Karl Egloff (Ecuador) broke the speed record for the West Buttress of Denali on June 20, running and climbing from Kahiltna base camp to the 20,310’ summit in 7 hours 40 minutes. His round trip from base camp was 11 hours 44 minutes. Both marks we...
It is with a sense of deep shock that we received the news that Martin Moran had died while climbing in the Kumaon region of the Indian Himalaya, along with seven other climbers. Martin, a British and IFMGA mountain guide, had been leading an expe...
On Monday, March 11, a guided party of six climbers, consisting of two guides and four clients, climbed Massey’s, the popular WI4 ice route near Field. This was the second day of a four-day waterfall ice climbing camp. On the previous day, the gro...
Shane and I (both in our 40s and experienced climbers) arrived at the base of the Squash Head ice route (WI 3/4) around 9:45 a.m. on February 2. We saw two climbers finishing the first pitch. The avalanche forecast for the day reported the hazard ...
Cerro Erguido (1,243 meters) from the south, seen from Fiordo de Agostini at the northwest end of the Cordillera Darwin. The mountain is unclimbed. Photo by Bernard Taberlet In today’s closely connected, heavily touristed world, there are sti...
In the last decade, the use of remote-controlled quadcopters, a.k.a. drones, has skyrocketed. In the United States alone, more than one million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. Today’s ...
In 2019, on my 35th expedition since 1993, I was able to get a permit to lead a group (11 French, two Poles, and one Pakistani) to visit the upper eastern end of the Chiantar Glacier. In 1967 a German expedition penetrated the upper Chiantar, wher...
The Yarkhun Valley runs parallel to the Wakhan Corridor, just to the north in Afghanistan. The labeled glaciers are: (1) Madit, (2) Risht, (3) Shetor, (4) Ponarilio, (5) Kotalkash, (6) Koyo, (7) Pechus, (8) Chhatiboi, (9) Chikzar, (10) Chiantar,...
Koyo Zom (6,877 meters) under fresh snow. The attempt on the northeast buttress generally followed the left skyline. The successful northwest face ascent was near the right skyline. Toward the end of September, almost three weeks after ar...
Koyo Zom (6,877 meters) from the Yarkhun Valley. The northwest face is near the right skyline, with a steep icefield leading to a difficult mixed headwall and the long summit ridge. The upper northeast ridge is along the left skyline. Tom Living...
What wonderful years. Fifteen years ago, newly at the helm of the American Alpine Club, I quoted the AAJ subtitle—“the world’s most significant climbs”—in my first note to members. One recipient reminded me that, “The most significant climbs are ...
On the afternoon of September 16, Marty Vogel (59) was working on Baby Face (5.12b) at Midnight Surf in the Muir Valley. For this route, the climber begins on a ledge approximately nine feet above the belayer. They were climbing in a group of thre...
Granite and Grace: Seeking the Heart of Yosemite. By Michael P. Cohen. Illustrations by Valerie P. Cohen. University of Nevada Press, 2019. Paperback, 232 pages, $21.95. “Tell me what you pay attention to,” writes the philosopher José Ortega y ...
Dr. Robert “Bob” Rockwell’s love of the mountains began in high school when he and friends, quite unprepared, climbed Mt. Whitney and witnessed the glow of an atomic bomb test in Nevada from the summit. The door was off the summit hut; it was full...
Note: Some of the climbs highlighted in this summary are described in more detail elsewhere on this site. Follow the links for additional information and photos from these climbs. The spring season in the Rockies began with a tremendous first asc...
Lonnie Dupre en route to Happy Camp (Camp 1) at 11,200 feet on the east face of Mt. Wood in the St. Elias Mountains of Kluane National Park and Reserve in Canada’s Yukon. Photo by Pascale Marceau On March 11, at 3:10 p.m., Pascale Marceau and...
Aerial overview of the upper south fork of the Fool’s River in the Ragged Range, looking south. The 2019 team’s base camp is marked (BC), with lower flanks of Die Eisspitze to the left. (A) Unnamed Peak, likely unclimbed. (B) Plymouth Peak, cl...
The east face of Howse Peak (3,295m), showing the line followed by Auer, Lama, and Roskelley. Their route started on M16, then traversed left to a bowl above Life By the Drop, continuing to the top with difficult mixed climbing. During their d...
The line of the North Spur (600m, IV) on Mt. Phillips (3,246m) in the Canadian Rockies. The high peak behind the left skyline is Whitehorn. Photo by John Scurlock Simon Richardson and I branched out to new-for-us ground when, in July, we turn...
The line of Eye of the Storm (700m, M6 WI5) on the lower north face of Storm Mountain. Photo by Maarten van Haeren After much discussion over Thanksgiving dinner at Jim Elzinga’s house (and some primo beta from Ian Welsted), Maarten van Haere...