1994-ben, Alex Huber megnyitotta a Weisse Rose nevű mészkő sportutat a Schleier Wasserfallon, mint egy 8c+ nehézségű utat, pont mint az Action Directe ami akkoriban még 8c+ -ra volt befokozva Güllichtől. A legutóbbi interjújában azt mondta: "Ma a “Weisse Rose” fokozata egyértelműen 9a+ lenne", az alábbi képen az FA közben láthatjuk Huber bácsit. Az az igazság, hogy a Huber által nyitott Schleieri utak mára már mind fel(jebb) lettek fokozva, s azt is érdemes megemlíteni, hogy a Weisse Rose 9a és Opan Air 9a+ csak Adam Ondra ismételte egyedül. Huber mesélte, hogy 1995-ben a Fred Rouhling által nyitott Akira út 9b fokozása után elkezdtek kicsit ellágyulni a fokozatok. 2003-ban Bernabe Fernandez megnyitotta a Chilam Balam 80m hosszú durrantós szörnyeteget, mint 9b+ -t, amit Huber erősen megkérdőjelezett, "Nem tudom komolyan venni Barnabé fokozatra tett javaslatát, nem látom azokat a mászóskilleket, amik őt ennyivel a világ többi mászója fölé emelnék." - ma már mind tudjuk, hogy neki volt igaza. Az is említésre került, hogy a La Rambla original ami az első standig tartó Rambla verzió Hubertől, valójában ma már nem 8c+ kapna, hanem elférne a 9a-k között is. Amikor újra kérdezték Alexet úgy elmélkedett - az elmúlt évtizedben végbement "fokozatok inflálódásának" következtében, az oldschool mászóiskolák számos útját át kellene fokozni. Ma már 2017-ben tudjuk, hogy Alex Huber az általa mászott utakkal és befokozásokkal igazán megelőzte korát. Beleérthetjük ebbe az extrém nehéz nagyfalas FA-it és az egyik legnehezebb solo mászását a mászótörténelemnek a The Kommunist 8b+ -al még 2004-ből. Utólag már kijelenthetjük, egyike a mászótörténelmünket leginkább befolyásoló személyeknek, a modern sportmászásnak és fokozatok kialakulásának egyik leginkább meghatározó alakja. Kronologikusan is és fokozatok tekintetében is valamiféle átmenetet képez Güllich és Sharma között. Ha pedig helyes az idézet miszerint; "Egy fiatal sportág akkor fejlődik jól, ha a következő generáció mindig az előző vállára tud állni" - akkor Güllich papa vállára bizony a legjobb személy került.

Thilo Jeldrik Schröter has had tremendous development the last years, especially when it comes to flashes. During just the last 40 days, the Norwegian has flashed four 8As and two 8A+s, making him the new #1 in the flash ranking. Next week, Thilo will compete in the Boulder World Cup. (c) Tina Hafsaas - Tea with Elmarie 8A+ in Rocklands. "I think my progress in flashing comes mainly from getting better and stronger overall. I have always enjoyed the challenge of flashing, so I guess I have practiced it quite a lot. The only thing that makes you a better flasher apart from becoming a better climber is the mental game. Obviously you need to be hungry on the flash and you need to know the beta. However, putting too much effort into the preparation is counter productive for me. Since 99% of all flash attempts on boulders at your very limit fail, putting more time into preparation than watching a video or two, and giving the holds a solid brush, would ruin my joy with climbing. And joy is key to success after all."

Anna Stöhr, the #1 female boulder competition climber of all time, comes with amazing news on Instagram. (c) Alfons Dornauer "Today I climbed 'steppenwolf' 8b and 'new base line' 8b+... after checking out the moves for the first time on Saturday I did both problems today." New Base Line was put up by Bernd Zangerl as 8C, but has later been down graded. It should be noted, however, that the 8B+ grade has never been questioned in the 8a database. With regard to Steppenwolf, some have suggested 8A+, though it should be considered a soft 8B. This means that Anna Stöhr once again has set new standards in female bouldering. Next week, Anna will compete in the World Cup in Meiringen, trying to win her 23rd World Cup. The Austrian has also won the World Championship twice.

In 1994, Alex Huber put up Weisse Rose in Schleier Wasserfalle as an 8c+, which was based on Action Directe being 8c+. In a recent interview he says, "Today, the grade of “Weisse Rose” is definitely 9a+," making it the first in the world (see picture). In fact, three of his hardest routes have all been upgraded and only repeated by Adam Ondra. Huber says that it was in 1995 after the 9b proposal for Akira by Fred Rouhling that grades started to become softer. In 2003, Bernabe Fernandez put up Chilam Balam as a 9b+, which Huber questioned, "I cannot take Bernabé's proposal seriously as I can't see any references that would demonstrate his skills of climbing at such a high level -- far above the rest of the world," for which he was criticized for. Now we know he was right. He also said that La Rambla original does not add so much difficulty in comparison to his first anchor 8c+. He was questioned again, but now we know he was right, and his variation is now considered 9a. In fact, he said back then that due to grade inflation, most of the hardest old-school routes need to get upgraded. As of 2017, we know that Alex Huber was both ahead of his time when it comes to climbing and understanding the grade system. This includes his world class FA big walls and having done the hardest solo route in the history: The Communist 8b+ in 2004. It is time to say that he is one of the very best and most influential climbers in the world!

