The news

From 14/04/2012 to 07/05/2012 the Polish climbers Marek Raganowicz and Marcin Tomaszewski established Superbalance (VII, A4, M7+) , a new big wall climb up the Polar Sun Spire, Baffin Island.

Video portrait of American climber Pamela Shanti Pack who recently freed The Forever War (5.13c/d R), the hardest offwidth crack climb at Vedauwoo (USA).

In the Mount Kinabalu National Park in Borneo Yuji Hirayama has freed the multi-pitch Pogulian Do Koduduo 9a, while Daniel Woods has added Tinipi 9a+.

Video of Dai Koyamada who on 22/03/2012 made the first ascent of the boulder problem The Story of Two Worlds Low Start at Cresciano, Switzerland.

The Banff Mountain Photography Competition Grand Prize has been won by British photographer Neal Grundy. Italian photographer Sandro Sedran has received the Jury Special Mention.

Interview with American climber Hans Florine after his 17/06/2012 speed record on The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite set with Alex Honnold.

At Rocklands in South Africa the American climber Paul Robinson has made the first repeat of King of Limbs, suggesting 8B/B+ instead of 8B+/C.

Video by Kevin Jaramillo of Hayden Kennedy and Ivo Ninov on the famous rock climb Bachar - Yerian (5.11c R/X) at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite, USA.

On 17/06/2012 Hans Florine and Alex Honnold set a new speed record up The Nose on El Capitan, Yosemite in 2:23:46.

Great mourning in the ski mountaineering world and that of the mountains in general: on Sunday 17/06/2012 the 41 year-old ski mountaineering champion Stephane Brosse died as a result of a cornice collapse on Aiguille Argentiere (Mont Blanc).

Yesterday the National Geographic Society awarded the title Explorer of the Year to Austrian alpinist Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. The late Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard was awarded the Hubbard Medal.

The video of Steve McClure climbing Hubble 8c+, the super route freed by Ben Moon at Raven Tor, England.

On 13/06/2012 the Italian climber Silvio Reffo made the first ascent of L'attimo 9a at the crag Covolo.

Video portrait of American rock climber Steph Davis.

From 3 to 6 June 2012 the French alpinists Antoine Bletton, Pierre Labbre, Mathieu Maynadier and Sebastien Ratel made the first ascent of Théorême de la Peine (2000m, M5, ED-) up Latok II (7020m), Karakorum, Pakistan.

On 11/06/2012 the American climbers Jes Meiris and Quinn Brett set a new female speed record up The Nose in Yosemite, climbing El Capitan's most famous rock climb in 10 hours 19 minutes.