The news

John Arran and Anne Arran have made a remarkable first ascent of Amurita E7 6b on the remote Amuri Tepui wall in Venezuela.

On 29 September James Pearson made the first ascent of 'The Walk of Life' at Dyer's Lookout, North Devon, at E12 7a a strong contender for one of the hardest trad routes in the world.

The fifth stage of the Lead World Cup took place in Puurs, Belgium last weekend and was won by Maja Vidmar and Ramón Julian Puigblanque. The two beat Mina Markovic and Johanna Ernst and Tomasz Mrazek and Jorg Verhoeven, second and third respectively.

The fourth stage of the Lead World Cup 2008 took place in Imst, Austria on 20/09/08 and was won by David Lama and Mina Markovic

On 11 September Chris Sharma made the first ascent of Jumbo Love 9b at Clark Mountain, California, describing it as his hardest climb ever.

From 23 July to 9 August Silvia Vidal and Youri Cappis carried out the first ascent of "Entre boires" A3/6a+/80º on the East Face of Huascaran North (Cordillera Blanca, Peru).

At the end of August 2008 Rolando Larcher completed AlexAnna (700m, 8a+/8b, 7b obl.), a new route up Pilastro Lindo on the SW Face of Punta Penia (Marmolada, Dolomites).

With over 150 routes up to 9a+, Malham Cove is one of the finest limestone sport climbing crags in England.

The new version of the Via Alpina website is online, with a community area

Pavle Kozjek was officially declared dead on 11 September after disappearing on Muztagh Tower on 25 August 2008. A commemoration service will be held on 17 September in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The portfolio of the spectators at the 22nd Rock Master in Arco by Giulio Malfer.

Nicola Tondini, Nicola Sartori and Michele Zandegiacomo have completed their new "La perla preziosa" - IX+ (7c+) - on the West Face of Sass dla Crusc (Dolomites, Val Badia).

uring the Rock Master last weekend, Adam Ondra climbed Claudio Caffè 8c/8c+ (Terra Promessa) and St. Anger 8c+/9a (Eremo di San Paolo) at Arco, Italy.

Basque climber Patxi Usobiaga and young Johanna Ernst from Austria win the 22nd Rock Master in Arco.

On 05/08/2008 the third edition of the ARCO ROCK LEGENDS 2008 was celebrated in the Casinò in Arco. Adam Ondra won the SALEWA ROCK AWARD while Maja Vidmar won the LA SPORTIVA COMPETITION AWARD.

Kilian Fischhuber and Jorg Verhoeven have been active in Austria's Zillertal, making the first ascents of Dolby surround 8c+ and Ichi Ban 8c.