Savandurga is situated 60km west of Bangalore, at 12°55'12.47"N, 77°17'35.39"E. It is among the largest monoliths in Asia, reaching an altitude of 1,226m.The first successful ascent of the main south face was made over two days in October 1984 by ...
Zsolt Torok and I flew to Lukla and acclimatized on the southeast ridge of Kyajo Ri (6,189m, Holby-Kear, 2005). On October 26 we flew to the Makalu-Barun region, where our objective was unclimbed Peak 5 (a.k.a. Saldim or Saldim Ri) on the border w...
On November 1 the Ukrainian team of Vitaly Golev, Yuri Kilichenko, Maxim Perevalov, Peter Poberezhnyi, and Yuri Vasenkov climbed a new route on Ombigaichen (6,340m), the beautiful, fluted peak that lies between Ama Dablam (6,814m) and the Mingbo L...
On November 6, Ben O'Connor Croft and I (U.K.), Joshua Jarrin (Ecuador), Pasang Bhote Sherpa, and Ang Phurba Sherpa (Nepal) made the first official ascent of Kangchung Shar (6,063m), a peak on the list of 104 summits newly approved by the Nepal go...
On October 15, Simon Yates and I descended from Renjo Pass and arrived in Gokyo. The place was fully packed with guided trekking groups, and there was a nonstop, rescue-insurance-fueled helicopter shuttle to Lukla, continuously evacuating stricken...
In November, Conrad Anker and I traveled to the Khumbu. Just like the year before, our goal was Lunag Ri, an unclimbed 6,895m peak. In November 2015, we had failed to reach the summit during a three-day weather window, reaching a high point about ...
In November, I led a 13-member team to attempt Karbu Ri (White Peak, 6,010m GPS), which I named after a reconnaissance to the area in April the same year. This peak lies on the Nepal-Tibet border at the head of the Rolwaling (a.k.a. Ripimo Shar) G...
In the autumn, Furtemba Sherpa and I embarked on an expedition with permits for unclimbed Langdung (6,357m) and Omi Tso Go (6,381m), both situated above the remote and stunning Rolwaling (a.k.a. Ripimo Shar) Glacier. A four-day trek brought us fro...
Warnings Against Myself: Meditations on a Life in Climbing. David Stevenson. University of Washington Press, 2016. Hardcover, 248 pages, $29.95.We’re all well-accustomed to trip reports and lyrical, upbeat “finding myself” stories, among other var...
On the Nose: A Lifelong Obsession with Yosemite’s Most Iconic Climb. Hans Florine, with Jayme Moye. Falcon Guides, 2016. Hardcover, 240 pages, $25.Hans Florine is one of the great rock climbers of our generation, having reached that echelon primar...
Sixty Meters to Anywhere. Brendan Leonard. Mountaineers Books, 2016. Paperback, 176 pages, $16.95.Brendan Leonard is a relentless machine. He blogs (semirad.com), designs T-shirts, posters, and memes, and he writes books about outdoor adventures. ...
The Bold and Cold: A History of 25 Classic Climbs in the Canadian Rockies. Brandon Pullan. Rocky Mountain Books (Canada), 2016. Hardcover, 264 pages, $45.The Bold and Cold is not a guidebook, nor a picture book, but it is essential reading and dre...
Rock Queen. Catherine Destivelle. Hayloft Publishing, 2015. Paperback, 228 pages, £12.Catherine Destivelle’s memoir Rock Queen spins the yarns of her most famous ascents—pioneering a solo new route on the Dru and soloing the north face of the Eige...
The Pen Y Gwryd Hotel: Tales From The Smoke Room. Edited by Rob Goodfellow, Jonathan Copeland, and Peter O’Neill. Gomer Press, Wales (U.K.), 2016. Hardcover, 278 pages, £14.99.Impossible, you say! That the Beatles, George Mallory, Ed Hillary, Tenz...
Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering. Maurice Isserman. Norton, 2016. Hardcover, 426 pages, $28.95.Given climbers’ obsession with meticulously chronicling ascents from 8,000 to 8 meters, it is odd to see how little actual histo...
Above the Reich. David Chaundy-Smart. Imaginary Mountain Surveyors, 2016. Paperback, 231 pages, $19.95.“The Nazis said war was the same as mountaineering. They lied.” Thus speaks Lukas Eichel, orphan turned reluctant German soldier in World War II...
A Place in Which to Search: Summers in the Wind Rivers. Joe Kelsey. Black Canyon Books, 2016. Paperback, 269 pages, $18.In August 1969, Joe Kelsey set out alone to hike eight dusty miles into the mountains from Big Sandy Opening. In this inaugural...
Valley Walls: A Memoir of Climbing and Living in Yosemite. Glen Denny. Yosemite Conservancy, 2016. Paperback, 240 pages, $18.95.Every once in a while, a book poetically depicting the core essence of the climbing experience comes along—books carryi...
In November, Tsuyoshi Nagai and AAC Honorary Member Tamotsu Nakamura (Japan) traveled to southern Tibet to identify peaks along the Yalung Tsangpo River. This region is sensitive and currently strictly restricted, due to its proximity to the India...
“Misha, p-l-e-a-s-e, l-i-s-t-e-n, c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y,” I said, holding up the frayed static line to which we were tied. “I don’t want to climb any higher. If you won’t go down with me, I will untie and solo to the bottom.” Misha extended his lower ...