Shauna Coxsey, who won the Worldcup in 2016, won her third event this year and in practice she has almost secured the overall title 2017. Among the males, Jongwon Chon, who won overall in 2015 got his second win in 2017 and he is #2 in 2017, counting all but one events. 1. Shauna Coxsey GBR - Jongwon Chon KOR 2. Akiyo Noguchi JPN - Meichi Narasaki JPN 3. Miho Nonaka JPN - Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 4. Alex Puccio - Alexey Rubtsov RUS Complete results It should be noted that Japan participated with ten male and in the qualifications, they had nine in Top-10. In the semifinal, they had seven in the Top-10. The Japanese domination is a trend that has been going on for a couple of years.

1. Alexsey Rubtsov 300 - Shauna Coxsey 380 2. Jongwon Chon 298 - Janja Garnbret 327 3. Keita Watabe 285 - Miho Nonaka 260 4. Tomoa Narasaki 277 - Akiyo Noguchi 251 5. Kokoro Fujii 225 - Petra Klingler 188 Complete results As Janja is not listed to compete in the next event in India, which takes place just one week before the Euro Championship in Italy 30/6, Shauna only needs to be #9 in one of the two last events to secure the overall title again in 2017. Among the boys, all the Top-5 have good chances to win overall. What's amazing is that Japan has six males in the Top-9 ranking. It's interesting that it's the same males in the Top-5, besides that Watabee has been added. Among the ranked 6-13 last year, all but Jernej Kruder and Jan Hojer have dropped out of Top-20 in 2017.

98: Sasha Lehmann SUI - Joanne Brinkmann SUI 00: Filip Schenk ITA - Laura Rogara ITA 02: Thomas Podolan AUT - Nika Potova UKR Complete results Sasha was the only one to top all routes and also Nika was superior. Laura was followed by a total of eight girls from Austria and Slovenia. These two countries have dominated the scene for some years but in 2017, Slovenia has dropped significantly and Austria is just one of the best nations. Italy is the country who has had the best progress in 2017.

Japan has dominated the Boulder WC in 2017 but in Vail some kind of record was set with 9 male Top-10. On Saturday, the live-streaming starts at 10.00 with the semifinal and the final will take place 16.30, GMT-6. Male qualification results will be updated here and female here.

In the same way as Bernabe Fernandez's Chilam Balam has been taken away from the 9b+ pedestal and listing, everyone who presents Hall of Fame ascents and lists must try to keep them correct based on confirmed down- or up-gradings. Today, many such lists are dead wrong and are misleading and spread grade inflation. Further more, it discredits all the honest guys that give personal grades. Surely, based on the subjectivity of grading and that holds can break and get polished, it is impossible to know when to draw the line and kick out a previous mentioned ascent. In such cases, it is possible and necessary to just make a note or put them on a pending list.

Adam Ondra says on Facebook, "We can only discuss whether the free-solo climbing is good or not, whether we should write about it or not… Anyway, it takes tremendous amount of courage to free-solo “Freerider”. From my point of view, it is easier to solo 9a sport route than this one."

Daniel Fuertes, who started climbing in 1995 has done his first 9a+ at 36 years old, the FA of No Pain No Gain in Rodellar. The 40 m route out of which 30 m in a roof has been an open project since it was bolted 15 years ago. (c) David López Campe "And finally the day came! Very glad to get to the end of the process started when I was a kid with my good friend Alejandro Gimenez! We dreamed, visualized and bolted this fantastic line we thought we would never do! But finally we managed to close the project in the better way!"

Ron Kauk did the FA of Midnight Lightning in 1978 and here he shares the story from back then.

"The Blanco is the most aggressive shoe in the Anasazi line. For 2017, we have updated the midsole to thermoplastic so the Blanco retains its famously stiff platform even longer. The eye stay also has been updated to a welded construction to make the shoe even sleeker. The heel rand has the most tension out of any Anasazi and the outsole is Stealth® C4™ making this one of the most powerful edging shoes in the world." Video presentation and here more info. This is the stiffest shoe I have tried during at least 15 years at the same time it has an aggressive heal which you did not find in the market at that time. This shoe makes trick both on very long no so steep routes standing on edges as well as doing multiple tries on your boulder, where it is all about standing on your feet, without getting fatigue. Remember that as it is very stiff, it should be less tight as in a softer shoe. Steve McClure did use them for his FA of Rainman 9b and here is what he says. "Basically these are the best shoes in the world! When I wear these I feel like I'm cheating. Precision, fit, accuracy, design, friction. There is nothing to compare. OK, so they are a stiff shoe, but for routes that is what you need, standing on micro edges for many minutes, with soft shoes your feet will sag, your toes can't take the strain. You need to be up on your toes to reach the holds for the most efficiency. I'm really impressed with the new Blanco, its the same as the old, but even better! And the stiffness will remain longer. Particularly for UK sport and trad these shoes are perfect. Of course it is always down to fit, no matter how good a shoe is, if it doesn't fit its useless. I feel these shoes are perfect for me, they fit like a glove..... I don't even do up the laces!! However, for Rainman I did do up the laces - psychologically I felt it may help? But as an example of the difference it makes (and the amazing fit) I fell from the very last move 3 weeks ago without them tied, so I guess it makes no odds!"