Daniel Woods reports on Insta, with many great pics by James Lucas, that he has done the FA of his 4th 8C+, Box Therapy in RMNP up at 3 169 m elevation. The 10.5 km hike took 2 - 3 hours depending how much snow it was and he did it seven days. As can be seen on the picture, there were plenty of snow and projecting also involved rapping in and shoveling away snow and ice on the top out. Some of the days he worked it it was 1 degree and windy conditions. "18 moves out a 50 degree roof, micro holds that make your pulleys feel like they are gonna pop after every attempt." More on Climbing. The 29 year old has been one of the leading boulderers since he was 16 years old and in practice, he has the most impressive bouldering tick list out there. In 2010, he won the Bouldering WC in Vail and this year he did his first 9b.

Said Belhaj has done the 23rd repeat of Action Directe in Frankenjura which Wolfgang Gullich opened in 1991. Today it is considered the world’s first 9a. Ray Demski ”First time I went to the Frankenjura was in -96 but AD was not even a fantasy to climb at the time. Then in -15 I went up to check the moves for the 1st time. Everything seemed possible exept the jump in the start. This spring I tried for 1 week and managed all the moves. On this trip, with 1 month of preparation I was back. I felt weaker than in the spring and the progress went backwards in the end during a 3 week period. I was also very warm for the season which didnt make it easier for me as some moves were in my limit. After a 5 day break from AD, climbing in Margalef, I came back. The temps had dropped and I felt well rested. I sent the same day on my 2nd go. To be honest I never thought I would do it this season but hoped that resting and better conditions would make miracles -and so they did. The route and its history was the only true reason I wanted to do it as its somehow been a part of my life since I started climbing.”

Joe Kinder has done the FA of Diarrhea Mouth 9a in Rifle. His winter plan is working and to do an extension of his Bone Tomahawk 9a+ which could be his first 9b. (c) Steve Rokks "Done deal. Bolted May 2017, tried on 4 separate mini-trips since May 2018 when my career imploded. Super aggressive crux in a horizontal roof. I think I calculated 30 days. Life is different now, but I'm still going hard so fuck it all. Climbing is my love and passion and it's what I will always remember no matter what. All I need is the belief and support from the ones who love me."

Andrea Chelleris started climbing when he was 5 years old and one year later he did his first 7b. Last year he did his first 8a and this weekend he did Exit 8b+ in Cavazzo. During winter his focus is skiing, winning some comps, but during summer he climbs 3 - 5 times a week. "He has not a program of training. He just climbs the routes he likes", says his father Michele who does not climb any longer. Still the father's ticklist is more impressive compared to his 137 cm son.

1. Jakob Schubert 48 - Janja Garnbret 36 2. Tomoa Narasaki 54 - Akiyo Noguchi 360 3. Kokoro Fujii 960 - Miho Nonaka 450 4. Yushiyuki Ogata 1 440 - Jessica Pilz 1 050 5. Sean McColl 4 860 - Stasa Gejo 12 960 6. Kai Harada/Nicolas Collins 11 520 - Anna Tsyganova 15 600 The calculation is based on multiplying the two best relative ranking results, for each discipline, among the ones doing the Combined. Janja Garnbret 36 score is based on 4 * 9 in Speed although her best results has been #24 and #32. Jakob Schubert's score of 48 is based on 1 in Lead, 3 * 2 in Boulder and 2 and 4 in Speed. The big surprise is #6 Nicolas Collins from Belgium. Previously to the last two comps in China he had participated in this year, his best Lead result was #42 and in his two Boulder WC's he was #12 and #67. In China he stepped up dramatically as he was #10 and 12 in Lead (2 and 3 relative ranking) and in Speed #27 and 31 (5 and 5). Interview is coming up.

Katha Saurwein, one of the best female multi discipline climbers, has done her first 8b trad, Tainted Love in Squamish. (c) Jon Glassberg "I knew I wanted to try ‘Tainted love’ before coming here as this stemming corner with an almost closed crack in the corner and blank sidewalls, first ascended by Hazel Findlay looked stunning. It’s about fifteen to twenty meters high and is protected by small offset wires and one cam. At first both Jorg (Verhoeven, who also did it) and I had a hard time getting off the ground, we didn’t know how to move, how to position our body. From session to we got a better feeling for the open dihedral and at one point we both had our own beta worked out, which was actually quite different, due to our height difference. On our fourth session our goal was to get used to placing the gear, but as I started climbing it felt great, so I just kept on going. I was so focused on my climbing that I wasn’t really scared, and as I slowly made it higher and higher I found myself up top before realizing what had happened."

karoline sinnhuber, who previously has done four 8B's, has done Die perfekte welle sit 8A+ in Ötztal. In total, the Austrian who was #8 in the Boulder WC in Munich this year, has done 66 boulders 8A and harder. © Manuel Schof

Mathieu Holtz, who started out 2018 having done nine 8c's during the last six years, has done his second 9a, Bain de Sang in St Loup. Including also three 8c's, we asked 32-year-old, how he can explain this great progress. "Since I became a dad last year I’ve had less time for myself. I’ve put a lot more effort in my training so that I was able to make the most out of my free time. St Loup is a crag that perfectly suit my climbing style, like Bellosset. I don’t have any time to waste anymore and I always try to switch my mind into fighting mode so i can make every day out climbing count."

National Team Ranking 1. Austria 1 528 2. Japan 1 468 3. Slovenia 1 428 4. France 959 5. Italy 822 Last year, Slovenia won ahead of France, Japan, Austria and Italy. Complete results

Yushiyiki Ogata set a personal best with 6.71 in Speed with Tomoa Narasaki runner up at 6.98. Bassa Mawem won and his best time was 5.60. Complete results Interesting is that only five Combined athletes, who normally make semi in Lead/Boulder, did get a results meaning that many guys did loose the opportunity to get a very good Speed results. As it was more or less the same thing last weekend, several guys who have twice made it to the semi in Lead/Boulder missed a great possibility to have gotten a good Combined result in 2018. In 2019, the Top-20 in the Combined World Cup will compete for six spots to Tokyo but as there is a limit to just two per nation, probably, all Top-14 among the male will make it. Among the female, Futaba Ito (16) had the fastest time at 10.34 followed by Akiyo Noguchi 10.69. In total, nine non-Speed specialists competed. Aries Susanti Rahayu won and her best time was 7.53.