Breakthroughs, Home Crowds & Stories Worth Remembering
Some Weeks Have a Little Bit of Everything. From Stefano Ghisolfi getting closer than ever on Silence to Janja Garnbret putting on another show in front of her home crowd, this week moves between unfinished business and familiar dominance. Add an absurdly productive trip to Norway, remarkable alpine achievements and stories that reach far beyond the next send, and there is plenty to catch up on
Progress, Gold & the Bigger Picture
Stefano Ghisolfi makes a major breakthrough on Silence, linking the first crux into the hardest move of the second and getting tantalisingly close to serious redpoint territory. Janja Garnbret celebrates career gold number 51 at home in Koper, while the Piolets d’Or honour an extraordinary Yerupajá ascent. And sometimes a beautiful image of Half Dome or the Matterhorn is enough to remind us why these places keep pulling us back.
Janja Garnbret Claims Career Gold Number 51
Climbing in front of a wild home crowd in Koper, Garnbret finished head and shoulders above the rest to take her 51st career gold and her 33rd in lead.
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Sorato Anraku Finishes Tenth in Koper
Tenth place in the Koper lead event, and Anraku is honest about how it feels. He says he is out of the spotlight, that feeling down is not his business, and that going harder is easy to say and hard to do.
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Ghisolfi Makes a Huge Breakthrough on Silence
He repeated the first crux, rested four minutes on the kneebar, then stuck the hardest move of the second crux before a wet hold ended the attempt. Next comes linking from the rope change rest to the top, then serious redpoint attempts.
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A 2026 Piolet d'Or for the Yerupajá Traverse
Rubén Sanmartín, Bru Busom and Marc Toralles are honoured for their August 2025 ascent in Peru. They opened The Essence of Commitment on the east side, reached the 6,634 meter main summit and completed the first traverse of Yerupajá from the east.
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A Top 10 Photo Selection That Left the UK
Most of this week's user voted UKHillwalking Top 10 was shot outside Britain, from Half Dome and Glacier Point to Mont Blanc in alpine glow and the Lofoten. One entry is not even a photograph but a painting of the Matterhorn.
View post →Eighteen Days, a Very Long Tick List
Alexander Megos leaves Norway with the kind of tick list that barely seems real: two 8B+ first ascents, a pile of 8Bs and 8A+s, several flashes and even a new 8c route. Elsewhere, Solveig Korherr frees Histoire sans Fin 8b+ after seven days on the wall, while Roman Gander links seven Stubai summits, 138 kilometres and 11,500 metres of elevation in one continuous 34 hour effort.
The Full Megos Tick List from 18 Days in Norway
Thirty six boulders and four routes, six of them first ascents. Norwegian Sky and Schattenspiel both went at 8B+, and on the ropes Megos added the first ascent of Blueberry Gem 8c plus Trollet 8c and Askeløv 8b+.
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Skyggespell 8A+ Rounds Out the Stavtjørn Sector
After the first ascent of Schattenspiel, Megos went back to clean up the rest of the sector. One project remains there, at least 8B+, which is reason enough to return.
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A New Best Time on the Seven Summits Stubai
Roman Gander linked all seven Stubai summits in one continuous push, from the Elfer over the Habicht and Wilder Freiger to the Zuckerhütl. Almost 138 kilometers and around 11,500 meters of ascent in 34 hours, 43 minutes and 9 seconds.
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Sasha DiGiulian on the Sea Cliffs of Hvar
Seaside pitches on the Croatian island of Hvar, with the water sitting directly below the route. A short reminder of why climbers keep coming back to the Adriatic.
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Solveig Korherr Frees Histoire sans Fin 8b+
Korherr has free climbed Histoire sans Fin at the Petit Clocher du Portalet in Valais, after two and a half weeks and seven days on the wall alongside French climber Soline Kentzel.
Read article →Koper Belonged to the Home Crowd
With our highlighted stories kept separate, there was still plenty happening in Koper: Brooke Raboutou returned to a Lead top eight for the first time in more than a year, Jessica Pilz finished sixth and Neo Suzuki took his third gold of the season. Beyond Slovenia, Austria’s next generation delivered on home soil in Imst, Rock Master is now just weeks away, and the Pro Climbing League is teasing something new
Garnbret Wins the Lead World Series in Koper
The winning streak continues, this time in front of a Slovenian crowd. Garnbret took the lead title in Koper and stayed unbeaten at home.
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Brooke Raboutou Is Back in a Lead Top Eight
More than a year after the Comunidad de Madrid event in July 2025, Raboutou is back among the top eight of a women's lead competition, and back in the part of the field she is used to.
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The Pro Climbing League Teases an Announcement
A single teaser, no details, and a promise that more information is coming very soon. The Pro Climbing League clearly has something in the works, so it is worth keeping an eye on.
