2019 is a unique year in competition climbing due to the Olympic selection. The Top-7 in the Combined WCH will qualify to Tokyo and then the Top-20 in the Overall Combined WC ranking will fight over 6 spots in a special event. The Overall Combined is based on the two best results in each discipline which are multiplied. In practice this means that, most probably, the best athletes will be selective which comps to go for. As soon as they have qualified through the WCH or are sure to qualify to the special event they will skips some comps and instead focus on training. Add to that that the Japan Combined Championship, which will decide who will compete in the WCH, will be in late May. Here is a list which comps most probably will have the weakest starting list. Possibly it could be strategic for the guys just below the best to skip some comps and instead focus on the three listed below, beside the WCH and the special event. 7/6 Vail USA Bouldering 19/10 Xiamen China Lead/Speed 26/10 Inzai Japan Lead 11-22/8 Japan World Championship 28/11 - 1/12 Toulouse France The consequence of this is also that, most probably, it will be easier than ever to win or get a good result in especially the Lead World Cup 2019. The reasons for this are that the best will not do all WCs and also that they will not be optimized for Lead in 2019 as most of the best will train all three disciplines simultaneously. It might be that it will be more or less the same situation in 2020 as most of the best will focus training all three disciplines and skip some World Cups. Later, either climbing will have medals in three disciplines or we will be out of the Olympics and then it will be much harder to win the World Cup for sure. Add to that the trend of increasing domination from Japan who just might have five in Top-10 in all categories but Speed in the future.

UIAA wants help to identifying the world's corrission areas. In the reference map it seems the crags to look out for in Europe forms a belt from southern Portugal, via several Mediterranean island to Turkey. Outside Europe, Railay and Yangshou are two famous corrosion areas.

Cathy Wagner, famous for having done 705 routes 8a and harder since 1994, has done Octographe 8b in Russan. Only during the last 12 months, the 53 year old has done 63 routes 8a and harder and she would have been #2 in the Age and Gender bonus ranking, it she would have participated. "A terrific climbing day! Sending a perfect route - very steep on (still) super dry tufas with a demanding final section. I think it's better when you're both tall and good at 'knee-baring'! Many thanks for cheering me on and congratulating me, that was really kind of you! Needed 3 days."

Christof Rauch, who the last year has done 150 boulders 8A and harder, has done his eight 8C, From Dirt Grows The Flowers in Chironico. (c) David Pilaj "Finally! Should have done it on the last day of my New Years trip but messed it up 6 times at the mantle. Tried it 2 times a few years back but couldn’t do this nasty mantle. This year it felt much better and I managed to send it on my 5 sessions of the year. Such an iconic line established by the master Dave Graham! More than happy to put it down!" Interesting is that Christof works full time as an engine-building technician and electrician in a waterplant. Chatting on Facebook with him 23.12 asking for pictures and comments he said he had to go to sleep as he had to wake up 05.45. Here are some comments we have gotten earlier. - I would say that my secret is my nearly endless motivation and that I'm not afraid about driving far for some new boulders. ;-) After my work I go climbing outside or train in a little gym once or twice a week. Almost every weekend I go climbing outdoors.

Last year, Japan had ten male within the Top-21 in the Boulder World Cup in 2019 and Kai Harada won the World Championship. In the first Cup of the season we saw some interesting results where Harada was #25 and some lower ranked names on top. Taisei Ishimatsu ranked #9 among the Japanese in 2018 won ahead of Tomoa Narasaki. Third was Keita Dohi (18), who never made it to the semi last year in seven WCs. #7 was Rei kawamata (15), who last year did one 8B+. #9 was Yushiyuki Ogata (19) who last year best in the three disciplines were, #4, 15 and 22. His personal best in Speed is officially 6.71. " I made 6.5s in training. So I wanna show this time in front of you. The next Cup is within two weeks and I hope to win. The most important competition in 2019 are the Combined Japan Cup in May (Top-5 will qualify to the WCH) and the Combined World Championship. Some Japanese might skip some World Cups because of training for these two important comps." The best male and female from Japan will qualify to Tokyo 2020 in the WCH (if any is Top-6) and the remaining one + one will be selected as they are the host country.

"Some days were quite cold! Many of them were 0 or even below. I would use hand warmers and foot warmers to keep my hands and feet warm. When i was resting I would put my climbing shoes in my jacket to keep them warm. I would also take longer breaks and walk around to keep warm. It was very tough to warm up! The rock is very cold but a nice wood board is perfect for getting the fingers warmed up. I always warm up with my shoes in my jacket so they stay warm. When I am at home in USA, I have a portable gas heater that only weighs about 2.5 kilos and is great for cold days. It lasts for about 6 hours and put out really nice hot air. I sit in front of it and it puts out nice warm air. it really heats up the area around the heater around 1 meter or so. Most hardcore bouldrers in USA use them."

Keenan Takahasi, aka M ario, doing two 8C's; Kintsugi and The Nest.

James Webb is the best flash boulderer in the world. In total, he has flashed 37 8A+ and 14 8B's, including often giving personal lower grades. In the current 8a flash ranking game, he is #37 but that is just because he only has 8 recorded flashes. Nathan Michel is #1 in the flash ranking game with one 8B and 13 8A flashes. You only get one grade bonus for flashing but possibly we should increase this. It seems, like for route climbing, that the redpoint level has increased the last years with multiple 8C' but on the same time 8B flashes are still very rare. Among the female, Michaela Kiersch is #1 in the Boulder onsight ranking as she is in the Route overall ranking game.