The 5 Biggest Stories In Climbing This Week - 15-21/08/2015

At first glance, it might not seem like the last week was the biggest in terms of climbing news. Scratch the surface however and you'll see that there was actually a lot going on with everything from short 9a sport routes to Norwegian big walls being ticked by the great and the good of the climbing world.

5. A Big Impact From A Short Climbing Film

EpicTV's inaugural BoooomFest Film Festival wrapped up this week with screenings of the winners, along with a host of honourable mentions, in both London and Chamonix. Although obviously ever so slightly biased, we were psyched to see a climbing entry scoop one of the top prizes. 'Fighting Back' from filmmaker Mikkel Lima tells the story of Danish climber Thomas Blaabjerg who, following an accident in 2013, was told that he would never climb again. Happily, Thomas had other ideas...

4. Digiulian and Traversi Prepped For Their Eiger Push

Sasha Digiulian and Carlo Traversi have spent the last few weeks in Switzerland preparing for an attempt on 'Paciencia' (8a/5.13b), a bolted route on the Eiger's North Face. The weather has unfortunately not playing ball, but in a short weather window before rain is due to set in again on Sunday, the pair are preparing to make their attempt.

For the latest from the wall, check out Sasha's Twitter account for regular updates.

3. 'Meru' Got A Very Warm Reception

After its extremely successful showing at Sundance earlier this year, 'Meru' starring Renan Ozturk, Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker has been one of the most hotly anticipated climbing film releases of the year. It premiered last week and since then there has been a veritable deluge of coverage for the film. 'Real' climbing films don't always strike a chord with a more general audience, but it looks like 'Meru' is very much the exception with everyone from CBS to the Huffington Post lining up to cover it. San Fancisco's SF Gate went as far as describing it as: "The rare doc that demands to be seen on the big screen.” If you're lucky enough to live in the US and would like to do just that, you can check out a list of the film's showings here.

2. Alex Megos Climbed 9a...Again

Just two weeks ago, we were reporting that Megos had made short work of two top-end sport climbs in his home climbing area of the Frankenjura. Never one for slowing down, Alex has since added another hard route to his list of Frankenjura ticks with the first ascent of 'Der Barde Besingt Die Wunder Des Tages' (9a/5.14d). That mouthful apparently translates (according to Google) as 'The Bard Sings of the Wonders of the Day,' the wonders in this case being Alex's ability to dyno from horrifying looking monos. 

Disco 2000 quick clip from Dave MacLeod on Vimeo.

1. A British Team and A Norwegian Big Wall

The trad climbing triumvirate of Dave MacLeod, Jacob Cook and Callumm Muskett have been in Northern Norway where they have made the first free ascent of the 13 pitch big wall route 'Disco 2000.' The route, previously an aid line, is located on mount Blåmman and has difficulties up to 8a+/5.13c. The video above gives an idea of both the quality and the difficulty of the climbing.