During the last few years, we have seen an extreme grade progress in children's performance. What used to create a headline some five years ago, i.e. a 13-year-old doing an 8b+ is not so special any longer. If this trend continues, we will have 9-year-old doing 8b's by 2020 and then they will progress to 9a being 13 years old. The two most famous wonder-kids are of course Adam Ondra and Ashima Shiraishi but in few years, there might be a handful that can copy them or even climb harder. The rationale is of course that today there is possibly 10 times more kids climbing compared to 2000, when Adam Ondra was seven years old. In the long run, climbing will be recognized as the sport where small girls perform at high male senior standard.

Malgorzata Rudzinska, a former Speed climber from Poland, who has achieved two Top-8 positions in Youth World Championship, has done her first 8A+, Amores Perros in Borzęta. It is especially impressive since there is no good climbing wall in her area (it was closed down in 2014) and there is four hour drive to any good rock.
(c) Gajewski-foto

William Bosi, who was #3 in the European Youth Championship last year, has done his first 9a, Rainshadow in Malham. "Super psyched and in shock after possibly my best every day climbing." Video of the the nice crux.. - Basically Rainshadow is by far the hardest route I've ever done and one of the best. It is probably the most inspiring line at Malham and one of the most in Britain. It climbs through the steepest and longest part of the Malham roof and its pretty much in the middle of the cove as well. This was the first route I've ever spent more than 2 days on so I really got a feel for the projecting side of climbing but I'm not sure I'm convinced. This route was my main ambition for this year so now I'm keen just to go to lots of crags and try I lots of hard routes. The main ones I have in mind are Hubble and Hunger 9a. I'm also hoping to get some good results in the youth competitions this year.

Oriane Bertone has done a left variant of Ganesh Assis 8A in Ravine Saint on Reunion Island. Actually, it was a reclimb as she first did it a month ago but then some guys said she dabbed the crash pad. Video of the ascent.

Dabbing normally means that a boulderer has touched the ground or the spotter in a swing. The general ethics says that a dab means an invalid ascent no matter how small such dab was. The problem is of course that if we start to say that minimalistic dabs are OK, it is impossible to draw the line. In theory, also the chalk bag may dab sometimes it could make a difference also meaning that such dab should be considered as an invalid ascent. However, if get deeper into the case, a hand or a chalk bag that touches the ground during chalking, like in the picture, or even a friend holding up a chalk bag is should not normally invalid the ascent, although such situations should be avoided. Surely, the purest ethics should only be used for the ascents that make headlines. If you, as a spotter, make a mistake by which your friend just slightly dabs you during a swing for a 6A personal best, just keep smiling. If it is an 8A, you might instead say that you do not know and claim that it is up to the climber to make the call.

From 5 to 8 May, the Bouldering world will meet again in Val Masino, northern Italy for the legendary Melloblocco. This year, there’s a new open fun contest, which features the Vertical-Life Climbing App. Everybody is welcome to take part and discover different Masterpiece Climbing Circuits throughout the valley. Climbers can use their smartphones, download the Vertical-Life climbing app, check out the special Melloblocco Event guide and benefit from live social features. The guide provides topos, access maps and gives the possibility to mark sent boulders with a ‚Zlag‘. All the live results are displayed at the Melloblocco Center and on Vertical-Life website. The real time ascents are also visible in the Zlagfeed and in the local hero ranking in the app. In order to be able to synchronize offline Zlags, the organizers provide wifi-hotspots at the Melloblocco Center and throughout the valley. There are four difficulty levels and different rankings for male and female. It is possible to register for the individual and team score. Also, the more difficult money blocs for pros are visible in the app with topos and access info. Climbers can register for the event online or on-site and receive their free access code with the starter package at the Melloblocco registration desk.

Shauna Coxey won her fourth WC event straight, including also having won the last year. Last week in Japan she won both the semi and the final rounds. Last year she was #2 overall after Akiyo Noguchi, who was the runner-up in China. Among the male, Tomoa Narasaki got his first victory, having been #18 and #15 in the two first events. Complete results.

Dave MacLeod has had a couple of very good days in Magic Wood climbing Practice of the wild 8C. He also repeated Steppenwolf 8B in 3 tries and made a quick ascent of Dark Sakai 8B. A couple of weeks earlier he climbed Shallow Water to Riverbed 8B+. Click here for his blog with a video. Dave should be considered to be one of the best overall climbers in the world having been on the cutting edge in trad, winter and ice climbing. auther having publish two training books and here is his 8C story which includes dropping six kilos.

1. Alexey Rubtsov RUS 177 - Shauna Coxsey GBR 300 2. Rustam Gelmanov RUS 165 - Melissa Le Neve FRA 203 3. Kokoro Fujii JPN 155 - Miho Nonaka JPN 153 4. Jan Hojer GER 152 - Akiyo Noguchi JPN 147 5. Tomoa Narasaki JPN 138 - Fanny Gibert FRA 131 Complete results.

The upgraded Quantum is a bit wider and the heel is a bit higher so now it fits my foot perfectly. At the same time, the heal is softer so I can belay standing with half the foot outside the shoe. After the first day I thought they were too big as they were just too comfortable but after ten days, they have not stretched at all and as they are stiffer they are about to become my new favorite shoe for standing on micro-edges. Possibly, it could also relate to the fact that they are relatively pointy instead of rounded. At the same time, they have the fastest lacing I have ever tried, where it is good enough just to pull at the ends of the laces. More info here.