Angie Scarth-Johnson, who did her first 8c when she was 11 years old, has done Lucifer 8c+ in Red River Gorge. "The conditions haven't been the best at the Red and I definitely didn't believe in myself at times." (c) Melissa Mooney What is interesting is that nowadays, the top young girls perform at the same level as the top boys at the same age. However, still Adam Ondra's track record, especially when it comes to onsight, is not yet beaten. He did his first 9a redpoint when he was 13 and first 9a+ when he was 15 years old. Here is an 8a interview from last year where she says she started climbing in trees at seven years old and once she fell down her non-climbing parents took to a gym. "I don’t have a trainer, I tried for a couple of months having an online trainer but it didn’t work out, so I just went back to training myself. I write my own programs and have done this since I was 8. I find that this really works for me. The hardest thing for me is keep myself motivated. I do this by setting goals, climbing with my adult friends and traveling overseas."

Alex Totkova has done her first 8b, Bqlo sladko in Dryanovo (Bulgaria). Recently Alex won gold and broze in the Boulder and Lead Championships. More info on her facebook

Dag Hagen, editor-in-chief on a Norweigian magazine says that black soles should be forbidden to use in a climbing gym just like in any other sport. (c) Daniel Gappmaier, from a newly opened Boulder gym in Oslo.

Andrea Gennari Daneri from Pareti Magazine has conducted an interview with Alfreddo Webber, who at 49 years old is developing into a 9a climber. Last year, he has done four 8c's, including Reini's vibes 8c+, Video, in Arco. "I’m close to 50 yo 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. How’s that you reached the top at 49 and not 25 years ago? Because I broke up with climbing at the age of 26, but I figure out that, if healthy, I have still some chances of improvement. (In 2013, he had a bad accident doing a big pendulum in Arco. It is just recently he removed the last steel from his leg.) Aged climbers usually prefer slab climbing? I like overhangs because I’m very short (1,59) and I need to find different betas for some sequences. I like slabs, too, but on lower grades.

Outside Online has published something that could be called Beth Rodden autobiography. The 8c+ trad climber really comes clean, giving her story about having been married to Tommy Caldwell, been in a kidnapping situation and fighting hard with many personal battles, as well being the first trad climber to have done 8c+.

Black Diamond has, free of charge, published a 33-min documentary of Nalle Hukkataival doing the FA of Burden of Dreams 9a in Finland. The documentary is about fanatical dedication in its purest and finest form, coming close to insanity as Einstein says. Nalle says he usually can do all the moves on any of the hardest boulders in the world in one session, but Burden of Dreams took him ten sessions. Hukkataival, who previously had 8C (+) as his personal best in max 13 days, does not comment on why he suggested it to be the world's first 9A, besides using this time comparison. "So if you compare 13 days with 80+ days, that is a pretty major contrast." (Not counting indoor replica sessions). Besides that, the documentary talks a lot about all of the factors that have to be working together like conditions, working out beta with friends and just pure luck when everything come together. In practice, these variables are the same as presented by 8a in 2008 for the Time Comparison Grading theory, see the second picture.

Alizée Dufraisse has done the first female ascent of Estado Critico 9a in Siurana. Including five previous 8c+ or harder, four 8As and several top competitions results, the French woman must be considered as one of the best female climbers in the last ten years. (c) Jacopo Larcher Full story on on her blog: "Last year, I spent quite some time on it, I was very close. As I chose to take part of the World Cup circuit of Bouldering, I had to leave without the ascent and I was very sad, but choices are like that, we can t have everything all the time. This year I realize that climbing outside is my priority and this is the reason of my climbing."

Alizée Dufraisse elkönyvelhette magának az első női megmászását az Estado Critico 9a útnak Spanyolországban. Alizée évek óta csűri a helyi hardcore utakat, mászott már 8c+/9a-t, de ezzel a mászásával végleg felírta magát a közé a maroknyi leány közé akik elérték a 9a mágikus fokozatát. (c) Jacopo Larcher Teljes sztori a csajszi blogján: "Tavaly már elég sok időt töltöttem ezzel és elég közel is voltam hozzá. Mivel úgy döntöttem részt veszek a boulder világkupa sorozatban, meglehetősen sok idő ment el a megmászás esélye nélkül, ami miatt nagyon szomorú voltam - dehát a döntéseink ilyenek: nem kaphatunk meg mindent egyszerre. Idén realizáltam, hogy a mászás kint a sziklán számomra a fő prioritás és ez az oka amiért mászom."

Estado Critico 9a, Siurana, Alizée Dufraisse from Stéphane Hanssens on Vimeo.

One week ago, IFSC made this announcement: "IFSC has signed a 3-year deal with US-based streaming company Flosports to bring IFSC Climbing World Cup events to its Floclimbing platform." After the climbing community and athletes heavily protested the proposed USD 20 monthly subscription fee, IFSC has now changed their mind. "A mistake was made and we apologize for that. The live streaming for IFSC will remain free of charge, the same as it was at the 1st World Cup in Meiringen, Switzerland and in previous years. The deal - despite having been announced - has not been signed and thus has not been concluded. Any possible future variation of this policy will be discussed inside the IFSC and subject to the approval of our key stakeholders. Let's keep climbing together."