Keenan Takahashi won the Hueco Rock Rodeo by doing Diabolique 8B and five 8A+'s during one day. Four of the boulders he did first try. (c) "Super stoked to have had what may be my best climbing day and to have nabbed gold after such a big day with a bunch of friends, new and old. Cheers to the americanalpine for hosting such a rad event and to Westmountainmedia for the pics", Keenan reported on his Insta.

IFSC reports that in the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 there will be a separate set of medals for Speed as well as for a Lead/Boulder Combination. In Speed there will be 16 athletes and in the Combination 20 athletes per gender. In Tokyo, only 40 athletes will participate for six medals so it is great news for the climbing community. It should be noted that this decision that was announced in a press conference in Paris which is not final. "The proposal will next be presented to the IOC Executive Board on March 26th-28th. If accepted, the proposal will then be put forward to the 134th IOC Session on 24th June in Lausanne, Switzerland. "

Based on that Speed respective Lead/Boulder will be included in the Olympic Games 2024, we can almost certain say that even if no Speed specialists will qualify to Tokyo, the tripartite selection will go to a Speed specialist. Mathematically, based on the results in the Olympic Youth Games in Buenos Aires, getting 1 - 20 - 20 will mean qualifying to the Top-8 final in Tokyo. In that final, 1 - 8 - 8 will most probably mean ranking fourth or possibly fifth. In theory, such a result could also mean getting the bronze. The reason for this is that instead of adding the results, they are multiplied. This means that it is not so important to have a good result in all three disciplines but instead it is best to win one discipline. If adding the results in all three disciplines was the rule, the Speed specialist would most probably be ranked #12-14 in Tokyo.

Piotr Schab did Era Vella 8c+ (9a) when he was 16 years old and his first 9a+, Papichulo when he was 19 years old. In 2018, he did four 9a+' and last week he did one more, La Rambla. (c) Pablo Benedito "The biggest goal of the year is to climb a 9b. I’d love to go back to Fight or Flight. Now it’s time to train again and the plan is to make a month long Catalan trip again in April. Hopefully I’ll be ready to try hard then and the conditions will make the efforts possible. If not I’ll switch again to my favorite style, onsighting and quick redpoints. There are still a lot of routes in a 9a/+ range that are waiting to be climbed. 8c+ onsight is a second big challenge that I look forward to achieve this year. So please tell us something about training? This winter I used to do 7 sessions in 4 days a week (3 gym training's included). 21 hours a week, super intense. Now it’ll be different - less volume, more intensity so I hope to take a step further. Do you really mean three rest days a week? Yes - Neither climbing nor gym 3 days a week. While you’re doing Raw power sessions in a gym I think it’s more efficient. I’m quite satisfied with the results - in 14 days in Spain I could climb hard 2 days in a row followed by one rest day and it does not happen that often for me. Piotr finished off his Catalan trip by quickly doing 20 años después 9a and Sin acido clorhidrico 8c+. "They are both are pretty manufactured but the moves and lines create a nice challenge."

Edu Main comes with great news on Insta. "A process of four months for climb in free all the pitch’s of Valhalla. To be honest I've been tempted to give up sometimes. Endurance, discipline, perseverance and lots of motivation to release every single pitch! I've build a sentence that I repeat myself every day when putting on my climbing shoes: "limits are thoughts feeding on our fear of failing". I know Valhalla is madness and that it became my biggest obsession."

Kyparissi, located some four hour respective one hour south of Athens and Leonidio, is #1 in the 8a Crag trend ranking. In between 10-12 May they will run their second Festival, more info. Aris T, aka Mr Kalymnos, has started to open a new sector just by an amazing beach which he says has one of the most beautiful settings he has ever seen and the potential in a gorge is almost endless. He will bring a team to continue they work in the end of April and he hopes that this new sector will be opened with 100 new routes during the festival.

Moritz Welt, #4 in the Combined ranking, has had a super productive last month doing 14 boulders 8A to 8B+. Last year he also had a nice pyramid in routes starting with two 9a's. (c) Lars Decker - Kalokagathia 8B. How do you have time for all these sends and what about the 2019 plan and ambition? I am living in the middle of Frankenjura. I'm taking my time after school and at the weekends. As long as the weather is good I never go training indoors so I can go bouldering outdoors all the time. Maybe some traveling around Europe and seeing different places. Of course also trying some hard routes/boulders as well as some FAs. Routes and boulders, I think I will continue to do both equally so I won't get out of shape in any of them. What about trying to project down 8C and 9a+' instead of scooping around in easier terrain? I have no explicit focus. Just climbing without expectations.

Read more about the Honnold Foundation that Alex has run for ten years in order to, "PROMOTING SOLAR ENERGY FOR A MORE EQUITABLE WORLD".

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Ett inlägg delat av Alex Honnold (@alexhonnold) 19 Feb 2019 kl. 11:11 PST

Iker Pou reports on Instagram that has repeated Xavi González' route Santaropa 8c+/9a in Majorca. ©Pedro Bover "Taking advantage of spring temperatures and good conditions, I get to get "SANTAROPA" 8c + / 9a in #Mallorca. First repetition, after the strong climber from Mallorca Xavi González."

Tina Johnsen Hafsaas continues to deliver in Hueco Tanks and five days ago she did the classic Barefoot on Sacred Ground 8A+. Yesterday, during the Hueco Rock Rodeo, she did Dark Ages 8A. In the Combined ranking, the Norweigian is #3. Thilo Schröter The winners of Hueco Rock Rodeo 2019 were Michalea Kirsch and Keenan Takahashi. Report to follow.