Dani Furtes has done his 36th 8c+, El Rastro in Siurana. "Around 10 tries but I have been working La Rambla and 2/3 of the route is same." Nice to see is that the 37 year old who started to climb in 1995 is actually at his peak and approaching 1 000 routes 8a and harder. In the 8a ranking game, Dani is #4. (c) Dan Krauss

Thomas Blaaberg, who walks with crutches to the crags since a bad accident in 2013, has become the first Dane to do a 9a through Joe-Cita in Oliana. (c) Tor Johnsson "Been trying this line for a while now, and after falling tree times in a row on the last move in the crux, I decided to take a break from it and try some of the other classics... it worked well for me, so after a 10 day long break I was extremely excited to go back and give it everything I had. It went down on my second try that day!" So what is next? Relax and enjoy that’s it’s done! No need to rush at the moment !:-)!!

There are close to 5 million star rated ascents in the 8a database. Through the advanced search you can find the highest rated climbs by stars, grade and onsight percentage etc for different crags and countries. You can also check directly through the crag Tick List and some of the crags that stick out are; Phalz, Montanejos, Schleier Wasserfall, Donautal, Bohuslän, Wild Iris, American Fork, Terradets and Verdon. Among boulder areas; Val Calanca, Eldorado Canyon, Devil's Lake, Newlin, Brione, Poudre Canyon, Mt Evans and Yosemite.

Sebastian Bouin: "My hardest challenge process at the moment. Hopefully the place is incredible, that's keep me motivate to come back this year." Really great video, enjoy!

Jonas Winter, who previously has done The Big Island 8C and Underground 9a, reports on Instagram that he has done the 30 moves long Quoi de neuf 8C in Orsay roof. "The boulder got my attention after seeing a photo of Jacky Godoffe shaking out in the no hand rest before the second part of this line wich is 8a+/8b on its own and has an amazing 180° campus move in it which is unique for a outdoor boulder. I could do the the second part two years ago but the complete line stayed in my mind ever since."

The Big Island in Fontainebleau is the most confirmed 8C in the world with 17 ascents, including Any Gullsten yesterday, and everyone on 8a has given it three stars. It was put up with as a stand start by Vincent Pochon in 2010 after Dave Graham had made a two moves in FA, The Island, two years earlier. Over the years, many boulderers have checked out the sit start where Jan Hojer and James Webb have done some good linking. As it is so steep and climbs diagonally into the starting position, the sit start in itself, could be considered a boulder possibly around 8C. Adding the equally long, The Big Island 8C on top of this, with absolutely, no rest might be that we are talking about the another 9A? James Webb: "The sit start is an incredible project. For me personally the bottom is at least 8B+ and maybe even harder than The Big Island itself. The intro (10 moves for my method) is very powerful, yet technical with a tricky kneebar that links you through to the stand. Once you’re there you just have to take a deep breath and with absolutely no rest climb the Big Island. It’s a mega line! I would say that it is is somewhat a serious project for me. I've tried it now for about three seasons. I just made a trip there in Jan/Feb but the weather only allowed me to have thee sessions on it in total which was quite frustrating. It's a mega line though and I'm excited to return next year for another round of attempts! I had a good try this season where I entered the stand start and stuck the big right hand move to the sloper. After that you stuff the left heel and go to the crimp and this is where I fell. Seems close! Though the next few moves require a lot of tension and from the bottom you're exhausted. So its definitely not over!" On the picture, James is doing the move out to the start of The Big Island. The sit starts all the way down straight below his right foot. So have you have in fact linked the whole sit start to like 3-4 moves into the stand? Yup. Many times actually.

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Fanatic Climbing reports that Cedric Lachat has done Era Vella 9a (8c+) in Margalef in just six tries after having been off seven months due to injuries. "I wouldn’t downgrade it, it’s a long endurance battle and it’s hard to find a decent rest because the holds are all small. But I might not be a good reference these days since I haven’t trained much lately." Era Vella is the most repeated 9a in the world with 36 ascents. Interesting is that it had on average six repeats a year until 2015, once the 9a grade started to be questioned. During the last three years, it has only received one ascent per year. Cedric is a former very successful competition climbers who made his first podium in the World Cup in 2002 and his last in his very last appearance in 2013. In 2010, he was the European Lead Champion. In 2007, he got the bronze in both the Lead and Boulder World Championship. He has previously done several 9a's and two 9a+'.

Amelia Marcuson, who did her first 7C+ when she was 13 years old, has done her first 8A, Beefy Gecko in Bishop. The 15 year old is also a successful competition climber, #18 last week USA Lead Nationals and last year she got the silver in bouldering in her age group. (c) Jesse Weiner

Estado Critico was set up in 2004 as a 9a but was later down graded. In 2010, a hold broke and it was back to 9a and in 2013 Alex Megos made his historical onsight. Several climbers have later confirmed that grade but also 8c+ have been forwarded by Gonzalo Larrocha as he found a new sequence. Last week Jon Cardwell and Matty Hong did it in just six respectively three tries saying their personal grade would be 8c+. One year before Megos onsigted Estado Critico, Adam Ondra onsighted Golden Ticket down grading it to 8c+. Later Adam has onsighted three 9a's which all have been confirmed. As of now, Megos should be credited for onsighting the first 9a but it just might be that a new sequence have been found of Estado Critico and Ondra should get the historical fame? When it comes to redpointing, it seems Ben Moon and the UK scene thinks that based on the current gradings, Hubble done in 1990 should be considered the first 9a. Action Direct was given an UIIA grade equivalent to 8c+/9a in 1991 but has later been upgraded although an easier sequence have been found.