245 News found

British climber James Pearson has made a free solo ascent of 'Legacy' at Rocklands, South Africa. Graded 9a as sports climb, it has now been rated 8B+ highball. Pearson, on a roll after repeating 'The Finnish Line' (8C), provides the details.

At the Transatlantico wall in the Sarca Valley close to Arco, Italy, Matteo Faletti and Matteo Pavana have opened the multipitch climb 'Queen Mary'. The climbers from Povo (Trento) bolted the route ground-up over the course of two half-days between 2025 and 2026, and freed it on 11 June this...

American alpinists Sean McLane and Vitaliy Musiyenko have made the first ascent of the unclimbed SW Ridge of Balakun (6,471m). The pair were in the Indian Himalaya with Christian Black, who was forced to turned around a few hours into the ascent. While it is unclear whether this was also...

Canadian climber Will Stanhope has died as a result of a climbing accident in Squamish, British Columbia. Aged 39, the certified mountain guide was regarded as one of North America's leading rock climbers.

French rock climber Charles Albert has made the first ascent of 'Charlatan' in Fontainebleau. As per usual, 'Barefoot Charles' climbed the boulder problem without climbing shoes and has suggested 9A.

Czech climber Jana Švecová has made the first ascent of 'Tokyo Drift' at the crag Lidomorna in Moravský Kras, Czech Republic. The suggested grade is 8C and, if confirmed, along with her 'Nova' this becomes the hardest boulder problem ever freed by a female climber.

From 8 - 10 March 2026 Silvan Schüpbach, Olivier Kolly, Filippo Sala made the first ascent of 'Zébu' (M8+, 70°, 1100m) on the Northwest Face of Klein Fiescherhorn (Ochs) in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The mixed climb shares the same start as the only other route on the face,...

On Tête aux Chamois at Glacier 3000 in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland, Melanie Grünwald and Fay Manners made the first ascent of the mixed climb 'Elles Aussi' (M7+ A0).

At Padaro above Arco (Italy), Giovanni Placci has repeated 'Terapia d'urto', the 9a+ freed by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2021.

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.

Climbing with John Kasaian, Laura Pineau has made the first female ascent of 'Wet Lycra Nightmare' on Leaning Tower in Yosemite, USA. First ascended by Jim Hewitt and Todd Skinner in 2004, the 9-pitch 8b is known for being the steepest big wall in the USA. The 25-year-old French climber...

Interview with British climber Rob Matheson who, aged 74, in April 2025 made an audacios repeat of 'The Bells, The Bells!', one of the most fearsome trad climbs in Great Britain. Located on North Stack Wall at Gogarth, it has only seen a handful of repeats since its first ascent...

Interview with Hervé Barmasse who, together with Felix Berg and Adam Bielecki, reached the summit of Numbur Peak (6958m) in Nepal on 19 October 2025. The trio ascended the previously unclimbed south face in alpine style.

From 12 - 27 October 2025 the Russian mountaineers Natalia Belyankina, Kirill Eizeman, Sergey Kondrashkin, Vitaly Shipilov and Andrey Vasilyev established a new route on the southwest face of Manaslu (8163m). The Russians climbed alpine style, without Sherpa support or supplementary oxygen. Anna Piunova reports.

On 05/09/2025 Marco Malcangi and Fay Manners made the first ascent of 'Eppure Siamo Andati', a new climb on the IV pillar of Corno Grande Vetta Orientale, Gran Sasso d'Italia. The 200m new climb joins the final 250m of the historical Mario - Caruso (Luigi Mario, Emilio Caruso 1959) to...

On 26 August Lara Neumeier repeated 'End of Silence', the 11-pitch 8b+ established by Thomas Huber in 1994 on the Feuerhörndl in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Germany