Seb Bouin dropped one shoe and repeated a 9a and calling it an 8c+. It is somehow logical that if a climb is easier without shoes, the grade should go down. When Charles Albert, who has been climbing barefoot for the last years, repeated an 8C (+) in Font he said it was 8B+ for him, even though he did a much more difficult direct line (9A or harder with shoes). Now the 20-year-old has done an 8C FA barefoot in Font which he thinks is harder with shoes. Once this barefoot trend grows bigger, we might see some downgradings. On the other hand, as the grades are supposed to reflect the difficulty, Charles's latest 8C FA might be considered an 8C+ or even 9A in the future. Charles has developed an amazing skill pulling with his big toes for four years, contrary to the standing stability strength all climbers with shoes train. Even if the best boulderer tried the 8C FA shoeless, it could take years before they would develop the big toe pulling strength needed. In other words, the best boulderers in the world might consider the 8C FA and the direct 8B+ mentioned above equally hard to repeat as Hukkataival's recent 9A. Furthermore, in the future the most difficult route and boulders to repeat might be climbs where you actually need to take the shoes off and put them back on while climbing, as you approach different cruxes.

Príkladom toho je Seb Bouin, ktorý vďaka vyzutiu lezečky zopakoval 9a a zhodil ho na 8c+. Je celkom logické, že ak je cesta ľahšia bez použitia lezečiek, tak by mala klesnúť jej celková obtiažnosť. Alebo? Keď Charles Albert, ktorý lezie bez lezečiek už po niekoľko rokov, zopakoval 8C (+) vo Fontainebleau, povedal, že preňho je boulder 8B+, aj keď vyliezol jeho priamejšiu a ťažšiu variantu (možné 9A s lezečkami). Nedávno preliezol svoj projekt vo Fontainebleau a ohodnotil ho na 8C naboso, pričom s lezečkami by to bolo pravdepodobne ťažšie. Ak sa lezenie naboso stane trendom, je možné, že v budúcnosti uvidíme častejšie zhadzovanie ciest. Na druhú stranu sa Charlesove 8C môže stať 8C+ alebo 9A, ak bude prelezené v lezečkách. Charles počas štyroch rokov lezenia naboso natrénoval úžasnú vlastnosť zaberať prstami na nohách, čo je presný opak stability, ktorú trénujú a dosahujú lezci v lezečkách. Aj keby sa najlepší bouldristi pokúšali preliezť Charlesove 8C naboso, pravdepodobne by trvalo roky, kým by získali potrebnú silu a techniku prstov na nohách. Inak povedané, aj najlepší lezci môžu považovať spomínané 8B+ a 8C za omnoho ťažšie pri použití lezečiek, možno zrovnateľné s nedávnym 9A od Nalleho Hukkataivala. Naviac je možné, že v budúcnosti budú najťažšie cesty práve tie, v ktorých si lezec musí vyzúvať a obúvať lezečku pri tom, ako prelieza rozličné pasáže cesty.

IFSC comes with the great news that Sport Climbing has been added to the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires, which will begin on October 1, 2018. "IOC meetings are taking place this week in Lausanne, Switzerland, and yesterday the IOC Executive Board officially agreed to add three sports to the YOG Buenos Aires 2018 Sports Programme: Dance Sport, Karate and Sport Climbing. These sports are in addition to the 28 sports currently on the programme for the third summer of YOG. The Sport Climbing event will be a combined event of the three disciplines (Bouldering, Lead, Speed) for both males and females." IFSC is working with the Combined format together with the federations and they have also asked 8a to send our suggestions. The format will be presented the next spring. In practice, it is just to start training Speed climbing as most probably at least part of the selection will begin during the Youth World Championships in Austria starting 30/8 in 2017. Noteworthy is also that there will be a record number of European Youth Cups in 2017, out of which nine will take place before the Youth Worlds but there is just one Speed event on 27/8.

Fred Moix, one of the leading climbing photographers of the last 12 years, has done the iconic Greenspit 8b (+) in Valle dell'Orco, Italy. Amazingly, it was his second trad ascent ever! Full story on his Instagram. (c) Eric Blanc " It's kind of a love story for me with this route as I was belaying my close friend Didier Berthod in 2003 during the first historical pinkpoint ascent of Europa's hardest crack, and was lucky enough to shoot that special picture which went published worldwide just after. This route kind of launched Didier's career as a climber and totally rocketed my photographer's one on the side of my main passion as an osteopath."

Are you a climber and love to combine your passion and work? Vertical Life is hiring experts in software development and communication specialists. The young startup company is located in South Tyrol / Dolomites area – a gorgeous place for climbing and skiing. Check out the job profile and apply!

