Andy Raether, who did his first 8c+ FA out of eight 13 years ago, has done his first 9a, The Eggporkalypse in Mt Potosi. " I've been working it on and off for 6 years. I sent Reverse Polarity 14b (8c) 9 times before I sent the whole thing. When you combine the whole thing it is a 14b into an ok rest and then another 14b. It is by a magnitude the most amount of work I have put into any project. I spent a year and a half specifically working on increasing my finger strength to be able to do it as well."

Paul Robinson has done his 16th 8C, Topaz in RMNP, of which Dave Graham did the FA just two weeks ago and which has been done also Daniel Woods. "It has been crazy lately! We have been finding and developing so many new boulders in Colorado. All of which are really good quality! I am really excited about the new lines and also trying to repeat some of the old ones. Having an entire fall in Colorado has allowed me to train a bit in the gym and climb outside a lot! I am super psyched to have climbed topaz and look forward to some more."

Dave Graham, son 15 yılın en iyi tırmanıcılarından FB ve ilk 8C+ kısakaya çıkışını yaptı. Aslına bakarsanız bu dünyanın ilk doğrulanmış 8C+'sı. (c) Cameron Maier/Bearcam "WOW!!! @dawoods89'un yeni rotası Creature From the Black Lagoon'u ikinci çıkışını yaptıktan sonra dün Upper Chaos daydım!!! Bahardan bu yana 16 günlük uğraşın ardından, inanılmaz ince bir ayarla rotayı algılayabildim ki bu hana çıkışın yolunu açtı! Gerilimli ve sinir bozucu şartlar altındaki bir çok günden sonra, gece yarısı kurgularım, yüzlerce çuvallayan çözüm sonrasında anladım ki aslında çözüm en başından beri gözümün önündeymiş. Çılgın bir kol bükme acayip yoga hareketi tüm bölümü birleştirmemi sağladı, ne zamandır didindiğim alt tutuşu birleştirmeme izin verdi ve ilerlemek için ihtacım olan vücut pozisyonunu elde etmemi sağladı." Continue reading Ve son olarak: "Bu tırmanış bana uydu ve beni daha önce çıktığım tüm 8C lerden daha çok zorladı. Zaman gösterecek, ama 8C+ bana tamamen mantıklı göründü. Fotoğraf ve videolar yakında @island_io"

It is great that Nalle Hukkataival did not go for a slash grade and instead marked himself one grade above everyone. The first 8Cs were suggested some 15 years ago and even if at least a dozen 8c+s have been put forward, original 8C+s have never been confirmed, instead all have been down graded. In fact, Nalle Hukkataival has always been said to be one of the guys who keep the grades very hard and that you should use the lower grade when in doubt. It is interesting that he actually changed his mind since his grade article in 2010 which was part of the reason why we shifted from grade inflation to deflation. "Last June I did the first ascent of Livin' Large in South Africa. It is by far the hardest boulder I've climbed so far, a lot harder than any 8C that I have climbed in the past. Does that mean that it is 8C+? Maybe, just maybe. Does that mean that I should grade it 8C+? I don't think so. Why do we always have to shoot high first and then wait for the downgrade. Why is it never the other way around? I graded it 8C because I feel certain that it is at least 8C. If other people feel like it's harder, they can upgrade it. Why do people always choose the egotistical approach to these things instead of "playing it safe"? Although Hukkataival has never given an 8C+ grade for any of his Boulders, he suggested 9A for his Burden of Dreams. This must mean that he has taken into account the amount of time this project has taken and how much stronger he thinks he is now compared to last year. Furthermore, he must feel that the Boulder is very much his style. Possibly, some guys will try Burden of Dreams and think it is just one grade harder compared to some sandbagged 8Cs. Possibly they could use Hukkataival's 9A as the new standard and upgrade some of the 8Cs that deserve it. It is also interesting that Hukkataivals's 9A is much shorter then most of the 8C and 8C+ problems in the world, which are often more endurance based.

