The news

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.

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.

The 2023 Ski Mountaineering World Cup took place in Andorra last weekend. The Individual race was won on Saturday by Axelle Gachet-Mollaret and Thibault Anselmet, while Gachet-Mollaret and Rémi Bonnet won the Vertical race on Sunday.

Watch Slabducation, the movie by Talo Martin featuring the likes of Mari Alarcón, Caroline Ciavaldini, James Pearson, Johnny Dawes, Sean Villanueva, Siebe Vanhee, Dani Andrada and Arman Martínez slab climbing at Pedriza in Spain.

Interview with the mountaineers Hervé Barmasse and David Göttler, currently attempting to climb Dhaulagiri (8167 m) in winter and in alpine style.

The video of Adam Ondra making the first free ascent of the historic aid route 'Příklepový strop' in the Macocha cave at Moravský Kras, Czechia.

On Mt Somamunt in the tiny Antersasc valley above Longiarù / Campill in Val Badia (Dolomites) Simon Gietl, first with Aaron Durogati then with Davide Prandini, made the first ascent of the mixed climb Felsenkeller'.

Watch the video of Mari Augusta Salvesen making the first ascent of the trad climb Tazlov, a long term project of hers in Norway now graded 8b.

On 7 January 2023 Swiss climber Jonas Schild has repeated 'Le Voyage', the E10 at Annot first ascended by James Pearson in 2017 and reputed to be the most difficult trad climb France.