Thilo Jeldrik Schröter sa v posledných rokoch neskutočne zlepšil, hlavne čo sa týka bouldrov prelezených štýlom Flash. Len počas posledných štyridsiatich dní si tento nórsky lezec zapísal štyri flashnuté 8A a dve 8A+, čo ho stavia na prvé miesto v hodnotení flash prelezov. Budúci týždeň bude Thilo súťažiť vo svetovom pohári. (c) Tina Hafsaas - Tea with Elmarie 8A+ in Rocklands. "Myslím si, že moje zlepšenie vo flashoch je len odrazom celkového zlepšenia a zosilnenia. Vždy som mal rád výzvu, ktorá prichádza s flashovaním, takže som ju jednoducho vyhľadával a nacvičil si ju. Jedinou vecou, ktorá odlišuje dobrého flashistu od dobrého lezca je mentálna stránka veci. Samozrejme musíš mať pred flashom motiváciu boulder preliezť a vedieť kroky. Dávať do toho príliš veľa energie je však pre mňa kontraproduktívne. Keďže 99% flahových pokusov v bouldroch, ktoré sú na hranici tvojho maxima končí neúspechom, nevidím význam v tom dávať tomu viac ako pozrieť si jedno-dve videá a poriadne si očistiť chyty. Iba by to zničilo moju radosť z lezenia. A radosť je predsa kľúčom k úspechu."

Jakob Kronberger, who did his first 9a when he was 14 years old, has done his fourth at that grade: Hantilio in Drachenwald. "The route is located near Salzburg on a big wall called Drachenwand. Klem Loskot made the first acent in 1996. Since then it was only repeated once. It took me over 20 days and I have never invested more time in a project. I am really excited for the next weeks and if I get really good conditions it might not take long for the next project to go. I do have some projects I want to climb in the future. Most of them are around 8c+ and some even harder. Maybe I'll be able to make the step to 9a+ this year and if I do, I won't hesitate to go for it.

Easter is just some ten days away and maybe you have still not climbed that much outdoors. Bouldering and route climbing indoors mean that you have trained power and power endurance. Here is some advice on how to not just go around with stiff forearms during your upcoming trip. Further reading 1. Invest in some sessions where you climb ultra easy routes or circuits. You should be able to climb 30+ minutes without even feeling the mildest pump. 2. Practice long rest including that yoga-feeling with slow deep breathing, which you probably never do indoors. 3. In order to not loose your power, do some hang board sessions hanging up to ten seconds At the scene - Focus on blood circulation 4. Make sure you warm up on ridiculously easy routes. 5. Climb faster and take risk while onsighting instead of over-working the best beta. After being really pumped a couple of times, your performance will deteriorate. If you take risk and fall early, you can instead just challenge yourself on a new one. 6. If you fall or if you did it to the top, make sure you immediately lift up your hands and also hold the rope/holds for some seconds. This will reduce the flooding pump you will get afterwards in comparison to just let the arms hang down. 7. Do some massage of your forearms in order to increase blood circulation

Moty Alkalay has together with Avi Feinstein, after four years of projecting, done the FA of the 400-meter Never Never Land (8a+) in Wadi Rum. Bedouin, a desert town in Jordan, has some 200 sandstone multi-pitch routes. Most climbs are trad or scary bolted routes. The potential is endless, though there are just a few one-pitch bolted climbs. "It took us two trips of one week each just to put in all the glue in bolts and than two more trips of one week each to climb it, including adding nine more bolts. Now the route is completely bolted and safe. We mostly every trip stay in the desert and bring water and food with us. It's also fun to stay by yourself in the desert and climb." More info

Alexander Rohr has done his third 9a by Pirmin Bertle's Chromosome Y 9a in Charmey. In the Combined ranking, the 21 year old, who clearly seems to have stepped up one level this year, is #9. "Amazing route and very very powerful!!! Another one which I tried last year and I was pretty far from success. Now just two days and it went down... In terms of the grade it's very hard to say. I got much stronger but I don't know how much... So I think it's for sure 8c+ or an easy 9a.... Anyway.... Such a good one on very beautiful limestone!!!"

Veľká Noc je za rohom a ty si ešte možno ani poriadne nezačal liezť vonku. Lezenie či bouldering na umelej stene znamená, že si pravdepodobne dobre natrénoval silu a silovú vytrvalosť. Tu je zopár trikov, aby si nemusel počas svojho najbližšieho výjazdu len pobehovať s napuchnutými predlaktiami. Doplnkové čítanie. 1. Daj si niekoľko tréningov, počas ktorých budeš liezť mega ľahké cesty a okruhy. Mal by si byť schopný liezť 30 minút bez akéhokoľvek natečenia. 2. Nacvič si, ako oddychovať v chyte, ako aj pomalé jogínske dýchanie, ktorému si sa pravdepodobne nikdy na umelej stene nevenoval. 3. Aby si nestratil silu, zaves sa na lištu a rob visy do 10 sekúnd. Priamo na mieste: Sústreď sa na cirkuláciu krvi 4. Zahrej sa v ultra ľahkej ceste. 5. Pri onsightoch lez rýchlejšie a riskuj, skôr ako by si sa mal príliš zamýšľať nad najefektívnejším softvérom. Ak zariskuješ a padneš rýchlo, môžeš jednoducho skúsiť onsightnúť inú cestu. 6. Ak padneš vyššie alebo cestu vylezieš, zodvihni ruky a na pár sekúnd sa chyť lana alebo chytov. Pomôže to zmierniť natečenie, ktoré prichádza, keď necháš ruky voľne visieť. 7. Pomasíruj si predlaktie, aby si zrýchlil krvný obeh.