The 8a scorecard and database was introduced on internet in 2000. Today the data base includes almost 5 000 crags and boulder areas where you can search for best quality rating etc. Before Facebook even started, we had a system running where you can follow your "friends" as well as specific crags. This week, ascent # 5 million has been added and in a couple weeks, member #70 000 will sign up.

David Firnenburg has done his second 9a+ through a quick send of Alex Megos Modified in Frankenjura. "Well, after sending "Classified" I thought it would be a shame not to climb this line. Slightly harder because of additional boulder in the beginning. Good training. Little fight against cold and numb fingers. 2nd go after "Classified". Easy for the grade." The German was #3 in the Combined World Championship in 2016 and now he goes for Tokyo 2020. In the Combined 8a ranking game, he is #4.

Frances Bensley, who started out 2018 with a 7C+ personal best, has done her first 8B in Fat Lip. Also with the rope she has rasied the bar to 8b+ this year. From her Insta. "It's been a real siege over the past month or so, and I've lost track of the number of sessions I've had so it felt great to finish it off just before the Tor season is officially over!"(c) Al Bensley

Oriane Bertone, who previously has done three 8B's and harder, has done the FA of Le spartiate direct assis in Ravine du Trou. The 13 year old is #2 in the ranking game.

Traverse grades use a difficulty scale in between routes and boulders. The logic behind this is that traverses are often quite long making them hard to compare with boulders. On the other hand, it is impossible to draw the line when a "traverse" is long and horizontal enough to be graded softer than a boulder. This creates confusion and also that sometimes a horizontal 8A is harder than an 8B. In the 8a scorecard, we advice climbers to always record also traverses with personal boulder grades and leave the traverse grade as a comment. A solution for topos and for the Fontainebleau, where most of the traverse grades boulders are found, is to identify traverses by marking them 8Aa.

Giuliano Cameroni has had some incredible last eight days doing three 8B+'; Scarred for life in Fionnay, Manhattan reine cantonale in Valais and Pied de biche in Plamproz. In the 8A ranking game the 21 year old is #2 after Daniel Woods.

Dani Andrada is undoubtedly the climber with the most quanty hard climbs under his belt, whether boulder problems or routes. He is also known for his bolting labour but over all for his fanaticism being 43 years old. Recently he reached +4,000 routes/boulders and we had a chat with him. With so many hard climbs in your notebooks, have you considered reaching a number? I've reached to 4,015 wich I've bolted about 760 8a or harder. I don't know how many are FA's as it doesn't bother me. I would like to reach to 5,000 if I don't die to get it, but overall I would like to climb quality things although every day gets harder and harder. This season I would like to reach to the 1,000 bolted routes as now I'm at 789. Some years I've put up 60 routes and some others 15. For me bolting new lines is the most important thing for the community. You mentioned us that nowadays people only think about the numbers instead of being more experienced.. Yes. I think that most of the climbers, overall young ones, which are at their best, they only think about the numbers and forget the climbing in itself. Try every hard route is in fashion and not to making more volume of routes and get experienced with it. I come from an older generation where before climbing 8a I climbed 7c+ on sight. To me maximum grade in a day and on sights come together. In the end what differentiates a good climber from the bad is the speed to climb things with more or less tries. Experienced climbers in 8a maximum are much better climbers than other who just have climbed a few 9a's. There are climbers that when they do their first 9a clamor for it as a great achievement. I have climbed 70 routes 9a or harder and still having doubts with some grades. In the end, climbing is not about just trying hard climbs, it's trying to climb in different types of rock and styles. Do you have something to do in short term that you haven't done berore? Climb and travel as much as I can due there're almost no routes left at home (laughs). Go mad bolting new lines and overall climb 8c on sight, which is something I never did. American Hustler for example in Oliana or some. I have many possibilities to do something like that cause is about get endurance. I would also like to do 8C (pure boulder problem I mean, not a traverse) but I guess it's harder, cause the older you get the harder is get strength. Also back to La Pedriza this winter to the slabs and try the freed routes by Mulero up to 8c with cams and nuts. The downside of all this is that I am a nonconformist, and I want to be everywhere trying everything at once. ©Talo Martín

Connor Herson (15) has done the sixth ascent of Lynn Hill classic almost 1 000 meters The Nose 8b+ in Yosemite (originally graded 8a back in 1993). Being 13 years old he French freed it during a day and last year Connor did 15 routes 8b+ and harder including one 8c+ second go. The two last years he has been Top-11 in the Youth World Championship. Old 8a interview. "The Nose is a very interesting route to me; it only has about 20 feet of really hard climbing in the changing corners pitch, as well as a few other pitches of still hard but slightly easier climbing. I'm definitely so psyched to have done it! In total, it was my sixteenth day working on freeing the route (10 days either rapping in to changing corners or climbing up to the great roof, as well as 2 three-day pushes), and those were mostly weekends or school holidays. Last weekend, my dad and I went up to get our systems dialed and try the route (it was my first multi-day bigwall), and I surprised myself my sending the great roof and coming very close on changing corners. We decided to go up again this weekend when the weather forecast over Thanksgiving looked bad and school was cancelled due to poor air quality last Friday. I definitely wasn't expecting to send, but I did everything up to changing corners without falling and, to my surprise, sent changing corners on my fourth try! I still can't believe it!" (c) Jim Herson who also belayed him and comments. "The breakthrough of his ascent is not so much his young age but how quickly he put it together without using fixed ropes. El Cap is overrun with climbers these days. Fixed ropes on El Cap's popular routes are untenable. I'm most proud that he was able free El Cap without using fixed ropes and interfering with other climbers. And most importantly, he freed the Nose without missing a day of school!"