The summits of the Neacola Mountains are not as high as in the nearby Revelation Mountains or Central Alaska Range, but the glaciers are much lower, meaning the walls still reach heights of 1,000m or more. With three different projects in mind in ...
The “Clarkachamna Peaks” are a very remote group of mountains, west of Cook Inlet and the Aleutian volcanic peaks, and lying about halfway between Lake Clark, to the south, and Lake Chakachamna, to the north, hence my joking unofficial name. [Toda...
On May 2, Jon Bracey and I set off to attempt the unclimbed northwest ridge of the Citadel (8,305’) in the Neacola Mountains. Unfortunately, a few days before our arrival, a heavy snowfall buried the ridge under powder, making for slow going. On t...
Many climbers have never heard of Alaska’s Neacola Mountains. In half a century, only a handful of climbing expeditions have gone there—and even fewer successful ones. Lower-elevation peaks (for Alaska), a remote location, harsh weather, and unnam...
No matter how many times the Kathmandu baggage carousel went around, I knew my bags were not going to turn up. It’s funny: You often joke about bags going missing at the start of an expedition, but now that it was happening for real I realized it ...
On September 3, Peter Kettering, 61, was starting up what he believed was Revelations (5.9). In fact, he was mistakenly leading the harder climb Irreverence (5.10a). Just before clipping the first bolt, Kettering fell 12 to 15 feet to the ground. ...
On June 23, Bryan Simon (39) was bitten by a bat (species unknown) while climbing Pet Cemetery, a 5.11b sport route at the Catwalk Cliff of the Lower Gorge. After clipping the fifth bolt, the climber placed a hand under a flake on the left side of...
Keith Kowalczykowski, 30, was leading Hesitation Blues, a 5.10b face and finger crack, on April 18. He clipped the route’s two bolts, at approximately 15 and 25 feet, then placed a small cam at 30 to 35 feet. He placed a fourth piece (type unknown...
On March 14, a large group of climbers from the Yale University Climbing Club was climbing at Smith Rock. Two climbers headed up Voyage of the Cow Dog, a three- pitch 5.9. One of them (age 20) was following the third pitch when he dislodged a micr...
A husband and wife team of experienced climbers, ages 32 and 29, were attempting to summit via the Jefferson Park Glacier on November 29. The two had to maneuver around a crevasse field and past an area of rockfall, and they encountered much hard ...
Casey Ferguson, age 27, was struck by a boulder while descending a chute just below the summit on June 14. The microwave-size rock fractured her lower leg. Three other companions managed to dodge the boulder, after a climber above them yelled, “Ro...
While descending the Mazama Chute on January 31, a roped team of two (ages 39 and 43) fell and suffered ankle and lower leg fractures. It is believed the upper climber lost her footing during a rest break and slid toward the lower climber. Rather...
On January 7, while descending the South Side Route, at about 9,700 feet, Edward Trompke, 62, fell and slid about 200 feet, injuring his shoulder. His son, climbing with him, alerted authorities with a 911 call, saying the fall was caused by a loo...
On July 7, Transylvania County Rescue Team received a call at 3:36 p.m. regarding a fall with injury at the South Side of Looking Glass Rock. Wilderness First Responders were on scene when I (Karsten Delap) arrived at 4:08 p.m. to find the patient...
After completing one climb on September 17, Eli Huneycutt (20) and Will Apple (36) began climbing Zoo View (5.7+), a classic two-pitch route. Huneycutt successfully led the first pitch to the Crow’s Nest belay ledge. Apple began the second pitch, ...
At the Mohonk Preserve there were 27 climbing-related incidents in 2015, including both bouldering and soloing. Two required high-angle rescues, and 12 required steep-angle extrications. In many cases, common safety measures might have lessened th...
On Labor Day I planned to lead Thin Slabs for the first time, having only followed the climb once before. We wanted to do the direct start (5.7) and the challenging direct finish (5.7+). I made it through the first hard moves on pitch one clean, w...
On August 17, a 23-year-old male climber fell while leading the second pitch of Diagonal (5.8, seven pitches) on Wallface, a 700-foot cliff five miles from the trailhead. The leader had gotten off-route on the broken and bushy second pitch (5.5, w...
On March 7, three climbers with one to five years of experience each—Patrick Keatly (19), Travis Grimes (22), and Robert Weddell (23)—scrambled four or five miles along a frozen creekbed to attempt an unnamed peak in Poudre Canyon, north of the Cr...
STEVE: My dear friend and longtime cook and guide Ghulam Rasool sat next to me as our jeep rolled into the village of Hushe. It had been eight years since we had last seen each other, and I was happy to be reunited for another adventure. This wo...