I had the idea to put up a route in honor of Kim Schmitz well before he died. I would often spot him around Jackson at climbing events, films, and competitions in which he could no longer compete. Only a few of us knew that the old guy watching th...
In July, Eric Wehrly and I headed up to Half Moon (7,960’) and its subpeaks near Washington Pass to attempt a new route. Due to short attention spans, we cut off early to Wallaby Peak and found some misadventure there on terrain that had likely be...
Morgan Zentler is a baller. Last year he finished the Bulger List, climbing all 100 of Washington’s highest peaks, and his suffering knew no bounds in his quest for completion. I’ve seen him pass out without a bug net or tent in a hideous swarm of...
Intending to have a nice, somewhat leisurely outing to complete my goal of climbing all the 12,000’ peaks in Montana, Elaine Kennedy and I set out to climb the prominent Beckey Couloir on the north face of Glacier Peak (12,340’) on August 17. [Edi...
In August and October, Ray Eckland, Giselle Fernandez, and I established a dozen new climbs in the Deer Lakes region, south of Mammoth (John Muir Wilderness). We enjoyed prime weather conditions that facilitated ground-up ascents on rest days betw...
In 2016, my good friend Tony Chang had mentioned to me that there was a lot of overlooked potential for long bolted limestone routes on the 1,000’ northeast face of Ross Peak (9,003’), in the Bridger Range of southwest Montana. I was intrigued, so...
In mid-July, Jen Olson (Canada) and I embarked on the long, soggy, and yet stunningly beautiful walk into the Wind River Range with the idea of repeating the line Hook, Line, and Sinker (1,800’, V 5.12) on Mt. Hooker (12,504’). This route was free...
During the Fourth of July weekend, a planned climb on Vesper Peak (6,214’) turned into an alpine picnic due to my wife Shelia experiencing first-trimester morning sickness. But another piece of rock had caught my attention during our hike over Hea...
The south face of Wolfs Head, in the Cirque of the Towers, appears to have been scratched by the claws of a large creature, leaving gouges that look perfect for climbing. In 2012, I spotted a clean slab lacerated with discontinuous finger cracks. ...
DURING MY TIME as a geology graduate student at Northern Arizona University, I’ve enjoyed easy weekend access to the fantastic sandstone spires in the nearby Sedona area. Motivated by the vast potential for moderate traditional adventures and insp...
The development of Morphology began in April 2015, when Karl Kvashay aid-soloed the first two pitches, following aesthetic thin seams, as a direct start to Tucupit occidentalis (800’, 5.10+, AAJ 2016). The final version of that route followed the ...
In early August, Jon Griffin, Tad McCrea, and I left Road’s End and hiked into the Sphinx Lakes, where we established three new routes on various peaks.After setting up camp at one of the upper lakes, we hiked up and over an unnamed pass east of S...
THAD FERRELL AND I ARRIVED at Lemon Reservoir in the upper Florida River Valley, near Durango, around 8 a.m. on September 9. It’s a short hike in, about 15 minutes, followed by a 20-foot downclimb into the canyon. We climbed three warm-up routes, ...
“Here are the same pins and hammer we used to put it up in ’96,” Norm Larson said, handing over four pitons and a bright-red, lightweight wall hammer. “You should place a pin or bolt at the A2 crux on pitch five, and then I remember a knifeblade w...
IN NOVEMBER, Emily Reinsel and I completed a quest to summit all 22 freestanding formations we identified in the Valley of the Gods (VOG) of southeast Utah. During the process, we established nine new routes, including the first ascents of two but...
In April, Jonathan Schaffer and I climbed a new ground-up route on the north face of Mt. Kinesava. Slam Panther! (400m, 5.11) is a Zion adventure true to the area. The route takes an obvious line in the middle-right of the cliff. [Editor’s note: A...
OVER MULTIPLE TRIPS from December 2017 to February 2018, I established and freed a new route on the steep southeast face of Mt. Spry. Hintersands (900’, IV 5.12) is almost completely hidden from view on the tunnel road, and I originally spied the ...
In late August, Jon Griffin, Tad McCrea, and I hiked into Wales Lake in search of steep unclimbed rock. We hiked via George Creek, which involves 6,000’ feet of elevation gain to Vacation Pass and 2,000’ down to Wales Lake. Our efforts were reward...
"Sam, you need a copy of Bonney and Bonney's Guide to the Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas," said Paul Piana as we sunned ourselves on Vedauwoo's Clamshell boulder in 1986. "It's a right of passage to becoming a Wyoming climber... you aren't...
I arrived in Petersburg, Alaska, at the end of July, about six weeks after setting sail from Port Hadlock, Washington in Ember, my Freya 39 sailboat. I was keen to get off the boat for a while, and a long walk to a big mountain seemed like just th...