story of 2 worlds in Cresciano. It was set up by Dave Graham in 2010 and the name refers to the inflated grading system at the time. "It took me 1 session to send the Dagger and then an additional 4 to send Story, although one of those it was raining and the entire ending was wet. Sending Story meant a lot to me because at the time I started climbing the hardest established boulders in the world were 8C and it was a grade that was only reserved for the best climbers in the world, so to me climbing a boulder that hard reaching a level in my own climbing that I never thought I would be able to achieve. Not only that, but the intricacy of the movement of the boulder and the role it played in the possible shift of the 8C grade (since it was so much harder than other 8C's at the time with the old beta) is something that has intrigued me since I first saw videos of the line and learned about its history."

Laura Rogora, who was #2 in the Euro Ch. and later qualified to Tokyo, has done two 9a' (8c+); La Bongada 9a Pal Norte Margalef. Both were set up by Ramon Puigblanque who suggested 8c and 8c+ but later most have said 9a. It seems Ramonet did suggest very hard grades back then for several of his FA's. (c) Sara Grippo The 18-year-old and 148 cm tall did also onsight her first 8b+ by L-mens in Montsant. The young Italian has now done nine routes graded 8c+/9a or harder meaning she is tied #1 in that ranking together with Anak Verhoeven. Including also onsights, she has the best female tick list out there.

Ramon Julian, the best male Lead competition climber in the 21st century with 21 WC victories and two WCH titles, has according to his scorecard done 289 routes 8c and harder, out of which 91 FA's. Although most of them are located in popular crags, many of them are still unrepeated. In fact, some of his most repeated 8c's have been upgraded by others to 9a, like La Bongada and La Reina Mora. The 158 cm tall has also done the FA of La Rambla 9a+. However, all repeaters but Adam Ondra have according to Ramonet done an, at least, one grade easier escape variation. Another example is Mejorando Imagen given 9a by Ramonet and later Ondra said it is possibly harder than First Round First Minute 9b. When it comes to his 8b and 8b+ FA's it is more or less the same story, relatively few repeats, and many upgrade suggestions. All these facts above and that it is a well-known fact in the local community that he is a notorious hard grader, suggest that he is a much better rock climber than his scorecard shows. In the 8a 21st Century ranking, he is #4 but it might be that further upgrades could move him to #2, just behind Adam Ondra? (c)

David Graham reports on Insta that he has finished the decade by doing two 8C's in Red Rocks; Trieste assis and Squoze. The latter took just four sessions. In total, the 38-year-old has done close to 20 boulders 8C meaning he has only Daniel Woods and Dai Koyamada ahead of him. Including also some 20 routes 9a and 9a+, most of them done before 2013, he was ranked as #4 in the 8a Sport climber of the 21st century. Next up is a three months honeymoon trip to Spain with Alizée Dufraisse, also listed on that Century list.

karoline sinnhuber, #3 in the ranking game, has done two 8A+' in Chironico; Second Life, Conquistador, and Delusion of Grandeur. "Proud line. sticked the 2nd move only that one time when I got to the top - nemesis move haha :-D." (c) Fabian Leu

Oriane Bertone, who has been appointed the 8a Teenager of 2019, has quickly done two 8B's in Rocklands; Leopard cave extended (video) and Hipster Whale. "I felt it soft. 1 hour to find my beta and solve the problem. I psyched to climb with Reunion Island friends on this boulder !! Thanks for supporting me :-)" Noteworthy is that it is summer in Rocklands with relatively poor conditions compared to June - August. The 14-year-old is #3 in the ranking game. Recently, Adam Ondra said in an interview that Oriane sticks out when it comes to potential juniors that could have an impact on the future scene.