Každoročná Climb-In-Gym Tour odštartovala toho roku v Moskve a bude trvať do 25.4. Tím La Sportiva navštívi dokopy 60 lezeckých hál v trinástich európskych krajinách.

Stefano Ghisolfi na svoje narodeniny doliezol zatiaľ najďalej v brutálnej ceste The Project v Štokholmskej hale Klatterncentret a dá sa povedať, že v súťažnej hre dominuje. Keďže cesta začína pomerne jednoduchými sekvenciami a postupne graduje, nevideli sme príliš veľa bojovnosti a akcie, na ktorú sme zvyknutí z ciest Svetového pohára, ktoré sú väčšinou ťažké od začiatku. Limitovaný čas na oddych a zhoršené podmienky, ktoré pravdepodobne spôsobil nával ľudí v hale, vďaka čomu sa priestor zahrial, mali za následok, že Stefanov druhý pokus bol horší. Ten lezec, ktorý na konci roku dolezie najďalej dostane odmenu 1000€ a ten, ktorý cestu vylezie celú získa 5000€. To sa však zatiaľ zdá nemožné, aj napriek tomu, že Adam Ondra si cestu príde na jar vyskúšať.

Stefano Ghisolfi mászott a legtovább a Stockholmi Projekten a megnyitó gálaestjén. Igazán szép szülinapi ajándék (pláne ha a borítékot is megkapja mellé), az Olasz rekord tehát felállítva. Volt még pár nagyobb név, mint Jorg Verhoeven, Magnus Midtbo, a jó öreg Nalle és a hölgyektől a fiatal Kajsa Rosén. A show azért nem ütötte meg a világkupa színvonalat, mivel egy nagyon könnyű úton kezdtek a mászók, de ez a könnyű út így is a függőlegesig 8a, ott egy szép nagy ugrás, majd jöhet a 8A+/B plafonboulder, ami pihenő nélkül belevezet az egyre nehezedő végső kiszálló 8C boulderbe. A laikusok már 10a-t emlegetnek... Két próbából kellett a legjobbat kihozni a megnyitón, talán a tömeg miatti egyre melegedő terem és kevés pihenőidő is rásegített, hogy elsőre mindenki jobbat másszon. Évről évre aki a legjobbat teljesíti majd megkapja az 1000 euro-t, a Top-ért pedig jár a busás ötös. Sokak szerint ez senkit sem fenyeget, hacsak Adam Ondra nem tervez errefelé egy látogatást a nyári Flatanger tripp előtt. A szervezők annyit ígértek, a teremben van klíma - le lehet hűteni, ha csak ez hiányozna a sikerhez!!!

According to the French Mountaineering Federation, IFSC has reduced the maximum climbing time in the semis and finals in Lead competitios in 2017 from eight to six minutes. Interesting is that 10 years ago climbers were allowed to spend 15 minutes up on the route. Since then 8a has several times suggested that six minutes should be the maximum and also that time should decide on ties, which has been the case for some years now. IFSC has also reduced the time in bouldering finals to four minutes instead of 4+ minutes. Last year, the finalists were allowed to start the last attempt at 3.59, resting as much as possible. In 2017, they will have to start about 3.30 in order to top out before the bell. In practice, this might make the final attempt more exciting for the spectators. Most probably, some guys will fail due to the new time constraint. Furthermore, it will make the final more of an endurance challenge as the boulders will have to rest less in between attempts and also in between boulders.

Na základe podnetu Francúzskej Horolezeckej Federácie znížila IFSC v minulosti maximálny čas, ktorý mohol lezec stráviť v ceste na obtiažnosť počas semifinále a finále z osem na šesť minút. Zaujímavosťou je, že ešte desať rokov dozadu mohli lezci v ceste stráviť 15 minúť. Za túto dobu 8a.nu niekoľkokrát navrhovalo stanoviť maximálny čas na šesť minút a takisto ustanoviť, že čas by mal rozhodovať v prípadne nerozhodného skóre, čo sa v posledných rokoch aj deje. Teraz IFSC znížila aj čas, ktorý môžu na stene stráviť bouldristi - z 4+ minút na čisté štyri minúty. Posledný rok mohli finalisti ešte nastúpiť v poslednej sekundu a potom si priamo v bouldri oddychnúť, ak na to bol priestor. Toho roku však budú musieť svoj posledný pokus načasovať na cca 3.30, aby stihli boulder doliezť pred koncom časomiery. Takýto formát by mohol finálové pokusy spraviť atraktívnejšie pre divákov. Je ale dosť možné, že výsledky niektorých pretekárov sa vďaka takémuto časovému obmedzeniu zhoršia. Ďalšou zmenou bude menšie množstvo času na oddych medzi pokusmi aj medzi bouldrami, čo z pretekov spraví väčšiu vytrvalostnú výzvu.

Moritz Perwitzschky is in the flow, which he proved doing 15 boulders graded 7C and harder during the last six days, including four 8A+'s and one 8B. To make his recent performance even more impressive, he has done 31 boulders 8A and harder only in 2017. One of his tricks to keep warm. New video. "For keeping our Fingers warm we heat up some stones to put them in the calkbag which works quite well." (c) Hannes Pablitschko

Cody Roth, #6 in his Lead World Cup debut back in 2003, has done the FA of Me I Eat Dust 9a in Texas. "I'm not at liberty to give the name or location of this secret spot, but if someone is interested in trying these routes, access can likely be arranged" (c) Kilian Fischhuber - This route does the crux of I, Me, Mine, (downgraded to 8c+ which Kilian actually did second go and he also flashed an 8b+) then carries into an 8A+/8B boulder problem with no rest in between. It's basically a 20 move sequence where only one hand can be chalked. Time wise, last year after I did I Me Mine, I started trying this thing but tore a pulley three days in. I recovered and made some progress in the Spring, but then Summer arrived. I resumed trying it in October or November before suffering the breaking hold set back. Hard to say how many days I put in, for sure more than anything else I've done, but I have little to zero interest in grading anything harder than 9a, I'm old school! A few weeks ago I did my first 8b+ flash and red pointed two 8c+ in a handful of tries, although I downgraded one of them. I guess I'm in a good vein of form. I'm now 33 and climbing maybe better than ever mainly because I know it's fleeting. In my 20's I wasn't very good at prioritizing, I'd stay up until 3 partying and wake up at 9 to go climbing. I never wanted my climbing to be forced or planned. I didn't want to overthink it. I owe a lot of my recent success to my girlfriend and my community here in Austin, they keep me grounded and motivated.

Adam Ondra has done Politicamente Corruptos 8c+ in Margalef, which he has recorded as a redpoint, commenting, "Just did the other 8c+ seven years ago which share the same start (more or less 7c+)...so going ethically into the detail, hard to say if it is actually an onsight." The photo by Henning Wang is from Neanderthal 9b, which is Adam's current project. Basing on the 8a Practice & Ethics we think this is just OK to call it an onsight and many would do. It is impossible to use a black or white onsight definition as climbers often get some onsight beta hanging out at the crag and sometimes even belaying a friend. Thus, onsight is often in the grey zone. Let us say that the shared start was just a 6a climb - then everyone would agree on Adam's onsight. This is 8a's green light for onsight. Do you agree? "When the shared part of the climb is more than a full grade lower, i.e. two 7c+ routes have the same 6c start."