151 male boulderers competed in the qualification out of which only the first 46 were decided based on their world ranking points, which you can only get being Top-30 in a WC during the last 12 months. This means pure luck in the tombola will have an impact on the conditions you will face. Obviously, being the lucky number one in the starting list lottery will mean better friction on the holds and especially in Innsbruck, competing in possibly 20 degrees in the shadow instead of 29 degrees partly in the sun. One solution could be to let everyone having been Top-50 the last year in a World Cup, create a second seeding Group. Further more, the ruling World Champion (Adam Ondra) and Top-10 ranked in Lead should also be placed ahead of the second seeding Group. When it comes to limiting the number of competitors, IFSC could say that a maximum of two athletes are allowed per country beside the guys that qualify having been Top-50 in a World Cup the last year.

The male Boulder qualification got a perfect start at 9.00 where most boulders were topped including five by both Tomoa Narasaki and Jongwon Chon. Jernej Kruder won his group with four tops showing that it is also great to prepare outdoors. As time progressed we saw, especially in Group B, less tops and Alex Megos failed to make it into the semifinal. It should be mentioned that first Schubert was out but later, after an Austrian protest, Vadim Timonov's zone of the second boulder was cancelled. You can watch his attempt on live-streaming 4.23.30. Adam Ondra entered the stage at 13.35 when it was 28 degrees in the shadow, in comparison to 18 degrees at 9.00. The sun had hit part of the walls but anyhow the Czech delivered and was #4 in Group B. During the last hour, very few did get any zones apart from the last boulder which all but three out of the 150 participants did. Domen Skofic was #41 based on doing four zones. Overall, Japan was best with five guys Top-13. Great Britain, Austria, Slovenia and France did get two respectively into the semifinal. Complete results. (c) Vladek Zumr

The female boulder qualification got a good start with Janja Garnbret topping out all five boulders in good style. As the competition progressed with less experienced climbers it was only the last boulder that was doable and the #4 ranked did only manage one top in group A. In the end, with the sun hitting the walls, we saw only zones on two boulders out of one placed sticking the first move. In the second group it was a bit better with Akiyo Noguchi on top with four boulders. However, also here it was good enough to make it to the semi by just doing one boulder. Austria did get four girls trough to the semi and had seven Top-23. Overall, only 37 % out of all the girls did get at least three zones. Alejandra Contreras was #41, out of 112, by doing two zones in four tries. A total of 15 girls did not get one zone. Complete results (c) Udo Nemann

The female boulder qualifications started at 10 when it was around 18 degrees and quite sticky conditions. It was finished at 15.47 when it was like 27 degrees in the shade. The problem was that part of the walls had been in the sun for several hours. Add to that 61 sweaty fingers had put chalk on the holds several hundred times on the first holds and it easy to understand that almost no athletes did more than one or two moves on the boulders during the last hour. As it just took one top to get into the semifinal, it just might be that with a reversed starting order among the non-ranked, we would have seen a different result list. In practice, this means that actually your luck in the tombola most probably would have an impact on your Combined result. Tomorrow, they have decided to start one hour earlier meaning in practice the unfairness will be increased. The weather forecast predicts 18 degrees at 9.00 meanwhile it will rise to 28 degrees at 13.00. If they instead would have delayed the start to 13.00, the unfairness would have been less. As it stands, Adam Ondra with start number 56 in his group will start around 13.45 meaning it will be harder for him making it into the semi. The starting list is for the 23 first in each group based on the world ranking and the last 53 goes by random. Ondra comments on his Insta, " It will not be easy to make semis, especially as I have high starting number and the conditions will be hot and holds dirty, but I will do my best to fly."

The female boulder qualification in Innsbruck was yet another example showing that one more zone is needed in bouldering. In Group A's fourth Boulder you just needed to do one move to get the zone, which 38 out of 56 did. Some progressed in the next hard moves but as they could not top it their score was the same. On Group B's fourth boulder, just Janja Garnbret got the zone as it was placed higher up and then she topped out. Similar situations also on other boulders with either a very simple zone or a zone that more or less automatically meant a top. If there would have been two zones on each boulder it would have been more fair and also both the climbers as well as the spectators would have enjoyed the qualification more.

Isabelle Faus has done Fragile Steps in Rocklands and gives is a personal grade of 8A. Originally it was considered as an 8B and still some do but lately both 8A+ and 8A have been suggested. Isabelle is #2 in the 8a ranking game but with given it 8A+ she would have been #1. (c) Caroline Treadway

Piotr Schab has done his sixth 9a+, No Pain No Gain in Rodellar. In the 8a ranking game, the 22 year old Pole is #2 after Adam Ondra. "Pure brutal endurance.. hard to say If it deserves the whole + in the grade , but for sure it deserves the fatigue! Stunning line, some crazy moves and it’s not that artificial. Respect Dani!"

Becky Wilby has just signed up having done Armed Response 8A+ in Rocklands and five 8A's this summer. The amazing thing is that she started climbing just five years ago but it was nut until three years ago she started going outdoors and training hard. "I have trained 6 days a week, twice a day for the past 3 years, only really taking breaks for holidays, injuries or rest weeks. Generally doing an hour of strength training in the morning before work, and then mixing up the evening sessions with technique, mileage and board sessions, depending on how I felt. Weekends have looked similar. I have climbed outside as much as possible, I am fortunate to have some good local crags that I have used as training venues. My focus has always been on total body strength, and learning to use my whole body, and apparently I have naturally strong fingers!! To be honest I have never struggled with getting strong. I am very fortunate that I have had a home board and fingerboard set up, along with space to use TRX, rings, weights etc. I basically created my own gym in my parents garden Shed. Mainly because I didn’t want to train at the wall, as silly as it seems, I actually train a lot better and push myself a lot harder in the comfort of my own space."

The route setting in the World Championship has been based on the modern style with volumes and big holds sometimes with no friction. The new thing in Innsbruck is that sometimes hidden micros have been added creating both better holds but sometimes also blocking holds. The problem for the climbers is they are often impossible to check from below doing observation but also while climbing. As the climbers are not used to this, they do not expect such things in the route reading. The picture from (c) VladekZumr.com shows the frustration from Adam Ondra just after he did fall probably due to hitting such an almost invisible blocking micro.

Here is the link for 54 great pictures from the female and male semis and finals by Vladek Zumr. Highlighted is the sensational #4 Meichii Narasaki from Japan.