Silvio Reffo has done his tenth 9a, Thunder ribes in Arco. "I did the second ascent after Stefano Ghisolfi. Another hard connection in Pueblo of Massone. It was a big surprise because I was there only for endurance training after some weeks of power training."

Choong Katherine has done two 8c's in Oliana, Fish Eye and Mind Control, each of which took her four days of trying. The latter was originally an 8c+ but nowadays it is mostly considered an 8c, upon which also Katherine agrees. " I did it quite fast, when I solved the begining (the crux for me) I send it the same day. So maybe it's more 8c. But the style is really for me, no hard move juste endurance. However it was 50 meters of fight that ended with lot of happiness and good energy" She finished off by onsighting Mon Dieu 8a+, also in Oliana. "I travel until end of march between France and Spain for rockclimbing. Then I come back in Switzerland for training and back to work (I finished university in January 2016 and started internship to become lawyer). I will compete most of the world cup I can." (c) Gabriel Rancourt Photography

Gambaro Matteo, who made seven FAs 8b+ to 9a in Albenga last year, has done yet another by Anchorage 8c+. The 42-year-old is #1 in the 40+ ranking game and as a matter of a fact, the Italian is at his scorecard peak. "New line that I ve bolted in october 2016. 28meter overing up the central sector "Terminal" in Val Pennavaire near Albenga/oltre Finale. Powerful and tecnical routhe. 2crux intermediate for a rest and finish with good 8a...All natural.

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.

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

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.