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.

2003 Started climbing 12 years old 2005 #2 in the Youth Worlds which he later won 3 times 2011 Winning 7 straight World Cups 2012 World Champion 2013 #2 in both Lead and Boulder WC 2014 #1 in Lead WC 2016 #2 World Champion 2017 Three Lead WC entries 3 - 1 - 1 2018 World Champion (c) Vladek Zumr

During the World Championship in Innsbruck we have seen a record number of ties. As climbing progress it is just natural that the best climbers even out, increasing the route setters delicate job. Ondra and Schubert did get the same score and there is no way to separate them but to go for count back or time. Pilz did finish the female route 10 seconds faster than Garnbret. The problem was that during Janja's climbing there were no official split times making it very hard to build up the excitement understanding who is in the lead, i.e. who is climbing faster. Luckily they both topped making it easier to get the winner. Let us say they both finished with a score of 42, then the judges might have had to watch the videos and see that Pilz got it 2.42 seconds meanwhile Garnbret was 0.5 seconds slower. Such an analyses would probably have taken several minutes to do. One solution for this could be to use split times for every ten moves which can be used to separate identical scoring until they reach the next split time. This would guarantee that for example during the Olympics we do not need to wait five minutes before the winner in Lead can be announced.

Sean McColl, an IFSC Athlete Representative for many years, did fail to make the semi, together with the regaining world champion Romain Desgranges, due to have been called to stand and "use" a sponsor logo on the wall. Sean questions this on his Insta and almost 10 000 have backed him up as he means Adam Ondra did the same thing. (c) Udu Neuman Insta. Sean points out that even if Ondra would also have been judged to "use" the sponsor logo, as defined in the IFSC rule, he would have made it to the semifinal. Sean asks and hopes for IFSC, "to admit the signage was placed poorly and remove the down-score from any affected athlete. This would qualify both Romain and myself for semis." Adam Ondra has posted a video on his Insta showing that he did not touch the hold McColl and Desgranges stood on.

Janja Garnbret was the only one to top out four routes in the Lead World Championship in Innsbruck but as she was ten seconds slower than Jessica Pilz in the final, she was #2. Janja did show great sportmanship and did show a happy face congratulations Jessica but during the ceremony, it was obvious she was not that pleased. (c) Erich Spiess - Innsbruck2018 In the Slovenian website PZS she has expressed her thoughts. "I'm really glad for the second place, but also a bit disappointed. I do not think that any competitor in difficulty should be classified by time, regardless of the rank. I'm happy that I climbed all the way to the top and proved that I know how to climb under pressure. I knew that Jessica had topped the route, I knew that time would be decisive, but it was a little sad that it was all about few seconds. The semi-finals were too easy, we saw four tops and no climbers could show which one is better."

The male semifinal turned out to be a very close game with 16 out of the 26 athletes falling within three holds. Strangely enough the last starters got in general worse results and the commentators said it might be due to worse condition as the heat was building up. Stefano Ghislofi was #22 and Adam Ondra was last into the final with a tied fifth position with six other guys. Last out, somewhat saving the show, was Domen Skofic and he made the highpoint. Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr Interestingly, Japan got their best male Lead performance ever with three guys making it to the final. Other then that, Austria and Czech Republic got two through. It should be noticed that if any of the six ties are also tied for a podium position, the faster climber will be ranked the highest.

Jakob Schubert, World Champion in 2012, gets his second title ahead of his home crowd in Innsbruck. Adam Ondra reached the same hold but was ranked second due to worse result in the semi. The route was spectacular in 3D style but these two seemed to be in control all the way. Alex Megos did also master all the early technical difficulties falling three moves below. Complete results. (c) Johann Groder - Innsbruck2018.com Interesting is that no climber used more than 3.40 minutes before they did fall. Further more, it seemed on the replay that Ondra did fell due to hold 37 was partly blocked meaning he did not hit the sweet spot on the hold. ", I felt really strong in the finals and I was really angry when when I fell because I did not feel very tired at that moment. "

Giuliano Cameronihas had a great summer in Rocklands and the ticklist is long including two 8C's, FA of The Smile (c) Oliver Krueger and the third ascent of Black Eagle. The Swizz is the new #1 in the 8a ranking game. More great pics and videos on his Insta. "I found this amazing wall two years ago together with Sam Ometz. The rock is perfect and the crux holds design an emoji on the wall, with a small crimp for the mouth and two rounded slopers for the eyes. I tried it for the first time this season, but the first session went super bad and I couldn’t do any of the hard moves. So I moved on, psyched to climb on other boulders. After a few weeks I went back with good conditions and surprisingly the crux moves felt way better than before! I needed two more days to do the hardest move (a dynamic lock off from the crimp to the right eye) and four more to send the whole boulder. In the last week it became a real mental battle because I kept falling off the last move, which revolves around a delicate friction depending sloper. When I finally held the lip an immense joy surrounded me: the battle was over and the boulder was done! I feel that I improved a lot from this experience, and the boulder itself taught me a lot about climbing in general. Few months later I’m still psyched to have done a contender for the best problem in the world! Now it’s time to move on, projects await!..."

The European Outdoor Film Tour is coming of age! For 18 years, the E.O.F.T. has been presenting the best outdoor, adventure, and travel documentaries on the big screen. A highlight of this year's tour is the portrait of an exceptional talent and this year's 'poster boy' Adam Ondra. The Czech climber ascends the most difficult routes in the world and seems to effortlessly overcome gravity. This extraordinary athlete, who exhibits acute mental strength by scaling an 8a—blindfolded, is portrayed in the film 'The A.O.' But that's not all, of course. Tom Belz, on crutches and with only one leg, ascends the highest mountain in Africa . As usual, the E.O.F.T. also has a lot to offer for devotees of flowing MTB trails, the finest powder, and lots of adrenalin. All information regarding the E.O.F.T. 18/19 programme and tickets to the event in your city.