Federico Bueno Aloísio from Argentina, Jose Luiz Belmonte and Eduardo Ricardo Diaz from Bolivia, and I (originally from Brazil) made the first ascent of Chochis Tower in the Roboré–Santa Cruz de la Sierra region of Bolivia’s eastern lowlan...
This July, I had the honor of fulfilling the mission of the Mountain Fellowship Award by establishing new routes on unnamed features near Waterwheel Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, Yosemite National Park. Over the course of two we...
The Tyutyu massif has five independent summits, up to 4,460m, and offers traditional rock and alpine routes in a gorgeous setting. The longest and most alpine routes are on the north side, which can be reached only by a long trek or by helic...
The international expedition called A Cada Uno Su Thaki (To Each Their Own Trail) was conceived by Anne Bialek (France) and Sergio Condori (Bolivia). Whereas traditional treks in the Apolobamba region tend to follow the Caminata de los Medicos K...
The mountains of Bolivia have seen a resurgence in new routing, largely due to the emergence of a strong cadre of local mountain guides, as well as a number of talented, enthusiastic foreign climbers resident in La Paz. A team of local guides repo...
Kieran Parsons and I made the first ascent of the northwest ridge of Mt. Burns in December. It's an enormous feature that dominates the head of the Landsborough Valley, a large but fairly isolated valley in the Southern Alps, immediately ...
A five-man British expedition comprised of Steve Brown, Paul Josse, Terje Lokken (Norway), Phil Morgan, and John Venier spent 12 days in late August exploring the glaciers around the western headwaters of the Mustabbes River. Various members...
Lebanon isn’t the first place that comes to mind for rock climbing—it’s better known for beaches, nightclubs, and the threat of instability. The Lebanese civil war (1975–1990) and ensuing turbulence have kept tourists away and limited the develo...
Saint Leu, Réunion, 5 p.m. I’m sitting on the veranda of a little bungalow, the sun setting over a black sand beach. It is our last day on the island. I receive a text message: “I did it, thank you team.” At first I don’t understand. Then I feel...
Mt. Tutoko, west face. Guy McKinnon soloed the first ascent of the west face of Mt. Tutoko (2,608m), the highest peak of the Darran Mountains, near the southern tip of New Zealand’s south island. The ca 1,900m face had only one recorded...
The Musandam Peninsula is a 700-square-mile enclave of Oman at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, separated from the rest of the country by a 45-mile-wide swath of the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf define its...
On July 22, Danish mountaineers Michael Pilegaard (26), Mads Knudsen (30), and Nicolai Bo Silver (26) set out from the 17,200-foot high camp for a summit attempt via a non-standard route up the “Autobahn,” the slope leading from high camp to De...
On June 16, a guided climber (53) descending from the summit of Denali began experiencing signs and symptoms of HAPE. The climber was able to descend to Denali Pass, at 18,200 feet, but could not travel any further under his own power. The clim...
On June 13, a guided expedition operated by Rainier Mountaineering Inc. was caught near the summit of Denali in a sudden storm. On the descent to high camp at 17,200 feet, all seven members (ages unknown) of the group sustained varying degrees ...
A Day to Die For 1996: Everest’s Worst Disaster, The Untold True Story. Graham Ratcliffe. Mainstream Publishing (U.K.), 2011. 322 pages. Color photos. Paperback. £11.99. The title refers to May 10, 1996, and what so many people have come to...
Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2’s Deadliest Day. Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan. W.W. Norton, 2012. 285 pages. Hardcover. $26.95. The Time Has Come: Ger McDonnell, His Life and His Death on K2. Damie...
I have always wanted to go to Pakistan and explore a valley that has been overlooked by other expeditions. This has been a dream of mine for many years, and in September, having come across the report from a team of Bulgarians who had explored ...
In September 2011, Doychin Boyanov, Mihail Mihaylov, and I explored the Khane Valley immediately south of Nangma Valley [AAJ 2012]. In August 2012 we three, together with Tervel Kerelov, returned. We reached base camp (Boulder Camp) on the Firs...
In July Raul Gonzalez and Mikel Urabain Saez spent 22 days in the Nangma Valley, climbing a route on Zang Brakk. Unclear about the location of existing routes on the left side of the south face, they started just to the left of Ali Baba (6c+/7a ...
The Charakusa Valley has been so well documented, and seen activity from some of the biggest hitters in the alpine climbing community, I won’t waste any time trying to sell it to you. Shingo Ohkawa and I arrived in the valley in early July, ...