Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Solo on Lupghar Sar West A New Route Up a 7,157-meter Peak in the Hispar Muztagh

On July 7 I reached the summit of Lupghar Sar West (7,157m) via the previously untouched west face. (This peak was first climbed in 1979 via the southwest ridge.) Completely on my own, and after making some good acclimatization loops around base c...

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| Published 2018 | Author Hansjörg Auer


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Nanga Parbat, Rupal Face, Attempted Variation to Messner Route Pakistan, Himalaya

Climbing in alpine style, Czech climbers Marek Holeček and Tomáš Petreček planned to attempt a new route on the Rupal Face to the right of the 2005 Anderson-House route on the Central Pillar. Bad weather and snowfall made this impractical, and whe...

| Keywords Marek Holecek, Tomas Petrecek
| Published 2018 | Author Lindsay Griffin


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
The Sphinx, Mazaroca Ardiente Mozambique

Argentine climbers Lucas Alzamora, Carloncho Guerra, and Diego Nakamura visited northern Mozambique during September, inspired by photos of the granite domes there. Northern Mozambique has many rock walls, some up to 700m high, however the local c...

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| Published 2018 | Author Marcelo Scanu


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Great Spitzkoppe, Northwest Face, Mamba No. 5, and Other New Routes Namibia, Damaraland, Spitzkoppe Range

In early 2016 a friend and mountain guide from South Africa, Neil Margetts, sent me a photograph taken from a small plane of the northwest wall of Great Spitzkoppe. He had seen the photo on a friend’s Facebook page, and he was quick to spot the cl...

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| Published 2018 | Author Robert Powell


Book Reviews AAJ
Tides: A Climber's Voyage By Nick Bullock

TIDES: A CLIMBER’S VOYAGE. Nick Bullock. Vertebrate Publishing, 2018. Paperback, 256 pages, £14.95.When I picked up Nick Bullock’s second book, Tides, which won the 2018 Banff Mountain Book Festival’s Mountain Literature Award, I wasn’t sure what ...

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| Published 2018 | Author Michael Wejchert


Book Reviews AAJ
Limits of the Known By David Roberts

LIMITS OF THE KNOWN. David Roberts. Norton, 2018. Hardcover, 336 pages, $26.95.If I could choose a title for this book, I might change it to "No Limits of the Known,: such is the wide-ranging scope of David Roberts’ reflections.Roberts, who was an...

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| Published 2018 | Author Bernadette McDonald


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chambe, Northwest Face, Passion and Pain Malawi, Mulanje Massif

The high-quality, compact granite in Malawi is so impressive, it leaves one wondering why it has been largely ignored by climbers. The northwest face of Chambe in the Mulanje Massif looksa bit like two Half Domes stacked on top of each other, with...

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| Published 2018 | Author James Garrett


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Serratus Mountain, North Buttress Canada, British Columbia, Coast Mountains, Pacific Ranges, Tantalus Range

IT HAD ALL gone wrong. I sat drinking beer in the Edinburgh evening sun, grumpy and frustrated about my flight to Canada the next day. I’d planned a dream trip to see my best friend and old climbing partner in Vancouver, and then, three weeks befo...

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| Published 2018 | Author Juliet Harris


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Rajuntay, Northeast Face; Rajuntay Norte, Northeast Couloir Peru, Cordillera Central

The Cordillera de la Viuda is a subrange of the Cordillera Central (see Alpine Journal 2000 for more details about the area). With many 5,000m peaks and moderate climbing, it is an interesting place for exploration and climbing. The highest summit...

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| Published 2018 | Author Marcelo Scanu


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Avellano Towers, Skyline Traverse Chile, Northern Patagonia, Aysén Region

From February 8–26, 2018, Rodrigo Lobo Villarroel (Bolivia) and I completed a trip to the Avellano Towers. We approached from Chile Chico up the Avellano Valley—this is the southeast approach, which is the more expensive but “inspiring” option. St...

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| Published 2018 | Author James Moneypenny


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Traverse of Nevados de Famatina Argentina, Northern Andes

In August, Argentines Griselda Moreno (leader), Ramiro García, Paula Miranda, and Lelo Saldaña made the first traverse of all the summits of Nevados de Famatina. This traverse was attempted unsuccessfully five times in the 1990s, and it was partic...

