Editor’s Note: In 2017, Jeff Lowe received a Piolet d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award, only the second American (after John Roskelley) to gain this honor. His many accomplishments have been well documented. In lieu of repeating that long list here, ...
FOR MOST EVERYONE who reads this—be it now or in the distant future—Marc-André Leclerc will be remembered the way all young alpinists who left us too soon are: as an amalgamation of their deeds in the mountains, their prowess on rock or ice, their...
“IN THE EARLY ’60s the speed limits were high and gasoline cheap. We thought nothing of running over to Moab or the San Juans for a weekend, where there were superb first ascents for the taking. The anticipation, excitement, and carefree nature of...
In 1975, as a sophomore engineering student at the University of Southern California, Charles Cole saw The Eiger Sanction, a Clint Eastwood thriller that featured dramatic climbing scenes. With his native passion and intense focus, he threw himsel...
The Eight Mountains, by Paolo Cognetti (Atria Books, $24), a novel of a friendship in the mountains, was the grand-prize winner at Banff and a finalist for the Boardman-Tasker prize.As Above, So Below, by Chris Kalman (chriskalman.com, $24.99), is...
MY LIFE IN CLIMBING Ueli Steck. Mountaineers Books, 2018. Paperback, 224 pages, $21.95.My Life in Climbing is a terse and passionate record of the late Ueli Steck’s drive and determination to reach summits quickly and prolifically, with partners a...
MYSTERIUM: A Novel. Susan Froderberg. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. Hardcover, 271 pages, $26.“There are climbers who climb primarily to enter a deepening mystery,” Professor Troy scrawls in his journal in the opening chapter of Mysterium. “For...
SUMMER in New Zealand’s high alpine was highlighted by several periods of warm, calm weather, resulting in dry and stable conditions. Despite a hive of activity in the hills, only two new routes of note were established, both solo climbs by Ben Da...
THE CONVOLUTED west spur of Sahale Mountain (8,681’) in North Cascades National Park is plainly visible in profile from the standard route up the Quien Sabe Glacier, a popular initiatory alpine climb. The spur rises from around 7,500’ to 8,200’,...
The route lines for Hidden Dragon (left), Crouching Tiger (middle), and Manchu Wok (right) on the Chinese Puzzle Wall. All three routes are at least 5.12b, with Manchu weighing in at 5.12+. Photo by Drew Brayshaw In 2008, Squamish hardman Dan...
INSPIRED BY PHOTOS from my friend Martin López Abad, John Price, Quentin Lindfield Roberts, Will Stanhope, and I visited the Chañi massif in December. We spent 10 days based in a dusty military refugio at 4,700m. Between snowstorms and altitude hi...
Chañi massif from the east. (A) Nevado Chañi (5,949m). (B) Morro Von Rosen. (C) Pico Nordenskiöld. (D) Chañi Chico.Chañi is a sacred mountain, the highest in Argentina’s Jujuy Province at 5,949m (24°03’S, 65°44’W). It was first climbed by the Inca...
Located west of Mendoza, the Cordón del Plata offers easy access for climbers and a great training ground for nearby Aconcagua. Cerro Vallecitos (5,475m) is one of the highest and most climbed peaks in the range, with an easy ascent via the normal...
Donald MacPherson Wallace Jr., of Northfield, Vermont, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, after a short illness. His daughters Beth and Meg and his longtime companion, Mary Bellinzier, were with him until the end. He was an extraordinarily dedi...
As the fifth and youngest child of Curtiss Gilbert and Anne Seely from Yakima, Washington, Bruce grew up learning the apple farming business from his dad and older siblings. In 1946, as the leader of Boy Scout Troop 9, his father drove 18 boys 10,...
On November 26, 2018, Roberts (Bob) Walker French died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was a scholar, teacher, mountaineer, poet, and mentor to many. He will be greatly missed.Bob was born in New York City in 1935, to John and Rhoda Walker...
Robert “Bob” Mayo Failing was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the son of Joseph Henry Failing, M.D., and Virginia Mayo Neely. He attended Starr Commonwealth School in Albion, Michigan, graduating in 1946 at age 17. He moved to Murphy, North Carolina,...
Looking east-northeast from Churau to (A) Rongla Kangri, (B) Rongla south top, (C) Peak 6,265m, and (D) Koji La. The long glacier on the left flows to the Tibetan Plateau.A CONFLUENCE of circumstances led to my three partners for a mini-expediti...
THE IDEA of a new line on the southeast face of Pumori (7,161m) had been in my mind since 2015, when I had a chance to study the face in person. I tried it in 2017 with Vlad Capusan (AAJ 2018), but we were defeated by poor weather and avalanches. ...
In October, Antonin Cecchini, Laurent Thévenot, Aurélien Vaissière, and I arrived in the Khumbu for a month's climbing. We made base camp at Dzongla (4,800m) and from there acclimatized by trekking, bouldering, and spending five days climbing up a...