Neil Gresham, one of the leading UK trad and sport climbers of the last 20 years, has made the FA of Premonition 8b+ at Kilnsey. It starts at the previous mixed Deja Vu E5 (in between the trees in the picture by Neil) established by Ron Fawcett and was protected with three threads in the start. There are 32 routes on the crag out of which almost all are bolted. Having been given the OK from the FA, Neil replaced the threads with two bolts and also placed another bolt higher up, just to the side of the original line. For this Neil has been criticized by some, out of which the former UKC employee Mick Ryan was harshest, saying that he should chop the bolts. Neil called Mick asking for an explanation for his critical stand point, seeing as Mick himself did exactly the same thing on two routes 25 years ago, replacing threads with bolts. The only difference was that Mick had not been given an OK from the FA. Until now, there have been 304 posts in the UKC forum and Mick Ryan has been banned. 8a contacted Mick to get an opinion on why he was so critical towards Neil as he had done a worse thing 25 years ago. "Whether a bolt is placed, or taken out is always down to an individual action, an individual decision to act. Some may agree or disagree with the action. Some retrobolts stay in, some come out and that is decided by individuals. Anyone is free to do as they wish, just as Neil has done recently. He placed retrobolts. Some people disagree with that, some agree. He didn't ask the BMC for permission. When it comes to placing bolts or taking them out we only have our own authority. There is no-one telling you what to do, or not what to do.' Neil Gresham: 'The aim of the new bolts was to strike a compromise between the requirements of those climbing the original line and those wishing to climb the new Extension. These things are always difficult to resolve and it's impossible to please everyone. However, I firmly believe that the majority support this type of evolution. The way it's always been in the UK is that first ascentionists decide about any alterations to the fixed protection on a route, although in this case the critics have tried to claim otherwise simply because they disagree with what we've done.'

- I had thought about making a digital version of the guidebook for a long time. Many climbers approached me over the years for collaboration, but at the time I felt it was premature to make an app, while I also was afraid an app would take sales away from the print guidebook which I worked so hard for. But now I think the time is right to make an app that will complement the print guidebook. When Vertical Life approached me we had very good rapport, I liked the quality of their work, and other guidebook authors I respect had already collaborated with them, so my decision was made. Here you can preorder it for 40 + 8 Euro including freight It should be noted that the last guide book from 2010 had 1 700 routes and the 2015 version 2 700.

Sachi Amma, who has a goal of doing ten routes 9a and harder in 2015, just did his ninth, Jungle Boogie 9a+ in Céüse. (c) Luka Fonda From Facebook: "I send Jungle Boogie!!!!! Finally... I still can not believe it happened. It is raining heavily right now. Tomorrow I go to Germany. I got a last chance. It was a miracle!" Sachi stopped competing in 2014 after having been on the podium in 14 out of the last 15 Lead World Cups.

Isabelle Faus, who did her first 8B+ last month, continues to deliver with The Shining 8B in RMNP. In the female ranking game, she was #2 after Alex Puccio for quite some time and now she is the tied #1 and actually #35 among the male. (c) Chad Greedy "Really psyched! first try from the start yesterday, tried it the last few years tho, can't really remember anything ever, but probably more than 5 days, and less than 10 haha. great boulder, super steep, powerful, sustained, pretty perfect, props to my hommie Jimmy Webb for putting it up!"

Isaac Caldiero, an active 8a member who has done two 8B+ FAs, has become the first out of 3 500 contestants during seven seasons of American Ninja Warrior and won 1 millon USD. DPM reports, "This was Caldiero’s thirds season on the show and he trained hard this year to win. He reportedly built a replica of stage three in his backyard—the upper body intensive crux of the four-stage event that had only been completed one time before by climber Brian Arnold.

The new Kalymnos topo with 448 pages including some 2700 routes is at the printer's. The majority of photos and photo-topos are new, and in addition to the practical information about each crag (shade, exposure, approach etc) little extras, like GPS coordinates to each crag, have been added. The biggest change, however, is that you will also get a code for a free App, that has been created in cooperation with Vertical-Life. Matthias Polig invented the Zlagboard and started Vertical Life almost three years ago with the plan to contact the local topo authors and offer to be their publishing house including a topo App. - Being the local topo producer of the South Tyrol topo I know how much hard work these guys put in and also that they help rebolting etc. At the same time, the locals are threatened by topo companies who just fly in and copy old topos as well as by user generated web topos. We believe that digital publishing has a great future, especially in the outdoor area. Together with locals all over the world, we are creating a global digital climbing guide. The Vertical-Life Climbing app is a comprehensive mobile guide to the best crags, boulders and multipitches. In addition to our own climbing guides, we cooperate with local authors and digitalize their guidebooks.

Planet Mountain reports that Nina Caprez and Barbara Zangerl have done Die Unendliche Geschichte, a 420 m long 8b+ put up by Beat Kammerlander in 1990 and only repeated once by Pietro dal Pra. (c) Robert Bösch Barbara started out getting head lines for boulder ascents up to 8B meanwhile Nina made routes up to 8c. During the last year they have been challenging the hardest multi pitches in the world, almost equal to the top male and Nina comments. "In my eyes there is no difference between girls and boys, especially on vertical and technical faces like the ones in Rätikon. There is only one difference that matters and it's between the first ascent and all that follow. Redpointers are always in the privileged position, they already know that the route is possible to climb."

The new Helium II jacket by Outdoor Research has been designed in a way that makes you not realise it's there until you need it… It takes up less space than your chalk bag and weighs 180g (size L), which happens to be ideal to carry in your climbing/boulder backpack for those “just in case” moments. You can also hang it from your harness for those unexpected storms when you’re in the middle of a multi-pitch route. It’s also suitable for trail runners. It's Pertex Shield + that has protected us from the rain and wind throughout long periods and although it lacks a specific breathability system, it transpires quite well. It has two pockets, one on the chest with a zip and an internal one which doubles as a stuff sack with a carabiner for clip-on convenience. The hood with a built-in visor is completely adjustable and compatible with the helmet. The OR logos (the big one when the jacket is packed in and the ones on the chest and arm) are reflective. On the downside, what we’ve least liked about the jacket are the cuffs, they are not adjustable so unless you’ve got very wide wrists they feel quite loose. They are available in an array of colours for both men and women. Mind you, buy it a size bigger if you’re planning to wear it with something other than a t-shirt or a sweater. See more about it in this video.