The 4th edition of our Arco climbing guidebook, covering Italy’s renowned climbing destination, is now available, offering climbers an in-depth look at the area’s top crags. Since the 1980s, when pioneers like Manolo, Heinz Mariacher, and Roberto Bassi began bolting the first routes, Arco has evolved into a world-class hub for climbers of all levels.

With guidance from local climbers and support from Vertical-Life, this edition, led by Cody Roth, offers detailed descriptions and invaluable insights into 164 climbing areas, including 32 newly added crags.

All content is fully accessible on the Vertical-Life App, available to those who purchase the guidebook and to all Vertical-Life Premium users, with an additional 38 App-Only crags to explore.

For those looking to purchase, the Panico shop is now the official reseller of Vertical-Life guidebooks, including this latest edition of Arco.

Get your copy today and unlock everything Arco has to offer.

Iker and Eneku Pou have opened the mixed 600 m tall Truene, where the crux pitch is speculated to be 9a+, summiting Peña Santa de Castilla (2.596m). Here is a short video. Four years ago, they completed the first ascent of Rayu 8c (b+) on the same wall. Iker has been making headlines since 2000, when he climbed Action Directe 9a. Over his career, the 47-year-old has conquered more than 30 routes graded between 9a and 9b(+), with his most prolific period starting in 2015. Taking into account his impressive multi-pitch achievements, the Spaniard ranks among the world's top multi-discipline climbers.

“The first part is about five pitches (around 300m), with difficulties no higher than 7b+/c, but it’s going to require max effort due to the sparse fixed protection and the potential for some sketchy falls. The second part is seven pitches (also around 300m), but this is the hardest and most overhanging section—so much so that there were moments where we were terrified, balancing in the void! This part was a real struggle, and it's where you’ll hit the crux at 9th grade. You’ll rely on floating gear and trad protection with the odd bolt here and there.

We had marathon sessions, climbing for over 15 hours straight... we were exhausted, but so happy. We gave it our all, and when you put in 100%, it leaves you with a great feeling. One of the most beautiful parts was bivvying halfway up the wall, watching the incredible sunrises and sunsets, and being under a blanket of stars at night. Now, we just need to come back stronger and with more time for a proper redpoint attempt.”

When you say opened, do you mean you aided or hang-dogged some parts?
We open the multi pitch like always we did, from the ground up, climbing in free and putting bolts when we can’t put cams ( friends , stoppers…). For put the bolts we stopped in hooks. We redpoint all the pitches except the hardest one, pitch number (10) that can be around 9a+. It is an sustained 8c, with a super tough boulder problem at the end and no rests. It’s got some big falls and is 450 meters off the ground. We did all the moves of the pitch but we couldn’t redpoint it!! We need to come back.

How many bolts did you add in total?
Some pitches have no bolts but most have 2 or 3 bolts. The hardest pitch have 10 bolts in 40m.

Lorenzo Bogliacino, with two 9a+’ under his belt, has completed A muerte bilou (9a) in Verdon, calling it 9a+. “ After breaking MANY holds I think it is really much harder.”

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
After a great deal of hard work over the last few months (about 30 days), in the craziest summer ever, going back and forth from the Verdon, with a thousand changes at work and a 4h30 drive after the night shift, yesterday was the day! I climbed focused and determined all the hard sections and every move. Before doing the last movement, which I had fallen to the last few times, I looked at the hold and it was already in my hand! The run lasted about 1h15😅 The route goes straight up for 50 meters the middle of the Ramirole!

Incredible to have climbed this route after monsters like Alex Garriga, Bouin and Tanguy Merard; obviously bolted by kinglines maker Antonin Rhodes! Thanks to my 'hermanos fracasados' Gigi and Umbe for the whole summer, Vog and Clu for the last few days and of course to all the fantastic people I met over the past few months from all over the world! In the next post I will talk about the grade, now I just want to enjoy the moment.

Toby Roberts, the Olympic gold medalist, reports on Instagram that he has done Gancho Perfecto (9a) in Margalef. At just 15 years old, in 2020, Roberts completed his first 9a route, though he has since focused more on competition climbing. (c) Javi Pec

Now 19, Roberts recently won the Lead World Cup although he skipped last weekend's event in Seoul. In the Boulder World Cup, he placed 6th and would have needed to win the final event to secure a double victory.

Lana Skušek, who two weeks ago did her first 8c, has ticked Talk is cheap! (8c) in Mišja Peč. Two months ago, the Slovenian was #8 in the Euro Championship.

