The news

On 22 July 2026, Australian athlete Milly Young established a new Fastest Known Time on the Matterhorn (4,478m), climbing the Lion's Ridge from Cervinia to the summit and back in 5 hours, 17 minutes and 43 seconds.

On 22 July 2026, the Italian athlete Nadir Maguet made an attempt on the Matterhorn Fastest Known Time, stopping the clock at 3:01:48 – just 9 minutes and 46 seconds short of the record set by Kilian Jornet in 2013.

Jim Aikman's Metanoia is a powerful and moving film that tells the story of the great American mountaineer Jeff Lowe and how his life was radically changed and saved after an impressive first solo ascent of the Eiger's north face.

Over a period of 5 days at the start of July 2026 American alpinists Eli Spitulnik and Michael Telstad made the first ascent of Hologram Wall on Kichatna Spire in Alaska. This is the first route to ascend directly up mountain's formidable South face, and comes after a previous attempt...

Simon Richardson reports about two possible new climbs above Val Ferret on south side of the Mont Blanc massif established with Michael Rinn: the SW Spur (500m, D) of P3654m, between Aiguille de Leschaux and Mont Greuvetta, and Zahn der Zeit (The Ravages of Time, 450m, D+) on the previously...

Siebe Vanhee, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll and Symon Welfringer have completed the first ascent of the West Face of Tahu Rutum (6,651m), also referred to as Taa Hurutum , in the Karakoram of Pakistan. Called 'The Leopard of Higher Ground', the 1,500m line was climbed over a period of 15 days...

On Sunday 12 July, a group of anonymous climbers unfurled a 540m² Palestinian flag between Grand Charmoz and Grépon, high above Chamonix in the Mont Blanc massif. The action, which was visible during the last day of the Climbing World Cup, was meant to be a symbol of hope, solidarity,...

In just one month, the Italian mountaineer Hervé Barmasse climbed highest mountain of every region in Italy by fair means: by bicycle, on foot, and by sailing boat to connect the islands to the mainland. 4,250km, 81,000m positive elevation gain, 20 summits – for an absolutely one‑of‑a‑kind journey.

Over a period of three days French alpinist Annabelle Bouchardon completed the first female solo ascent of the 'American Direct' on the West Face of Petit Dru in the Mont Blanc massif.

From 24 to 29 June, Italian alpinists Matteo Della Bordella, Luca Ducoli, Mirco Grasso and Giacomo Mauri climbed the virgin southeast face of K7 Main (6,934m) in Pakistan. The new 1,600‑metre route is named 'Rollercoaster' and stops 350 metres short of the summit due to dangerously poor conditions.

0, 2, 4 litres per minute... a closer look at the flow of supplementary oxygen and the much‑debated "records" on Everest and in the Himalayas. By Alessandro Filippini.

On 16 April 2026, Swiss alpinists Benjamin Bosshard and Luca D'Amico established 'Magari vai sì' on Piz La Buora (2,678 m) in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. This is the first route to climb the steep east face. Bosshard reports.

On 20 and 21 June 2026, mountain guide Niccolò Bruni and Federica Furia established 'Rise Slow' on Rognon Vaudano, below the Dent du Géant in the Mont Blanc massif.

French alpinist Iris Pessey has set a new female FKT on Mont Blanc, ascending from the church in Chamonix to the 4807m summit in just 5 hours 2 minutes. She then returned to her starting point by paraglider, stopping the clock after 5:34 hours.

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...

Whilst a record number of 1,008 climbers climbed to the summit of Everest in spring 2026, the undisputed stars of the pre-monsoon season in the Himalayas are undoubtedly Bartek Ziemski and Hillary Dawa Sherpa. By Alessandro Filippini.