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Italian alpinist Claudio Corti died during the night of 3 February at the age of 81 at his home in Lecco. He will be remembered as a member of the Gruppo Ragni della Grignetta but also as a man who knew how to tackle great tests, both in the mountains...

Last weekend Dave Birkett climbed what is being hailed as one of the most important new winter routes in Britain's Lake District for the last quarter of a century, Never Ever Say Never VIII 8 or E7 5c on Scafell's East Buttress.

Diary extract and interview with Hansjörg Auer after the first ascent of Waiting for Godot, Central Tower Torres del Paine, Patagonia, carried out with Much Mayr from Austria.

Will Gadd from Canada teamed up with Tim Emmett from Britain to carry out the first ascent of Spray On, a 30m ice climb at the Helmcken Falls they tentatively graded WI10.

Centercourt, the new extreme testpiece first climbed by Albert Leichtfried and Benedikt Purner at the start of Janauary, has been repeated twice, by the Slovenians Aljaz Anderle and Klemen Premrl and the Austrians Rudolf Hauser and Helmut Holleis.

A selection of ice climbs in Valle di Tures, South Tyrol, Italy

On 15 January 2010 Giampiero Bertotti, Stefano dalla Gasperina, Enrico Bonino and Sofia Palmisano carried out the first ascent of Zero 70 (100m, 5/5+ II) in Valle di Champorcher (Valle d'Aosta).

On 22 January 2010, 34 year old Italian mountaineer Luca Vuerich was killed by an avalanche while climbing an icefall at Prisojinik, close to Kranjska Gora on the Italian-Slovenian border. Vuerich was rescued and transported to hospital in Udine, where he died of his injuries.

On 4 Janaury 2010 the Austrian climbers Rudolf Hauser, Alexander Holleis and Rupert Huber carried out the first integral ascen of Gamsstubenfall (800m, WI7), one of the last great icefalls in the Gasteinertal, Austria. On 12 January Hauser climbed the classic icefall Supervisor (270m, WI6) without a rope.

Samuele Scalet has left us at 70 years of age. Throughout his lifetime the Italian alpinist forged unforgettable routes on the Pale di San Martino (Dolomites).

On 07/01/2010 Albert Leichtfried and Benedikt Purner made the first ascent of the 300m "Centercourt" in the Gasteinertal. Graded WI7+, this is the hardest pure iceline in Austria and one of the hardest in the world.

A splendid icefall first ascended by M. Bernardi, G.C. Grassia and F. Salino almost 30 years ago at Vallone di Rochemolles (Val di Susa, Piemonte, Italy).

It all took place at Terlago in Valle del Sarca, a stone's throw from Arco, Italy. But the story Manolo tells about this project which no longer exists could perhaps have taken place at any old crag...

A selection of icefalls in Valle di Cogne, one of the most important valleys not only in Valle d'Aosta but also in Italy

Elio Bonfanti introduces three new icefalls at Lys Balma, Gressoney, Valle d'Aosta, Italy

Two hikers died on 26/12/2009 in Val Lasties (Dolomites), as did four members of the Val di Fassa Mountain Rescue Squad. At Solda a 12 year old boy went missing while skiing off-piste.