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| Published 2018 | Author Marcelo Scanu


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Avellano Towers, The Tooth, South-southeast Face; Aonikenk, Aumkenk Aike Chile, Northern Patagonia, Aysén Region

In January 2018, our three-woman team from the U.K., comprised of Michelle O’Loughlin, Freja Shannon, and me set off to explore the long and wild Avellano Valley, where the snaking Rio Avellano eventually meets its source: the striking Avellano To...

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| Published 2018 | Author Sasha Doyle


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Cerro Dalla Vedova and Cerro Stoppani, First Ascents Argentina-Chile, Cordillera de Darwin

In October 2018, Chilean mountaineers Harry Brito, Camilo Hornauer, and I made the first ascents of Cerro Dalla Vedova (2,271m) and Cerro Stoppani (2,275m) in the eastern section of the Cordillera de Darwin. Cerro Dalla Vedova is located at the he...

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| Published 2018 | Author Cristian Donoso


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chaltén Massif and Torres del Paine: 2018–2019 Season Summary Argentina-Chile, Southern Patagonia

THIS WAS THE THIRD season in a row with fairly poor weather and conditions. After having anomalously dry seasons in 2012, 2015, and 2016, it has come as a bit of a shock to go back to average Patagonia weather. The only extended windows of good we...

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| Published 2018 | Author Rolando Garibotti


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Cerro Aguda (West Summit), West Ridge Chile, Aysén Region

In February, Itai Cohen, Elaine Kennedy, and I made an ascent of the west ridge of Cerro Aguda (2,641m; 46°48'51.74"S, 73°09'36.18"W; also called Cerro Agudo or Aguja Aguda) on the eastern margin of the North Patagonian Icefield. The peak had been...

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| Published 2018 | Author Matt Lemke


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
First ascents of Cerro Nylandia, “Cerro Fernando,” and “Cerro Akila” Chile, Cordillera de Darwin

From September 25 to October 13, the French national women’s mountaineering team (ENAF), comprised of Florence Igier, Johanna Marcoz, Marion Pravin, and Maud Vanpoulle, along with two coaches, Gaël Bouquet des Chaux and Antoine Pêcher, completed a...

| Keywords ENAF
| Published 2018


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Cerro Cuerno de Plata, Second Known Ascent Chile, Northern Patagonia, Aysén Region

In December 2017, Australian climbers Colin Barton, Callum Hawkins, Paul Plank, Geoff Robb, Annette Skirka, Raymond Alfred Smith, Neil Thomas, and mountain guides Sören Kruse, Carlos Vasquez, and Steffen Welsch made the second known ascent of Cerr...

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| Published 2017 | Author Steffen Welsch, Germany, and Sören Kruse, Denmark


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
No Stereoscopic Vision: Off the Map on the Erasmo Icefield, a Forgotten Corner of Patagonia Chile, Aysén Region

In the winter of 2006, during a plane flight to San Rafael Lagoon to begin the first north-south winter crossing of the Northern Patagonian Icefield, I saw through the window a huge mass of ice surrounded by impenetrable forests and a glacier that...

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| Published 2018 | Author Pablo Besser


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
First Ascents in the Exploradores Valley: Cerro Cheuco, Cerro Pinuer, Cerro Caballo Chile, Aysén Region

After four years of working in the Exploradores Valley, west of Puerto Río Tranquilo (toward the west end of Lago General Carerra), and always looking at these incredible and barely explored mountains, it seemed time to invest some effort to climb...

| Keywords Camilo Rada
| Published 2018 | Author Javier Galleani Calderón


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Cerro Mangiafuoco, East Ridge Chile, Northern Patagonia, Aysén Region

Paolo Marazzi and I set off from Italy on December 24, 2018. Once at Puerto Bertrand, we waited in vain for a gaucho to help transport our gear up the Rio Soler valley. In order not to waste the first window of good weather, we crossed Lake Bertra...

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| Published 2019 | Author Luca Schiera