Melanie Sandoz, the World Bouldering Champion from 2012, has done her first 8A+, Frank's wild years in Cresciano and it only took her one hour. In 2013, the French was #3 in the European Bouldering Championship and the amazing thing is that her best World Cup result is #6 even if she has participated in some 30 events.

Jernej Kruder, #2 in the Bouldering World Championships 2014, is on a bolting trip to Dalmatia in Croatia. After a week he has bolted a dozen routes using the high quality 316 marine bolts that are paid for mostly by himself. The photographer, Luka Tambaca, says, "This cave has only one route so far and if he climbs it, it will be the hardest in Croatia. There is so much rock in Dalmatia that in future we can expect more great spots like this." This summer Jernej did some multi-pitches up to 8b+ and later he did three 8B+ Boulders. He was also #3 in the Adidas Rock Master. Three weeks ago, he established a 60+ move 9a+ so clearly, he is a great multi-discipline climbing fanatic.

Laura Rogora has onsighted Fallo col dito nel buco in Grotti giving it a personal grade of 8a+. During the same day she also did an 8b+. Her two first 8c's she did when she was just 13 years old. In the 8a ranking game, the Italian senior champion is #2.

Climbers Against Cancer was founded in 2012. The charity has raised some 400 000 euro, mainly through CAC T-shirt sales, income from which has been donated to different institutes. From an 8a interview from 2014: "The diagnosis is a terminal one so no cure in sight. I think being positive has played a major part in my dealing with the situation so far and happiness is key. It is true after all that happiness is reciprocal so if I am happy then those around me will be and so on."

A day with John Ellison - founder of Climbing Against Cancer from Polished Project on Vimeo.

Domen Škofic comes with amazing news on Facebook, "Special day for our crew today!!! Both @miiiinam (Mina Markovic) and @janja_garnbret made history today by doing a 9a (Fabela pa la enmienda) and 8c flash! (Rollito Sharma extension) Congrats girls, you're outstanding and a huge inspiration!" Mina won the Lead World Cup this year and Janja (16) was #7 but she participated in only three events, making the podium in all of them. In the European Championships she was #2. All of them come from Slovenia, which is one of the leading Climbing nations although it has just about two million residents. In the 8a Climber of the year list, Mina is #2, Domen #8 and Janja #12. More info to come. (c) Luka Fonda

Domen Škofic has done Fuck the system 9a in Santa Linya. The big knee drop moves were captured by Luka Fonda.

Rafa Fanega, who started climbing 25 years ago, is having his best year ever. Last week he did the FA of Estado lamentable in Archidona, which is his third 8c+ in 2015. Previously, the 40-year-old did only one 8c+, which took place last year. In total, Rafa has recorded 1 410 routes, out of which one third are FAs. Most of his FAs are from Fin del Mundo outside Madrid, which has been one of the most popular crags in Spain recently, although it is closed between February 1st and June 15th.

Very few climbers do proper warming up. Instead, we warm up with super easy slow motion climbing, which is time-consuming and could create the wrong mind set. If instead you start your warming up with jumping up and down on jugs on a steep overhang where you increase the load, you save time and get a more explosive mind set. Having done some 30 moves during about 3 minutes you can start using your feet and within five minutes you can do big lock off moves. Later you can do the same on crimps meaning that within 8 - 10 minutes you can be ready to climb and give your best on the training with the right powerful mind set.

The team of Vertical Life from South Tyrol is doing a great job in creating a world wide Climbing Topo App. The team follows strong ethical guidelines and collaborates exclusively with guidebook authors, locals and publishing houses. Many of the most recognized locals like Aris Theodoropoulos (Kalymnos guidebook), Andrea Gallo (Finale and Oltrefinale), Maurizio Oviglia (Sardinia), Markus Schwaiger (Zillertal) and Florian Wenter (Alpen en Bloc from Panico) believe in this promising service and system. This is why 8a decided to team up with Vertical Life. Together we will work on flexible Ranking Games for climbing events and gyms. A few days ago Vertical Life released the complete App update with some quite original functions, a modern style and new content, extending the offer also to Bouldering areas. You can download the App for Android and iOS and check out the climbing guide for 6 crags in Kyparissi, Greece, using this free code: 8ANU.
Download the App.