The small Branson area, consisting of one boulder with a bunch of old Nicole classics, has yet gain seen some action. The Italian duo of Gabriele Moroni and Niccolò Ceria went there for a session.

The boys did very well. Gabri made quick ascent of both Radja and La danse de balrog hard and "easy" 8B, while Niccolò, who's only 17, managed a repeat of La danse....

Here's a video of Gabri doing another 8B, the imaginatively named Crackline.

On a slightly larger pebble, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson have been forced to retreat from their Dawn wall project, aka Mescalito, on El Cap, due to bad weather. A big storm came in, and now the season is over.

I'm sure Tommy and Kevin are super psyched to return next year and finish the job. Before the storm, they had both climbed the first 11 pitches and Tommy had also done the 12th.