Angie Scarth-Johnson, who is on a three-month long road trip in Europe being schooled, has done her second 8c, L'Espiadimonis in Margalef. Previuosly in March, the 11-year-old has done two 8b+'s. Interesting is that Angie is the only one climbing in her family and she is her own trainer. (c) João Giacchin "Hard pocket climbing to a ok rest then explosive climbing through red point cruxs, then hold on to the chains. So over the moon to have sent such awesome climb."

Matty Hong, who has done three 9a's previously, has set a nice personal best and we have got the great picture from Simon Carter. What was the key to step up to 9a+ and what is next? "I've been in Spain for three months now - my post-graduation (University of Colorado, Boulder) climbing trip. I started trying Papichulo about half-way into my trip but also moved around and climbed at other areas. Maybe it wasn't smart to try something so hard at the end of a long trip since it's hard to maintain strength without training inside, so I was doubting myself a bit wether I was strong enough to do it. Now I will return to Colorado and work on editing a film from my trip with Daniel woods & Dave graham. Then hopefully I can make it to Ceuse for a try at Biographié!"

Until March 23rd you get a free chalk bag when you buy a pair of climbing shoes. Their price range goes from Euro 58 to 167 and most high quality shoes from La Sportiva go at around Euro 120, including free freight. If you log in in you get 10% discount and another 5% credit for your next buy. Testarossa (it the picture) goes at Euro 119. When it comes to ropes, they have several ropes for under Euro 100 and a 70-meter-long Sterling Evolution 9.8 for Euro 235. You can also find several quickdraws under Euro 10. Currently, there is also an up to 50 % sale on The North Face products.

The North Face has created a Mountain Athletics Training App: Click to read how it structures James Pearson and his Top Tips. "REACH YOUR GOALS Train with purpose utilizing our activity-specific strength and conditioning programs – designed to help you prepare for your running, climbing, skiing and fitness goals."

Fanny Gibert did four boulders in five and Alexey Rubtsov did three tops in 17 attempts, which was two tops more than the runner-up. Interestingly, Rubtsov was #6 in the semifinal just ahead of Jan Hojer, meanwhile Gibert won all three rounds. The Russian, who won the Boulder World Championship 2009 and the only WC he did in 2015, says winning in Warsaw in January and Bloc Master will make it possible to finance the World Cups in 2016. Any special training system this year? Yes, my new secret training system :) I go to a plane to Moscow now! Bye!

Ashima Shiraishi's ticklist from last year put her among the Top-20 climbers in the world. Not bad for a 14-year-old who lives and goes to school in New York, which limits her days out on the crags. If we were to measure who has the best tick list based on the days spent on the rock, Ashima is probably among the Top-10 in the world. Just imagine how many 8C's and 9a+'s she could do if she was a professional climber living in Barcelona and travelling around Europe. Clearly, no other 14-year-old girl competes as equal to the male in other sports. She is already quite famous also outside the climbing world and surely, she will set more new standards and help climbing be considered as a real sport that should be a part in the Olympics. (c) Big Up Productions

Reel Rock Film Tour comes with the amazing news that Ashima Shiraishi has made the first repeat of Dai Koyamada's spectacular Horizon 8C, in Hiei, Japan. The 14-year-old worked on the 30 move long roof problem in December and now she has done it on her third day, which means she is the first female and the youngest climber ever to have reached 8C. Here you can find Dai's comment on his FA including a picture where you see that it is almost a horizontal roof. - "No doubt the Super Project was the hardest problem I’'ve ever done and that probably means it’s a V16 (8C+). However, I’'m not quite sure because I don’t have enough references to compare with. I would be able to fully understand what V15 (8C) is like exactly if I did more than fifty or so of them, but my accomplishments don’t even come close to that." Based on Ashima's Route and Boulder ticklist, she has been the world's best female rock climber since she was 12 years old. Among the male, she is currently in the Top-20 including also having done two 9a's last autumn. How many 14-year-old girls are able to compete with the best male in any sport? (c) Brett Lowell