On September 15, 2012, Jim Elzinga and I went to the beautiful Height of the Rockies Provincial Park in British Columbia and completed a moderate gem on Mt. King George (3,422m), having made two previous attempts on the route. To reach ...
In July, Jean-Pierre Ouellet and Matt McCormick climbed a new route on the northwest face of South Howser Tower. The Wandering Direct (IV 5.11 R) starts briefly in the chimney that defines Compassion Club (Gibson-Schaffer, 2012); it then br...
On August 6, 2012, Blake Herrington, Scott Bennett, and I flew into the Sunny Knob base camp on the Tiedemann Glacier of the Waddington Range. We were accompanied by our very good friend and talented photographer Forest Woodward. We spent t...
Bruce Kay and partners have continued to develop the North Joffre Creek rock in the Mighty Mouse area, on the east face of the Mouse’s Tooth, an alpine granite cliff band located outside of Pemberton. There are now a half-dozen separate and ...
In late January, David Allfrey and I established a new route up the center of the south face of De l’S. We left town in the morning and then climbed the first 1,500’ to the large terrace where most of the south face routes begin. The c...
Jonathan Schaffer and I had an incredible three-week trip to the Bugaboos this past summer. Experienced but young, our plan was simple: climb new routes on as many big walls as possible. Jonny and I hiked into the park July 17 carrying bac...
In May 2012, Marcin Tomaszewski and I completed a new route on the north face of Polar Sun Spire in Sam Ford Fjord. We began climbing on April 14, and after 24 days on the wall finished our new route Superbalance (VII M7+ A4) on May 7. ...
After a rest and recovery in Upernavik (see Greenland section), we made a four-day crossing to Pond Inlet in Baffin Island, mainly under sail. Our goal was to discover new lines in an area of fjords 40 miles southwest of Pond Inlet settlement. A...
On July 19, Canadian climbers Bill Borger Jr. and John Furneaux climbed a new free variation on the far right side of Mt. Thor’s southwest face. They began on July 17, trending up and left toward a large horizontal slope where they likely joined...
On the morning of July 17, Joshua Lavigne, Ines Papert, and I got off the plane in Pangnirtung. Three hours later we were cruising past icebergs in the fjord, propelled by our outfitter’s fishing boat. After three days of rugged trekking, frigi...
A couple of moves, no more than one or two meters. That’s not far. Not nearly as far as the 10,000km we have covered to get here and finally decode the moves needed to make it a full free climb. Ten-thousand kilometers for a couple of meters—i...
Big-wall climbing on Baffin Island was a personal dream for many, many years—a dream that was always in my mind but simultaneously far from becoming reality. In June 2012, Riky Felderer, Ben Lepesant, Matteo Mocellin, William Peterson...
Europe The following climbs appeared on the “Super Big List” of 2012 ascents prepared for the 2013 Piolets d’Or jury. This list was compiled by Claude Gardien (Vertical magazine), Manu Rivaud (Montagnes magazine), and Lindsay Griffin (Ame...
In early June 2012, Sam Thompson (U.K.), Sara Arbos Torrent (Catalan), Arnaud Sors (France), and I traveled to a remote and relatively unexplored part of the St. Elias Mountains. We spent 31 days on the Jefferies and Fraser glaciers, which are ...
In April, Matt Barela, Mike Pond, and I climbed Kuriositeten (800m, AI5 M3+) on the east face of Peak 747, between Mt. Bradley and Mt. Dickey, which we believe is the third ascent [AAJ 2009]. On our descent we found a striking blue ice line that...
The French Federation of Alpine Clubs (FFCAM) initiated this expedition as part of a dedicated training program to help young climbers in their 20s reach a high level of excellence in alpinism. This expedition to Alaska was the conclusion ...
During late March and early April, Ben Trocki and I established two climbs at the head of the Revelation Glacier—the first ascent of Golgotha and a new route on the Angel, making the second ascent to that peak’s summit. From base camp, Gol...
In April our team of Bor Sumrada, Bostjan Virc, Dusan Huc, Grega Azman, Janez Rutar, Matej Pobezin, Urban Iglic, Valentina Mravlje, Ziga Fujan, and myself had an active vacation in a little-visited part of the Revelation Mountains, where—...
On April 22, Jason Buttrick, Jay Claus, Paul Claus, Ruedi Homberger, and I climbed and skied Mt. Steller (10,515’). This was the peak’s second ascent after first being climbed over a 10-day period in 1992 [Jacobs-Anderson-Bowling-Wesson, AAJ ...
In late May, I made the first solo ascent to the top of the Mount Hunter’s north buttress in 15 hours from the bergschrund, but failed to reach the summit. I began climbing on the bottom right margin of the north buttress, climbing diagonally l...