” I tried Talk is Cheap for the first time just before Strelovod (8c) and it was the first project I envisioned for myself. Circumstances led me to climb Strelovod first, and then I went back to Talk is Cheap. During my first attempt, I managed to do all the moves. In the next few attempts, I changed the beta a bit, and I felt like I could climb it.

Yesterday, everything fell into place, and I succeeded. I’m very happy and proud of myself because I wouldn’t normally consider this type of route my style, and I think I proved a lot to myself with this achievement. Moreover, the conditions were far from perfect; the top was actually quite wet.”

For the first time since 2019, Japan claimed the top spot in both the men's and women's team rankings. On the other hand, if Janja Garnbret had competed in more than two of the five World Cups, Slovenia likely would have won the women's category. Nonetheless, Japan secured another dominant victory in the overall team rankings.

Since 2014, Team Japan has consistently won the Boulder team ranking each year, largely due to the dominance of their male athletes. The trend is that their superiority has grown stronger in the last few years.

Leo Vail has, after 19 sessions, completed Trip tik tonik (9a) in Gorges du Loup. Since May 2023, the 25-year-old climber from Marseille has been based in Paris for a route-setting academy. After over a year away from the cliffs, he relocated to Nice two months ago. Passionate and more motivated than ever, he started his big 9a project although having just done one 8c. (c) Nicolas Vaillant

“I did my first 8c before my year in Paris. I shared my climbing time between Fontainebleau and training indoors. It was a good opportunity to progress. I felt stronger when I came back, so I decided to work a big big project. TTT was a dream line near house and in my perfect style. It was the first time I worked I route as this. I didn't expect it to happen like this.”

Paul Zauner has, after some 50 sessions, done Hades (9a) in Götterwandl. In 2020 he logged it as a project in his scorecard and commented, ”Life goal to climb this route. Moves are pretty doable but there are no good rests and its damn overhanging.” (c) Luigi Dellarole

Can you tell us more sending your ”life goal” route?
I actually got a lot to tell😁 For most people this is just another young dude who sends another randome 9a, for me it means that i accomplish my main life goal.

Climbing 9a was obviously always a dream but it felt so far away that I never thought its even possible for someone like me. The first time I stumbled across Hades was when I was 16 and my incredible strong friend Gundi climbed this route. I have never been at the crag before but from that day on I was very curious about the "Götterwandl" (Gods-wall).

Beeing 19 years old, I moved to Innsbruck, which is just an hour drive away from Hades and has one of the best Gyms in the world. After doing most of the classics I couldn't hold myself back and gave Hades a try. This was 4 years ago and I could surprisingly do almost all the single moves. That day I fell in love. I was by far not strong enough but the sequences are so enjoyable that I came back over and over again.

As said, the single moves are not the problem but it's consistent ~30° overhanging and there are a lot of hard moves without a rest. The route starts with some physical ~8a+ meters into a rest which is not really a rest but we call it like that because you can clip a draw and chalk up😅 Then you go straight into a 10 move 7C/+ boulder problem with the hardest move at the end so you want to arrive there with no pump whatsoever...

The first time that I arrived at this last heartbreaking move was last spring and I was so surprised getting there that I forgot what to do. Getting there and sticking the move is a whole different story tho, a year ago I sometimes couldn't even do the single move isolated.
This year, for the first time in my life a started with some training as my roommate luckily forced me to go on the spray wall with him once a week. This really helped me to build the missing body tension and I started feeling stronger than ever. About a month ago I felt ready to send bodywise. I knew its possible if the perfect conditions arrive. I just needed to be prepared at every time! I checked the forecast multiple times a day, hoping for temperatures between 13-15° and humidity under 50%, finally last sunday looked promising!

I already knew it a week before and tried to be as ready as possible, making sure to have a climbing partner, doing rest days, getting sleep, eating well, not hurting myself.

It rained a lot the days before and I was worried of some holds getting wet but everything was just perfect. I did my warm up routes as always, and got super psyched while two friends tried the route too. Then it was my time to climb, I knew I had possibly two tries this day if I fell early but i wanted to have it done. I felt ready and you only get condis like this a few days a year. After around 50 sessions I had the moves dialed I just needed to do them without the tiniest mistake. The crux felt so solid, arriving at that last hard move i knew I could do it, that was the best feeling.

For the first time in a hundred tries I felt strong enough to dominate the route. There are still some sketchy dynamic moves and a slab with tiny crimps at the end but I knew I could do it. My mind was going crazy at this last few meters, it just felt sureal to be up there without a fall, after so many days coming here, only trying this one route... doing the last moves in disbelief, trying to focus as u can definitely still mess it up! No idea what to do now, having my life goal done at age 23...😂 onto the next one I guess.