About a month and a half ago Iban Larrion added a new boulder-route in a smaller grotto aside the Baltzola cave, Mikelon, for which he suggested 8B+/C (remember that in 2012 and at the same spot he also made the FA of 'Airian', suggesting 8C for it). At that time we talked with him in this interview, where we also asked him about his long standing project with a rope in the same area, Iñi Ameriketan 9a+, which he was finally able to send about 2,5 weeks ago after trying it for 6 years. Pic© Estibaliz Díaz. Iban is the fourth to clip the chains of what was born as a 100% natural route (so far just a crimp broke and was glued back on the same spot) bolted by Iñigo Basterra in 1995 which first ascent was claimed by Rikar Otegi in 2002 saying it was a 9a. One year later it was bagged by Patxi Usobiaga agreeing with such difficulty proposal. Second repetition didn't happen till 2014 with an Adam Ondra well used to revise a good number of routes downward but registering this one with a 9a+ in his scorecard with the following comment: "Harder than 'Il Domani', even though easier beta than Patxi and Rikar used has been found. 2 days, sent in humidity." Iban confirmed us that Ondra used his method and coincide with him on his grading, even if "an intermediate in the crux section broke off, but this didn't mean that plus." We, in the Spanish 8a.nu site, have asked him some few more questions that you can read in this new interview.

Gerhard Schaar has published a new topo of Malatal, which offers around 350 sport routes, 80 multi pitch routes, 10 selected alpine climbs and about 200 boulders. "The Maltatal is quite unique, because first of all you climb from a sea level of 800m up to 3350m. And secondly there are a lot of climbs right next to the many amazing waterfalls. There are a lot of lines from 7a up to 8c+, and a good share of great and easy climbing on slabs with superb quality. Me and Markus Pucher started bouldering here around 1993, when we opened the majority of easier problems. With the arrival of Klem Loskot in 1997 the Maltatal started to be recognized as top secret spot and attracted much more climbers, leading to all the access issues mentioned before. To cut a long story short I was planning to a guidebook as I was amongst the busiest pioneers in bouldering, as well as the main developers for sport climbs by opening about 250 lines over about 20 years. Facebook and here you can buy buy the topo for 31 Euro.

I have been training hard indoors, following different programs but I do not feel any progress outdoors on my route projects. How should I change my indoor training? This is quite logical as indoors and outdoors climbing sometimes challenges different strength. Focus on climbing many easier routes in order not to compare and be so performance-oriented outdoors, which can create anxiety. Regarding your indoor training, try do focus on more outdoor look-alike moves, which usually means Bouldering less steep and especially using smaller footholds. It just might be that your outdoor projects involve some closed crimping moves which you probably have not trained so much indoors during the winter. If so, just do a couple of sessions where you focus a bit more on crimping in order to recruite the strength which may be needed for your projects. Good luck! Feel free to ask more questions in the forum or send them to [email protected]

The number of climbers is increasing dramatically. Here is some knowledge that could help beginners to learn how to act and understand the sport. Click on he picture! Access & Human Waste Safety and Belaying technic Practice & Ethics Grading in theory & Reality

Andreaw Bisharat has written a grade article with reference to 8a, which starts with the question: "When Grades Change, Should the Record Books Change, Too??" Of course it should and it is the media who have the responsibility to present as accurate grades as possible. Action Direct was first given 8c+/9a but in the history book of climbing it is considered as the world's first 9a even if that might be replaced by Ben Moon's Hubble. Non-climbing media will get more and more interested in the climbing world records and surely we have to give them our best knowledge even if it does not mean facts. As an example, even in climbing media it is said that Chris Sharma put up the first ever 9a+ with Realization and that Ashima Shiraishi did the first female 9a+ by Open Your Mind Direct. Clearly, the non-climbing media is not interested in hearing the whole story and how grading works and getting all the question marks. They are just interested in presenting the world records based on the best knowledge possible and in this case, Sharma's and Shiraishi's great ascents should not be considered as 9a+'s world records. If 8a were to be asked by the non-climbing media which are the 9a+ world records, we would answer: No female has yet done a 9a+ and the first ever 9a+ was done by Alex Huber in 1996 by Open Air in Schleier Wasserfall. OK, some would say Fred Rouhling's 9b Akira from 1995 but 8a thinks that this falls out of the definition of a route. Surely, in few years, we might return to the opinion that Sharma and Shiraishi's 9a+'s were the first ever but as it stands now, and what should be presented to the non-climbing media, is that no female has done a 9a+ and that Huber was first.

Detailed info about the job of a communication assistant at IFSC.

In modern climbing heel- and toehooks are used more often and this is why the new La Sportiva shoe - Skwama focused on enabling you perfect friction on such moves. Furthermore, it is a high end, rather soft performance shoe where they have used their patented P3 midsole technology to keep the aggressive profile of the shoe over its lifetime. Comparing sizes, it seems like half size bigger than similar La Sportiva shoes. "Details: Patented S-Heel™ construction provides optimal heel hooking maneuverability and the perfect heel cup fit P3® patented technology coupled with the new innovative split-sole construction allows the sole to spread when weighted, reducing edge deformation Sticky rubber toe patch for toe hooks and scums"

Nika Potapova has done her second 8b+, Marioneta and the day after also her first 8c, Strelovod in Osp/Misja Pec. Last year, she set a female world record on the Zlagboard, hanging for 2.40 min. This is some 40 seconds more than the second best female and in fact she is #2 overall behind Ramonet's 2.45. Nika normally does seven training sessions a week including two rest days. - I "put an eye" on Strelovod in my previous trip in November last year. There is a big hold on the second half of the route where you could relax but it was not so easy for me to reach it, small holds long reaches. I had to use my foot regular on the heel because of my height. It took 4 days, 14 tries for the realization. I am very happy and have new plans: a trip to Arco and competitions in Imst. I want that May become soon!

samuel arroyo has helped us out with an article about Calcena #1 in the 8a ascent trend ranking in Spain. With just 20 inhabitants in the province of Zaragoza this town is experiencing a big change. "The first ascents date back to the 70s when climbers from Zaragoza city opened the first routes of classic cut, using cracks and dihedral to conquer their needles. Three decades after a group of climbers from the area, started to reequip these routes and opened new ones with a sportier character, but it has been just a couple of years ago when Calcena has become a landmark in sports climbing in the north-est of spain. Thanks to new bolting techniques their walls have filled with incredible lines to currently reach 400 routes of all levels, good bolting and good rock quality are its hallmarks, the most of the crags are vertical slabs but we can also find overhanging walls where our forearms will blow up. The possibilities of the area are endless and with great potential, however, we can not forget the environment and therefore in the last months local climbers are grouped with the association Escalada Sostenible. You can get all the info and topos in the Calenca hostel Thanks to the wall's orientation is possible to climb all year around, the climbing area is located at 836 m. above sea level, enabling rock climb even on the hottest days. Calenca video overview.