The second stage of the Lead World Cup in Villars was as great as the first in Chamonix. Sean McColl got the highest in the final, into which almost all big names failed to qualify. The Canadian was also the only participant also competing in Speed, where he was second last. Among the female, last out Janja Garnbret took her second in a row victory and in fact, she waved to the spectators preparing for the move on which four girls had failed. More info to come. It should also be noted that this was possibly the best live streaming ever with continuous updates of live results and several interviews with the athletes directly after they had climbed.

Planet Mountain reports that Bernardino Lagni, the world champion from 1999 who did his first 9a being 43 years old, has flashed Mantieni la calma 8c in Ai Piccoli. "I happened to meet Omar, who was trying the route, and he explained all the moves. I didn’t set off with the idea of flashing it, but with a little luck and driven on by the cheers of those below me… I clipped the anchor!"

It’s now easier and less expensive for climbers across Europe to get their hands on FrictionLabs chalk — the cleanest and highest purity chalk anywhere. The Denver, Colorado-based company has launched seven e-commerce websites for climbers in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the UK to purchase its products online with fulfillment directly from Europe, eliminating high shipping costs and enhancing delivery reliability.

Patxi Usobiaga, the world's best overall Lead competitor between 2006 to 2010, when he was injured in a traffic accident, has become the first trainer of Chris Sharma. Patxi says it was his hard training that made him become the world champion and it is very interesting that he did not go for the common full periodization training. Instead he combined campus, bouldering and endurance on the same day and this is also how he works with Sharma and Ondra. - Everyone is different and it is about motivation and having fun. There is nothing wrong with a strict robot training as long as you find it fun and you learn from it. Ondra and Sharma have a different approach but basically I give them a scheme with similar excercises to follow. The PUC concept always combine different challenges. Even while focusing on endurance, we need to do boulder or campus to keep it fun and more motivating. Both Chris and Adam are famous for becoming the best in the world just by climbing rather than train in a systematic approach. Chris says he was curious to try out something new and as he started up his gym and has just become a father, it was the perfect timing. - It is interesting, fun and motivating to try something new. I could continue going to Oliana putting up a new 9b or even harder but that would be doing the same over again. Now my focus is to set up a new 9a multi-pitch in amazing settings with Klemen Becan. I plan to continue to follow the PUC training until there are better conditions for our project.

Domen Škofic won in great style in Chamonix continuing his nice progress trend. As a junior, he was the best in the world and in the last three World Cups the 22-year-old has been improving every year being 9 - 5 - 4. Domen is also the #2 in the 8a ranking game after Adam Ondra. (c) Eddie Fowke 1. Domen Škofic SLO 51 2. Stefano Ghisolfi ITA 48+ 3. Jakob Schubert 48 4. Gauthier Supper FRA 48 5. Roman Desgranges FRA 47 Complete results

Carole Palmier climbed intensively as a teenager but then studying to become a midwife took over. During the last five years she has been combining her exciting work with her climbing life, without having any sponsor although she has done 8c's and an 8c+. (c) Isabelle Bihr - I climb twice a week during working periods, and I try to take 2 months of for holidays each year to travel an climb. I would like to take more holidays next year. I don't train, I have a lot of progress to do to improve my climbing lifestyle. I like enjoying life without thinking only "performance". I feel strong when I manage to fight in routes I'm trying. The best way to train for me is to give the best every time I go climbing and it works! My future plan and ambition is to spend more time climbing! I would like to pass my limits, and see what I can do if I only climb and train my weaks points. My climber's dream is to be in my best level in all climbing styles including; cracks, multi-pitch, Frankenjura style, boulder.

Janja Garnbret has just taken her first World Cup victory by winning all rounds in Chamonix including cruising the final shaking her way to the top. Last year, she was 2 - 2 - 3 in her debut season. Also Anak Verhoeven had a big margin in the final but she was beaten on countback. 1. Janja Garnbret SLO Top 2. Anak Verhoeven BEL Top 3. Jain Kim KOR 49+ 4. Magdalena Röck AUT 43+ 5. Yuja Kobayashi JPN 33+ Complete results

Some of the most legendary Yosemite climbs are now joined in the new guidebook Rock Climbing Yosemite Valley and also available in the Vertical-Life climbing app. The famous Yosemite Valley is probably a must in a serious climber’s career: no other area offers such a high number of easy accessible towering routes on super solid granite. The new climbing guide is the result of intensive work carried out by E. Sloan, L. Barth, C. Bedinghaus and M. Jakubowski. It contains topos of famous routes such as the Nose, the Dawn Wall, Separate Reality and Northwest Face. Climbers can buy the new guide including a free app code, which means that all the topos will be available also for your smartphone – paperwork was yesterday! You can download all the topos beforehand, as cellphone service is a scarce resource in the valley. It is the first guide outside Europe to be published in the Vertical-Life climbing app, which so far covers some of the most important European climbing areas. Find out for yourself: Vertical Life App

Ramon Julian Puigblanque started to compete in the World Cup competitions in 2001 and last year he won the opening event in Chamonix. Among the male, he is totally superior and there are five female following him in the overall rankings. The female #1, Muriel Sarkany competed between 1992 and 2010 and one reason why she has got less points compared to Ramonet is that there were less events per year during the 90s. On Monday, the Lead World Cup 2016 starts in Chamonix. 1. Ramon J Puigblanque ESP 6 740 points 2. Muriel Sarkany BEL 5 890 3. Mina Markovic SLO 5 414 4. Angela Eiter AUT 5 009 5. Maja Vidmar SLO 4 899 6. Jain Kim KOR 4 702 7. Jakob Schubert 4 018 8. Tomas Mrazek CZE 3 875

In 2000, Ethan got the silver in the Youth World Championship; his best result out of seven Lead and Boulder WC's is #16. On rock he has done a handful of 9a's and Biographie 9a+ in 2007, when he was the #1 in the 8a Combined ranking game thanks to three 8B+ Boulders he also climbed that year. Here you can find a 20 minutes docummentary from Ethan Pringle's Jumbo Love 9b story.