Michelle Dvorak and Kurt Ross (yellow circle) await rescue high on the Greenwood-Locke Route on Mt. Temple. This route has seen only a handful of winter-conditions ascents, and Dvorak would have been the first female to join that list. Photo: Pa...
At 1 p.m. on September 17, a solo climber was descending Mt. Collier (3,215 meters) via the Collier-Victoria col. While transitioning from the rocky terrain below the col to icy slopes leading down to the Lower Victoria Glacier, the climber lost t...
On September 3, two pairs of experienced climbers were stranded high on Oubliette Mountain’s east ridge (450 meters, 5.9) after inclement weather moved in. The two pairs spent the night in an unplanned bivouac but were prepared with warm clothing ...
Injured ice climber (yellow circle) at the base of Xena in the Storm Creek area of Kootenay National Park. The ice dam that broke, flushing the climber into a long fall, is marked at the top of the route. Photo: Conrad Janzen, Parks Canada Visit...
The Chinese Puzzle Wall, illuminated above, was the scene of an iPhone SOS rescue in September 2023. Tricky route-finding, loose rock, and pulled protection factored into an accident that struck two world-class climbers. On serious and remote ad...
Mt. Logan (foreground) from the north. Teams entering the St. Elias Mountains must be self-sufficient. Logan can go for years without a successful ascent. The King Trench route, scene of a May 2023 rescue, ascends from the right. Photo: Jack Fr...
During July 2024, our team of five Spaniards—Miguel A. Díaz, Alex Gonzalez, Indi Gutierrez, Jaume Peiró, and I, Manu Ponce—traveled to Angola in search of new big walls in the Conda region of Cuanza Sul province, around eight hours south of Luanda...
Mid-November of 2024 found me and four friends in two Land Cruisers, hurtling at breakneck speed through the Sahara Desert along dirt roads, rutted-out sand tracks, and sometimes no trail at all. Our destination was the Ennedi Massif, an expansive...
The granite dome of Ben Amira has climbing routes up to 500 meters long. Photo: Les3corbiers | Wikimedia I founded the nonprofit organization Médecine et Montagnes du Monde (MMM) in 1995, with the aim of practicing medicine and developing cli...
Avalanche Dreams: A Memoir of Skiing, Climbing, and Life, by Louis W. Dawson (Best Peak Press). A poignant look at a feral youth in 1970s Colorado and “the struggles for meaning in the world of extreme alpinism,” by the author of Wild Snow. Dixon...
Discussing the possibilities for new adventures close to home, one day the south face of Pico Paraná (1,877m), the highest mountain in the state of Paraná, came up in conversation. In southern Brazil, where I live, the mountains are always green a...
In September 2023, Willian Lacerda, Valdesir Machado, and I spent five days opening an incredible line on the southwest face of Pedra da Lajinha (20°00’21.7”S, 41°05’53.4”W), north of the city of Afonso Cláudio. Called O Trem da Minha Vida (“The T...
February 10, 2024, 6 p.m. After 12 hours of demanding climbing, nightfall and a killer wind caught us on the northeast spur of Tsouka Rossa (2,377m) in the Pindus Mountains while we searched for the easiest way through a labyrinth of mixed terrain...
This report covers climbing exploration, innovation, and performance in the Alps during 2023 and 2024, through a small but representative selection of significant ascents. EXPLORATION High above Chamonix, France, over three days in January 2021,...
In November 2024, I made my eighth expedition to Queen Maud Land, this time with fellow IFMGA guides Robert Miller and Tom Rabl and medic Katrin Oertel. We explored the rarely visited Gruber Mountains of the Eastern Wohlthat Mountains and climbed ...
Opening a new route was not in our plans when Ibon Mendia and I left Puerto Natales in Chilean Patagonia and walked in for a six-day stay beneath the famed Torres del Paine. The first four days brought horrible weather. We barely managed to climb ...
Hernán Rodríguez and I awoke above a sea of clouds in Torres del Paine’s French Valley. Freezing levels were low, and raging spring winds had buffed most of the snow and ice from our main objective, forcing us to descend. We gazed deep into the Fr...
Hernán Rodríguez and I dumped our packs and enjoyed the mid-day sun, watching as hundreds of toudrists scurried like ants between the foot of the valley and the famed Británico lookout. Deep in the French Valley, I was happy to finally be off the ...
In addition to new climbs on La Mascara, Cerro Trono Blanco, and Torre Norte, there were several notable ascents in Torres del Paine National Park. In February, Nicolás Gutiérrez and Aron Roca (Chile) completed a route called Espolón Chykillan on...
The northwest face of Cerro Pier Giorgio, with the west face on the right. (1) Via Gringos Locos, started in 1995 and completed in 2025. (2) Via del Hermano (2008). Other routes are not shown. Photo: Rolando Garibotti The northwest face of th...