8/10/11 - Ramón Julian Puigblanque has repeatedly shown his prowess as a reigning competition champion—he won the men's lead division at the World Championships in Arco this year and recently placed third at the Lead World Cup in Briancon, France.
But Spain's Puigblanque is more than just a comp climber: The 29-year-old has climbed up to 5.15a (Demencia Senil in Margalef, Spain). Just last week, Puigblanque managed ascents of two 5.14d's: San ku kai and Le cadre nouvelle version in France. He needed only three attempts to climb Le cadre, and climbed San ku kai on his second try.
In the months of July and August, he's also onsighted three 5.13d's, one 5.13c, and four 5.13b's.
Also in France—in the Gorges du Loup—Russians Yana Chereshneva and Evgeny Ovchinikov repeated Hot Chili X (5.14b). Chereshneva placed fourth in the World Championships Bouldering comp and more recently was a finalist in the Briancon Lead Cup.
