Tucked away to the south of the Terskey Alatau Range and west of the Inylchek Valley is the compact range known as Kuilu (Kuylyu). The first recorded expedition to the Kuilu Range took place in 1937, when a team led by I. Cherepov made the first a...
From September 20 to October 7, 2002, two legendary alpinists, Pavel Shabalin (Russia) and Ilyas Tukhvatullin (Uzbekistan), climbed the Nose Direct on the north face of Ak-su North (a.k.a. Rocky Ak-su, 5,217m). They made 11 portaledge camps and gr...
Taking advantage of a partial loosening in COVID-19 restrictions by Polish and Pakistani authorities, Jakub Bogdański and Michał Ilczuk returned to the northern Karakoram in September for a second attempt on unclimbed Dih Sar (reported as either...
Granite Peak from the south. (A) Location of climber after fall from the Snowbridge, the saddle in the east ridge directly above. (B) Site of rappel anchor failure. (C) Position of fallen climber. Two falls occurred on September 5 on the east...
On July 2, Emma Ely (25), Randy Smersh (36), and I (Zach Eiten, 28), all experienced mountaineers, set out to climb the Notch Couloir route on the north face of Granite Peak (12,799 feet), Montana’s high point. The Notch Couloir is described as “s...
Levan Lashkarashvili (left) and Archil Badriashvili at the first bivouac site during their ascent of the southwest face of Ailama in early September 2020. Their route continued up the headwall above and a little to the right of the two climbers....
Tetnuldi (4,858m, 43°01′52″N, 42°59′35″E), in the Svaneti region, is considered one of the most beautiful, pyramid-shaped mountains of the Caucasus. Situated south of the main frontier ridge, it offers a spectacular panorama, especially of the hig...
Climbing a new line up the most iconic peak of the Caucasus—Ushba (south peak, 4,710m; north, 4,690m)—is a dream for many alpinists. The mountain is famous for being harsh, complex, and dangerous. I remember moments as a teenager cautiously search...
In recent years I have been living between France and the USA, not really spending much time in my native New Zealand. My wife, Julie, is French, and our loose plan was to settle in France when our young son, Sam, started school. At the end of...
Relative to other areas in the Winds, the Cirque of the Moon has seen few climbing parties since the first recorded routes were established in 1978. We were drawn to the promise of seclusion and opportunity to attempt the first free ascent of on...
I first became interested in Little Tahoma Peak (11,130’), a satellite peak on the east side of Mt. Rainier, while talking with Matt Christensen, my stepfather, about his first ascent of the west ridge with Paul Cook in 1980. We found it interesti...
On August 3, Jamey Sellew, Ben Spannuth, and I set off from the Big Sandy trailhead to take a look at the unclimbed southwest face of a formation named Little El Capitan (12,825’). This was my fourth trip into the range, and the previous year I ...
The plan to do a new route on the northeast face of Mt. Hooker first formed in August 2019. That month, my closest friend, Nolan Smythe, and I hiked out from Hooker having done the second free ascent of Original Sin (Birdwell-Huey, 2017; see AAJ...
On the west end of Nagunt Mesa in Kolob Canyons is a prominent subpeak known as Nugget Mesa. The origins of this name stem from a 2000 AAJ report by the late Scott Cosgrove, and it may or may not have been a simple misspelling. Regardless, the n...
In November of 2019 Lane Mathis, Collin Turbert, and I set out to attempt a first ascent of a new route on Nagunt Mesa in Kolob Canyon. After hiking three fully loaded bags almost three miles over rough terrain, including some fifth class, we foun...
On September 29, in early winter conditions, Matias Francis and I climbed what we believe to be a new route on the north face of Peak 10,259' (45.981151, -113.441929) in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. After seeing some recent pictures of the ...
In the spring, Mike Dunn and Matt Ward climbed two new routes in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness, south of Zion National Park. Resurrection of General John Wayne (10 pitches, V 5.9 A3) is located on the southern end of the sprawling west flank of...
Mt. Owen (12,928’) is the second-highest peak in the Teton Range, but it sees minimal ski mountaineering action due to its relatively remote location in the winter and extremely technical nature. The north aspect, most specifically the Northeast...
The Cirque of the Sun is a small hanging valley just south of the Monolith cirque and just north of the Cirque of the Moon. In recent years, several new routes have been done on a large west-and north-facing formation, dubbed Resolute Buttress by ...
The North Norwegian Buttress, part of the northeast face of Mt. Index, showing (1) Jötnar (2,000’, 16 pitches, VI 5.9 A3+), (2) Doorish Route (Pete Doorish, 1980s), and (3) Voodoo Proj (VI 5.10 R A4, Williams-Karner-Strong-Thorpe, 2002). Photo ...