Studio Bloc Masters will take place at Studio Bloc in Pfungstadt, Germany on 25th and 26th March. Qualification starts on Saturday, March 25th and it´s opened both for those who boulder for fun and professionaly, so EVERYbody can register up to March 19th 2017 and spend time next to Jan Hojer, Alexey Rubtsov, Jongwon Chon, Monika Retschy, Fanny Gibert and many more professional boulderers! For the qualifications the organisation team counts with about 400 competitors from all over the world trying to challenge the 80 qualification problems set through all over the 2 000 m² of boulder wall, which has already become popular all over the world. On Sunday March 26th the semi-finals and finals take place, both judged by qualified referees and up to international standarts. The strongest 20 men and women will try their best bouldering 4 problems in the semifinals. The last 6 men and women standing will keep competing on 4 new problems. All that will happen at the championship wall. 1st Place prize is 3.000 €. On Saturday there will be an After-Party with DJs and bands. So come along, get some drinks, food and have a good time. All profit from this event will be donated to the organisation „Climbers Against Cancer". For more informations just check Blocmasters.de

The longtail boats from Railay are not any longer to take climbers to the old DWS sector and some other climbing islands like Chicken Islands. However, a new DWS place has been found which is almost as good. When it comes to bolting, the local authority has banned further developments which especially the climbing school are sad about as they would like to open up new easier sectors.

Sebastien BOUIN has done La Novena Enmienda 9a (+) in Santa Linya. (c) Raphael Fourau "In December, during the time I was working as sport teacher, I was training in Paris in order to prepare myself for "La Rambla" (9a+ Siurana). Yet, one week before to go to Siurana I injured my finger, it was a pulley... So to climb "La Rambla" wasn't possible, there are some crimps in the crux. I had to find a project without crimps, but where??? Santa linya was the solution. In fact, even if it was hurting I was able to try the route: La novena enmienda 9a/9a+. I was able to do all the sections in the first go, yet the route is around 50metters in a big overhang. The difficulty was to not injure the finger more. In fact, I had to be careful with my finger and my shape. I couldn't try the route tired. And some days, when my finger was hurting, I couldn't climb, and I needed to wait. Sometimes for many days. I was scared about this injury, that's why I am happy that I did this route, it's good for my mind, and good for the next. Even if it's not my maximal level, I enjoy to do something where I put energy and risk."

Laura Rogora, who did her first 9a last year, being 14 years old, has done the FA of La Gasparata 8c+/9a at Callepardo, near Rome. It could be the hardest FA ever established by a female. In total, she spent four days and 12 tries on it. In the 8a ranking game, the 15-year-old is strengthening her leading position. (c) Domenico Intorre

Laura Rogora minulý rok ako štrnásťročná preliezla svoje prvé 9a, spravila prvý prelez (FA) La Gasparata 8c+/9a v Calleparde blízko Ríma. Je to dosť možno najťažší ženský prvovýstup.V ceste Laura celkovo strávila 4 dni a na prelez potrebovala 12 pokusov. V rebríčku 8a si táto pätnásťročná talianka týmto len upevňuje vedúcu pozíciu. (c) Domenico Intorre

Oriane Bertone has done Tea with Elmarie 8A (+) in Rocklands. "Fantastic & funny line. Probably soft for tall climbers. Oriane needed many sessions to do the last move," reports her father. Video. During the last eight months, the 11-year-old has done eight Boulders between 8A to 8B and she is #4 in the ranking game.

Eddie Fowke gives his ideas for reinventing Speed climbing and I do agree but I would also like to add that the key issue for an Olympic success is to allow varied routes. In fact even the world record holder Danyl Boldyrev agrees that a fixed route is boring and actually, even in the World Championships and most of the World Cups 2016, it was not allowed to set new records as the walls were not certified. However, the most important reason for why IFSC should go for varied routes is that only few gyms in the world have IFSC speed walls. In other words, most climbers in the world need to travel hours by car or even by plane to find a speed wall with the right angle and the holds in the right place. In the long run it is of course much more boring just to train on the same identical route. Furthermore, it will take much more time for a climber to tune in on the fixed speed climbing route. If the routes would vary, Ondra and the crew could probably challenge the best during the Olympics. If IFSC keep the same old identical route, the top climbers still will not have a chance. If we cannot make the best climbers want to go for the Olympics and make the event a great show, chances are low that climbing will be a part of the Games also in 2024.

Oriane Bertone preliezla Tea with Elmarie 8A (+) v Rocklands. "Fantastická, zábavná línia. Pravdepodobne ľahšia pre vysokých lezcov. Oriane trvalo viacero návštev, kým bola schopná spraviť posledný krok," hovorí jej otec. Video. Počas posledných ôsmich mesiacov vyliezla táto 11-ročná Francúzka osem bouldrov od 8A po 8B a v rebríčku 8a sa nachádza na 4. mieste.

Eddie Fowke vyjadril svoj názor ohľadom zmeny formátu lezenia na rýchlosť a hlavný editor 8a Jens Larssen s ním súhlasí. Jedným dychom však dodáva, že kľúčovým bodom pre Olympiádu v Tokyu v 2020 je povolenie rozmanitých ciest na rýchlosť. Dokonca ja držiteľ svetového rekordu Danyl Boldryev súhlasí, že jedna fixná cesta sa stáva nudnou a faktom je, že na viacerých kolách Svetového pohára a dokonca aj na Majstrovstvách sveta v roku 2016 nebolo možné zlepšiť svetový rekord, keďže steny, a ktorých sa liezlo nemali potrebnú certifikáciu. Najzávažnejším dôvodom, prečo by IFSC malo povoliť vraiblilitu ciest na rýchlosť je, že len zopár lezeckých hál na svete má stenu na rýchlolezeniu oficiálne schválenú od IFSC. Inými slovami, väčšina lezcov by musela cestovať niekoľko hodín autom či dokonca lietadlom, ak by chceli trénovať na stene, ktorá má špecifický sklon a presne umiestnené chyty tak, ako to vyžaduje IFSC. (pozn.: Napr. Hona Kříž, český reprezentant v lezení na rýchlosť, na takúto stenu cestoval na K2 do Bratislavy.) Z dlohodobého hľadiska je nudné trénovať na tej istej stene s tými istými chytmi donekonečna. Podať dobrý výkon pri takýchto špecifických podmienkach by bolo relatívne ťažké pre tých, ktorí sa tomu špeciálne nevenujú, kdežto pri rozmanitých cestách by aj najlepší lezci na obtiažnosť či v boulderingu mohli mať na Olympiáde šancu proti špecialistom na rýchlosť. Ak sa ale IFSC rozhodne ponechať doterajší formát, potom títo lezci nebudú mať veľkú šancu. Viacerí lezci sa vyjadrili, že kvôli tomuto formátu zvažujú svoju neučasť na olympijských hrách 2020. Bez hviezd svetového lezenia by tak hry nemuseli byť veľkým lákadlom a je možné, že by ich ďalšie zaradenie do olympijského programu v roku 2024 bolo ohrozené. Autor: Jens Larssen

Nedávno sme na 8a spustili krátku anketu o najhodnotnejšom preleze roku 2016. A ako to teda dopadlo? Na základe skoro 3000 unikátnych hlasov sa hlasovanie skončilo takto: 56 % Burden of Dreams 9A FA od Nalleho Hukkataivala 35 % Ondrov Dawn Wall 05 % Ashimino 8C Horizon v Japonsku 04 % 8C naboso v podaní Charlesa Alberta