Janja Garnbret Climbs Bibliographie
Sport Climbing & Bouldering
Janja Garnbret made the first female ascent of Bibliographie (9b+/38) at Céüse, France, becoming only the second woman to climb 9b+, after Brooke Raboutou sent Excalibur at Arco last year. Bolted by Ethan Pringle in 2009 and originally freed by Alexander Megos in 2020 (initially proposed 9c but downgraded to 9b+ by second ascensionist Stefano Ghisolfi in 2021), the route is more than 80 moves. Garnbret began projecting the line in the fall of 2024, after the Paris Olympics, and took around 20 sessions and 30 total tries. Filmmaker Jon Glassberg, who documented the entire project, said: 'She had way more in the tank.' This will surprise nobody, Garnbret's utter dominance of the competition scene for many years has lead many to speculate what her potential limit on outdoor rock might be. No doubt there is more to come.— Climbing, PlanetMountain, UKClimbing, Gripped
Lara Neumeier became the first woman to complete the Alpine Trilogy within a single year, finishing the challenge with an ascent of Des Kaisers Neue Kleider (8b+/32, 250m, 9 pitches; Stefan Glowacz, 1994) on the Fleischbankpfeiler in the Wilder Kaiser, Austria, on June 4. The Trilogy consists of three legendary European multi-pitch sport routes: Beat Kammerlander's Silbergeier (8b+/32, Rätikon, Switzerland), which Neumeier climbed on June 10, 2025; Thomas Huber's End of Silence (8b+/32, Berchtesgaden Alps, Germany), on August 26, 2025; and the Des Kaisers ascent. Only 11 climbers have completed all three; Neumeier is the second woman to do so (after Babsi Zangerl) and the only person to complete the set within 365 days. — UKClimbing, Gripped
Cameron Hörst (25) made the first ascent of Big Bone (9a+/36) in Fynn Cave, Utah, after what he described as his 'longest and hardest project' — 60-plus working attempts over several years. The cave is roughly 50 metres deep. Big Bone extends Joe Kinder's 2016 line Bone Tomahawk (35) into the steepest section of the cave, totalling around 100 moves through 40 metres of climbing. Hörst noted that his working of the route lowered the difficulty from an originally expected 37: 'Joe and I always thought this climb would be [5.15b/37]. Over the years, however, we optimized every possible move and sequence down to its easiest form. So maybe just high-end [5.15a/36] is where it should lie.' Big Bone is Hörst's second route at the grade, after Martial Law (5.15a/36), Mount Charleston, Nevada, in 2023. — Gripped
Alpinism & Big Walls
Kosuke Kawachi, Toru Nakajima, and Yudai Suzuki of Japan established Echoes in the Dark (7a A3 X, 800m) on the east face of Cerro Cota 2000 in Patagonia's Torres del Paine massif, March 5–9. The team began on the first six pitches of Osa Ma Non Troppo (VI 5.12b A3, 700m, 2007) before breaking right up a striking corner system. The climb involved what Suzuki described as 'a miraculously connected series of hard aid pitches, a 20-metre runout squeeze chimney, treacherously loose flake sections, an ice chimney climbed in rock shoes.' After summiting, they descended by rappelling the line. The east face of Cerro Cota has been breached by only two other routes and Fabio Leoni, who was involved in one of them, compared it to El Capitan—spectacular granite that remains almost unknown. — Gripped, PlanetMountain
Elias Hangweyrer, Maximilian Muck, and Jakob Ritzl (Austria) opened Edge of Patience (M7+, A2, AI6, R; 2500m overall, 1200m wall) on the north face of Kongde Ri Shar (6,093m) in Nepal's Khumbu region, May 12–17. The team followed the most central line on the wall, which despite its prominence had never previously been attempted. — PlanetMountain
Anna Hazelnutt and Matilda Söderlund completed a team repeat of Air Madagascar (8a+/30, 450m) on a granite big wall in Madagascar. The project began after the pair met at a Las Vegas taco shop. UKClimbing, Climbing
Competition Climbing
The World Climbing Series Prague 2026 (June 3–7) hosted World Cup events in both Boulder and Lead. The Prague Boulder wall is the slabbiest on the circuit and the three hard slabs in the emn's semis put a stop to the ambitions of many of the more power-focused climbers. Sorato Anraku (Japan) continued his winning streak and claimed his first Prague Boulder gold, edging out South Korea's Dohyun Lee by two attempts. In the women's Boulder, Annie Sanders (USA) won narrowly over Erin McNeice, then backed it up with a second gold in lead to complete the Prague double—only the fourth climber in history to win both disciplines at the same World Cup event. In the men's lead final, Putra Tri Ramadani (Indonesia) won gold, defeating Japan's Neo Suzuki and Austria's Jakob Schubert—the first time an Indonesian climber has won a World Cup event in a non-speed discipline. — World Climbing Series, UKClimbing, Gripped