The news

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

Erwan Legrand, the 17-year-old son of climbing champion François Legrand, is putting in some excellent attempts on 'Bombé Bleu', the route bolted by Marc Le Menestrel in 1991 and still unrepeated.

Basque climber Iker Pou has repeated 'Witch Hunter' (9a) at Margalef. With his most recent ascent the 48-year-old celebrates a quarter of a century of 9a climbing, beginning with his repeat of 'Action Directe' in the Frankenjura in autumn 2000.

The video of Spanish climber Jorge Díaz-Rullo repeating 'Sleeping Lion', the 9b at Siurana in Spain established by Chris Sharma in March 2023.

Czech climber Lumír Fajkos has made a rope-solo ascent of Gekón (8c) at Gotická stena in Slovakia.

The video of Adam Ondra climbing at Arco, on Heinz Mariacher's test pieces at Spiaggia delle Lucertole, and on Loris Manzana's projects at Passo Due Sassi, where the Czech climber made the first ascent of 'Niobe' (9a).

Fay Manners and Solenne Piret have made the first ascent of 'Win Oumalou' (From the Shadows) on Jebel Inslif above Zaouia Ahansal close to Taghia in Morocco.

16-year-old Italian climber Andrea Chelleris has sent three 9a's in Spain: '20 años después' at Siurana and 'Victima Perez' and 'Victimes del futur' at Margalef.

Swedish climber Matilda Söderlund has made the first female ascent of 'Spomin', the 8c multipitch on Anića Kuk at Paklenica, Croatia

Austrian climber Eva Hammelmüller has redpointed 'Omen Nomen' (9a) at Arco, Italy.

The film 'Keep It Burning' which documents the second free ascent of 'Eternal Flame' on Nameless Tower (6251m) in the Trango Tower range in Pakistan. Established in 1989 by Kurt Albert, Wolfgang Güllich, Christof Stiegler and Milan Sykora.

On 29 November Jacopo Larcher from the South Tyrol, Italy repeated the E12 trad climb 'Bon Voyage' (E12) at Annot in France. This is the 4th ascent after James Pearson, Adam Ondra and Seb Berthe.

Italian climber Pietro Vidi has successfully repeated the cutting-edge trad-climb ‘Magic Line’ 5.14c/8c+, in Yosemite Valley, California