More than 25 years ago the first 9a was established, and more than 15 years ago the first 8C was reported. Although both Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma have done 9b+'s, overall progress seemingly stagnated until 2015. During 2016, the year when climbing became an Olympic sport, we have seen an extreme progress in most disciplines, suggesting that top climbers are about to take climbing limits to a new level. Here are some of the most remarkable ascents of the year. 9A by Nalle Hukkataival. A couple of guys have done 8C+. 8C by Ashima Shiraishi (15). Several girls having done 8B's. More guys than ever have done 9a+ and 9b routes. Several girls did 8c+'s and 9a's, Jain Kim did an 8c+ second go, and Janja Garnbret flashed an 8c route. Adam Ondra did the Dawn Wall in just 8 days. Charles Albert's 8C barefoot ascent is also a new standard. The number of climbers doing 9a's in 2016 is around 70, and there are about 15 female who have done an 8c, which is also a new record. When it comes to 8B+ boulderers, it is very hard to speculate but probably around 150 guys have sent a problem of this grade in 2016. When it comes to female 8A climbing, the number should be more than 25. The only disciplines where we have not seen progress is are onsight on routes and flash on boulders. The top level for onsights is 9a, but apart from Ondra, very few people have onsighted an 8c in 2016.

Jozef Kristoffy has done the first free ascent of the hardest multipitch in the Tatra Mountains. Corona is composed of three pitches, the second one, an 8c+, being the hardest. Jozef worked on the route for the entire summer and sent it in September. Here you can watch a nice video of the ascent. We asked Jozef about the hardest pitch: "The crux pitch is the second one. It's 38m long and 4m overhanging on the whole pitch. It's a slightly overhanging face with long, crimpy moves and bad feet. It should be around 8c+"

Enjoy this training session with the competition climbers Chloé Caulier and Loïc Timmermans from Belgium. Coach Dicki shares some thoughts of his training philosophy and about the Kraftboard which was developed by Patrick Matros and Dicki Korb and is used in their new training concept "Kraftfactory.

Gimme Kraft Chloé & Loic! from cafekraft on Vimeo.

Matteo Menardi has done his third 9a, Halupca 1979 in Osp/Misja Pec. "Super route, very overhanging". What are your winter and competition plans for next year? During this winter I will try some unfinished projects. But maybe, thanks to the good conditions, I will try some new routes in Osp Cave. I'm sure that, for the moment, I will climb outdoor. During next months I'm going to make a decision about competitions.

Jongwon Chon, the Boulder World Cup winner of 2016 who established an 8C in South Korea last month, reports on Facebook that he has done another 8C with the FA of Hymn in Mudeungsan National Park. He has told 8a his secrets previously, "I train 2 days and 1 day rest. First day 4 hours boulder training and 2 hours finger training/sloper training. Second day 4 hours boulder training and 2 hours weight training"

Domen Škofic reports on Facebook that Janja Garnbret has done the FA of Ninja Zelva 8c in Misja Pec. Shortly afterwards, Domen managed to do the second ascent. This is one of the hardest FAs ever made by a woman. Domen won the Lead world cup this year and he is also third in the 8a ranking game. Janja also won the female World Cup and the World Championship besides winning both lead and bouldering youth championships with authority. In the 8a Climber of 2016, Janja is #2 and her boyfriend Domen is #4. (c) Stanko Gruden

Nech sa páči, tréningové video od súťažných lezcov Chloé Caulier a Loica Timmermansa z Belgicka. Tréner Dicki sa podelil o zopár myšlienok z jeho lezeckej filozofie a porozprával o Kraftboarde, s ktorým prišli spolu s Patrickom Matrosom a ktorý využívajú vo svojom novom tréningovom koncepte. "Kraftfactory.

Gimme Kraft Chloé & Loic! from cafekraft on Vimeo.

Jain Kim reports on Facebook that she has done Spicy Noodle 8c+ in Yangshuo on her second go. Earlier on the trip she flashed an 8c. Add to that one 8b+ redpoint and two 8a onsights. "It was huge present for me after the worldcup season." In the history books, Jain Kim is already a name in the competition arena and an 8c+ second go should be in the Top-10 most impressive female ascents ever.

Stefan Koechel has made a nice interview with Christof Rauch, the person who has done most 8A's in the world since 2015. Looking at your ticklist of 2015 and 2016 I count incredible 176 ascents fb 8A and harder and the year isn’t even over yet. That means every 4th day you topped out a problem in the 8th grade. How does your body cope with this constant strain? Any advice for injury prevention? Basically I do a lot of stretching and I have to apply a special massage to my forearms and fingers every day due to chronic tendinitis in most of my fingers. I got the inflammations a few years ago when I did 5 sessions a week without any stretching. Now I never climb more than two days in a row and everything is fine. Sometimes I still get some small injuries but in the past I was lucky enough to get nothing too bad.