Driven by my desire to return to the Thangman Lungpa (valley), which I had partially explored in 2023 (see AAJ 2024), Sudeep Barve, Prajakta Ghode, Mahesh Kendurkar, Yogesh Umbre, and I formed a joint expedition organized by the Himalayan Club and...
This is a story of perseverance, creativity, and joy that began in 2017 and finished seven years later. The east face of Snowpatch Spire in the Bugaboos has inspired me and many other avid climbers who stay at the Applebee Campground and are fasci...
The yellow line shows the first six pitches of Spicy Red Beans and Rice (Greene-Tague, 1997). Above the bivy ledge is Rat Race (red line, LaRocque-Pelletti, 2024). Photo: Alex Buisse On September 2, Ryan LaRocque and I tied in below the west ...
On February 14, 2024, Canadians Christina Lustenberger, Mark Herbison, and Joshua Lavigne skied the south couloir of Mt. Sir Sandford (3,519m), the highest peak of the Selkirk Mountains. After flying to a base camp at the foot of the mountain, the...
It was a dusty and hot afternoon on August 7 at the White Saddle Ranch on the Chilcotin Plateau. Big pine trees, a beautiful lake, and wide-open spaces dominated the landscape. Matt Maddaloni, Tim Emmett, and I sat on our enormous stack of gear, n...
Andrea Tate standing at a viewpoint on the west side of Culbert Crag during the first ascent, looking toward Frontier Creek, Harkness Tower, and Remote Mountain. Photo by Francis Bailey. The Pantheon Range, located just 20km north of Mt. Wadd...
Tsini Tsini Peak (2,256m), with the steep northeast ridge in profile on the left side. The climbers were dropped off by helicopter at the sharp saddle and picked up on the summit after the climb. The peak in back is Mt. Lobachevsky, climbed in 1...
Sleep-deprived and sorting gear and food on the floor of an Icefields Discovery airplane hangar in Silver City, Yukon, Nick Aiello-Popeo and I were attempting to finalize our packing before flying onto the Quintino Sella Glacier. We forgot the spa...
On November 7, Vasili Lelos (USA) and I climbed Colquepuncu III (5,550m, 13°45'48.1"S, 70°49'35.0"W) in the “Nudo de Ayacachi” to warm up. (The names in quotation marks are past references for these mountains in reports from the 1960s and 1970s—se...
I have been working as a surgeon at the mission hospital in Curahuasi, Peru, and from the hospital I can see several beautiful peaks of the Vilcabamba Range. In 2021, friends and I climbed Cerro Chaupiloma (AAJ 2022). The neighboring peak to the n...
On July 8 and 9, John Ebers and I made the first free ascent of Big Fighter (750m, VI 5.13b) on Chaupi Huanca (4,850m) in Quebrada Rurec. John Ebers at the hanging belay below pitch ten, the 8a (5.13b) crux of Big Fighter on Chaupi Huanca. Phot...
Our original plan was to attempt the unclimbed southeast face of Huantsán (6,395m). However, Mike Bowyer and I realized that abnormally warm temperatures, combined with a very lean snowpack, made that face quite dangerous, so we decided to look fo...
A team of 12 mountaineers from Kolkata, India, led by Rudra Prasad Halder, and six Sherpas led by Phursemba, made a probable new route on Brammah I (6,416m, 33°30’23”N, 76°03’04”E), climbing a couloir on the right side of the south face to reach t...
In August 2023, the Indian team of Vinod Chandra Joshi, Karn Kowshik, and Zeeshan Mushtaq climbed the 5,080m central summit of Harmukh, in alpine style, by a new route up the west couloir and upper northwest ridge. Around 35km almost due north of...
Internationally, John Jackson is probably best known for being a member of the 1955 British expedition that made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga. He also was first reserve for the 1953 Everest team. Prior to this, during World War II, he first b...
David Graells leads the second pitch of Shoma Chan (175m, WI4+) north of Hushe. Photo: Rafa Vadillo Collection Following reports about ice climbs that friends and I developed in the Nubra Valley in India (see AAJ 2024), we received a message ...
Photo-topo of the route called Orgasmo Multiple on the south face of Ocshapalca. Photo: Marek Radovský. On May 30, Slovak climbers Marek Radovský and Juraj Švingál climbed a tower they named Tauar (ca 4,600m, approx. 8°55’52.36”S, 77°33’09.56...
From July 3 to 6, Basque brothers Iker Pou and Eneko Pou, alongside Micher Quito from Peru, completed a difficult new route up the southeast face of Nevado Copa (6,188m). Named Puro Floro, the 1,000m climb featured mixed climbing difficulties up t...
Photo-topo of the 2024 route A la Sombra de la Duda on the south face of Nevado Copa. Photo: GEAN Expedition. In May, I was part of a team of young climbers of the French National Alpinism Excellence Group (GEAN) that climbed in Peru. Followi...
Jonathan Sage on top of Taulliraju. Photo: Tucker Merrill From July 10 to 12, 2023, Tucker Merrill (USA) and I climbed a new line on Taulliraju Sur (ca 5,400m), the highest summit on the lower southeast ridge of the Taulliraju massif. We then...