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Schubert is in the flow

Jakob Schubert is killing it at the moment. So much in fact that, a couple of days ago he paid Hades , 9a, (the underworld in Greek mythology) a visit, dispatching it on his first day of the year. This particular Hades can be found at Nassereith, Austria. Jakob, who's still only 19, has had a splendid spring season, with ascents of two ~9a's, one 8c+ and three 8c's, two of which flash! Photo: Jakob Schubert Source: 8a

8B+ FA by Nalle in Norway

One week ago, Nalle Hukkataival embarked on a roadtrip to Norway. The weather forecast looked grim to say the least, predicting heavy rain every day in the Trondheim area. This didn't put him off however, and apparently, and as usual I suppose, the forecast was not entirely correct, because today I got a report from Eivind Flobak: "Rumour has it Nalle Hukkataival has sent the Diamanten project at Vingsand, giving it a grade of 8B+. This means it should be the hardest problem in Norway. Vingsand is a newly

Carlo Traversi doing Jade. The video

... can now be found over at DPM . Not bad!

Two more 8B's for James Webb

Jimmy Webb is quickly ticking his way through the Colorado test-pieces. This month, he has dispatched no less than 4 8B's, 6 8A+'s and 10 8A's. Two of the 8B's, Top notch and Don't get too Greedy were done yesterday. Here's a video with Jimmy Webb and Brion Voges. Colorado 2 from Jimmy Webb on Vimeo .

Jade, by Carlo Traversi

Just a couple of hours ago, Carlo Traversi has made the 6th(?) (Woods, Landman, Robinson, Hukkataival, Schaal) ascent of Daniel Woods' Jade , 8C, in the Upper chaos of RMNP. What's remarkable is that Jade is rather (or brutaly) crimpy and..., according to what he told me, he doesn't crimp. Ever. I think that's kinda cool actually. Carlo has had a great last couple of months with ascents of classics like Black lung , Circadian Rhythm and Suspension of disbelief , so that he would do Jade was no surprise.

Victimas Perez by Enzo Oddo

Enzo Oddo has done it again. After five 9a-ish routes last year, Enzo has now done the first for the year by making the 3rd ascent of Victimas Perez, 9a, in the Raco de la finestra sector at Margalef. The route basically consists of a 30mof steep left traversing wall climb, roughly~8c+ in its own right, up to a spicy 7C crux at the top. Full story and more photos on Nice-climb Photo: Enzo Oddo on Victimas Perez, by Dave Graham

Help Salavat Rakhmetov's daughter

Salavat's 5-year-old daughter, Zalia, sustained severe injuries when she was hit by a falling rock at a crag in Turkey. Surgery, treatment and transportation is very expensive, so please help by donating money, if you can. The data for Western Union (currency account maybe later): RAKHMETOV Salavat (Kipaevich) 63 № 8399932 28.04.2009 - 28.04.2014 Moscovskaya oblast, g. Odintsovo Read more on Mountain.ru .

Jan Hojer on Action directe, 9a

The Dai Koyamada interview

A couple of weeks ago, Dai Koyamada made the long awaited 2nd ascent of Dave Graham's 'The story of 2 worlds' on the Dreamtime boulder at Cresciano. The problem, which links an extremely crimpy 7 move ~8B/+ or so into Toni Lamprecht's ultra physical 'The Dagger', 8B+, to create what Dave, at the time, called "the new standard for 8C". It went more than five years without a 2nd ascent, and it wasn't because nobody tried it... I decided to ask Dai a few questions. All photos: Dai Koyamada on The story of 2

Jörg Guntram repeats The Hourglass

Jörg Guntram , on tour in Sweden with Tobi Kleemair, has managed to make the 2nd ascent of Stefan Rasmussen's great looking The Hourglass , ~8B+, at Björnblocket, near Västervik. Stefan, portraid in Shawn Boye's movie The Sends , has been working tirelessly for many years, developing bouldering areas around Västervik on the Swedish east coast. The Hourglass is his hardest so far, and a contender for the hardest in the country.