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.

Laura Rogora, who did her first 9a this spring, being 14 years old, has made an one day ascent of Redbull 8c in Collepardo, where she also onsighted an 8a. The 15-year-old is in the #1 in the female ranking game as well as in the overall Age & Gender ranking where Adam Ondra is #2. "On my second go I fell on the last move. The next try I felt more tired but fought until the chain sending my first 8c in a day. The route is about 20-25 meters long with a hard boulder in the last meters. Now I am training for the world championship in November in China. it will be the last competition of the season and then I hope I will be able to climb on rock and to find a new hard project."

Martina Cufar Potard, the World Champion 2001, has done her second 8c, Max Power in Bionnassay. "Hard for me (crux being a long move)!!! I didn't count the tries...but I knew the moves before I even tried it, when belaying Nico 5 years ago (pregnant) when he did the FA. He told me I am supposed to do the first female ascent...it took me one summer of serious tries:-)" The Slovenian did her first 8c in 2005, at the same time as she finished her very successful competition career, which started some 20 years ago. Martina was the first world class competition climber from Slovenia. It is also interesting that she just climbs and does some campus only once in a while. In total, she projected the 8c for some 20+ sessions but now she says will be back on onsight mode again.

Imagine, spending about 20 days, mainly alone, and falling like 20 times from 18 meters down into the Mediterranean sea. The impact hitting the water is enormous and a bit dangerous, but even so, when Chris Sharma reached the surface he couldn't stop swimming around looking for a new crux sequence. After ten more monster whippers, he decided to rappel down finding out that it was an 8B Boulder! Could you please explain how you projected Alasha from when you found it? I found the wall about five or six years ago. Miquel Riera and I did a reconnaissance mission where we swam about 6 kilometers scoping out all the caves and walls. After seeing this line from below I inevitably had to rappel in to see the line and holds better. I then began trying the route from the bottom. However after trying for many days over several trips I realized that my effort was a bit hopeless unless I came back with a rope and really figured the moves out. So this September I came and spent about 7-8 days just working the upper section on rappel. The crux sequence is so tricky for the feet and body positions and is very powerful for the fingers. Bit by bit though I started to understand the moves better and better until I felt like I could give some good goes. It was a very special morning when I sent. With just my buddy Ricardo filming and the waves crashing. One of my top 10 moments in climbing for sure!