Mario Panzeri has become the fourth Italian to summit—without supplemental oxygen—all 14 8,000-meter peaks after reaching the summit of Dhaulagiri on May 17. Panzeri joins the ranks of countrymen Reinhold Messner, who became the first person to complete the quest, in 1986, and Silvio Mondinelli (age 49, 2007) and Abele Blanc, who completed his last 8,000-meter peak in 2011 at the age of 56, making him the oldest climber to have done so.

To date, 28 climbers (26 men, two women) have completed every 8,000-meter peak. The youngest to do so are Carlos Carsolio (Mexico) and Mingma Sherpa (Nepal), both were age 33. Jerzy Kukuczka (Poland), considered one of the best high-altitude mountaineers of all time, set the record for summiting all 14 peaks in just eight years (Messner took 18 years), along the way establishing 10 new routes, and climbing four of the peaks in winter. Kukuczka was killed on the South Face of Lhotse in 1989 when his 6mm lead rope broke or was cut in a fall. Add a comment

Ueli Steck, 35, one of the world's top alpinists and speed climbers, has summitted Everest with 21-year-old Tenzing Sherpa, without supplemental oxygen. Steck and Tenzing completed the climb on the 18th, arriving from the South Col. Last year, Steck, stricken with cold feet and climbing without supplemental oxygen,  turned back just 300 feet short of the summit. For a feature on Steck, see the latest issue of Rock and Ice, No. 203, now arriving on newsstands.

So far this season, 168 climbers have succeeded on Everest and four have died, the latest death being that of Dr. Eberhard Schaaf of Germany at the south summit, on May 19 due to high altitude cerebral edema.

In this moody video sloper-meister Chris Schulte climbs some nice blocks locked in the heart of Colorado winter.

Sasha DiGiulian, fresh off a slew of 5.14 sends including Pure Imagination (5.14d) and Era Vella (5.14d), is joining the powerhouse ranks of Mayan Smith-Gobat, Jessa Goebel, Mason Earle, Ben Rueck, Ben Spannuth, Chris Schulte and Ronnie Jenkins as a climber/athlete at the Rock and Ice Photo Camp.

Chris Sharma, Dani Andrada, Stephanie Bodet, and all the other Petzl athletes sport some of the best rock in the world: the Getu Valley of China. Watch and enjoy this musical video.

As reported earlier, the French teenager Enzo Oddo did virtually all the hardest routes in Kentucky's Red River Gorge during his short trip this spring. Here's a lighthearted look at the young phenom in action.

Some people can get a lot done in a day. Or an hour and a quarter.

"First ascent world record" shows Permin Bertle, a German climber residing in Switzerland, climbing two new 9a's / 5.14d's in 75 minutes.  Chromosome X and Chromosome Y

Conrad Anker has pulled the plug on the National Geographic/North Face attempt to repeat the 1963 American route up Everest's West Ridge. After studying aerial images obtained in a helicopter flyover, Anker concluded that the ridge and particularly the Hornbein Couloir don't have enough snow to allow safe climbing.

In a statement on nationalgeographic.com, Anker wrote, "It’s a very dry and windy season. Normally we have terrain that’s snowy. Your crampons have good purchase, and you can move along at a good clip. But what we have now is that that surface layer of snow has been stripped away, leaving bare ice. It’s very ancient ice that’s difficult to climb on."

He elaborated: “In 1963 they were in knee-deep snow in the Hornbein Couloir. We would have had blue ice and then two pitches where it was completely melted out. The risk of rockfall was too great. That’s just the nature of the mountain. Some seasons the routes are not in shape. Pre-monsoon 2012 is a dry year.”

Congrats to Heather Robinson for sending her first 5.14 (of many more) yesterday. The route is called Mon Pote Assiss (5.14a) and it is located at Mount Potosi, just outside of Las Vegas, where Robinson lives. Her ascent will go down as the route's first female ascent.

Yves Gravelle, visiting from Quebec, has sent his first V14 with the probable sixth ascent of Echale in Clear Creek Canyon.

The strong (see training vid below) Gravelle has opened problems up to V13,