Olympic climbing champion Janja Garnbret becomes first woman to conquer Bibliographie in France

As the first female Olympic climbing champion, Janja Garnbret is no stranger to scaling new heights. She won the women’s combined gold at Tokyo 2020 before retaining her title in Paris four years later.

On June 6, the Slovenian made history again by becoming the first woman to conquer Bibliographie, one of the world’s hardest climbs, in France.

The 35m route is graded 9b+ for difficulty – 9c is the highest – and is located on a limestone cliff on the Ceuse mountain in south-eastern France.

“It feels incredible,” she said, as quoted on the Red Bull website. “When the send happens, everything is smooth, everything is perfect. You basically don’t feel what you’re climbing anymore.”

The 1.64m climber is an ambassador of the energy drinks brand, which is known for representing numerous acclaimed athletes, including Singaporean indoor skydiver Kyra Poh and Olympic freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu.

Red Bull athletes have also frequently made headlines for routinely breaking new ground, with the most notable feat being the late skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s jump from an altitude of 39,045m to the ground.

American Ethan Pringle completed the first bolted climb of Bibliographie in 2009, but it was only 11 years later that a successful free ascent was recorded by German climber Alexander Megos. Since then, only three other people have completed the climb.

Garnbret had been training hard for the climb, but she soon realised that physicality alone would not get her to the top.

She recalled: “I was really struggling with the conditions, but that’s the game when you climb outside. It’s also challenging because (the mountain) is at around 2,000m, where the conditions change all the time – sometimes it’s very windy, sometimes (there’s) no wind at all – so it’s very unpredictable.”

Key to her success was her mental fortitude that helped her be patient and adaptable to the conditions at Bibliographie.

“This route required me to be a different climber,” said Garnbret, who described herself as an impatient person.

“This experience taught me that patience really is the most important thing. You can train hard all you want, you can do everything right, but it’s still not guaranteed that you will succeed.”

With her ascent, Garnbret is also only the second woman to complete a 9b+ climb after American Brooke Raboutou ascended Excalibur in Italy in 2025.

With history now made, Garnbret wants to first savour the accomplishment before embarking on her next challenge.

She said: “This route taught me that with a calm mind and with patience, anything can happen. Never count yourself out until the very last try, you need to fight hard. And this is something that will stay with me forever.

“Now I want to enjoy this moment. Then I’ll look for a new project – something that lights a fire in me like Bibliographie did.”