What are the most groundbreaking ascents in the history of climbing? Who was the most superior at a particular time? Only one ascent per climber and exclusion of bouldering. Here is the preliminary 8a list. 1. FA of Meltdown 8c+ trad by Beth Rodden in 2008 2. FA of The Nose 8b+ Bigwall FA by Lynn Hill in 1993 3. Lucifer 8c+ by Ashima Shiraishi (11) in 2012 4. Bain de Sang 9a by Josune Bereziartu in 2002 5. FA of Hubble 9a by Ben Moon in 1990 6. FA of Action Direct by Wolfgang Gullich in 1991 7. Martin Krpan 9a by Adam Ondra (13) in 1996 8. FA of Es Pontas 9b DWS by Chris Sharma in 2008 9. FA of Open Air 9a+ by Alex Huber in 1996 0. OS by Le roi du pétrole 8c by Charlotte Durif in 2010, OS of Estato Critico 9a by Alex Megos in 2013, The Dawn Wall 9a FA by Caldwell/Jorgeson in 2015

Stephan Schibli, who started climbing in 1989, made his personal best by completing the FA of Licht und Schatten 9a+ in Telli. The project took him around 50 sessions over three year period. The 44-year-old previously climbed three 9a's and his hardest route, not counting his own FA's, is an 8c. This also does not take into account Bang des Sang 9a, which he climbed on top rope in his third try. "I built the start of the route in my boulder room for my special training. The next climbing plan is the an 15 year open project in Telli and holiday in Sperlonga!!!"

Silvio Reffo, who previously completed nine 9a's or harder, repeated Stefano Ghisolfi's 40 m long line, Under Vibes 9a in Arco, which is a link-up of Underground 9a and Reinis Vibes 8c. In total, the Italian spent roughly 25 sessions on the two 9a's. "I'm really not sure about the degree of this route; some years ago when I tried Papichulo, a 9a+ very similar style to UnderVibes in Oliana, I felt the same feelings, so probably this route could be 9a/a+. I think for the moment that this line is the hardest resistance testpiece in Arco. Thanks to Francesca Simionato for the belay in a so freezing morning. Now I have some Projects in Slovenia and with the new year I'm going to go in Oliana.

Imagine connecting a device to your harness that instructs a camera equipped drone to automatically film you from five meters above your head. The number of videos exploiting drones has dramatically increased in the last few years. This has been observed mainly in bouldering as it is still hard to follow a climber on a 30 m long route. The Airdog can also be the perfect tool for you and your trainer to analyse your training and progress on projects. One drawback is that the battery capacity is just 10 - 18 minutes at the moment and then it takes one hour to recharge it. One possible solution for this is to wait to turn it on until you have come to the hard spectacular sequence high up on the route and then you can turn it off and the Airdog returns back to the base. Another setback is of course the price, 1 699 Euros, plus the additional cost of the camera. Here you can purchase the drone for 1 000 Euros, which includes a camera and ability to recharge the battery in an hour while still at the crag. Someday, the norm at a crag may be existence of several hovering drones at any time. This is easily a prospect some will welcome and others will dread. 8a has been in contact with the producers who informed us that a demo will be conducted at Railay before its market release in February.

Tara Reynvaan reports on Facebook that Jonathan Siegrist has done his fourth 9a+, Power Inverter in Oliana, and the good news is that there is a video being made. Jonathan has done 14 routes 9a and harder to date. He is also famous for comparing Era Vella 9a with some 8c's he has done.

The Norwegian Federation is looking for a head coach for their Youth Team who will be responsible for some 6 - 8 guys, based on a 30 % position making some Euro 11 000 per year.

Tazio Gavioli has done 118 pull-ups, 46 of while were completed in one minute and 11 + 8 one arm pull-ups. He is also a three times Guiness world record holder. This link contains a list of unofficial records for timed pull-ups and chin-ups. "The Italian Butterfly started as a rock climber but with no rock around he got obsessed with pull-up training. He has done 8a but at the moment his focus is not rock climbing. - I have fun in what I'm doing and this is the most important thing; I'd like one day to try and why not to get some hard routes as Action Directe for example! In relation to my strengths, "I'm not a good climber". I'm just able to climb on-sight around the 7a+/7b, not more. I should climb to get better... I got my last ascent 14 months ago. Probably in the first months of the next year I'll be again on a TV show, maybe to do again my Guinness World Record about "one arm climbing" or, I don't know, maybe "the most number of pull ups in one minute. I think that 150 two hands pull ups should be possible."

Janja Garnbret, who's won all the youth comps she's entered, was superior at La Sportiva Legends in Stockholm. The 16-year-old completed all five problems in only seven tries, while the other four world class females did just three altogether. Adding to that extreme result, Janja is primarily a lead climber who in the three WCs she entered in 2015 was #2, 2 and 3. (c) Lars Lindwall

Alex Megos reports on Facebook that he has done yet another 9a, "Did "Victimes del Futur" 9a today! After giving it 2 tries after my onsight of "Victimes del Passat" 2 days ago... A powerful lock-off is the crux and the freezing temps made everything harder since everybody struggled with cold fingers. But having a great time here!!!" Alex has done 47 routes 9a and harder and in our stats is #3, after Adam Ondra and Ramon Julian Puigblanque. However, when it comes to the biggest number of 9a's done the last year, Megos is #1 with more than 15 of them.

Ramon Julian has done his second 9a FA during the last week, Widowmaker in Margalef. "Four tries during two days, impressive over hang opened by Vicent Palau." Ramonet climbed his first 9a in 2002. 2015 has proven to be his most productive year with six 9a's and two 9a+'s. In total, the 34-year-old has done 46 ascents 9a and harder.