The news

The video of Gianluca Vighetti climbing his hardest route to date, the 9a+ 'Lapsus' at Andonno, Italy

Last summer on the north face of Mount Demirkazik in the Ala Daglar range of Turkey, Alessandro Larcher, the Italians Rolando Larcher and Federica Mingolla established 'Close to Heaven'.

On 28/01/2026, Leo Gheza and Luca Matteucci established 'Over the Trip' (WI6, M8, R, 100m) in Valsavarenche (Aosta Valley, Italy). The mixed route runs alongside the classic ice climb 'Trip in the night'.

21-year-old climber Italian climber Iris Bielli has sent her first 8c+, 'Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio' at Sasso Pelo in Lombardy.

The UK-based charity GRIT & ROCK has announced the opening of applications for its 2026 Expedition Grant Awards, a dedicated $15,000 funding pool aimed at advancing female participation in groundbreaking alpine climbing. The application deadline is 31 March 2026.

French climber Esteban Daligault has repeated 'Bon Voyage', the E12 trad climb put up by James Pearson in 2023 at Annot in France.

The trailer of the first winter ascent of the Casarotto route on Fitz Roy in Patagonia, carried out on 07/09/2025 by Italian alpinists Matteo Della Bordella and Marco Majori.

On 23/01/2026 Simon Gietl and Vittorio Messini made the first ascent of 'Out of the Dark' on the north face of North Face of Laserz, Lienz Dolomites, Austria.

The international bouldering meeting by La Sportiva will take place from 6 to 9 May 2026 in Val Masino, Valtellina, the cradle of Italian bouldering. Online registration is now open and the new 'Give Melloblocco as a gift' initiative is still active.

American rock climber Sean Bailey has made the first ascent of 'Duality of Man' (9c) at Dry Canyon, Arizona, USA.

Raimundo De Andraca and Fernanda Carabias have made the first ascent of 'Sin obstáculos no hay camino' (600m, 5.12–, A1) on La Zaranda in Patagonia, Chile.

American rock climber Alex Honnold has successfully completed his free solo ascent of the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan. The 40-year-old required 1 hour and 31 minutes to climb one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Watch Scottish climber William Bosi making the first ascent of 'Pôr Do Sol' (8C+) at Sintra in Portugal.

On 20/01/2026 Austrian alpinists Martin Sieberer and Lukas Waldner completed the first winter ascent of 'Schutzengelweg' on the North Face of Sagwandspitze in the Valsertal valley in Tyrol, Austria. First ascended in summer 1982 by Andreas Orgler and Reinhard Schiestl, this is the first known repeat in 34 years.

On 20/01/2026 French alpinists Melvin Bou and Kilian Moni made the first ascent of 'Une histoire d'amitié' on the huge, untouched west face of Roc de Garnesier close to Lus-la- Jarjatte in France. This is their second new climb in the Dévoluy massif this season after 'Saute Aure et God...

Umberto Bado, with Paolo Giacobbe, Amedeo Giobbio and Luca Ponziani has established 'Smooth Criminal', a mixed climb next to the classic icefall 'Thriller '92' in Valle del Lys (Valle di Gressoney). Bado reports.