Alex Puccio has done her 11th 8A+ the last 12 months, Brown smurf in Hueco Tanks and she aims for more. (c) Sarah Filler "Another fitness boulder. Skin will be god for the project soon. Right Martini into the end REALLY small holds of Esperanza. Just as fun as right Martini. slightly harder moves at the end then Right Martini, but shorter." In total, the runner up in the World Champion in 2014 has done 75 boulders 8A+ to 8B+ which is way more than any other female, in spite having had several bad injuries.

Seb Bouin, who previously has done some 30 routes 9a and harder, reports on Facebookthat he has done La Rambla 9a+ in Siurana. (c) Tillby Vattard "This route is a piece of climbing history. For me it's a revenge to do it in 9 goes this year, because I injured my back 2 years ago on this route. In fact, I injured a herniated disc on the crux during a working session. It was really bad, but now it's really finish because I take my revenge. It's time to close french projects."

Anak Verhoeven, #3 in the World Cup 2017 and who just established the very first female 9a+ FA, reports on Instagram that she has done Ciudad de Dios in Santa Linya which is 9a/+ in the topo. (All ten entries in the 8a data base selected 9a.) (c) Monika Vetinka During the same day, the Belgian also did La Fabela 8c+ which in practice is an easier version of Ciudad de Dios. Based these two ascents, the 21-year-old has been moved up to #6 on the 8a Sport climber of the year list.

Björn Alber, aka Dr 8a, has put together a instructive video how to get stronger gripping power including both the theory and practical exercises. The new thing is a greater focus on muscle growth, through more and longer repetitions, and also to combine several new and normal maximum power exercises, aiming to get synergy and injury free forearm muscles. His son Ymer has successfully followed the program for some years.

1. Janja Garnbret 2. Ashima Shiraishi 3. Margo Hayes 4. Yoshiyuki Ogata 5. Sam Avezou 6. Claire Buhrfeind 7. Laura Rogara 8. Filip Schenk 9. Brooke Rabotou 10. Loic Zehani, Moritz Welt, Meichi Narasaki, William Bosi, Kai Lightner, Alberto Lopez, Laura Stöckler, Sandra Lettner, Elena Kravsovskaia, Pietro Biagini, Jorge Diaz-Rullo, Natsuki Tanii, Naile Meignan, Semen Ovchinnikov, Rudolfh Ruana, Baptiste Ometz, Mikel Asina, Shuta Tanaka, Lara Neumeier, Ai Mori, Colin Duffy, Rei Kawamata, Moritz Perwitzschky, Keita Dohi, Nico Ferlitsch, Jan Vopat, Futaba Ito, David Naude, Philipp Gaßner, Pablo Hammack, Jakob Kronberger, Leo Skinner, Zach Galla, Marketa Janosova, Ema Seliškar, Clay Gordon, Maya Madere

Christof Rauch reported last week on his Instagram about Florian Schmalzl: "Today he climbed both of Klem Loskots masterpieces "Bügeleisen" (8B+) and "Emotional Landscapes" (8C) in Maltatal on the same day!" Florian is one of the few remaining hot shots climbing under the radar with no active social media. He is 26 years old and has been climbing for ten years and he has done a couple of 8B+'s before.

Climbing has presented an interesting interview with Adam Ondra in regards how he used visualization for doing Silence 9c. "There are three ways to do visualization, all performed while lying on a bed or mat: You can stay still and only do everything in your head. You can move your hands and feet slightly while you picture the moves. Or you can ask someone to “create” crucial holds and footholds. So, if there is a dyno to a jug, you get your body into position, guide your friend to create the jug exactly where it would be on the wall, and then go for it. I am using all three techniques."

Most climbers train mainly indoors and the goal is to do harder routes/boulders and often we have specific projects in mind. During the winter season, one good motivation booster is actually just to go out and rappel down the projects. To go down from above with a clear mind not being tired both physically and mentally could possibly open up for some new beta or thoughts. This might explain why the guys bolting routes end up with personal best on the routes that he/she did equip. Rappelling down could also be considered as visualization but in reality.