NEWS

Carnage 8B (A+) by Alex Puccio
Alex Puccio has done Carnage 8B (A+) in Guanella Pass. In total, she has now done 189 boulders 8A and harder. (c) Cameron Maier "The beginning thats not suppose to be the hard part was the hardest for me since I am a bit too short to make the knee bar work properly and I had to add a few more harder moves in the beginning due to the moves being too reachy. Soft 8B for me personally due to the added hard moves and the reachy moves?"

The Finnish Line 8C by James Webb
James Webb reports on Insta that he has done Nalle Hukkataival's classical The Finnish Line 8C in Rocklands. (c) Keenan Takahashi James says this was his number one goal in Rocklands and he says it is one of the best in the world. The 31 year old is #1 in the ranking game and once it has been added to his scorecard, he sets another new All time high score.

Great Line - Number One direct
โ€œNumber One directโ€ (7b+) is located in the โ€œGraue Wandโ€ sector of the โ€˜Schleierwasserfallโ€™ waterfall climbing area. The 30-metre long sports climbing route runs along a south-facing limestone rock face. The challenging route on the slightly overhanging rock requires nimble footwork in the lower section with some far reaches and large holds, as well as smaller fingerholes in the upper part of the climb. The climb is surrounded by a beautiful mountain panorama with the spectacular โ€˜Schleierwasserfallโ€™ waterfall right next door. The climbing area is located in the Wilder Kaiser Mountain Range. All these characteristics contributed to "Number One direct" being voted one of the Great Lines at Climbers Paradise Tirol by a panel of experts. ยฉTirol Werbung / Mair Johannes

Black Sheep 9a FA by BJ Tilden (38)
BJ Tilden has done Black Sheep which is his fourth 9a FA and also his fifth 8c+ or harder FA at Wolf Point. "The route is actually a link-up. Each piece took a whole season on its own. The start is called Sheep Eye. It's a hard 8c that I bolted and climbed 5 years ago. It look the whole spring season to send. The Black Streak is a route called God of War 8c+. I climbed that route 2 years ago and it took the whole fall season. I started trying the link last fall. I spent about four weeks on it and fell off the last move 10 times. This spring the crag opened late due to lots of snow. We only had five days in there. I fell on the last move another 6 times. I'm pretty sure yesterday was the last chance before it got too hot."

The Lead World Cup starts 4/7 in Villars but Adam Ondra is not in the starting list, possibly due to the wrist injury he is taking about in the latest episode, Road to Tokyo.

Maggie Odette, who did her first 8b+ at 44, has done her fourth, Eulogy in Maple Canyon. "Surprise! Never 1- or even 2-hung it. Terrible day on it on Friday, then miraculously got through the Millenium portion for the first time of the season yesterday, sent 2nd go of the day. Super weird. Unheard of for me...second go is usually a disaster! Yay!"

Sport Climbing provisionally included in Paris
IOC has unanimously voted to approve the approval to include Sport Climbing in Paris 2024. The proposal was to have have two set of medals, Speed Climbing with 16 athletes per gender respectively Lead and Boulder with 20 athletes per gender in a new Combined discipline. The final decision will be taken in December 2020. Read more

Is Babsi Zangerl the best gender equality athlete in the world?
When it comes to big walls and multi-pitches, Babsi Zangerl is totally superior among the female. In 2017, she made the first repeat of Tommy Caldwell's Magic Mushroom, a 30 pitch 8b+, together with her boyfriend Jacopo Larcher. The 30 year old Austrian has also done the first female ascent of the 900+ metres El Nino 8a+, Zodiac 8b and Pre-Muir 8b. It should be noted that grade wise these efforts should, in comparison to bolted one pitch sport routes (in spain), probably warrant at least two grades more. Lat year 2018 she did the FFA of Odyssee on the Eiger North Face, 33 pitches up to 8a+ (hardest free climb on the Eiger). She has also done the FFA of the Alpine trilogy; Kaisers neue Kleider 8b+, Silbergeier 8b and End of Silence 8b+. Adding another dozen big multi-pitches 8a and harder mainly in the Alps, she just might have the Top-5 most impressive ticklist out there, also counting the male. If so, Babsi might be the very best female athlete out there in the world, counting all sports, in comparison to the male? It should be mentioned that most of her hardest big wall/multi-pitches ascents, she has done together with Jacopo Larcher who is also among the best in the world in this discipline. Surely, he is also part of the success story of making Babsi an unique female in the world. (c) Heinz Zak

Pre-Muir Wall 8b MP by Barbara Zangerl
Babsi Zangerl reports on Insta that she has done Pre-Muir wall which is a 30 pitch 8b in Yosemite. (c) Jacopo Larcher Babsi has previously done three other big multi-pitches in Yosemite and many others all over. In this discipline she is superior among the female and also one of the very best among the male. Including also 9a in Sport and 8B in bouldering, the Austrian is the best female rock climber in the world.