Adam Ondra is getting closer to do his Project Hard in Flatanger, speculated to be the first ever 9c, by doing the FA of Move Hard 9b. "Good training link up. From the first crux of Move move right into the crux 2 of Project Hard." This was the third 9B FA in Flatanger which can say have the highest concentration of hard core routes in the world. Previously, Adam has also put up four 9a+'s and one 9b+ FA. (c) Petr Pavlíček

Even if it is just three years until the Olympic Games, and possibly just 24 months until the qualifications start, the interest among the best World Cup climbers are very low for Speed. In the last VC in Villars, not one high ranked female participated in Speed and only a couple males where only Jan Hojer showed good form. What's interesting is that Jan Hojer was #4 and Alexey Rubtsov #18 in Lead. Previous Youth World Championships have shown that the youngsters are more interested and also that they in general are better Speed climbers. It just might be that half of the 20 + 20 males and females competing in Tokyo will be relatively unknown teenagers of today. New not established top climbers to look out for might be; Sasha Lehmann, Filip Schenk, Pietro Biagini, Claire Buhrfeind, Elena Krasovskaia, Laura Stöckler, Eva Maria Hammelmuller, Andrea Kumin, Nathan Martin and Sam Avezou (16) on the picture (c) FFME) who was #18 in the European Championship last month. Last year he did 7.47 in Speed and is by that superior to all Lead and Boulderers in the third Combined discipline. Three more years and it could be he and Ashima Shiraishi taking the golds in Tokyo. Among the girls Elena Krasovskaia (18) is fastest with 9.49 and in the World Championship in Paris last year she was #29 in Lead, #6 in Bouldering and #20 in Lead. As it stands, she should also be a contender for standing on top of the podium.

It is well known that you should not top rope directly in clip-in anchors as they wear out and thus are dangerous if they not are replaced. At the same time, it is hard to find an easy way how to put up an anchor that unexperienced or kids can remove simple and safe. The picture shows a possible solution for cases with the rope always in the clip-in carabiner. Removing is done by grabbing the quick draw and first take out the red carabiner. Then the quick draw can be removed. It should be pointed out that the best solution is to thread the rope in the anchor ring. As the ring rotate it takes much longer time wear out. Please suggest other possible solutions how to create a simple and safe top rope in a clip-in anchor.

Filip Schenk, who has won two Euro Youth Cups this year and was #16 in the European Championship, changed arena to Magic Wood where he flashed Jack's broken hear 8A+ and did another six boulders 8A to 8B. "In this period full of competitions we decided to go one week to Magic Wood to have also some fun on the rock and relax from the comps. I went there with a list full of projects that I could try. Now back to the comps!" The next comp that is coming up is a Euro Youth Cup in Bouldering where he won the Championships last year. The big goal is the Youth World Championship in September where he was #3 last year. As he already can do the Speed in around nine seconds, means in practice that he will be faster than most seniors going for the Olympics. (c) Pietro Biagini, who was #4 in the Combined and who did eight boulders 8A and harder during the same trip.

Alex Puccio is really kicking it with seven 8A to 8B during the last two weeks. Yesterday she did three 8A's in RMNP and the day before, No More Greener Grasses 8A+ in Mt Evans. "What a day! Nina convinces me to wake up at 7am to do a early session at Mt. Evans, thought she was crazy, but it worked out!"

Alex Megos report on FB, with a nice picture from Natacha Jagd, that he has done Monkey Wedding in Rocklands in just 30 minutes. "Did try it 3 years ago for half a day but thought I was too weak. This trip it didn't feel very hard at all! Totally suites my style I guess. Super excited for more! "

