Janja Garnbret Becomes 1st Woman to Climb Bibliographie 9b+ Route

Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first woman to complete bibliography, one of the world's most challenging outdoor climbing routes, in Céüse, France. The two-time Olympic gold medallist completed the route on June 6, 2026, adding another major achievement to her climbing career. Bibliography is considered one of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world.

Janja's achievement also makes her the second woman to complete a confirmed 9b+ sport climb, following American climber Brooke Raboutou, who climbed Excalibur in Italy in 2025. Before Janja's ascent, only five climbers had successfully completed bibliography. The route was first climbed by German climber Alex Megos in 2020 and later completed by four other male climbers.

The 27-year-old began working on the route after the Paris 2024 Olympics. Unlike indoor competitions, outdoor climbing presented different challenges, including unpredictable weather, changing conditions and the difficulty of repeating demanding movements on natural rock. A bibliography stretches approximately 35 meters and features more than 80 challenging moves, requiring considerable strength, endurance and technical precision.

Key Highlights:

• Janja becomes the first woman to complete bibliography, a challenging 9b+ sport climbing route in France
• Her achievement makes her the second woman to complete a confirmed 9b+ climb, following Brooke Raboutou in 2025
• The two-time Olympic champion highlights patience, perseverance and slow progress as key lessons from her outdoor climbing journey

Gambling it all on the route was an important lesson for Janja. She was one of the most successful competitive climbers but said that patience was required for outdoor climbing. She visited bibliography several times, but never succeeded in getting to the top before she finally did.

During an interview with Red Bull, Janja described how it shifted her perspective. She was used to picking up a new challenge if she was unable to finish a course after 2 or 3 tries. But the bibliography was to remind her that she must persevere and keep striving for the same goal.

The Slovenian climber also said that it is important to embrace uncertainty and “slow progress”. Patience was one of the great lessons she learned during the experience, she said, because physical preparation is not enough to ensure success.

Janja's success comes on the heels of a stellar competitive career. She is the winner of her first Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 and has held it at the Paris 2024 Games. She has also won numerous world championship titles and World Cup medals, making her one of the top athletes in world sport climbing.

Janja spent most of her career climbing indoors, making the bibliography ascent a new type of success. It was proof of her endurance and hard work on the hard outdoor surfaces and also on exploring the different facets of the sport.

After the historic ascent, Janja is also eyeing up the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, hoping to take on the challenge of bouldering and lead climbing. But it's not her career as a competitor that got another boost in the French Alps.

Janja has pushed the envelope further on women's sports climbing with her successful climb of bibliography, the first woman to have made the extremely difficult route, and the first woman to climb the route to 9b+ grade.