Yuji Hirayama reports on Instagram that he is getting closer on his big project La Rambla 9a+ in Siurana. The 49 year ols has been one of the best climbers in many disciplines since he did Les Specialistes 8b+ in Verdon in 1986. Climbing seems to be the only physical sport where an athlete can stay on top for 30 straight years!

Chris Ring has done some analysis based on the 8a.nu database to see if height and age have any impact on the reached peak climbing grade in routes and bouldering for U.S. climbers. R & I has found Ring's analysis interesting and published a long article. Looking at the diagram we can see that for 80 percent of U.S. route climbers, their peak performance varied within the 5.12b/c range, for boulderers it was V8 level. Taking into account the overall curve, in bouldering, the very shortest and tallest climbers generally reach a lower grade. Among the route climbers, a short body height might be an advantage, as shorter climbers reached higher grades on average. However, the differences can be considered rather small – all average peak grades range among the 5.12 and V7/8 level. Ring concludes that to him, "our subjective climbing grading scale is pretty good. […] It would be unfortunate if a super long reach was a prerequisite for climbing most 5.12s. And it turns out that it isn’t." As a side note, from the very best on rock it is interesting to see that when it comes to grades, a 155 cm female and a 185 cm male (Eiter and Ondra) have achieved the highest grade. In bouldering and in competitions, it is the same, it is impossible to say what is best as many of the top climbers are just around 160 cm or above 180 cm.

By looking at the 8a data base, we can see that it is often the climbs that are most repeated that sooner or later get down graded or are subject of. The dilemma for the media is that sometimes it is quite obvious that a route, often making headlines, should be reported with a lower more honest grade. In practice it is often like in the Emperor's new clothes. It just takes one guy shouting out a personal grade for a popular climb. The best example from the 8a data base is Gabri Moroni's comment for Mind Control in Oliana. "Everybody knows it's only 8c...but nobody will ever downgrade it :-P" In other words, it is actually seldom consensus that confirm or change the grade, because few climbers like to give personal grades. You can also use the success rate including the time and effort used as an indicator for how hard a climb is.

The Norway Climbing Federation has published a Crag Check which in order to increase safety outdoors. It can be printed out and placed on crags. Here is the 8a safety first article.

Thomas Blaabjerg had a bad auto belay accident in 2013 and the doctors told him he will not be able to climb again. Walking with crutches, last summer he did 8B+, video below, and now he has done Joe Blau 8c+ in Oliana. (c) Melanie Nacnac "Even though I love Bouldering, and it is probably what i am best at, I guess, that I have always been a bit more inspired by lead climbing - especially the long ones! For a long time I had to put lead climbing on hold because of the circumstances (my feet) but after completing Never ending story, I decided to see if it was still possible to chase some of my dreams."

Jorg Verhoeven, one of the leading multi-discipline climbers the last 15 years who won the Lead overall WC in 2008, has launched his Project-9b website. The good news is that it has a training set up so you can follow exactly how he trains and get motivated to do something similar. He has also listed and given specific info of the routes he has tried, including the chosen one - Fight or Flight in Oliana. (c) Tobias Lanzanasto "What's nice about the route is: It's short, which means you can do quite some tries in a day You only stop to clip 3(!) times during the hard part The holds are relatively friendly It is freaking amazing to climb on What about loosing weight just before next trip and how does the time plan look like? I'm not a fan of losing weight, even on short notice. I think power will reduce, and risk of injury will increase. March 1 - 15. I will try to send this trip, and if not come back in April, and eventually next year. That way you might understand the pressure is reduced quite a lot. Open time frame...

Jakob Schubert, one of the leading competition climbers who just flashed a confirmed an 8C calling it 8B+, reports on Facebook that he has done a ”quick” ascent of Dreamtime giving it a personal 8B+ grade. The legendary boulder was put up as the worlds first 8C by Fred Nicole in 2000. "Although it might not climb as perfectly as in the past (hold broke) it‘s still an amazing boulder and such a nice line! Very happy to send such an historical and legendary boulder." The picture from Heiko Wilhelm is from Jakob's flash of Rah Plats Plats 8A also in Cresciano.

Here you have the 8a Climbing Ethics presented in a traffic light Green, Yellow and Red colors, meaning that there are no absolute right or wrong. In the Epic TV; Onsight, Flash, Redpoint and Headpoining is presented and discussed including giving some tips by Adam Ondra.

Cathy Wagner has done her fourth 8a+ in 2018, Smashing pumpkins direct in El Chorro. "One of the king lines! Evening send as it was too warm. The higher you climb the better it gets!A perfect route anyway." Out of the twelve 8a+' she has done the last year, four she did second go. In total she has recorded 634 routes 8a to 8b which just might be the most any female have done? And as a matter of a fact, including two 8b's and 43 8a's the last twelve month, she is at her peak being 52 years old.

Nomura Shinichiro has, in an hour, done his third 8C Orochi in Kanoto. It was put up in 2006 by Dai Koyamada and has had six ascents. During the same day the 21 year old also did Ginga 8B+, on his third go. (c) Keiichiro Korenaga Amazingly, the 159 cm tall started climbing on rock last December and directly did two 8C's. Previously, he has focused on competitions and has a silver in the Youth Worlds. In the last five IFSC Lead WCs 2017, his worst position was #29. "What I normally do at my home gym, Project which Dai Koyamada owns, is checking my body condition of basic elements like to see whether my body moves in right way or not and to check holdings. And I have a fixed route to observe my body condition by climbing it. Adding to above, I climb harder route to find out what I am not good at and I should do to get over it. I always try to be aware of finding and getting over a weak point. My climbing on rocks has just began so I would like to gain my experience more in 2018. I am going to try more and more 8B+ over problems. I also would like to compete as a member of Japan National Climbing Team for Lead World Championship."