- That 6c+ does also look amazing! Do you want to top rope it? Having climbed together with many of the best climbers in the world during the last 20 years. Steve McClure stands out, climbing and enjoying easier routes the most. During five very intensive days on the Swedish west coast, he focused purely on quality doing possible 30 routes in between 3a to 8a in eleven crags, with 7b as average. Together with Steve was two of his old climbing friends 60 and 69 years old (Kieth Sharples and Rab Carrington) and Steve was actually basically enjoying putting up quick draws and top ropes to his good friends, including me at 52. Having trad climbed for 20 years, Steve started sport climbing when he was 24. Although he was the first to do an 8b+ DWS, having done 8c trad and having onsighted or flashed at least 10 routes of 8b+ etc, we have yet seen his full potential around Sheffield. In total he has redpointed ten routes 9a and harder including his 9b FA this summer. The reason for this might be that during travelling he has mainly focused on quality climbing instead of taking down big challenges and grades. Going abroad means normally having his family in the car doing wild camping and climbing easier. At the same time, around Sheffield where he lives, he has concentrated on doing some extreme redpointing where he keeps the beta in small diaries and always refines it. It just might be that this recipe of focusing on climbing is the best way to for a continuous motivation, avoiding all the anxiety that you normally increase after trying your project for the 100th day in a row without success. (c) Keith Sharples captures when Steve does a 5c+ at Trellebystrands Camping. Within 15 min walk, there are 150 routes from 3a to 8b just by the fjord. Within 15 min in the car you are in the epicenter of trad mecca Bohuslän and in the picture Steve does the classic Electric Avenue 8a. - - The Swedish westcoast has some of the most diverse climbing styles that I have ever experienced and in such a compact area. I have on the same day climbed some excellent sport, trad and DWS routes. What I find particularly impressive is that fantastic quality sport and trad routes can exist in perfect harmony side by side. And there is also so much potential for new routes in all styles. My plan was to go for the onsight of Electric Avenue but thank God I did not try. I could see immediately that it would be far too hard and challenging to protect, which was confirmed on top rope. I checked all the placements on top rope, which were fairly spaced, then went for the lead. Pretty spicy! Originally the line was bolted which would have made for a fantastic onsight challenge, but in its current state it is a very different, though equally amazing route.

Ryuichi Murai has done 12 boulders 8A+ and harder in Magic Wood including two 8C's: In Search of Time Lost and Practice of the wild. Amazingly, the Japanese did it in just eleven days although it rained half of the time and he is now #1 in the ranking game. "By the bad weather I could perceive importance to climb problems that I want to climb regardless of the grade. In the second half of this tour, the weather improved and I could produce many good results! I already can't wait next trip!" How did you prepare yourself before Magic Wood? There are many hard roof problems in Magic Wood, so I went to Shiobara which has many big roofs. What is the next plan and ambition? First, I want to complete my big project in Shiobara roof. This Magic Wood tour was also good training for it. The project links original part (8A+) to UMA 8B+. So hard and long, maybe more than 40 moves. Then I want to climb V16. I haven't even tried yet though.

Thomas Blaabjerg has done his first 8B+, The Never Ending Story in Magic Wood four years after he had a bad accident which still forces him to use crutches during the approach. When it comes to landing on the crash pad he cannot land directly on his just feet, instead he has to fall down on his back. (c) Camilla Hylleberg - In 2013, I had an accident climbing on the auto-belay in my local gym, that resulted in an eight meter long free fall leaving me with a broken wrist, two crushed heels and, according to the doctors, some bad prospects for the future. Today, 4 years later, I still have to do a lot of rehabilitation; I still have trouble with walking, everyday activities and many things in climbing. However, if I’m careful, it’s still possible for me to climb hard, especially on rock, where it is easier for me to compensate for the lack of movement and strength in my feet. In climbing, there are a lot of things, which is almost impossible for me now, but there are still lots of things that I can do, so I’m very happy with that! I tried the line on and off over 4-5 days, but it was only the last 2 days where I gave it actual send burns from the bottom. In the crux (the connection of part one and two) it all comes down to a hard right heel hook, which I found very difficult. Therefore I spent the first sessions trying to connect this part. When I did that, around 3 moves before the red point crux, I knew I was able to do the full line.

Live-streaming Updated results (c) Eddie Fowke semi gallery