The development of Morphology began in April 2015, when Karl Kvashay aid-soloed the first two pitches, following aesthetic thin seams, as a direct start to Tucupit occidentalis (800’, 5.10+, AAJ 2016). The final version of that route followed the ...
In early August, Jon Griffin, Tad McCrea, and I left Road’s End and hiked into the Sphinx Lakes, where we established three new routes on various peaks.After setting up camp at one of the upper lakes, we hiked up and over an unnamed pass east of S...
THAD FERRELL AND I ARRIVED at Lemon Reservoir in the upper Florida River Valley, near Durango, around 8 a.m. on September 9. It’s a short hike in, about 15 minutes, followed by a 20-foot downclimb into the canyon. We climbed three warm-up routes, ...
“Here are the same pins and hammer we used to put it up in ’96,” Norm Larson said, handing over four pitons and a bright-red, lightweight wall hammer. “You should place a pin or bolt at the A2 crux on pitch five, and then I remember a knifeblade w...
IN NOVEMBER, Emily Reinsel and I completed a quest to summit all 22 freestanding formations we identified in the Valley of the Gods (VOG) of southeast Utah. During the process, we established nine new routes, including the first ascents of two but...
In April, Jonathan Schaffer and I climbed a new ground-up route on the north face of Mt. Kinesava. Slam Panther! (400m, 5.11) is a Zion adventure true to the area. The route takes an obvious line in the middle-right of the cliff. [Editor’s note: A...
OVER MULTIPLE TRIPS from December 2017 to February 2018, I established and freed a new route on the steep southeast face of Mt. Spry. Hintersands (900’, IV 5.12) is almost completely hidden from view on the tunnel road, and I originally spied the ...
In late August, Jon Griffin, Tad McCrea, and I hiked into Wales Lake in search of steep unclimbed rock. We hiked via George Creek, which involves 6,000’ feet of elevation gain to Vacation Pass and 2,000’ down to Wales Lake. Our efforts were reward...
"Sam, you need a copy of Bonney and Bonney's Guide to the Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas," said Paul Piana as we sunned ourselves on Vedauwoo's Clamshell boulder in 1986. "It's a right of passage to becoming a Wyoming climber... you aren't...
I arrived in Petersburg, Alaska, at the end of July, about six weeks after setting sail from Port Hadlock, Washington in Ember, my Freya 39 sailboat. I was keen to get off the boat for a while, and a long walk to a big mountain seemed like just th...
In August 2017, four friends traveled to the Shimshal Valley to look for unclimbed peaks. Steve Carratt, George Cave, Clay Conlon, and I had previous expedition experience, but due to work commitments could only afford three weeks away. This was a...
We would have done it, I'm certain, but the weather was constantly against us. Our sirdar told us he couldn't remember such weather in August. It snowed for all but the first two days of our 15-day attempt on the 2,400m north ridge of Latok I (7,1...
Italian climbers and trekkers have been visiting parts of the Hindu Raj on or around the Chiantar Glacier ever since Franco Brunello’s first expedition in 1997. The highest peak in this subrange is Koh-i-Chiantar (6,416m), first climbed in 1967 by...
In May and June, a friend and I traveled to Pakistan to attempt virgin Pumari Chhish East (6,850m), above the YutmaruGlacier. During acclimatization my friend fell sick, so I decided to attempt an easier peak alone. Leaving base camp on the north ...
James Lawson, Will Smith, and I initially planned to visit the Yashkuk-Yaz Glacier in northwest Gilgit-Baltistan, near the Afghan border. Unfortunately, our permit was denied at the last minute. Inspired by a report from Pete Thompson in AAJ 2016...
Our adventure in Madagascar started as many adventures begin: a spark in a climber’s eyes and a picture to start the dreams of a new trip to explore the world. It did not take long to convince Dimitri Anghileri, Marco Maggioni, and me that the wal...
In mid-August, Manolo Urquizo, Coqui Galvez, Andres Putallaz, and I met in Calca and took a shuttle van to Lares on the northeastern side of the Cordillera Urubamba. From there we took a 4x4 vehicle to the village of Cachin in the hills above. Ver...
On October 18–19, Nathan Heald (Peru) soloed a variation to the 1959 Swiss and 1985 Mexican routes on the west-northwest face of Huandoy Norte (6,395m). Starting at 10:15 p.m., he took a direct line up the snow and ice face leading to the broad su...
Coropuna (6,425m) is the highest volcano in Peru. Located approximately 150km northwest of Arequipa, it has six glaciated summits higher than 6,000m, and the massif covers 83 square kilometers. [See AAJ 2013 for more about Nevado Coropuna.]Julieta...
After opening the new route Yaku Mama at Gocta Falls, in Peru’s northern Amazon, with Pedro Galán and Manu Ponce, (see linked report) our team traveled by bus for 24 hours to reach Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca. Our biggest problem now was arriv...