In mid-August, Scott Kice and I spent a week exploring the extensive walls above Spearpoint Lake in the southern Wind River Range. The formation is identified as Chess Ridge in the Joe Kelsey guidebook. Untold hours of surfing the Web had convince...
After several years of aborted trips, Alex Marine and I climbed a new route on the east face of Cloud Peak (13,166’) in early July. Our route begins about 100’ left of the 1986 route, A Shimmering Abstraction (Ilgner-Petro), the only other climb k...
Cirque of the Moon is the name given to a compact horseshoe of walls and buttresses lying south of the North Fork of the Popo Agie River, between Long Lake and Papoose Lake. (The center of this cirque is at about 42°45'17.93"N, 109° 8'17.68"W.) Th...
In October, Alex Blümel and I trekked to the north side of Kangchenjunga and established base camp at 5,200m, a little higher than the classic Pangpema site. We acclimatized on Drohmo's southeast ridge, spending three nights at 5,900m. I was amaze...
From mid-July to the start of September, Anastasija Davidova and I explored the Rangtik, Shimling, and Denyai tokpos. The first two valleys are northwest of the Haptal, the last northwest of the Mulung.We first spent 20 days in the Rangtik, where ...
In October, the American-Canadian team of Joel Kauffman, Jason Kruk, and Tad McCrea climbed the 1,600m south ridge of Chaukhamba III (6,974m), stopping on the summit ridge just 16m below and some distance from the top. The team spent 12 days away ...
Since 2009 I have been exploring southern Zanskar and photographing many of the unclimbed peaks of the Giabul, Lenak, Reru, Temasa, Gompe, and Haptal valleys. I am pleased to see that many expeditions have been inspired by this information to visi...
In 2014, Sidarta Gallego and I visited Zanskar and climbed a number of new routes (AAJ 2015). I realized the potential of the area, mainly for rock climbs, though there are possibilities for mixed, and returned in July with José Castanera, Alvaro ...
In September, Dmitry Grigoriev, Sergey Nilov, and I climbed a new route on one of the most famous and beautiful mountains in the Indian Himalaya, Thalay Sagar (6,904m). As far as I know, nobody has ever climbed the north face of Thalay Sagar to th...
While probably better known these days to vacationers and trekkers than to climbers, the Kullu region once was popular with mountaineers seeking easy access to its abundant, unclimbed, moderately technical peaks. By the end of the 1970s, predomina...
We arrived in the Miyar Valley on September 20 and set up base camp close to Padang at 3,700m. Our objective was the peak referred to as Tharang II (32°50'15.22"N, 76°56'42.00"E Google Earth) by the 2012 British expedition that climbed the higher ...
Sometime in the final decades of the last century, I used to have a battered climbing guidebook to someplace in Scotland. I cannot remember exactly which book it was, but I do recall the frontispiece, which displayed a quote from Colin Kirkus: “Go...
Obtaining permits for the remote valleys of the Indian East Karakoram can be a difficult and protracted process for non-Indian nationals; a positive outcome is far from guaranteed. Braving the uncertainties, our party of five Alpine Club members, ...
John Crook and I arrived in the Miyar on September 19. Our primary objective was the north face of an unclimbed 6,294m peak, hidden from view in the remote Temasa Valley. This was to be our first trip to the Himalaya, and with only an old photo of...
At the start of May, Rajesh Gadgil, Ratnesh Javeri, Vineeta Muni, Roshmin Mehandru, and I arrived in Leh, hoping to make an attempt on Shahi Kangri (6,934m). The mountain had never been attempted, so the approach was largely unknown, though Google...
Giorgos Margaritis, Petros Tolias, and I, from Greece, arrived in Leh during mid-August, and after acclimatizing with an ascent of Stok Kangri (6,123m), we traveled by jeep to Sumur in the Nubra Valley. Our aim was to make the first ascent of Nya ...
Between September 26 and October 2, Ian Dring and I (both U.K.) made the first ascent of Peak 5,755m in the upper Miyar Valley. We climbed the 1,300m north spur via a route we named Crocodile Rock (ED, 21 pitches between III and 6a+ A0).Peak 5,755...
In the last few years eastern Kishtwar has been on the radar of an increasing number of climbers, drawn to a paradise of unclimbed granite walls and peaks. I already knew about the 5,618m unclimbed peak called Gupta, so I was determined to get the...
The attractive pyramid of Gangstang (6,162m) is most often climbed by its southwest ridge, the route of the first ascent, approached from the Gangstang Glacier to the east. The east ridge was climbed in 2001 by a Japanese team supported by Sherpa ...
In 2011–12, Kishtwar National Park reopened after a nearly 20-year hiatus. Before then, the area had seen very little activity, but the potential for unclimbed lines and mountains has drawn a number of expeditions over the last few years. We were ...