Caroline Sinno, who previously has done three of the hardest traverses in Fontainbleau, has done one more La Valse aux Adieux. "Super short and intense trav (shorter than long boulder problems). I would grade it 8A+ boulder. Nicest holds ever and one of the prettiest trav here." (c) Lucien Martinez In Font, traverses normally get a traverse grade which is in between boulder and route grades. Caroline suggested 8B as the traverse grade in order to respect the history in Font. 8a has previously said that traverse grading might be confusing because it is hard to understand when a climb by definition is a traverse or not. Outside Font, traverse grading is not so often used andbecause of that we always add the estimated boulder grade to the news. There is an 8C (trav graded ) extension to La Valse aux Adieux. "I am very close in the extension, hopefully I can try again Monday! The 8c trav extension is a bit longer and could be around 8B/+ boulder. Trav grades are confusing and not relevant."

Climb Greece reports that Yann "Diego" Ghesquiers has done the first repeat of Gerome Pouvreau's Halva Power Ext 8c+ in Kyparissi. (c) Isabelle Bihr The 48 year old mountain guide, who has previously done four 9a FAs, the last one two years ago, is one of the guys bolting new routes for the upcoming Kyparissi festival. All the hard core routes in Babala has been bolted by Diego, who also works as a helicopter rescuer.

Coudert Camille, who previoulsy has done five 8B's, has done the second repeat of Alban Levier's La Force 8C (9a or 8Cc+) in Fontainebleau which has a harder exit then the more frequently done Quoi de neuf 8C. "The boulder is 7C+/8A and 8B to 7C finish, with a good rest between 8A and 8B. it is about 35 moves long so it is hard to give the whole line a boulder grade. A 9a route grade has also been suggested but in comparison to existing trav grades 8C+ would fit. I started working on La Force seriously a month ago. I needed five sessions to take it down. It is my biggest achievement so far in a style I'm not used to work on (a long effort being a boulderer). I think this problem cannot be considered as a route or a boulder. It is something in between that's why I think the 8C+ traverse grading is more appropriate." (8a agrees with Camille but instead we call such long climbs without a rope, a boulder route and adding 8Cc+, in order to separate from route or boulder grades).

Rei kawamata, who was #5 in the Moscow Bouldering World Cup, has had a great trip to Ena where he did two hard 8B's, Anomally and Ankokumaru. "It is very nice. There where some 8B+ that seemed possible. I want to return in the end of the year." Next up for the 15 year old is the Boulder World Cup in Vail in June and the the Youth World Championship in Arco in the end of August.

WICS, World Indoor Climbing Summit, is the first global event in the climbing industry and stands out by gathering a unique international set of climbing industry experts, under one roof. A carefully selected agenda built around the business of running a climbing gym — and the do’s and don’ts of turning it into a profitable venture, from the perspective of various markets — make the event a valuable experience for any climbing gym operator. It unites the pioneers of the industry on a global scale — people who have witnessed and experienced the growth of climbing from the first row and have played a big role in it. “It was interesting to hear the different ways the US market diversifies from Europe and Australia and some other places. And I thought that was unique perspective that I haven’t had before. Having all these gym operators from around the world in one place and having that kind of discussions was really interesting.” Jeffery Bowling, Marketing, IT and Business Development Manager at Touchstone Climbing

Davide Picco has done his third 9a, Pure Dreaming in Arco in eight sessions. "Pure dreaming is a rather new line, bolted by Alfredo Webber and freed by Adam Ondra last year. I started trying it two months ago during weekends. The route is a masterpiece of endurance, after 20 meters or so of athletic movements on a steep wall you get to two small crimps where you need to rest and recover for the last section, the hardest one. I guess the style suits me very well even though I didn't expect to redpoint the line this fast. I'm super happy."

Jonathan Siegrist has done his second 9b, La Planta de Shiva in Lillanueva del Rosario. In total, the american has now done 42 routes 9a to 9b and he is #3 in the 8a ranking game. "Fought with every ounce in my body... a feeling I will never forget! Absolutely incredible route with no place to hide. Resistant like hell. So freaking excited about this send!" More info on his Insta (c) Javi Pec

Moritz Welt had done Markus Bock's Behind the blackest Tears 8c+ in Frankenjura in two sessions. In the Combined ranking, the 17 year old is #2. (c) Lars Decker "The route was pretty much my style with a 7c lower part and just one hard boulder in the end bouldery on small holds, typical Frankenjura style."

Janja Garnbret topped all four boulders in the final winning her four straight WC win in 2019. Last year she only did three WC events, winning the last two after being runner up in her first. #2 was Akiyo Noguchi, actually for the third time this season. 15 year old Ai Mori was #3 in her first Boulder WC Final. Miho Nonaka, who won overall last year, who has had a shoulder injury did her first WC cup this season and was #4. (c) Eddie Fowke 1. Janja Garnbret 44 SLO 2. Akiyo Noguchi 34 (4) JPN 3. Ai Mori 34 (11) JPN 4. Miho Nonaka 24 (4) JPN 5. Jessica Pilz 24 (6) AUT 6. Julia Chanouride 2 FRA Complete results

1. Japan 1 288 2. Slovenia 1 025 3. France 535 4. Austria 395 5. Russia 313 Complete ranking Japan continues to dominate the National Boulder World Cup as they have done for several years. Slovenia has been runner up for a couple of years. Never before two countries have dominated the ranking as in 2019.