In the new Age & Gender Bonus ranking, Chuck Odette (60) is #3 and his partner Maggie (46) is #26. It is very interesting that they both did not start pushing hard until they were 40. Maggie has just done her second 8b+ and Chuck has just done an 8b but his ambition is to get back on 8b+ level. They are both on lookout for the next project to get inspired by. Chuck: "I need more rest and more yoga than I used to. And I have to continue working my weakness, which is power, while focusing on climbs that suit my strength, which is endurance." Maggie: "For training, we spent most of the winter bouldering in Moe's Valley and Marioland, both in southern Utah. We plan to continue that program, taking about 3 months every year to boulder for training power, which is our biggest weakness. In some places we've also been able to hang gymnastic rings or a pull-up bar for reps at the end of climbing days."

Daniel Woods has done his third 8C+ FA, Creature from a black lagoon. His wife Courtney says it has been a long summer project. We got the pic from Paul Robinson, who also got it on video. The first 8C+ FA was Hypnotized Minds, which Daniel set up six years ago as an 8C but there were upgrade suggestions, first by some world class boulderers who could not repeat it, and in 2016 also by Woods. In 2015, he also gave 8C+ for FA The Process. Overall, including 22 8C's, the 169 cm tall has the most impressive Boulder ticklist in the world. In 2010 he won the Boulder World Cup in Vail. On Instagram, Daniel explains the process and comments the grade. " We are left dumbfounded to realize that the same level in bouldering has maintained from Fred Nicole, Bernd Zangerl, and Klem loskot a decade ago until now. We can either acknowledge what is a level up from the standard of 15 (based off of consensus over the years) or continue climbing v15 (8C) for another decade."

Climbskin has helped us out with some skin care advises. Chris Sharma is one of their ambassadors. - "It is a great product, it moisturizes and rebuilts your skin. It is not like the waxy or oily materials, you can actually put it on before you climb which is one of the most amazing things. Climbskin is gonna change people's climbing. It is by far the best product on the market".

Alessandro Marrocchi and Enrico Rogora, the father and trainer of Laura Rogora, have published an open letter to IFSC in regards to Speed climbing. 8a totally agrees with their thoughts and based on discussion here comes with some further considerations and a solution on how to get greater chances to make Combined climbing a success in Tokyo. The number of Speed walls are very limited and actually there are just eleven certified ones, which in fact the World Championship wall in Paris did fail to be. In Europe there are three certified walls but none in the USA. One simple way of increasing interest for Speed climbing among climbers and gyms is of course to allow 12 meter walls and to set different Speed routes for each event and gym. This would make it more interesting for the Lead/Boulder climbers to take the Speed challenge. The biggest obstacle for having a strong interest for climbers to run for the Olympics in Tokyo 2020 is the lack of Speed walls around the globe. On the other hand, why should a commercial gym invest in a certified Speed wall that most probably will not get any big interest whatsoever? If IFSC cannot guarantee several hundred certified Speed walls around by 2017, there will be limited interest in the Combined. It is also immoral to let one company be the only official and certified manufacturer of Speed holds. More critiscs from Climbing Business Journal.

Isabelle Faus, #1 in the 8a ranking game, is featured in a really interesting interview in Climbing. “I know I’m one of the best and anyone who really likes climbing knows that too,” she said, “but when it comes down to it, sponsorship companies would rather put money into cookie-cutter Barbies and CrossFitters. I’m a rock climber and I don’t fit into their box, so they simply aren’t interested.” The fact is that Isabelle, the female who's putting up the most hard core FAs in the world, actually does not even get free shoes, etc. (c) Chad Greedy - FA of Microkline 8A+ (B) in Rocklands, last month.

Mark Anderson from Rockclimbers training manual has done his first 9a, Shadowboxing in Rifle. It took the 39-year-old 28 days of projecting and it is all nicely explained in the blog. (c) Mike Anderson "Physically, I was able, but mentally I was not prepared to accept that I was good enough to climb such a hard route. Overcoming that barrier and sticking with it to the end was the most mentally difficult thing I’ve ever done—harder than the Cassin Ridge, finishing a marathon off the couch, Boot Camp, or the endless drudgery and starvation of high school wrestling. Never have I had to persevere through so much persistent failure, so many setbacks, over so many days and multiple seasons. So many times I could have quit, and I would have been well-justified in doing so. But I kept going. Each off-season, I looked at fat Mark in the mirror and wondered if I’d be able to regain my form in time for the next season. Each time I did. The day of the send was a microcosm of the entire campaign. So many things didn’t go perfectly, so many moments of doubt or indecision crept in to derail my focus. But I kept moving towards the goal, and I was rewarded for it."

The 10th edition of the world-famous Kalymnos Climbing Festival introduces an innovative contest modus: there will be an open fun marathon, which is based on the Vertical-Life Climbing App. Climbers can participate in pairs (female, male or mixed category). They will gather points for their ascents by marking them directly in the app. The scoring system corresponds to the 8a ranking game. As we have seen, the contest system by Vertical-Life proves to be a useful tool for Climbing Festivals: it had worked for other open competitions such as Melloblocco, Dolorock and the Austria Festival before. App.vertical-life.info

Daniel Fuertes and José luis Palao, in the picture by Javi Pec, have done Autoengaño 9a in Rodellar. In total, Daniel has done six 9a's just in 2016 and for José it was the second one as he also did Siempre inconformistas last week.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland – 500 people from 21 different countries, some as from far away as the USA and Canada to Hong Kong, descended upon The North Face Mountain Festival over the weekend for three days of intense outdoor adventure and exploration. Massive 70 plus activities were completed, which included everything from trail running, climbing and hiking, to paragliding, canyon jumping, canyoning, rafting and alpinism. Away from the outdoor pursuits, festival goers could enjoy all that the event’s Base Camp had to offer – the aim being to inspire, learn and celebrate after returning from the mountains. Inspiration started in the form of tales from the brand’s athlete team, such as Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger’s first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat. Foodies could learn how to transform basic food supplies into tasty and nutrious meals to fuel their bodies during an expedition. Creative minds learned how to best capture the great outdoors through a photography workshop. Performance obsessed explorers discovered new ways to preprare their bodies for the mountain. Finally, there was a chance to celebrate the day’s events and stunning surroundings with locally sourced food and drinks, live bands, and DJs.