The news

German climber Yannick Flohé has repeated Excalibur, the 9b+ in Arco, Italy, first ascended by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2023 and, until now, only repeated by Will Bosi and Brooke Raboutou.

The two mountain guides Christoph Hainz and Roger Schäli have opened 'Chi non lavora non fa l'amore' (7b, 6b+ obligatory) on the east face of Monte Monaco at San Vito lo Capo in Sicily.

Scottish climber William Bosi has made the first ascent of 'Pôr Do Sol' at Sintra close to Lisbon. Graded 8C+/V16, it is currently the hardest boulder problem in Portugal.

Footage of French climber Laura Pineau repeating 'Butterfly Circus', the 8a+ crack in Ticinio, Switzerland described as 'one of Europe’s best splitter cracks.'

Watch American climber Chris Sharma establish 'Vision Quest', a 9a/+ deep water solo on the island of Mallorca first ascended in December 2024.

At Padaro above Arco (Italy), Giovanni Placci has repeated 'Terapia d'urto', the 9a+ freed by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2021.

On 27 December 2025 Belgian climber Simon Lorenzi sent his 5th 9A boulder problem, 'Shaolin' at Red Rocks, USA.

The report by Massimo Flaccavento on the first ascent of 'Pescatori di sogni', established together with Claudio Trovato on Pizzo della Sella, Monte Gallo (Sicilian Apennines) between 14 and 15 November 2025.

Ukrainian climber Ievgeniia Kazbekova has repeated 'Necessary Evil' (5.14c/8c+) at the Virgin River Gorge, USA, four months after giving birth.

On 20 December 2025, Gianluca Vighetti sent Niobe (9a) at Arco, while on 22 November he had sent his first 9a+, 'Lapsus' at Andonno.

Massimo Tofani introduces 'Ginedryo', the new drytooling crag at Collepardo in Central Italy. Dedicated to total dry, it features climbs up to D13- and was dedicated to Damir Casinelli Mihalj.

Watch Sébastien Berthe and Hugo Parmentier from France take on 100 different 7A boulder problems in Fontainebleau in a single day.

In Valle dell'Orco, Italy, Marcello Bombardi has made the first ascent of 'A pugni chiusi' (9a). Located at the Ice Park crag, the climb freed on 18 October 2025 was bolted by valley locals Andrea Migliano, Manuel Bracco and Simone Papalia and is 100% natural.

Hugo Parmentier and Symon Welfringer, accompanied by Arthur Delicque, have established 'Resurrection' on Punta Lunarda in the Bavella massif in Corsica. The route has yet to be freed but the climbers believe the difficulties lie somewhere in the region on 9a, making it a strong contender for one the hardest...

In December 2025 young German climbers Lukas Buchberger and Florian Frank made the first ascent of 'Hawaii Girls' (7c+ max. 7a obl., 180m) on the NE Face of Jebel Oujdad in Taghia, Morocco. Frank reports.

Climbing is now prohibited at Oliana, one of the world's foremost crags, located in Spain. The ban comes with the establishment of a 36-hectare protection zone aimed at preserving the prehistoric rock art in the area of the Contrafort del Rumbau