Silas Rossi and I established two new climbs on Mt. Bradley (9,104’). The first, completed on April 17, was a 49-hour camp-to-camp effort that resulted in the Sum of Its Parts (4,000’, Alaska Grade V AI6 M7 A2). The route climbs Bradley’s so...
In October, during a rare high-pressure system, Gabe Hayden and I managed an interesting new line in the Mendenhall Towers, outside Juneau. In an attempt to further promote the “hike in, hike out” approach ethic, we opted to hike from Montan...
It started on a sun-soaked crag near home, when Twid Turner asked, “Dave, do you fancy getting strapped onto a new route in Alaska in a few weeks? My partner has just dropped out. I have some funding, loads of kit already there, and the new ...
In January 2012, the Spanish team of Marco Jubes, Edu Marin, and Toti Vales established two long, difficult free climbs in Ethiopia’s mountains. The first, Arenas Movedizas (350m, 7b+/c), ascends a wall above the village of Hawzen in the Tigray...
Inspired by previous trips to Ethiopia by climbers such as Pat Littlejohn and Majka Burhardt, Dan Rothberg and I spent two weeks in the country’s northern Tigray region in search of serious rock adventures. We first visited the Gheralta ...
The Equipe Nationale d’Alpinisme Masculine is a group of young climbers selected by the FFME to learn the skills of high-level alpinism over a three-year period, culminating in an expediton project. Our team of Philippe Batoux, Thomas Vialletet,...
There are certain events in life that provide a reference point to a given time. If you are a climber in Southeast Alaska, one such moment might be when you see Horn Spire for the first time. It is a mountain that sticks in your mind and never d...
In spring 2012, Josh Varney and partners established a new route on the seldom-climbed Heritage Wall, which is reached along the southwest side of the north fork of the Eagle River, in the western Chugach Mountains. The 3,900’, triangular-shape...
In March, Jay Claus, Ben Gray, Ruedi Homberger, Andrew McLean, and Eli Potter made the first ascent of the prominent Goodlata Peak (8,166’), which lies between the east and west forks of the Chakina River, and is one of the few named peaks in...
During the summer of 2011, Mike Miller, Ben Still, and I set our sights on a remote mountain at the end of Endicott Arm, roughly 80 miles south of Juneau. Simply getting to many of climbs in Southeast Alaska is an adventure, and this trip would...
In May, James Kesterson, Paul Muscat, Joe Stock, and Glenn Wilson made first recorded ascents of a few snowy 7,000-8,000’ peaks from the Sheep River Glacier in the Talkeetna Mountains. They landed on the glacier southwest of Point 7,820’, 1....
The 2012 climbing season marked the 20,000th time Denali’s summit was reached. The number of climbers has increased from less than 500 per year prior to 1980 to about 1,200 a year today. This year on Denali, 498 climbers out of 1,223 reached th...
On April 22, Chad Diesinger, Kennan Jeannet, and I climbed a new route on White Princess (9,800’). White Princess is located six miles up the Castner Glacier and three miles up the M’Ladies Branch. The approach gains almost 3,000’. We ...
Most of the mountains surrounding Haines are geologically not good to climb without snow on them. However, there are quite a few exceptions to this rule, especially in the mostly unexplored wilderness of the surrounding area. The granite spire...
In the ’60s and ’70s the Twaharpies in the University Range saw a flurry of activity. Large-scale, well-funded Japanese and American teams made first ascents (sometimes together) of most of the large mountains in the area. A Polish team visi...
Himjung is located north of Annapurna and Manaslu in the Peri Himal range, and is nestled between Himlung Himal and the Nemjung peaks, surrounded by numerous 6,000-meter peaks with large glaciers and difficult approaches. Despite having be...
The de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane slowly spiraled downward, aiming for a tiny, emerald-green lake. The contrast between spruce trees and glacial ice formed a defining line between the harsh forested wilderness and rugged mountainscape of...
I enjoy climbing as much as anything in the world. I indulge in that beautiful upward movement, feeling the breeze and trying to be creative and become a part of the wall. It is enormous fun. But I also love setting goals for myself. The challen...
Day 0. Fall 2010 Most climbers who flip through the Yosemite guidebook give Mother Earth (VI 5.12a A4) only a cursory glance. It’s a route that could define the word obscure in Yosemite Valley, yet anyone who has spent days on El Cap ha...
Chamonix, February 2012. We are four climbers living in a two-room apartment: Lise, Jeremy (a.k.a. Djamel), Pedro, and me. François (a.k.a. Pompon) is always over at our place to play cards or talk about our mountain projects. We spend every fr...