Alex Megos continues his rampage and has done another two 8c+, Livin' Astro and LivinAstro Glide in Rumney. During the last two months he has now done eight routes 8c+ to 9a+ as well taking the silver in the Euro Bouldering Championship and finished #8 in Arco Lead WC, where he won the semifinal. What about stepping it up and going to Flatanger and Oliana and what about doing more WC Comps and the Olympics? I'm not planning on going to Flatanger any time soon. I'd like to go to Oliana though at some point since I haven't been there at all till now. That won't happen till next year though. Too much going on at the moment. Regarding the Olympics, that's still way too far away to make any decision and I haven't done enough comps yet to see if that's something I could enjoy doing again. So for next year my plan is to do as many WC's as I can to see I could imagine completing seriously again. I won't be able to do all the circuit because of other projects I've got too next year but I hope I'll be able to fit the majority of the WC's close by into my schedule. Concerning the Olympics I'm also not sure about the format yet. I haven't trained or done the Speed route yet and at the moment I'm more focused on lead and bouldering, although I do work on my general climbing speed though with my two trainers Patrick and Dicki from the Kraftfactory because we think it's something that will improve my climbing in general. And maybe that will result in a few speed climbing trainings I'll do at some point. As for now I'm not yet in the position to make a properly thought through decision.

Tomoa Narasaki, #2 in the Bouldering World Cup, has started his preparation towards the Olympics and with very limited training he set new standards in Wuijang last weekend. He was #2 in Lead and got 7.85 in Speed. This weekend he will compete in the two disciplines again in Xiamen. (c) Eddie Fowke "I have trained Speed three times. I do endurance training every winter. My target of World Cup in Wuijang was to reach the final. The final route was simple and powerful, so it was good for me and I had no pressure. I was surprised with my results and it made me excited to train lead. I would like to get first place as soon as possible."

Alex Megos reports on Facbook with a picture from Melissa Le Neve that he has done Jaws II 9a+ in Rumney. It was originally 8c but then a hold broke and Vasya Vorotnikov made the FA in 2007 after 35 sessions. Megos did the sixth ascent out of which 9a also have been suggested. "Wow! That went a bit faster than expected! I checked it out twice and didn't really find any beta that seemed to work although I tried about 5 different possibilities."

Petzl comes with more safety instructions for belaying. Can anybody explain why you are not allowed to give out slack and take in with the same method?

Four days ago, an article in regards Santa Linya was published in a Spanish newspaper. Some archaeologists say that they have found new things in the cave and they want to ban climbers from climbing. Although no climbers have been contacted, a petition have been set up asking climbers to sign up.

Andrea Gennari Daneri from Pareti Magazine reports that Alfredo Webber has done his first 9a, Thunder Ribes in Arco. Last year the 159 cm tall did his first 8c+ and he commented. (c) Stefano Ghisolfi "I’m close to 50 years old and now I work full time in a quarry, five days a week, 8 hrs a day. I wake up at 7am, breakfast, then 20 kms drive to the quarry. Back home at 6pm. Two days a week I have training on my wall at home. It’s a 1h 30’ work, basically long sequences, with intervals of some harder moves; then some hangs on crimps. When I’m projecting something hard for Sunday I have to rest on Friday and Saturday, otherwise I get weak. I’m less powerful than 20 years ago, but now I know myself better and I manage better my energies."

Petzl has put together some nice guidelines how to spot and belay in the beginning of a route. Strangely the rightmost picture does not at all correspond to what is written. "The belayer must be close enough to the wall to minimize the amount of rope between him/her and the climber." It should be mentioned that there is another picture included that shows that you should stand to the side. What could also be mentioned is that a light climber should stand leaning a bit backwards in order to better control the fall of a heavier climber especially in the beginning.

Climb Magazine has made an interview with Shauna Coxsey who has started to train Lead and will try out the Kranj World Cup as a preparation for the Olympic qualifications.

Caroline Sinno, who is the owner of Crimp Oil, has done her second 8A+ in 2017, Les feux d'Azeroth in Branson. "I needed several sessions over the years because the crack is often wet. Actually I didn't need that many when the crack was in condition and when the crack wasn't in conditions I still had a good time climbing in the other areas in Valais."