Melissa Le Neve reports on Instagram that she has done La cicatrice de l'ohm 8B in Fontainebleau. This could be the first female who has done an 8B in the Forest. In the Boulder World Cup Melissa was #3 but she has said that she will stop competing. With a rope, she has done three 8c+'s.

Charles Albert reports on Facebook that he has done one more 8C FA, La révolutionnaire in Fontainebleau. The 20-year-old stopped using shoes about four years ago. (c) Neil Hart "I'm the only one who tried it. It took me some 20 sessions during 1,5 year. There is like 8 moves and the climbing is pretty basic just compression with bad holds in a roof up to a big swing I think it's harder with shoes. It's just a weird pocket for the right foot and I don't think the shoes fits there. In February, he did a direct version of Le pied à coulisse 8C (+) which is said to be impossible with shoes. Even so, Charles suggested 8B+ for his version. In practice, we do not know what grade his last FA gets for the guys using shoes but it could actually be 8C+ or even harder. We will follow up with an article discussing the potential need to adjust some grades because the lines are more easily done barefoot.

Charles Albert na Facebooku oznámil, že spravil prelez ďalšieho 8C vo Fontainebleau. Tentokrát sa jedná o prvý prelez La révolutionnaire, jeho vlastného projektu. Tento dvadsaťročný lezec prestal používať lezečky pred štyrmi rokmi. (c) Neil Hart "Som jediný, ktorý tento projekt skúšal. Zabral mi približne 20 návštev počas jeden a pol roka. Dokopy má 8 krokov a štýl lezenia je celkom jednoduchý, kompresia v strope za zlé chyty a následne do veľkého kyvadla. Myslím, že v lezečkách je to ťažšie. Na pravú nohu je tam zvláštna dierka a nemyslím, že by sa tam lezečká zmestila. Charles preliezol vo februári priamu verziu Le pied à coulisse 8C (+), o ktorej sa hovorí, že ju nie je možné preliezť v lezečkách. Napriek tomu pre svoju verziu navrhol obtiažnosť 8B+. V podstate nevieme, ako ťažký jeho boulder je za použitia lezečiek, no je možné, že by sa mohlo jednať o 8C+ alebo ťažšie. V nadväznosti na túto novinku prinesieme článok, kde rozoberieme možnú úpravu obtiažnosti ciest a bouldrov, ktoré bude jednoduchšie preliezť bez použitia obuvi.

karoline sinnhuber, #5 in a Boulder WC this spring, has done her thrid 8B, Heart shaped box sit in Weststeiermark. ""It is a power-endurance problem in a roof which suits me pretty well with some tricky heel- and toehook features. (c) Chris Rauch gave me the perfect beta :-)" What about your injury, winter plans and the Olympics? Before the World Championships in Paris I got an inflammation in my biceps tendon. Had to make a break then and after some weeks I started to do some easy lead climbing again. The tendon is still not fully healed, but thank god it's getting better :-) After Christmas I'll spend nearly 2 weeks in Ticino, afterwards the gym is calling again for the preparation for the World cup season 2017. About the Olympics: I think the selected format is not perfect. For me it's unintelligible why a Boulderer should compete in Lead and Speed too.

Eva Eskilsson from Mountain Spirit Guides has spent some weeks in Peloponnese, Greece and here is her report and recommendations. "Probably my favorite place on Peloponnese was Kiparissi, because of the amazingly pretty setting. However the most spectacular climbing there (on Babala wall) is reserved for strong climbers (routes from 7c and up). Nedousa and Lagada was also amazing for sport climbing, and in a more mountainous atmosphere, completely different to the dry and warm Mediterranean cost (even though it’s just 30min drive from the sea). There are several big sectors and much more climbing then I expected (good from 5b to 8b), and I would like to spend a lot more time in each of these places. Nedousa is a crisp river gorge with fresh water, forest, and beautiful camping spots, but also not far to drive to from Kalamata (as a hotel can be nice this time of the year). Lagada is more open and even higher in altitude, closest larger town is Sparta, and it is popular spot for Greek climbers. Still we didn’t meet any other climbers and the routes remain unpolished and almost completely free from chalk (at least in November). In Varasova we did one of the long routes to the summit of Varasova (the mountain, 900m) which was quite an adventure. The face is unfortunately interrupted by 300m of scrambling on a ledge, but still offers 600m of climbing and a great ambiance above the sea." Aris from Kalymnos will publish a new Best of Greece topo early in 2017.