"Just returned from this years MelloBlocco shindig in Val di Mello, northern Italy - the fifth year this event has run. The bad news is - hard bouldering as we know it has just been kicked into touch by Adam Ondra - the Czech 15 year-old that has been dispatching all the hardest sport routes in Europe with worrying ease the last year or so.

I'm always a bit cynical of the new greatest things - the new font, the new Malc Smith, etc, but I have witnessed with my own eyes the thorough humiliation of the some of the worlds best boulderers at the hands of a scrawny kid with no discernible muscles!

I spoke briefly to Toni Lamiche and Jerome Meyer who had spent 2 days working a horrific 8b that had not been repeated in 2 years. Apparently they too suffered the humiliation of looking on miserably as Adam pissed up it after a bit of work when he came over to see what they were up to on day 2 of the event. To quote Lamiche, 'It's finished for us guys! This kid is the new school'."

More info and postings on the UKBouldering Thread

Melloblocco 2008: a roaring success

On Sunday 11 May 2008 the fifth Melloblocco came to an end. The international climbing meeting in Val Masino / Val di Mello confirmed it's position once again as the most popular bouldering meet in the world. The meet surpassed all expectations last weekend, drawing more than 4000 passionate climbers into the valley.

Mello Blocco was founded in 2004 by the Lombardy Mountain Guides and has been promoted and organised by the Val Masino town council for the last two years running.

They say:

"It is the story of an encounter and a sort of love affair. On the one hand the beauty of these valleys which constitute a true untouched enclave in the heart of the Alps. On the others the passionate climbers who, in this beautiful and almost primeval countryside, have unearthed their small great Eden."

For more information on the Mello Blocco event visit the website HERE