The year started with the 19th annual Ouray Ice Festival, which, as usual, was well attended. The evening programs were very popular, especially the Ueli Steck show on Thursday, where people had to be turned away. We also spent time at the festiva...
Our section continues to grow and build local support. This past year we teamed up with the Black Hills Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund to build and redevelop some major climbers’ trails in Custer State Park. We also teamed up with the Blac...
In September, New Mexico State University teamed with our section, Climbers of Hueco Tanks Coalition, Organ Mountains Technical Rescue Squad, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, Southwest Environmental Center, Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance, and...
In 2014 the Idaho Section enjoyed consistent participation of its members and persistent engagement with non-members in the mountaineering and outdoor communities—a concrete step toward further strengthening ties with the community in 2015.In Apri...
As in the last several years, the Southwest Section had four principal events in 2014: a climbing/restoration weekend in Joshua Tree National Park in March; a stewardship day at Idyllwild in June as part of the fourth annual Idyllwild Climbers Fes...
Once every month, AAC members in Portland gathered at a local brewery for Pub Club, an informal social gathering that provides members with access to an amazing network of local climbers and instant camaraderie, based on a shared passion for climb...
The Cascade Section held numerous festivals, clinics, and social events throughout the year. Highlights included our Send & Social events at the Seattle Bouldering Project, where climbers could compete in events such as crash-pad stacking and ...
During the summer of 2013 an attempt on Tahu Rutum resulted in a serious injury and rescue, followed by unusual difficulties between the Korean expedition, their logistical agencies, and Askari Aviation, the company responsible for rescue services...
Felipe Guarderas and I climbed three established routes in the Trango Group in June and July. We summited Trango Tower via Eternal Flame, Little Trango via the original American Route, and Great Trango via the normal route. Prior to this we had at...
Patrice Bret, David Girard, and I (France) spent mid-July to mid-August in Pakistan with the main goal of repeating one of the routes on Trango Tower. We spent around a week climbing the Slovenian Route, though the top pitches were in poor conditi...
On June 30 Spanish-Basque mountaineers Alberto Iñurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza arrived at their 3,400m base camp below Paiju Peak (6,610m) for a second attempt at the south pillar. In the summer of 2013 they had climbed the first 500m o...
In August, Phil De-Beger, Tim Oates, and Peter Thompson (U.K.) attempted unclimbed Muchu Chhish (7,453m, among the highest unclimbed summits in the world for which it is possible to obtain a permit). The plan was to climb alpine-style along the so...
Getting to Languta-e-Barfi (Langua-tai Barfi, 6,827m) was an organic process. Originally, Chris Todd and I intended to approach the mountain from the north via the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. But by chance we discovered Languta-e-Barfi hadn’t ...
Before making a rare south-to-north crossing of Chapchingol Pass, a team of mountaineers from Austria and Pakistan visited the Ghidims Valley to attempt an unclimbed summit clearly visible from the upper valley and Yahya Camp (4,400m). Starting fr...
“Are you going to climb on the Trango Towers under the supervision of some Western climber?” This was the usual opening question. This would be followed by a barrage of inquiries about our skills, gear, past accidents, and everything that pointed ...
Ryo Masumoto, Takaki Nagato, and I visited the Charakusa Valley for one month, and after acclimatizing on Sulu Peak we made our goal the southeast ridge of a previously unclimbed sub-peak that lies on the ridge extending southwest from K7 West (6,...
In October 2014, Choi Ji-won, Kim Jeong-yeop, Ku Eun-su, and Wang Jun-ho attempted Peak 41 (6,648m), starting up the left-hand couloir on the north face, a little to the right of the line tried by Jack Geldard and Rob Greenwood in 2012. On October...
On April 6, after a six-day trek from the rough road at Num, we arrived at Makalu base camp (ca 4,800m). With sponsorship from the Millet Expedition Project, we had come to try Peak 4 (6,736m), which at the time we believed to be unclimbed.The eas...
On April 6 a female climber (approximately 20 years old) broke her leg after taking a large, swinging top-rope fall from a sport climb in Kolob Canyon. The climber was part of a group of seven that visited the very overhanging crag that day. The g...
On a lovely spring day in April, I met several friends at the Oceanic Wall in Dream Canyon, a deep tributary of Boulder Canyon. After several warm-ups, I got on a 5.11d I had climbed several times in the past. The crux lies between the third and f...