Don’t miss the chance to visit Greece’s new favorite climbing destination that combines extraordinary bouldering and amazing sport climbing. Ikaria, the island holding the secret of longevity, has incredible natural beauty, with extraordinary, gigantic granite formations for bouldering and breathtaking marble walls for sport climbing. Ikaria is called “the Mountain in the Aegean Sea” and is a most welcome climbing discovery of our time. Visit the site here, and register for the festival here.

Frances Bensley has done her second 8B, Keen Roof in Peak District, in just three sessions. (c) Jonathan Bean Interesting is that Frances did her first 8A only 18 months ago so wee are talking a late bloomer as she started climbing almost 20 years ago at age 7. "I realized that all of the hardest things I had climbed had only taken a few sessions or a session to do. I had a goal of climbing 8b+ and 8A last year and managed that. At that point maybe I started to realize that in my own style I might be able to climb harder, but just need to find the right problems. Additionally I have made a lot more effort this year to try and identify and work on my climbing weaknesses. I am sure this has helped my climbing overall. I have never had any structure to my training before January - I climbed a couple times a week and I tried hard, either climbing general blocs or a fun board session, but there was never a plan, very little finger boarding (I would occasionally pull onto a finger board maybe a few times a month but with no consistency) and I didn't matter if I only climbed once a week or three times a week. I recently approached Dave Mason and I now have a weekly training plan to follow - its hard work for me because structure is something I struggle with, but it's also good and I'm feeling quite strong."

Gabriela Vrablikova has done her first 8c (+), Battle Cat in Frankenjura in just six tries. Interesting the 28 year old Czech has only tried one 8c before so we are again talking about a late bloomer. "I work as a physiotherapist so we had to plan it with my new coach, Petr Klofáč very carefully. We are working more complex in more areas - not just physical training, but mental training, regeneration and food. Training my mind helped a lot as well and of course Battle Cat is beautiful route so I really enjoyed climbing it! Now I am gonna enjoy some hot chocolate. My next project is to find some sponsors for my dream project - one hard multipitch in Ratikon and I have never been to Spain so I want to go there this year and climb something harder."

Daniel Woods reports on Insta that he has done Carlo Traversi’s The Kingdom 8C (B+) in Brione. Daniel has previously done 28 boulders 8C and harder which means he is #1 in that ranking. In the 8a ranking game, the 29 year old is #2 after Jimmy Webb. (c) Stefan Kuerzi

Mic Rathke has published some concern in regards competition fairness in bouldering in Routesetter anonymous. 8a has talked about this issue for twelve years as it seems more favorable to be #6 in the semi, meaning that you start first with better friction in the final. "Competitions should be fair, but we (the climbing community) face an issue with fairness. Our issue at hand mostly deals with slopers, they get full of chalk, bodily fluids, skin, and most of all the original friction wears away like sandpaper. The difficulty (grade or rating) of a climb gets harder in the matter of one session. This is an issue for the later people that climb on the same holds in the same competition. Our current resolution is a brush and chalk, however this does not resolve the issue of replacing the original grip of a hold. With the Olympics coming up, how can we resolve this issue before 2020?" It should be noted that in the Olympics, there will be eight to the final, meaning the friction problem will be a bigger issue in Tokyo.

Angie Scarth-Johnson, who did her first 8c+ at age 12, has done her second, Pedra, Paper, Tisora in Margalef. The Australian is home-schooled and will spend six weeks in Spain this spring as she also has done before. "It took me a couple of days but I was on it last year. I had an finger injury and was unable to send it due to that. So I’m super glad I could finish it off this year."

Last week, IFSC had invited important stakeholders from the media, brands, gyms and experts to discuss the Olympic movement together with three representatives from IOC. You would think that this would mean three 60+ male but instead IOC did show up with three female 35-40 years old. Interesting is that in the end 8a was the only media present. We did get explained how the bidding process for Tokyo and Paris have been taking place. In short, it seems IOC told IFSC that you can come with an application and you have best chances for being approved with one set of medal in Tokyo and possibly two sets in Paris. From a general perspective, the indoor boom was discussed and the risk for getting climbing into the Olympics as well as if IFSC should take any stand in regards outdoor, ethics and the environment. The big change in competition format and IFSC competitions were also discussed and if it could be possible to qualify to the World Cups by getting points first in local and later regional competitions. There were not enough time to discuss how to make competition climbing more understandable and how to minimize the risk for strange thing to happen. However, 8a was asked to send in our thoughts.

Jesús Muñoz (Chuchi) has done his first 9a, El Dorado in La Pedriza after some 20 days of projecting. His previous best was an 8c FA in 2015 but when it comes to bouldering he did an 8B+ last year. (c) Talo Martin "El Dorado is a route of few movements and although it can be categorized as a boulder, it also requires having a good rpower endurance to be able to send it.The first six movements, from my point of view, will go around 8B. The next section is very athletic, but somehow simpler, around 7c. Finally we reach the final step that is a long dyno. In isolation, only this final movement is like a 7C. Then there is a section of three meters on a much easier slab that does not add any difficulty. I have had to adapt my training by increasing the days of resistance training and maximum strength since the route demands both qualities." More info on his Insta

Seb Bouin has done his second 9b and the first repeat of Adam Ondra’s Mamichula in Oliana. Including also nine 9a+, the French is getting closer to the Top-5 best tick list. (c) Jan Novak ”I had the best belayer possible for this route, my super Mami (mom). Last trip, on the last days, I felt on the last move before the rest. I am happy to finish the job! I have to say that I used kneepad for this route. It's my hardest route on the paper. Yet maybe not in the reality . I am psyched to see some climbers in my latest mega lines in France (French Chilam Balam and "la côte d'usure").

Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall, one of the best crack climbers out there, have made another hard first ascent in the Utah desert, Black Mamba 8c which may be their hardest roof crack yet. Whittaker describes the first ascents: (c) Talo Martin "The route is like a mining tunnel, you walk to the back and start in a crouched position with a head torch on and can’t believe you now have to climb the same distance you just walked…but completely upside down. Nevertheless, it’s as much about being tactical as it is about having the strength and endurance to be able to climb it. It required a head torch lit start, 3 hand jam glove changes, a rope tie mid pitch and toilet roll cushioning for tricep protection. It usually ends up that we use these bizarre tactics because we’re so focused on the climbing we forget to bring the more conventional tools to the crag, i.e. elbow pads or proper lanterns. There are 4 distinct cruxes. 2 are finger jamming, 1 is thin hands and the final redpoint crux comes as a heart breaking last move; rounding the lip of the finishing off width. The key beta here was to make sure that the nose of the roof sat in the indentation below your sternum. Any lower with your torso and you’d unfortunately come up short every time. The final off width in general is a little fighter. On its own it is a struggle, but with the continuous upside-down climbing beforehand, it’s a real world of dread when you finally get there on the big redpoint. If the route stopped before this, the whole thing would be like a beef sandwich - reasonably meaty. In totality, it’s that final 9 inch section that really makes it a full Sunday roast."