Other notable ascents (in addition to individual reports below). British climbers Jon Bracey and Andy Houseman made the long-awaited second ascent of the French Route on Mt. Hunter’s North Buttress in early May. Since the 1984 first ascent, the sustained and intimidating route had shut down many strong parties. Bracey and Houseman climbed the 6,000' vertical to the summit and descended the West Ridge, taking four days total.

On June 9 Pierre Darbellay and Raphael Slawinski climbed a new line to the summit ridge of Kahiltna Queen. Their Le Voyage au Bout de La Nuit (Journey to the End of the Night, 450m, WI4+ R) climbs a prominent gully immediately right of the West Face route.

In mid-June Colin Haley and Mark Westman made an impressively fast ascent (less than two days to the summit) of the difficult 7,800-vertical-foot Denali Diamond on Denali’s steep southwest face. This was the route’s fifth ascent.

On Denali in June the three south-facing couloirs in the black rock, which are obvious from the 17,200' camp on the West Buttress, descending from the North Peak, were skied for the first time, by a group that included Adam Clark, Greg Collins, Chris Davenport, Nick Davore, Clark Fines, and Kirsten Kremer.