Drew Ruana has started his Euro trip amazingly good by sending Le Cadre Nouvelle 9a on his fifth try including two tries last year. (c) Kyle O'meara The 16 year old has previously done one 9a, the FA of The Assassin in Smith Rocks which was harder for him. Further more Drew has done Chronique 8c and Le parte du Diable 8c+ in just three goes during the first four days in Céüse.

Vadim Timonov has done his first 8C, Monkey Wedding in Rocklands. "Today I did the main project of my trip in Rocklands! I'm very satisfied! Today will be a party!" During the last 12 days, the Russian sent 14 boulders 8A and harder including four flashes up to 8B and he goes to #7 in the 8a ranking game. In 2014, he did a very strong debut in the Boulder World Cup as he was #6 but later he could not make it to the semi in most events.

Andy Winterleitner has done his first 9a, Jungfraumarathon in Gimmelwald, after two years of projecting. "We went to Gimmelwald after a storm with heavy rain. It was quiet and special weather and I felt really calm. On my first try today I climbed perfect the first section, did well the hard boulder in the middle and the head was ready to fight for the last part which burns your body out with every move. This Go was perfect and I couldn’t find some words after clipping the anchor. No shouting of joy and reaction. Just sitting on the floor and crying for a moment. Overwhelmed to have finished a long business. Some months of only training indoors the last winter, doing a lot of bouldering and campusboards sessions were important for my success. For doing this the mental part was really important and sometimes I have struggled to hang just on plastic holds."

Nalle Hukkataival reports on Facebook that he has done the 8th ascent of Fred Nicole's Monkey Wedding 8C in Rocklands. - Feels good to complete a climb I started such a long time ago, but crossing one last climb off my list also marks the end of an era for me in Rocklands. Luckily there are still plenty of great projects in sight to keep busy and new areas to continue developing!

Pouring rain and wet holds did not stop Janja Garnet from topping in the final after a great fight although she was timed out. The 17-year-old Slovenian has not been beaten by any of the 12 routes during the 2016 World Cup. (c) Luka Fonda Complete results 1. Janja Garnbret SLO 2. Jessica Pilz AUT 3. Magdalena Röck AUT

During Outdoor in Friedrichshafen, Boreal presented a patented shock absorption heal system which will be used in their Joker shoe. This sounds interesting as it is quite common to get an injury in your heal after falling in Bouldering or hitting the wall hard when falling on a route. 8a will receive some samples to test this autumn. "One of the major changes has been to our Heel Fit System, a cushioned layer beneath the heel for improved shock absorption. This year, a modified outsole incorporates a special cavity beneath the heel, preventing excessive compression of the EVA layer. This provides improved cushioning while maintaining excellent fit inside the shoe."

- It is a mental change for sure. I have not trained more...and I did not let Villars destroy my feelings, Domen Skofic comments on his progress in 2016 getting his second victory, in the live-streaming. The Slovenian takes the overall lead with 225 points ahead of Sean McColl with 208 points. Last year Domen, who is #3 in the 8a ranking game, was #4 overall. (c) Luka Fonda Complete results. 1. Domen Skofic SLO 2. Romain Desgranges FRA 3. Sean McColl CAN

This year the live streaming has been better than ever, with great camera work and nice interviews. However, it is not OK that the commentator sometimes misled the audience by giving wrong results or could not directly say that Domen Skofic won, even if it was very clear for any climber with competition experience. On the other hand, unless a non-experienced commentator can understand who is in the lead etc, IFSC should work on live scoring in addition to marking at least some holds with a score. It is also very hard to understand why before Jain Kim started he did not explain to the audience that time will be decisive about the winner if she got identical results as Janja Garnbret. To give the audience split time to get a feeling who was the faster climber would have increased the excitement. I am afraid it has been like this since the World Cup live streaming start and it is sad that IFSC does not demand at least a co-commentator that could provide us with correct facts and updated results. Probably the best solution would be to have one of the route setters as a co-commentator.

Hades, 9a by Angy Eiter from Angela Eiter on Vimeo.