Dai Koyamada, one of the leading climbers of the last 20 years, reports on his blog in Japanese that he has done two 9a's in Frankenjura; Unplugged and The House of Shock, after just a couple of days. His plan is to stay in Europe for two months. He has also done two 8c+s. In 1998, Dai was #4 in a Lead World Cup but later he left that scene and to date he has put up at least five 8C Boulders and repeated at least a dozen 9a and harder routes.

Isabelle Faus strengthens her leading position in the 8a ranking game by doing The Wheel of Chaos 8B+ in RMNP. (c) Caroline Treadway "Wow, crazy experience. Started trying last year, took me two or three days just to be able do all the moves. This year started started out a lil quicker, by my 2nd day this year (or it could have been third I can't even remember) I was made it up to the jug rest and fell dry firing of the slopey rail. Then the battle started. I went up there maybe 6 times after the first day of getting very close. Basically I would get to the jug like 3 times a session and 75% of the time fall because my skin was to dry/cold or my foot would pop off the smears. Rarely did I feel like I was falling because I was too tired, always my third try of the day I would pump out but the first tries always felt really good. In the end I probably made it to the jug more than 20 times... I stopped counting it got that bad. I was getting really frustrated and honestly just wanted to quit trying it for this year, but Chad wouldn't let me! Credit goes to him ! :)) really amped and feeling extra super fit! Really amazing boulder with great movement, so satisfying."

Christof Rauch has done 82 8A and harder boulders this year, eight out of which are 8B FAs. Great video of his latest FA, The Source 8B+, "A new Kingline is born! My best first ascent ever!"

Christof Rauch - The Source 8B+, First Ascent from Martin Tischitz on Vimeo.

Ian Padilha report in his blog: "This route was impractible e far away for me, but i’m started to dedicate my efforts to trad climb e then to sport trad climb ( this is, hard routes with trad equipment) But it look still far away, because it was technically hard, trad, and exposed (in case of a fall, the gear can whip), the protection is far and not “bomber” like we say. This is gear that you cannot fall still. Send this route is not just a send a route, for me was overcome the fear and prove myself that i can reach my goals with training, dedication and concentration. by: Ian Padilha.

Stefano Ghisolfi, currently #4 in the Lead World Cup, has done Jungle Boogie 9a+ in Céüse after ten days of projecting. In the 8a ranking game, the Italian is #3. (c) Paolo Sartori "3rd ascent after Adam and Sachi, hard 9a+, much harder than Biographie, but totally different style. I tried it for 10 days and after the second I could do all the moves. But there is a really hard crux crossing to a 2 finger pocket and I fell there a lot of time. Once I passed that move I went to the top. The route is about 20/25 moves with no rest, and then a 15 meters slab. Beside Jungle Boogie, there are three more 9a+s in Céüse; Three Degrees of Separation, Realization and L'étrange ivresse des lenteurs.

IFSC has presented some impressive stats for the World Championships but they exaggerate the Combined stats. "More than 600 Athletes representing 53 countries registered to the three Sport Climbing disciplines (Bouldering, Lead and Speed) and nine Paraclimbing (Lead) categories over five consecutive days. 140 volunteers enabled 20,000 spectators to enjoy the event, and 146 accredited representatives of the media brought the action to thousands more fans. Online, 12 events were viewed 147,334 times during a marathon of LIVE streaming, and to date IFSC YouTube videos of Paris have gathered an impressive 594,623 total views. The historic event also reached over 130 countries via television broadcast, including in Japan on SkyA which ­- for the first time in IFSC history ­- televised LIVE action of an IFSC event outside the host nation. Only weeks after the inclusion of Sport Climbing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, twice as many Athletes participated in all three disciplines this year compared to 2014." What IFSC do not say is that the World Championships in 2014 took place at two different locations. Compared to the World Championships in Paris 2012, the number of competitors fell with from 31 to 28 but more seriously, less top climbers participated.

Eddie Fowke has made a great interview with David Firnenburg, #3 in Combined in Paris and #6 in the Combined 8a ranking game - Between lecture room, competition and rock. The usual way of his older climbing colleagues in Germany is to abandon their sport career sooner or later and to give priority to their vocational training. “This reasonable decision indeed affects our sport adversely, because like this a sustainable international competitiveness is not to be expected. Realistically I see my chances to participate in the Olympic Games in 2020 more as an outsider. But if I can maintain my joy of climbing and continue also to rely on my capabilities, it doesn’t seem impossible to me to have a chance of taking part at Tokyo”, David ends.

Baptiste Ometz, who has done eight 8B+s so far, has done Practice of the Wild giving it a personal grade of 8B+. "Amazing line! 4 days. My style with the jump at the end, simply didn't fell like 8c being already too close on the first day.. psyched for more in magic." It should be noted that six out of seven climbers who recorded it as 8C, called it soft and also Gabri Moroni, who did the second last ascent, gave it 8B+. It is also noteworthy that earlier this year, the 17-year-old was #11 in the Boulder World Cup in Munich.

What if IFSC just put up 30 four meters wide campus rungs and let Speed Climbers run on them, four at a time? It would be much more fun to watch this as now the climbers are so far apart that you cannot keep an eye on both competitors at the same time. This would also make it more understandable for the spectators and less expensive for gyms. It would also be easier to certify a wall for world records. You could also run relays for nations like in this video.