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One Month to Go Until Rock Master in Arco
Rock Master returns to Arco from October 2 to 4, 2026. Last year brought epic tops and long battles, and the festival is promising to do it all over again.
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Garnbret Wins Koper on a Route Nobody Topped
Garnbret reached 42+ on a final route that stayed unclimbed. Brooke Raboutou fell at 33 for silver, while Chaehyun Seo and Annie Sanders came off the same hold, with Seo taking bronze on countback.
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Jessica Pilz Takes Sixth Place in Koper
Another strong result on the international stage for Pilz, who finished sixth at the World Climbing Series event in Koper, one of the last lead competitions of the season.
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Home Win for Lara Haselwanter in Imst
Haselwanter won the U17 speed competition at the World Climbing Europe Youth Series in Imst, with Antonia Mayr third. Several more Austrian athletes reached the final rounds for a strong weekend.
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European Youth Climbing Cup Heads to Imst
The European Youth Climbing Cup continued in Imst, Austria, from September 4 to 6, with the strongest young climbers competing for podiums in lead and speed.
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Gold for Garnbret and Neo Suzuki in Koper
At the penultimate lead World Cup of the season, Garnbret delivered a spectacular performance in front of her home crowd, while Suzuki's endurance secured his third gold of the year.
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Start with our guides
Plain English explainers on gear, grades and skills, so every edition makes sense from the first read.
All guides →The Stuff That Matters Before You Leave the Ground
The UIAA takes a serious look at one of climbing’s rare but potentially fatal dangers with a new report on sharp edges and rope cuts. Black Diamond and norda go in a very different direction with equipment built for long mountain days, while Mellow brings climbing, filmmaking and creativity together again for season two of the Rock Games.
Mellow Rock Games Season 2 Opens for Entries
The annual video competition returns with 20,000 dollars in prize money and submissions opening September 30. New this year: no title cards, no edits built around a sponsor, no prominent logo placement.
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Black Diamond x norda: Built for Long Days
A joint kit aimed at long days in the mountains, led by the special edition Distance 15 Pack. The ultralight running and scrambling pack gets an upgrade to hard wearing Challenge Sailcloth Ultra fabric.
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UIAA Safety Report on Sharp Edges and Rope Cuts
A joint report from the Norwegian Climbing Federation and the UIAA Safety Commissions looks at how rope cuts actually happen, covering rope requirements, what counts as a sharp edge, and documented case studies. Rare, but the consequences can be fatal.
View post →The Stories That Stay With Us
A decade long connection to Déjà finally comes full circle for Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher, with the route becoming a story about comeback, partnership and persistence rather than difficulty alone. Jimmy Chin’s upcoming Everest: The Other Side revisits Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison’s extraordinary dream, while this year’s Piolets d’Or recipients, Reel Rock 20 and a community rallying around Squamish legend Alan Stevenson remind us just how many stories exist beyond the scorecard.
Everest: The Other Side Arrives in October
Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison shared a dream of climbing and skiing Everest's direct north face, something nobody had done. The film from Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin opens in theaters and IMAX on October 30.
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Déjà: Ten Years, Two Ascents, One Comeback
Jacopo Larcher first explored the line with Fabi Buhl more than a decade ago. In 2025 it became a shared project with Babsi Zangerl, who redpointed every pitch after a long injury break, and Larcher followed a few days later in the same style.
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Thunder Roads Lives Up to Its Name
Uncertain, low percentage climbing that only gets more exciting the closer it comes to falling apart. Zangerl reckons the name fits this one perfectly.
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A Month in Patagonia with Tommy Caldwell
A photographer's portrait after nearly a month together, during which Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee climbed the South African Route on the Central Tower of Torres del Paine in 24 hours. What stuck was the work ethic, the humility and the appetite to keep learning.
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The 2026 Piolets d'Or Honour Four Big Ascents
Ultar Sar via Shooting the Moon, the northwest face of Aikache Chhok, the first complete traverse of Yerupajá, and Jannu East via Le Sommet des Pieux. Tiphaine Dupérier gets a special mention for Nanga Parbat's Rupal Flank and the first ski descent from the summit.
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Squamish Legend Alan Stevenson Recovering After a Stroke
Alan 'Hevy Duty' Stevenson, the Squamish climber and route developer behind countless local lines, is recovering in Vancouver. A GoFundMe is open to support him.
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REEL ROCK 20 Tickets Are On Sale Now
The tour is underway and the first show has already sold out. The 20th edition stars Janja Garnbret, Michaela Kiersch, Colin Haley and Ben Mayforth, presented by The North Face with support from YETI.
View post →Destination Guide: The Staffordshire Nose
UKClimbing takes on one of British gritstone's great challenges, laying out what the Staffordshire Nose asks of anyone who wants to piece the whole thing together.
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