In 2008 8a said that Rockfax/UKC must update their grade conversion, which they did later. Previously, the charts were constructed in such way that UK climbers were the only ones doing 8c+ and 9a trad routes. When Alex Honnold soloed The Complete Scream, UKC reported it as an E8, which according to their table is equivalent to a 7c, which we reported within brackets. Now it turns out that Alex thinks it is max an E6 and a 7a+.

Heather Weidner comments on her send of China Doll extension, which made her the fourth female to have done 8b+ on trad. (c) Jon Glassberg/Louderthan11 - The 13c (8a+) pitch 1 was bolted by Bob Horan, the extension 13d (8b) has no bolts. I did the two pitches as one 40 meter pitch all on gear, using one fixed pin and one fixed nut. I can't express how relieved and excited I am to have accomplished this climb, my proudest climbing achievement to date. I started working this route just over a year ago, and it involved many stages. I first climbed the 13c on bolts, then toproped the extension clean, figured out the finicky gear on TR, and lastly sent the whole rig placing my own protection. Each year I set a big climbing goal and it's one that if I achieve I'll surprise myself. I've run the gamut of emotions on this route, from fear and sadness to utter bliss. There were nights I'd wake up in a sweat thinking about the route. It was super scary at times. The opening bulge crux of the 13c has finicky small placements, and my first time leading it I took a nasty fall, ripping two Metolius offset cams and fell onto a 000C3, hitting the ledge below. I've never tried so hard in my life, and blacked out on the thin upper crux. My partner said I let out an animalistic scream and next thing I knew I was at the last rest before finishing on 5.11 terrain. It feels like a dream, I can't believe I sent! One try would take about an hour, it was epic. I trained hard this past winter focusing on power. I did a lot of bouldering, campusing, and lock-off training. The past month I tried to get out there every other day as much as weather would allow. I'm not sure how many days it took or tries but I'm guessing 70 or so tries maybe 50 days? Kind of a guess. I worked it last June, August through early November, then started back this year in late April.

Klemen Becan has done his second 9a+, Papichulo in Oliana. The Slovenian was previously a successful competition climber, having won one event, but later he later became one of the best onsight climbers in the world. Last year, he has more focused on bolting and redpoint and once again, he becomes one of the best in the world. This summer he runs training camps with Chris Sharma. (c) Anja Becan - Tried it in the winter after Joe Mama 9a+ but too many people were trying it all the time. Not so motivating for me since I like to climb, so I abandoned project for a while :-) Now when conditions were perfect (after March) there were less people here and time to put more time in the route. So last month I came here once a week and made 2-3 trys in it (altogether arround 10 serious tries, 4 sessions). Today I basically surprised my self since I thought finally I can do some training attempts to get stronger and after I came over the crux I just crused over the rest of it without any big rest. The hardest part for me was still minichulo (first few meters) and I did this part only 2 or 3 times :-). At the end I was basically a bit disappointed since I was expecting a bigger fight in the route, but I guess all the training pays of

Margo Hayes has done her second 8c+, The Crew in Rifle, and goes to #2 place in the 8a ranking game. "Never let go. That last attempt can be magical." (c) Jon Glassberg Joe Kinder comments on Facebook, "It makes me proud to see a young climber girl like Margo representing our sport in a real and sincere way, a way that us core climbers believe in. GREAT JOB MARGO!!!!!!" The 18-year-old, who was #2 in the Youth Lead Championship last year, has competed four times in the Boulder World Cup in the last two years, always made it to the semifinal and once got into the final.

