Adam Ondra philosophy explained on his Insta which possibly explains part of his success. It is like a very short and intensive course in mental training and here is part of what he says. "Goals are very important to have, but don't focus on them way too much. It cannot be the only source of motivation to train hard. That is not sustainable. I focus rather on the process, I try to enjoy every training session no matter how hard the training is. I want to climb because I love climbing, not necessarily because I want to be possibly the best in climbing. I want to train because I love to train, and only secondarily because I want to be prepared for the World Championships."

Jakob Kronberger, who previously has done six 9a's, has done a very quick ascent of Alptraum in Rofan. Picture from his great Insta. "On the weekend before it was a bit wet so I just checked out the moves for a day. One week later the conditions in the evening were really good and after making a mistake on the first try I sent it on my second. The route hasn't got many moves and the holds are far apart so I felt like it fit my style really well. I do have a few routes in my mind that I want to climb this year. I might try a 9a+ but I don't want to spend all my time on one route so I still have to see how it will go."

This Vladek Zumr should be high up on the list - Best comp picture in 2018. Imagine Olympics and there will be pictures like this all over in the mainstream media.

The IFSC World Climbing Championships from 6th to 16th September 2018 in Innsbruck, is the biggest climbing event of the year. 700 athletes from 70 nations will battle for supremacy in the disciplines of lead climbing, bouldering, speed climbing and para climbing. The motto of the World Cup and its supporting programme is, ”Climb. Come Together. Celebrate”, featuring electro-pop star Fritz Kalkbrenner and a "Climbers Paradise Village" with competitions, concerts, lectures, films and shows. With 40,000 international spectators expected, tickets are in hot demand. The Climbing World Championships will also be broadcast on TV. Climbing enjoys a long tradition in this country and is now a popular sport. In addition to countless climbing halls and alpine routes, the 5 Great Lines rated 6 and 7 are a special highlight. Based on their nature and challenges they present, a jury of experts defined them as “magnificent”.

Laura Rogora, who just won the Youth World Championship in Boulder, reports on Insta that she has done La Reina Murata 8c in Arco. This was her 125th route 8a and harder. Including two 9a's, out of which the first when she was just 14 years old, several 8c+' and 8b onsights her ticklist should rank in the female all time Top-10. Last year, she was 6th in a Lead WC as well as in the European Championship. Interesting is that her home gym in Rome is just a rather small bouldering wall. (c) Giampop Calza Next on her intensive schedule is the World Championship in Innsbruck. starting 6/9. "For the autumn I will train for the youth Olympic games that are taking place in October."

Choong Katherine, who last year four times was Top-16 in the Lead World Cup, has done her first 9a, Cabane au Canada. (c) Rainer Eder "One of my main goal this year was to climb a 9a. After falling two times at the top of Era Vella last spring, I decided to try another route near my place, Rawyl, a beautiful crag in Valais (south of Switzerland). I already tried it once last year but was not able to do one move on the upper part of the route. A dynamic move hard for short people like me that don’t know how to jump. But as the new style of the World cup route changed, I did more bouldering this year and was finally able to find a solution. But I kept falling again and again in this last section since June. This weekend was my last chance to do it for a long time and maybe that was the key for me. The pressure of the last chance worked and on my last day, after 4 days in a raw of climbing, 3rd try of the day, something clicked. It was the kind of moment in climbing when every move felt easier, I found my flow. I finally sticked the dyno and clipped the chains of Cabane a few minutes before the night. Now my focus is full again on the IFSC World Championship in two weeks. Then I have plan to go to Flatanger, Norway."

During the last 19 IFSC World Cups and Championships Janja Garnbret has participated in, she has won twelve and never missed the podium. The 19 year old was allowed to start competing in the World Cup in 2015 and out of 22 Lead events, she has won twelve and missed the podium once. In bouldering she started the World Cup circuit in 2016 and she has more or less just competed in half of the events out of which she has won close to 50 %. In two weeks time, she is a very big favorite to defend her Lead World Champion title from Paris in 2016 and also the favorite for the Boulder Championship. Once these two titles are secured, one could say that the teenager is the best female competition climber in the history. (c) Eddie Fowke

The male final in Munich started with a great flash by Gregor Vezonik. Then it took more than 28 minutes until any athlete could do one move from the starting holds! Imagine this would have been the in Tokyo 2020. No action or excitement for 28 minutes. Millions of non-climbing viewers around the globe would have just left their screens and shaking their heads. The remaining might have thought it was pretty strange that Vezonik had secured the victory even if his five opponents had not even tried the last boulder. One simple solution for more action can be to let the finalists start in two groups on the first two boulders. This will also create more fair conditions and mental pressure. Then we can let them go for the third boulder. Before the last boulder, there can be a 10 min break and then we let the Top-6 start in reversed order, which will guarantee action until the last climbers is out. Main advantages of two starting groups in the final 1. More action and less dead moments. 2. More athletes will increase the interest around the globe. 3. More drama in the end of the competition. 4. Fairness due to more similar conditions (friction) and pressure. Another advantage for such format change is that more athletes will get more training and enjoyment challenging the four final boulders. This would create great impact also on the national, local and youth level. One option to increase all these five factors and add a sixth one could be to let nine athletes rotate on the first three boulders. If so, the total time of a final would be reduced from around 96 minutes to 70 minutes.

Moritz Welt has done his second 8B+, The Source in Malatal. "First I thought this can't be so much harder than the stand, then it became a real battle. Today it finally went down on the second go of my third session! Perfect line and perfect conditions today!" During the last two weeks, the 17-year-old has also done four other 8A+'. During the summer the German has also done seven routes 8b+ tom 8c+. In the senior Combined ranking game he is #3.