The news

From 14 - 23 March Philippe Batoux and Lionel Daudet made the first ascent of “Little Big Men” (A3, 6a, M5), on the wild and grandiose East Face of the Grandes Jorasses, Mont Blanc.

Cesare Bugada, Simone Pedeferri and Marco Vago, establish "Le berbere et la gazelle" 7c+ on the Poisson Sacret wall, Todra gorge, Morocco

On Saturday 1 April Cristina Gravina (ex Downhill World Cup athlete and ski instructor in Corvara) and Alessandra Pescosta (ex Snowboard/Freestyle World Cup athlete and snowboard instructor in Corvara) carried out the first telemark and snowboard descent of Vallone d'Antermoia, Marmolada, Dolomites.

On 28 March Hervé Barmasse, Matteo Bernasconi, Lorenzo Lanfranchi and Giovanni Ongaro climbed a new mixed line up the grandiose and previously untouched North Face of San Lorenzo, Patagonia.

Melloblocco third edition, one can literally feel the anticipation grow. The classic and unmissable 3rd Melloblocco, or rather, the motley coloured bouldering meet in Val di Mello, is less than 40 days away and will be held on 6-7 May 2006

According to news reports published by The Associated Press, the four Polish trekkers kidnapped by Maoist rebels in Nepal have now been freed.

The O'Neill Xtreme 2006 took place in Verbier, Switzerland, from 17 - 19 March and was won by Sweden's Kaj Zackrisson and Italy's Giulia Monego.

The BBC has reported that four Polish trekkers have been kidnapped in Nepal by Maoist rebels.

Rich Simpson has made the first ascent of A Muerte 8c+/9a at Siurana, Spain

Olga Bibik from Russia and Jérôme Meyer from France won the first stage of the Bouldering World Cup 2006, held in Birmingham, England, last weekend.

Riccardo Scarian, fresh from his ascent of Bain de sang, has successfully made the first ascent of Drumtime, his 40m project at Fonzaso, N. Italy, which combines the first section of "Gladiatore" (8c+) with the second half of "Diabloluna" (8c).

Slovenian alpinist Marko Prezelj has returned from a five week trip to Patagonia where, dodging typical unstable weather, he made two fast ascents together with the Americans Stephen Koch and Dean Potter, one on Cerro Torre and one on Torre Standhardt.

On16/03 in the Italian Alps, Argentine freerider Oscar Sosa showed the direction in which freeride skiing is to develop: his style earned him victory at the 11th edition of Red Bull Snowthrill.

Gressoney calls for the Red Bull Snowthrill: it's ski time! On 13 March the Red Bull Snowthrill embarks in Italy for the first time ever!

The 21st Pierramenta, the great 4 stage ski mountaineering competition around the French Beaufortin massif, was won by the French duo Stephane Brosse and Patrick Blanc and Francesca Martinelli and Roberta Pedranzini

Ines Papert and Harald Berger win in Norway and in doing so win the overall Ice Climbing World Cup 2006.