Janja Garnbret has just completed “Bibliographie,” a 9b+ route, in Céüse, in France. The Slovenian climber has made the first female ascent of this major route, which was established by Alex Megos in 2020. She also becomes only the second woman to reach the 9b+ grade (5.15c), after Brooke Raboutou. An extraordinary achievement.
For a long time, she focused her talent solely on competition: Janja Garnbret has won it all, from World Cups to the Olympics. But the extraordinary Slovenian climber has been firmly committed to a new direction for the past two seasons, spending time bouldering outdoors and on crags. What could be more natural for an exceptional climber than to try one of the most legendary routes on a crag that has no shortage of them?
Bibliographie, in Céüse, is that route. On June 6, 2026, Janja Garnbret made the first female ascent, adding to her list of achievements a lead climbing feat that ranks among the most impressive ever accomplished by a female climber. Graded 9b+, this 35-meter route, located on the great limestone wall of the Hautes-Alpes (aka the most beautiful cliff in the world), had until then eluded all female climbers. Before the Slovenian, only five climbers had completed it.
On her social media, Janja Garnbret summed up the personal significance of this route in a few words: “Some routes leave a lasting impression on you even before you reach the belay.” For an athlete accustomed to podiums, world titles, and Olympic medals, Bibliographie was therefore more than just a challenge: it was a lesson in patience, in the rock, and in the conditions. Leading up to the grand finale.
© Jessica Glassberg / Red Bull Content Pool
First bolted by Ethan Pringle in 2009, Bibliographie had long awaited its first ascent. Alex Megos free-climbed it in 2020, after extensive work, initially grading it 9c. The grade was later lowered to 9b+ following Stefano Ghisolfi’s repeat, a decision accepted by Megos. Since then, the route has remained one of the global benchmarks for top-level sport climbing: over 80 moves, two extremely difficult sections, few rests, and Céüse’s unique exposure to changing conditions.
Before Janja Garnbret, the list of repeat climbers was short: Alex Megos, Stefano Ghisolfi, Sean Bailey, Sébastien Bouin, and Jorge Díaz-Rullo. Just five climbers for a route that, in a few short years, has become one of the benchmark routes for 9b+.
Garnbret’s achievement is therefore twofold: she becomes the first woman to complete Bibliographie, but also only the second woman in history to reach 9b+, after Brooke Raboutou, who completed Excalibur in Arco in April 2025.
© Jessica Glassberg / Red Bull Content Pool
Women’s progress beyond 9a+ remains rare. The first women’s 9b was set by Angela Eiter on La Planta de Shiva in Spain in 2017. Julia Chanourdie then followed with Eagle-4 in Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux in 2020. Laura Rogora reached this level with Erebor in 2021, followed by Anak Verhoeven with La Planta de Shiva in 2024. To date, very few women have reached 9b, and only two have confirmed 9b+: Brooke Raboutou and Janja Garnbret.
For Garnbret, the significance of this achievement is also tied to her profile. A two-time Olympic champion, multiple world champion, and historic dominant force in competition, she had little left to prove on artificial walls. But the crag had surprises in store for her. In Céüse, you have to accept the wind, the temperature, the wait, the off days, the methods you have to figure out, and that uncertainty unique to rock climbing. In an interview published after her ascent, the Slovenian explained that the route had forced her to become “a different kind of climber.”
That is undoubtedly what gives this achievement its significance. Bibliographie forced the Slovenian to confront a relationship with time and failure that she had little or no experience with. Garnbret attempted the route over several trips, having begun work on it after the Paris 2024 Games, before finally completing it on June 6.
© Jessica Glassberg / Red Bull Content Pool
This shift from competition to one of the world’s toughest routes does not diminish Garnbret’s remarkable career on artificial walls. But it also reminds us that the boundaries between athletic performance and the history of climbing are now shifting in both directions: in Olympic competitions, but also on the cliffs where a few routes attract the world’s best.
With Bibliographie, Janja Garnbret isn’t just making history as the first woman to climb it. She’s etching her name into the brief history of 9b+, a grade still reserved for a handful of athletes. And she’s proving, on the beautiful limestone of Céüse, that the best competitor of her generation is also capable of dominating one of the world’s most demanding routes.