Nico Ferlitsch has done his second 9a, Sanjski par extension in Osp/Misja Pec after some 35 tries, video. "In the last two weekends I had some very close attempts but yesterday it was finally done. The route is very overhanging, partly even a horizontal roof, where you need a lot of bodytension and fingerstrength on small crimps. This is something I really love. My ambition for 2019 is to climb more hard stuff, but for now it's time to visit my home climbing areas, to do some training and just have some fun. In spring I want to go again to Frankenjura for making some tries on the famous route "Action Directe". At the moment there are no comps around, maybe (if it takes place this year) I will compete at the event "Free Solo Masters" in Lienz. I'm still a passionate ROCKclimber but we will see what the future will bring."

Alex Puccio has had a nice day in Clear Creek Canyon where she did Off the books 8A (c) Robin O'Leary and No Halfway Crooks 8A+. "Really fun climb! SOOO cold out! The only way I was able to climb today was from the hype and motivation from Fausey, Chad, Daniel and Robin! Thanks guys and thanks for showing us this boulder! :)"

Adam Ondra reports on Insta that he has done Catxasa 9a+ and Neanderthal 9b in Santa Linya. Ondra started working the Chris Sharma 9b back in 2011 and then he tried it for several days also in 2015, 2017 and 2019 until he sent it. (c) Artofroute "There are not many routes that I can tell about that I really hated then at certain point. But Neanderthal was definitely one of them. Not because the route is of bad quality, just because how many times I failed again and again. Getting over it and finally succeeding was a huge lesson." In total, the 25 year old Czech has now done 24 routes 9b and harder. The runner ups are Chris Sharma with eight followed by Jakob Schubert and Stefano Ghisolfi with five 9b's or harder.

From the updated 2019 IFSC rules we can see that they have increased the number of finalists in the Combined finals to eight instead of six. Further more, in bouldering there will be only three boulders separating the finalists. The reason for this is of course that bouldering otherwise would have taken some two hours but with just three boulders around 90 minutes. This means more pressure on the route setters and the risk for ties and random results will increase. In practice, most probably this means easier problems and the one onsighting the most will win. Further more, due to worse friction and more pressure on the guys in the end of the starting list (the ones who were the best in Speed), the risk for up-side-down results will increase. On the other hand, this some will feel is good for the excitement before Lead.

Thilo Schröter started off his trip to Hueco Tanks with an inflamed finger which luckily healed. During the first three weeks the Norweigian has done a total of 22 boulders 8A and harder out of which seven flash. More pics by Tina Hafsaas. More pics on his Insta. It’s my first trip to Hueco, so naturally I have a lot of moderate classics to sample, and that’s what I’ve done. Milage is a lot if fun but after a month of rampage it’s time to get on some harder things. Two more weeks in Hueco ahead, and then a week checking out Red Rocks before flying back home. Then I’ll have a month to train and enjoy good conditions in Norway before the BWC‘s start. As of now I’m only planing on competing at the first three that are in Europe, and focus more on rock for the rest of the year with trips to Rocklands, Grampians, Font and the Norwegian west coast. And I plan to do Tokyo as well.”

Tina Hafsaas, #4 in Chamonix Lead WC in 2017, has done two 8A's and Rumble in the Jungle 8A (+) in Hueco Tanks. More pics and info on her Insta, (c) Thilo Schröter. "I’m having a blast here in Hueco Tanks. The style suits me pretty well with steep and long climbing mainly on crimps. I had a great week by sending Le Chninkel and Sunshine each in one session and finish Rumble in the Jungle pretty fast as well. Now I’m sucked into project mode on a few boulders that feel harder for me. They challenge me in styles and techniques I’m not as good at and I hope I will finish them off before we head to Red Rocks. I will do the full lead World Cup and the European and World Championship in lead. I will not aim for the Olympics as the format does not feel like the sport I am passionate about."

Piotr Schab has done his fifth 9a+ the last year, La Rambla in Siurana. The Pole did his first 9a being 16 years old and then he has had seven years of continuous progress and he is #2 in the ranking game after Adam Ondra. "I’ve started trying La Rambla this week, giving it a warm-up go and one try each day. Yesterday during the warm-up go I changed betas in three different sections so sending the route right afterwards was very unexpected. Felt solid all the way up + the conditions were prime. Eventually I sent La Rambla during my 4th day on it, 8 tries with 4 warm-ups included. Such a shame Dave (Graham) fell on the very last move right after my ascent.

Danyil Boldyrev believes he and some other Speed specialist have a great chance of qualify to Tokyo during the WCH, where the Top-7 get an Olympic ticket. He will go for at least two Lead and Boulder World Cups before the WCH in Tokyo and he thinks and hope at least 15 Speed specialist will participate. Training wise his focus is Bouldering and he hopes to be Top-40. In Lead, it might be harder for the explosive power house at 193 cm and 85 kg to fight the endurance. "In the competition I will be 78-80 kg. "I love bouldering so much and train three to four times a week. I am a sprinter and athlete in mind, blood, muscles and I love competitions. I always focus and enjoy, and say God, thank you for new day." The key for Boldyrev or any other Speed-specialist making it to Tokyo is not so much their personal result in Lead and Boulder but how many Speed specialists that will compete in the WCH. Further more, as only the first Japanese get a ticket to Tokyo in the WCH, in theory also #12 can qualify if all the Japanese are Top-11. If Boldyrev win Speed and becomes #40 and #80 in the other two disciplines he should mathematically be #10 - 15 if some 15 Speed specialists participate in Combined. If there are 25 Speed specialist he would mathematically be #8 - 12. So it is certainly a long shoot for the Ukrainian or any other Speed specialist to reach Tokyo. On the other hand there is the Tripartite option, meaning some guys will invite a qualification Lucky looser to participate. Once in Tokyo, there is like a 20 % chance that 1 * 20 * 20 will make it to the Top-8 final. Once in the Top-8 final, mathematically the chances for the bronze is like 10 %. However, for 193 cm Boldyrev there is always the chance that he on a slab or a vertical problem he might use his reach and become one of the few doing it. Later he can just hope that the route setter has made a mistake and almost no other top the remaining three and Boldyrev gets #10 in Bouldering. In the Combined final there are just three problems 2019 so theoretically the Olympic gold winner in Tokyo can be Danyil Boldyrev.

The Combined World Cup in 2019 is based on the Top-2 "relative" results in the three disciplines. Last year, almost non of the Speed specialist took part meaning that Jakob Schubert "relatively" was #2 in his best comp although he was #26 among the Speed specialists. If ten of the Speed specialist will do two boulder and two lead events, the Speed performance will dramatically loose it's importance for the non-Speed specialists. Schubert's Combined score in 2018 was 1 in Lead, 6 in Boulder and 8 in Speed = 48 points. In 2018, he could have been beaten by climber A who had scored 6 in Lead, 7 in Boulder and 1 in Speed = 42 points or climber B with 1 * 1 * 45 = 45 points. If we add ten Speed climbers, their new ranking would be: 1. B = 55 points instead of 45 2. Schubert = 108 points instead of 48 3. A = 462 points instead of 47 In other words, if ten male Speed climbers show up in Meiringen 5/4, the non-speed specialist could more or less set their Speed training at pause. Actually, even with just five Speed specialist competing in Combined in 2019, Speed climbing will dramatic loose it’s importance in 2019.

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