The news

On July 7th 2006 Ondra Benes from the Czech Republic made a swift repeat of Beat Kammerlander's legendary Silbergeier 8b+ in Rätikon, Switzerland.

Jenny Lavarda has become the first Italian woman to climb 8c with her 08/09/2006 ascent of "Claudio Caffè" at Terra Promessa, Arco

Matthias Trottmann from Switzerland reports about the first free ascent of "6.4 Sekunden", his 7 pitch 8b/b+ (7c+ obligatory ) located on the Fürenwand, Engelberg, Switzerland.

Alberto Gnerro has made the first ascent of 'SS 26' 9a at Gressoney - Noversch. The route is 95 moves long and completely natural.

Maurizio Manolo Zanolla has freed "Solo per vecchi guerrieri" in the Vette Feltrine (Dolomites), proposing 8c/9a and 7c/8a oblig for the 150m route.

Alex Chabot, who in mid-July became French Champion for the sixth year running, has just freed Abysse 9a at Deversé at the Gorges du Loup in SE France.

Harald Berger from Austria has just returned from the Rätikon mountain range on the Swiss/Austrian border where he has made the first ascent of "Antihydral", an old Rochus Mathis project which now goes free at 8b.

On 20 July Ines Papert from Germany made an impressive first female ascent of Camillotto Pellesier on the North Face of Cima Grande, Dolomites. The old aid route, first ascended in 1967 by E. Mauro and M. Minuzzo, had been freed in 2004 by Mauro Bubu Bole at F8b.

Aris Theodoropoulos reveals one of best kept secrets in the Aegean, the astounding Sikati cave on Kalymnos, Greece.

On 12 July the Italian Ragni di Lecco Simone Pedeferri, Fabio Palma and Andrea Pavan made the first ascent of "Qui io vado ancora" 7c max, 7a oblig with two pitches of A1 in Peru's Quebrada Rurec valley.

On Friday 23 June the 22 year old Italian Jenny Lavarda sent her second 8b+, "Le dita del guerriero" at Covolo, Vicenza.

Josune Bereziartu and Rikar Otegui have made the first free ascent of the 1981 aid route Divina Comedia 7c in the Ordesa National Park, Spain.

Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla has climbed the 150m "Solo per vecchi guerrieri", 8c/9a max and 7c/8a obligatory on the Vette Feltrine, Dolomites.

Located at the foot of Lecco's Grigna, the Nibbio tower holds an important place in Italian mountaineering history, with the likes of Cassin, Bonatti, Messner and Comici all passing this way.

Canadian Sonnie Trotter has made the first ascent of what he believes to be the hardest pure crack climb in the world, Cobra Crack 5.14 b/c (8c/8c+) at the Cirque of the Uncrackables, Squamish, Canada.

14 year old Rudi Moroder from Italy has managed to send his first 8b, the 55 move stamina testpiece Super Polentin at Pian de Schiavaneis, Dolomites.