The news

On Friday 3 February 2023 Stefano Ghisolfi made the first ascent of Excalibur at Drena close to Arco. Graded 9b+, it is now one of the hardest sport climbs in Italy.

The video of Stefano Ghisolfi and Will Bosi attempting Excalibur, the futuristic project at Drena close to Arco, Italy, which could be 9b+ or even harder

Reel Rock 17 will begin its global tour as of March 2023. The new season features Seb Bouin attempting to free DNA in the Verdon Gorge, Andrew Bisharat and Palestinian climbers in the strife-torn hills of Palestine, and Barbara Zangerl & Jacopo Larcher tackling Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower in...

Between 28 and 29 January 2023 the French alpinists Julien Cruvellier, Nicolas Jean and Benjamin Védrines made the first ascent of 'De l'Or en Barre' a difficult mixed climb on the south face of the Barre des Écrins (4102 m). The mixed climb follows a treacherous couloir, infamous in summer...

At Cresciano in Switzerland 23-year-old German athlete Yannick Flohe has made the first ascent of the 8C+ boulder problem 'Return of the Dreamtime'.

On 28 January 2023 Richard Tiraboschi, Tommaso Vection and Giuseppe Vidoni made the first ascent of the new mixed climb 'Happy Birthday' (1000m, AI4, M6 , ED) on the South Face of Aiguille de l'Évêque (Grandes Jorasses, Mont Blanc massif).

French climber Sébastien Bouin has sent a flurry of hard routes in Portugal. At the seacliff crag Meio Mango at Cabo Espichel the 29-year-old established Rei de Bering at 9a+/b the hardest sport climb in the country.

On 27/01/2023 Belgian climber Sébastien Berthe repeated La Rambla (9a+) at Siurana, Spain

The video of Adam Ondra attempting what is dubbed Excalibur, the futuristic climb at Drena close to Arco, Italy which could well be 9b+ or possibly even harder.

Thanks to its Mountain Friday initiative, the outdoor clothing brand Karpos has donated more than 30,000 euros to the Liguria, Piedmont, Tuscany and Veneto teams of the Italian Mountain Rescue.

American climber Michaela Kiersch has climbed her first 9a+, La Rambla (9a+) at Siurana, Spain. The 28-year-old is only the third woman to repeat this classic test after Margo Hayes in 2017 and Chaehyun Seo in 2022.

The portrait of Japanese rock climber Tomoa Narasaki, triple world champion and 2 times winner of the Boulder World Cup.

In December 1938 a 'highly confidential' internal document from the National Council of the Italian Mountaineering Club (CAI) sent to all its sections indicated the criteria for purging members of the 'non-Aryan race'. As a result hundreds, guilty of simply being Jews, did not have their membership renewed. Today the...

Watch Jakob Schubert's uncut ascents of 'Furia de Jabali' (9a+) and 'Last Night' 9a at Siurana, Spain.

Precisely 8 years after contracting meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia, Italian mountaineer and multiple limb amputee Andrea Lanfri successfully made two ascents of Aconcagua, at 6961 meters the highest mountain in South America. This is Lanfri’s fourth Seven Summits peak, after Mont Blanc (2008), Everest (2022) and Kilimanjaro (2022).

The South African Route on the East Face of the Central Tower of Paine (Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile) was repeated team-free over a 10-day period in early January 2023 by Imanol Amundarain, Cedar Christensen and Tyler Karow. Christensen provides the details in this interview.