Last weekend South Korea’s Han Na Rai Song and HeeYong Park won the fourth and penultimate stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup 2017 in Saas Fee, Switzerland. The Speed event was won by the Russians Vladimir Kartashev and Ekaterina Koshcheeva.
Alessio Miori reports about the first ascent of Happy Ending, a new ice climb in Val Trementina (Paganella, Italy), first ascended on on 22-23/12/2016 together with the Luca Caldini, Giordano Faletti, Mattia Piffer and Stefano Vulcan.
On Wednesday evening Spiro Dalla Porta Xydias passed away in Trieste. The acclaimed Italian alpinist, writer and theater director was an academic of the Italian Alpine Club and, for three decades, president of GISM, the Italian Group of Mountain Writers. With him Italian mountaineering, and not only, looses a great alpinist and intellectual. Chiara Florit remembers Spiro who, on 21 February, would have celebrated his 100th birthday.
Live streaming from Saas Fee in Switzerland of the Ice Climbing World Cup 2017. The Speed Finals stream at 19:30 this evening, the Lead Semis and Finals throughout Saturday.
In December 2016 Poland’s Dariusz Sokołowski repeated A Line Above The Sky, one of the most difficult drytooling climbs in the world, freed at Tomorrow's World in the Dolomites by Britain’s Tom Ballard in 2016.
Winter mountaineering: on 31/12/2016 at the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites the alpinists Simon Gietl and Vittorio Messini climbed in a singole day Via Comici-Dimai on Cima Grande (in 1:45), the Cassin route up Cima Ovest (2:45) and the Innerkofler route up Cima Piccola (1:15).
South Tyrolean mountaineer Erich Abram passed away on Monday 16 January 2017 at Bozen aged 95. The talented mountaineer and climber played an important role in the 1954 Italian expedition that made the first ascent of K2.
On 04/01/2017 Luca Vallata and Santiago Padrós made what is likely to be the first ascent of La Pissa (WI6, M9?, 105m), the obvious icefall at Termine di Cadore, Dolomites.
Alpinism: on 29 and 30 December 2016 Daniele Natali and Maurizio Panseri made the first winter ascent of 12 anni di Albani, the route up the North Face of Presolana, Italy, established in 1999 by Domenico Berlinghieri, Stefano Magri and Roby Piantoni.
Last weekend the second stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup 2017 took place in Beijing, China; Russians Nikolai Kuzovlev and Maria Tolokonina won the Lead event, wile the Speed event was won by their teammates Radomir Proshchenko and Ekaterina Koshcheeva.
Alpinism: Luca Godenzi reports about a rare winter ascent of the famous Cassin route on the NE Face of Badile, carried out from 30 to 31 December 2016 with Carlo Micheli.
The video of America’s Kyle Maynard who, despite his congenital amputation, climbed to the summit of Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua.
Philipp Angelo, Fabrizio della Rossa and Thomas Gianola report about their first ascent of All-in (AI 6-, M7, R), a difficult new ice and mixed climb up the North Face of Sas Pegorer, Gran Vernel (Marmolada, Dolomites).
The short film of Luka Lindič e Ines Papert and their first ascent of 'Lost in China' (ED, WI 5+, M6, 1200m) up the SE Face of Kyzyl Asker (5842m), Kyrgyzstan.
In December 2016 Matej Arh and Klemen Gerbec made the first winter ascents of two summer routes up the North Face of Mt Škrlatica in Slovenia. In their winter version these routes offer outstanding and challenging winter climbing in one of the most beautiful and remote corners of the Julian Alps.
Mountaineering in the Mont Blanc massif: on the North face of Aiguille des Pélerins (3318m) Jeff Mercier, together with Lucien Boucansaud, Xavier Cailhol and Bastien Lardat, has climbed 'Les Flammes de l’enfer’, a new variation to the famous ice and mixed climb Beyond Good and Evil.
Luca Vallata reports about the first ascent of La Bruixa, a new icefall in Val Zemola, Dolomites, climbed on 05/01/2017 together with Santiago Padrós.
From 29 to 30 December 2016 Thomas Huber, Stephan Siegrist and Roger Schaeli scored the long-awaited second ascent of Metanoia, Jeff Lowe’s masterpiece on the North Face of the Eiger. The route was established solo over a period of nine days in winter 1991 by the leading American alpinist and, despite attempts, had been unrepeated. Thomas Huber provides the report.
The Journey, a short film by Johannes Mair about Guido Unterwurzacher, Simon Berger, Max Berger and Christian Hechenberger ice climbing in Canada.
Alpinism: on 7/12/2016 Enrico Bonino and Olivier Colay made a dry-tooling reinterpretation of the routes Pinelli-Sabbadini, Lenoir and Ottoz, to forge El Chico (M6+ 4° 250m) on Pyramide Du Tacul, Mont Blanc massif.