Black Diamond reports that Adam Ondra has tried to onsight The Nose with his father but failed on Great Roof and Changning Corner. They made it to the top at midnight in the starting rain but could not find a descent route so they had to spend the night in a small cave. The Nose was established in 1993 by Lynn Hill who rated it 8a but nowadays most think it is an 8b or 8b+.

Alex Megos has done yet another 9a+ in Frankenjura, Markus Bock's "Becoming", meaning that he has done all the Top-5 hardest. He reports on Instagram that the route seems manufactured. "Well built that thing but the Sika doesn't seem of good quality, it crumbles..." Please explain some more what you mean by "Well built"? I wanted to say that the route is "well built" (sarcasm) cause normally you don't build routes outside. And then I wanted to point out that it's not even well done because the Sika crumbles. It's built like a route in the gym almost. Just that they didn't use colored holds... Pick a stone from the ground and glue it onto the blank wall where there was nothing before. I don't want to say exactly how many holds are chipped or glued. But it's definitely a few. At least a hand full in that route and then a few more in the route to the right of it and a few more to the route to the right of that.

Nalle Hukkataival, who has never suggested 8C+ for a Boulder he has done, comes on Facebook with the amazing news that he has done the FA of Burden of Dreams 9A. "Yesterday I had another session on the Lappnor project. The routine that goes into it after all this time isn’t all that exciting; the same warm up, driving an hour on the same road, brushing the all too familiar holds, re-warming up, systematically trying the same sequences in the same order. Some days you feel strong and confident and get totally shut down. Other days you’re not feeling a 100 percent and it could be the best session you’ve had. All logic seems to have gone out the window a long time ago. Many sessions I wish I could forget. Can’t do a move I’ve done countless of times before. Last highpoint was a year ago. Weeks and months turned into years of uncertainty and self-doubt. Trying to keep that little spark of hope in the back of your mind alive. Walking up to the boulder with all the positivity I can muster, I still can’t ignore what the boulder has become to represent; failure of varying degrees. Sitting under the boulder I can feel the weight of it. Pulling on always feels like a déjà vu, like the thousands of times before. It always starts the same way and ends the same way. Except this time. This time was different. Snap to reality, I’m hanging on the lip of the boulder, disoriented, heart racing. Contain the panic. I’m on top of the boulder trying to grasp how I got there. Lots of feelings coinciding; surprise, relief, happiness, confusion. As reality hits that quickly turns into ecstatic happiness with a dash of disbelief. Waking up today I can’t help but look at the world with different eyes. Having achieved the first ascent of Burden of Dreams marks a new level in my climbing. With a handful of existing 8C+ boulders in the world, proposing 9A is the logical step. Huge thanks to my friend Marko Siivinen for showing me the line! What a journey it’s been! Stay tuned for a film of the whole story with the boulder. It will be something extraordinary!

Ignacio Sandoval Buron started helping us out with translations, interviews and stories from the Spanish scene directly from the start of 8a, 15 years ago. Unfortunately, he had to stop working for us and therefore we are looking to hire new translators and editors. Ignacio would like to thank specifically all pro-climbers he has had the opportunity to interview. Currently, the Spanish page has over 1 000 unique visitors every day and 8a would like to say thank you for all your good work creating a very good Spanish page and helping out globally as well. We are also looking for more country specific editors and other people who would like to help out. Please contact [email protected].

Alex Puccio, who during the last two years has badly injured herself twice in Boulder World Cups (being forced to undergo a knee and a back surgery, respectively), is back on track with an 8A flash of Skull in Joe's Valley. "I'm just psyched to be getting back outside!!! Didn't expect to flash it. Worth taking the shoes off to cross the river. " In 2014, Alex got the silver in the World Championship, and since then, in spite of the bad injuries, she has done 12 Boulders 8B and harder. Here you can find her story: The Comeback Queen. (c) Joel Zerr