Alex Puccio, who had a knee surgery after an injury in the isolation in Vail World Cup last year, comes with really bad news on Facebook. - So.... A lot is going on in my mind right now, but mostly scared. As a lot of people may have seen me grab my neck and arm during the world cup in Vail this past weekend though out the rounds. I was in a bit of pain that started when I was warming up in isolation before qualifiers. I felt a shooting pain down both arms when I was trying a run and jump, but the shooting pain went away pretty quickly. Even tho I made it to finals in this condition I could tell my strength was a lot lower and my pain was increasing. I tried my hardest and then today got an MRI here are the results: A very bad herniated disc in between C5 and C6 Vertebras. The disc is pushing on my Spinal Cord and that is the reason for he numbness and shooting pain in my arms. The Surgeon took a look at it and right after and said it needs surgery right away! The Disc is damaging the spinal cord. He will have to remove my disc and fuse my C5 and C6 together. I check into the hospital tomorrow and the surgery is Sunday!!! The surgeon says its 3 months still I can climb and it's fully fused together. Everyone I talked to says its a shorter recover time then my knee so I'm hoping for the best!!! :) This really sucks and really sucks that there were people and even fellow competitors that didn't believe me when I said I think I'm injured and something is wrong. I guess I don't know my own limitations sometimes. It's hard when you adrenalin is going. Road to recovery PART 2!!! Actually the commentator mentioned during the final in Vail that she seemed to have neck problems and that she did not seem to be the same boulderer as she was in the qualification and semifinal.

In April 2016 an international team of climbers was the first to receive permission to climb in Zhangjiajie, China’s first and largest National Forest Park, located in the northern Hunan province of south-central China. With more than 3,000 unique orange sandstone pillars reaching to the clouds, this stunning UNESCO World Heritage site attracts over 30 million visitors annually. Despite being a tourist attraction, the park’s regulations prevented climbers from exploring Zhangjiajie’s maze of freestanding towers.

A Song for Tomorrow - Climbing in Qingfeng Valley (CHN) from World of Freesports on Vimeo.

The Circuit Climbing reports with a video that Rustam Gelmanov has done the first repeat of Hypnotized Minds in just three days, which Daniel Woods the first ascentionist just upgraded to 8C+. The Russian has previously done at least an 8B+ and he is currently #2 in the IFSC World Ranking.

La Grotta dei Colombi is located near Cala Gonone on Sardinia and is possibly the biggest climbing cave in Europe. The potential is 100 routes with up to 50 meters overhang and 100 meters long. The rock quality is superb: it is full of tufas and pockets and on the sides, more vertical rock and also some slabs. It is also possible to climb both during winter and summer. Until now, a team from Czech Republic created mainly by Jan Kares, Slávek Dostál and Tomas Truhelka, who has helped us out with collecting some further info, has put up ten routes. "The outbreak of our bolting in Sardinia fully started in Chistmas 2008. And has never stopped... The tightly knitted relationship between us, bolting and Sardinia has so far resulted in approx. 2.300 bolts used to put up some 220 routes at 12 crags. The latest addition to the crag family is recently discovered Grotta di Colombi, which aspires to one of the greatest caves in Europe. All equipment and bolting steel have been paid for with old hard cash from mainly Jan’s pockets. Along with travel cost, accommodation and litres of doppios. Forget sponsoring or contributions from locals, we never asked that to be a part of the deal. Somehow, however, this innocent hobby accelerated to dimensions no longer acceptable without help from outside. Should you feel you can help us at any way to develop many beautiful crags in Sardinia, please contact Jan at [email protected]. Any help is greatly appreciated. There is abundance of bolting material and tools, but the manpower is what’s desperately needed.

Isabelle Faus has done two 8B's, The Automator in RMNP and Evil Backwards in Mt Evans. During the last year, she has done one 8B+, five 8B's and nine 8A+'s and she is the new #1 in the 8a ranking game. - I think my progress is a result of just doing my own thing and enjoying climbing, quitting competition climbing has helped me the most I was always to focused in the gym, trying hard but not really accomplishing anything, and even if I did well in a competition it wasn't satisfying because in the end it is just plastic. Climbing on rock means new experiences every day and that keeps it fun and motivating for me.

Heither Weidner has done China Doll 8b+ R on trad in Boulder Canyon. The R stands for that it is risky due to poor gear and long in between. "Combined pitch one (13c) and pitch 2 (13d) on gear. Used one fixed pin and one fixed nut on the extension. Started on 5.7 solo traverse. I can't believe I did this!!! My biggest climbing accomplishment to date. Huge thanks to Chris for the countless belays, I've been working this just over a year. Dream come true!!!" Heither is the fourth female to reach 8b+ at trad after Lynn Hill did it in 1993, Beth Rodden in 2008 (8c+) and Barbara Zangerl in 2014. Interview is coming up. (c) Jon Glassberg/Louderthan11, who is making a feature film of her accomplishment.