Charles Albert, the famous Font barefoot boulderer, has made the FA of yet another 8C+, Hypothèse assis. It adds two moves to the 7C+ stand start. "It’s just another hard boulder, it’s not very beautiful and it’s chipped. I did it because it was dry. It took me three quick sessions and a long one. I don’t think it’s easier or harder with shoes the next project is another hard boulder.” Charles climbs barefoot and he has established and repeated several 8C's and done the Fa of La Revolutionnaire 8C+. The pic by Neil Hart is from an 8B+ in Font.

Here is a draft of which female have the most impressive sport climbing tick list. Please comment to add names or change the ranking. 1. Margo Hayes USA 2. Angy Eiter AUT 3. Anak Verhoeven BEL 4. Josune Bereziartu ESP 5. Julia Chanourdie FRA 6. Ashima Shiraishi USA 7. Allizée Dufraisse FRA 8. Charlotte Durif FRA 9. Janja Garnbret SLO 0. Michaela Kiersch USA, Laura Rogora ITA, Mar Alvararez, Janja Garnbret, Muriel Sarkany, Barbara Zangerl, Plorence Pinet, Katherine Choong

Isabelle Faus has done Fred Nicole's Terre de Sienne 8B in Hueco Tanks. "hard dead point.. was trying the bump method for the first couple days... then started trying to go straight up to it and did it that sesh, didn't split any tips!!" Originally it was given 8C, but then Dave Graham came and called it 8B/+. Some continued to grade it 8B+ but now it seems the consensus is 8B. Isabelle, who often gives personal downgrades, has recorded 16 8B's and two 8B+, making her tick list one of the most impressive by a female. In the 8A ranking game, Isabelle is #1.

Stefano Ghisolfi, #2 in the Lead World Cup the last two years, reports on his Insta that he has repeated Alex Megos Perfecto Mundo 9b+ in Margalef which originally Chris Sharma bolted. (c) Javi Pec "I spent 32 days here at the crag, falling many times at the same move, but this time I grabbed for the first time that pinch and it felt unreal..."

Thomas Dauser has done his third 9a through the FA of Il gusto della liberta in Ulassai. (c) Klaas Willems "So happy!! It was a long way to the top of this dream line. In total, split over two stays, I spent around 10 days working on it, checking out the moves, making link-ups, and finally sending it in perfect evening conditions. I did my first 8c now already 5 years ago and then my first 9a one year ago. My main focus is on climbing outdoors, a lot in Frankenjura. But the last few years I did more specific training as well.

Margo Hayes reports on her Insta that she one month ago did Southern Smoke 8c+ in Red River Gorge. During the same trip the 20 year old did Golden Ticket 8c+ and probably some more great routes. (c) Jan Novak ”I had a wonderful time visiting The Red for the first time in a while! I met up with friends from France and was able to spend some time climbing with my dad. He’s always my favorite partner. I wanted to try a some classics and some routes that looked intriguing to me. I climbed the Golden Ticket and Southern Smoke in 5 tries each.” Including the two 9a+ classics from last year as well as a 9a and other 8c+', Margo must be a contender for having the most impressive ticklist in the world. The only two girls that challenges her are Angy Eiter and Anak Verhoeven.

There are several ways on how breathing can improve your climbing and here are some examples. You should try it out or even take some Yoga breathing lessons in order to best use your breathing while climbing. 1. Breath before you set of = Increase focus and concentration 2. Less nervous by thinking of how you breath 3. Get more alert/stronger by hyper ventilation (fast breathing) 4. Improved resting by slow, long and deep breathing 5. A focus on breathing will make you more relaxed while climbing Just close your eyes and focus on breathing and notice what happens in your body and soul and you are half way there.

During the last 12 months, 7 298 ascents have been recorded in Leonido making it the third most zlagged in the world after Frankenjura and Kalymnos. Actually, 50 % of the total recorded ascents in Leonidio have beed added just the last year. Kind of remarkable that it is more popular than Rodellar, Arco and Railay Beach together. The second most trendy crag to visit is Kyparissi like 1.5 hour south of Leonidio. The good news is that both these crags situated like 3 hours south of Athens are climbable also during the winter. Here you can buy the guide-book which also comes in an App.

Looking in the 8a database trying to identify who has made the FAs of the most popular and highest ranked hard core routes, Chris Sharma sticks out. 2.8 Papichulo 9a+ in Oliana 2.2 Mind Control 8c (8c+) in Oliana 2.1 Era Vella 9a (8c+) in Margalef 2.0 Biographie 9a+ in Céüse In fact, almost all Chris hardest routes have later been hailed and recommended. Here are some examples of some with few repeats; First round first minute 9b, El Bon Combat 9a+ (9b/+), Fight or Flight 9b, Es Pontas 9b . (c) Chris Insta with 455 000 followers.

Molly Thompson-Smith, #7 in the Lead WC 2017 and #11 in the World Championship, has been on a climbing trip in Spain together with Jan Hojer. In Siurana she did Kale Borraka 8b+ and in Santa Linya she did Fabelita 8c. Jan's best was Open Your Mind 8c+ in Santa Linya. So how come so few comps this year and what is the 2019 and Olympic plan? I ruptured 3 pulleys in my ring finger at the end of Dec last year and had to have surgery in the New Year. Took me a while to get back to climbing, and especially at a decent level so wasn't able to do any comps until World Champs. Next year I plan to do all the lead WCs and some bouldering ones. I'll try for the Olympics, hopefully I can enter all the events I need to next year but we don't know what the selection criteria is yet and I've got a lot of catching up to do anyways!