Claudia Ghisolfi, copies what her brother did nine years ago by skipping 8b+ and does L'extremacura in Gravere as her first 8c. In the last World Cup in Briancon was #25. In total she has made it to the semifinal 13 times and her best result is #13. (c) Stefano Ghisolfi

Alberto Gines Lopez, #5 in the Chamonix World Cup and #31 in both Lead and Bouldering in Hachioji, has taken some days off from his competition regime and made a quick ascent of El Intento 9a in Cuenca. (c) Mario Martinez Munoz "Now I’m back to training for the upcoming comps. The Olympics is quite difficult but I’m working for it. Currently the 16 year old is #28 in the Combined World Cup and he has great chances to make it to Toulouse as his new personal best in Speed, from Hachioji, is 7.39.

Alizée Dufraisse is back from Africa and enjoys bouldering in Switzerland where she did El Toro 8A+ in Gottardo in just two sessions. (c) David Graham "I am going to do route climbing again in south of France (st antonin noble val) for the next month and a half with the easier projects there and then Spain for La Rambla in November!" The former successful competition climber has been projecting the 9a+ for for three years now.

Based on the official Tokyo 2020 qualification system, it is not yet clear if the Japaneses are allowed to compete in Toulouse. "The twenty (20) highest ranked athletes per gender, not yet qualified through D.1 above (Hachioji), at the Overall World Cup Ranking will be selected for participating in the Olympic Qualifying Event." As no male or female can qualify to the Olympics, as their second spot is a "host" selection, it is not clear if they will be allowed to participate in Toulouse. In any case, it is not fair that the best are not allowed to compete/train on the only event identical to the one in Tokyo 2020. Further more, how do IFSC plan to do with the substitutes for injured climbers? It might be that it is good enough to be ranked #30 in the overall Combined if the Japaneses and the Top-7 in Hachioji are not allowed. The twist for this is that there most probably will then will be at least one Speed climber in Toulouse that probably will get another an Olympic ticket. With three male Speed climbers in Tokyo, the probability for any of them talking a bronze is on pure mathematics almost 50 %.

HippyTree / Possessed from HippyTree on Vimeo.

Aris T reports that he and his crew are currently developing two new crags in Kalymnos with some 50 routes, mainly from 5c to 7c. "Heroes is a quality new crag, not big for Kálymnos standards. Needs a testing period and some more cleaning. So we will publish it in about 1-2 months from now. Walking time 15 -18 min. We are finishing also the bolting of a paradise new crag on the first beach out of Vathy to the right, 2 min walk from the beach. You go there by boat, 10 min from Vathy."

Seb Bouin, who last week did the FA of La rage d’Adam 9b/+, has done the second ascent of the hardest multi-pitch in France, Hossana in Verdon; 8b/b+, 8b, 8b/b+, 8c, 7b+. Patrice Glairon Rapaz bolted and Cedric Lachat did the first ascent. (c) Julia Cassou

Leo Skinner, who did his first 7C+ when he was 11 years old, has done his first 8B, Louis left in Bacon Hole. "I first tried this boulder 3 years ago and did the easier parts but I couldn’t do the crux. I went there this year and did all the moves quite quickly. I was lucky enough to climb it in about 5 sessions before the season was over."video

Sebastien BOUIN has done the FA of La Rage d'Adam 9b/+ in Verdon. Once it has been recorded, the French will be #2 in he 8a ranking game. (c) Julia Cassou "This route was bolted few years ago. I visited it for the first time 4 years ago. Since that, I was trying it a little bit each year, but not so seriously. This year, it was a big objective to me. This route is really impressive by the beauty and the purity of the moves. The difficulty is not so long : there is a first short 8c (5.14b) of 6 quickdraws to reach the boulder crux problem. This boulder is HARD. It's around 10 amazing moves on little pinches and underclings in a super overhang part. Then you have 25 meters of "easy" climbing (around 8b). I am quite uncertain about the grade, this route is not so much my style, and I have not so much experience in this grade. It could be hard 9b or 9b/+. I will propose 9b/+, waiting repetitions to confirm or adjust." As a matter of a fact, Seb has published a quote from Adam Ondra on his Insta, "My guess is that it could be more of 9b/b+, if not even harder, based on my one and only experience of the route - which felt HARD!"

The 2019 European Championship took place in Zakopane in Poland. 35 female and 56 male participated and actually almost none of the best European boulderers did participate. The route setters were spot on in regards the difficulty on all rounds but the male final, where actually the silver was decided on count back from the semi. 1. Mickael Mawem FRA 24 - Urska Repusic SLO 34/4 2. Sergei Skorodumow RUS 13 - Vita Lukan SLO 34/6 3. Vadim Timonov RUS 13 - Irina Kuzmenko RUS 34/8 Complete results