The regions of Provence and the French Riviera rightfully belong to that small number of founding areas of sport climbing at the cliffs.

In the 80s and 90s, an essential impulse to climbing at the cliffs came from places like Buoux, the Verdon, the Calanqbues, the Loubiere, and many other very important cliffs in the south of France. Characters of absolute world class, like the two Patricks, Edlinger and Berhault, have really given the alpha and omega for a new discipline, in many ways an alternative to classic rock climbing. To them, other famous names have been added, such as J.B. Tribout, Marc and Antoine Le Menestrel, up to the latest protagonists of French sport climbing among which it is certainly necessary to mention Seb Bouin, who reached 9c with DNA.

Added to this, although in much more recent times, is the entire area of ​​Western Liguria, from Albenga onwards, with a large number of splendid cliffs that are now very popular in all seasons, and often full of very difficult pitches. The thirty-first issue of Up Climbing is dedicated to this theme, with interviews and technical presentations of new sectors, such as those of Bernard Clément in Verdon, or those in Liguria proposed by Matteo Gambaro and Alessandro Cariga.

A substantial generalist section enriches the issue, with interviews with high-level climbers such as Mathieu Maynadier, Svana Bjarnason and Simone Pedeferri. Alessandro Jolly Lamberti concludes the issue with a reflection on training and the methods associated with it.