Ola Przybysz, who has been in China for over ten years, has done her second 8c+, Redpoint Dinner in Yangshou. It was bolted in 2009 by Chris Sharma and then Wangqing Hua did it as the first 9a in China but later it was downgraded. "After over two weeks of trying I felt that finishing it is very possible. One week later I was passing the crux move most of the time and falling on the endurance moves on the top, every time a bit higher. One day, driving to the crag, I knew I will send it that day. I got very excited. Roped up, rocked through the lower moves all the way to the crux. As I pulled all the way to little pinch tufa and got ready for dynamic move my fingers slipped and I took a fall. During the fall, one hand got caught in quickdraw what caused some serious damage to my pinky finger. The injury needed some surgery intervention what for me meant, that I will not be climbing my project for quite a while. I came back this year and the climb took me another 4 weeks of trying before finally, three days ago I clipped the anchor. Its a really amazing line and definitely the hardest route I have ever climbed."

Christof Rauch, who is working full time, has done his tenth 8C, Sierra Madre in Zillertal. In the 8a ranking game the Austrian is #6. (c) Michael Piccolruaz "One of the best and hardest lines in the valley! Would be even better without this nasty, sharp microcrimp on the upper part. Props to my friend Flo for establishing such a five star line! Dreamed about climbing this problem already when Flo tried to make the first ascent, then it took me many sessions to climb the first part „Larch“ (8A+) because it is on the limit for my armspan, then I tried „Sierra Madre stand“ (8A+) which took me a few sessions to find a good beta for my size as well. After that I got already quite close in May but then I hurt the pulley on my ringfinger. Back to bouldering it took me quite a while to get back into the right shape. Then the snow came too early this season but I didn‘t give up! Shoveled off the snow after work on Monday, then went all in on Friday and fell 5 times on the last hard move. Wasn‘t sure if I should even try it today because of quite bad skin. Had some bad luck and fell another 3 times on the last move. Then I went for a last effort and somehow fought my way to the top. Epic fight. So happy to finish this line after it became a real mental battle!"

Annie Chouinard, who started rock climbing at age 31, has done her first 8c+, Pure Imagination in Red River Gorge. Last month the 155cm tall published The shorter you are the stronger you have to be. More info to come. (c) Tiffany Nardico

Isabelle Faus, who previoulsy has done three 8B+', has done her 22nd 8B, Chimichunga in Scoop. Screenshoot picture from her Insta video captured by Chad Greedy. Isabelle is #1 in the 8a ranking game and with one more 8B, she will set a new personal high score. With one more 8B+, she will beat Alex Puccio's All Time High score by any female.

Jonathan Siegrist, who previoulsy has done 44 routes 9a to 9b, has made the first repeat of Jason Campbell's Ground Zero in Mt Charleston from 2002. Interestingly he suggests an upgrade from 8c to 9a (c) Shaina Savoy "Jason took 8c... which is completely insane because it adds a v10/11 (7C+/8A) boulder problem directly into the crux of Hasta La Vista (14c) (8c+) without any rest. It almost seems like he intended to sandbag the route." In 2015, Jonathan did the opposite, saying Era Vella, a confirmed 9a at the time, was more like 8c to him as it only took him three tries. On his Insta he says Ground Zero took him "a good number of days".

On Saturday, 23.11.2019 a unique charity event will take place at E4 Bouldergym. All proceeds will be donated to the organization "CAC - Climbers Against Cancer". Thanks to a donor box, donations can easily be made by mouse click or mobile phone From 6 pm the doors will be open for you and the BBQ will be heated up. For anybody who can not attend in person, the Livestream starts at 18:45. Look forward to an exciting competition, autograph sessions, delicious food and local beer - be part of this good cause! Visitors can expect an exciting battle of many well-known top climbers. Participants include Melissa le Nevé (France), Jana Garnbret (Slovenia), Alexander Megos and Gabriele Moroni (Italy). A team of international route-setters will provide spectacular problems: Laurent Laporte, Reini Fichtinger, Dirk Uhlig, Manuel Wiegel, Carlos Catari and Tobi Reichert. The athletes can test the problems in the afternoon before the competition and develop the ideal beta. Also well-known and popular climbing icons like Stefan Glowacz, Gerhard Hörhager, Bernd Arnold and Boone Speed support the Masters of Stone on site. As soon as the winners are determined, the three DJs Robert Lux, Rob Ramirez and Monsters of Jungle will provide the best music at the aftershow party. More info - Facebook

As running means that an increased proportion of your around 5 litres of blood circulates in your leg, it can be counterproductive both for warming up your forearms and for it's recovery. Clearly running is good for your heart in order to fight big overhangs but then it should be done in short intervals. Long distance running will just build up your capillary bed in your legs learning your blood circulation to redirect it from your forearms. The worst warming up is done, running or cycling, to your gym getting cold finger tips as you instead of opening up your capillaries, you close them learning your blood to avoid the forearms. Here are some more detailed thoughts and explinations from Dr 8a, Björn Alber, MSc Training physiology and one of the best kayaker in the world during the 80'ies. "All gyms and top climbers should have a kranking machine or a rower. This would make most us get better endurance.

All climbers - from seasoned big wall experts to indoor beginners - are invited to complete the International Climbers’ Survey 2019. The survey, published by Vertical-Life in collaboration with the IFSC, is intended to learn more about all climbers’ interests and behaviors in outdoor and indoor climbing. With the Olympics 2020 around the corner, climbing is in the midst of a period of significant changes, such as urbanisation and rapid growth. We would like to find out what climbers love about their sport and how they feel about these developments. The results of the survey will serve as a snapshot of today’s global climbing community and provide answers as to where climbing is headed as a sport and lifestyle. Your reward for completing the survey is a voucher for one month of free access to all digital climbing guides on the Vertical-Life app. Additionally, many other great prizes from FiveTen, Salewa and Zlagboard will be raffled off among the participants. Completing it should take no more than 20 minutes. A summary of key results will be shared via Vertical-Life’s online channels and selected media.

We have been informed that Alexey Rubtsov will be allowed to compete in the Olympic qualifying event in Toulouse. This means that most probably, IOC has agreed on 22 male and female participants, meaning also Jernej Kruder, Sandra Lettner and Iuliia Kaplina are in. The reason for this late change is that first IFSC invited Rubtsov etc but later changed the rule meaning they were out. In the end, IOC must have agreed that this is most fair. Here is the full starting list. Rubtsov reports that he has only been doing bouldering and one hour Speed training lately so he has just one week to catch up before it starts next Thursday. Kruder has as always been climbing outside so now it is time to get back on that Speed wall again.