During the afternoon of July 31, a climber from Canada (name unknown) fell while leading Apollo Reed (5.13a) at Summersville Lake, a popular summer climbing area 30 minutes north of the New River Gorge National River. According to others present, ...
Four friends were climbing late at night on July 5 at the Junkyard Wall after bad weather earlier in the day delayed their start. Near 2 a.m., John (23) had just completed a solid lead of New Yosemite (5.9), using headlamps to light the way, but h...
On September 13, Timothy Hagan set out to finish the last of his climbs on the list of 100 Peaks at Mt. Rainier. The Chief is the eastern and highest peak of Sluiskin Mountain, a route that requires a 15-mile, 5,000-vertical-foot approach, followe...
On June 11, Kyle Bufis, 25, and his partners, Derek Gavelis and Mathew Wiech, topped out on the challenging Liberty Ridge route on the north flank of the mountain. After reaching Liberty Cap, the trio got caught in high winds and whiteout conditio...
Andrew Bower, 26, had taken it upon himself to replace worn bolts at this popular granite crag near Spokane with new stainless-steel gear. On November 6, he headed out alone to continue the project. His family went looking for him after he didn’t ...
On the morning of December 31, American Alpine Club President Doug Walker, along with two friends, set out to climb Granite Mountain, west of Snoqualmie Pass. They planned to follow the winter route that avoids the active main avalanche chute on t...
About midnight on February 16, Eric Strickler, 29, and Edward McFarlin, 28, left their base camp at 6,500 feet and navigated the steep snow and ice walls of the Ice Cliff Glacier, past the bergschrund and into the final gully leading to the northe...
On December 20, Jennifer Kendall “Kayah” Gaydish (36) fell from the anchors atop a sport route in the Ginseng area. An on-scene climber/paramedic and local EMS were unsuccessful in reviving her. The route has a set of hangers with rings at the top...
On October 21, GR, a 45-year-old male from Vermont, and TW, a 43-year-old male, went to Green Peak near Dorset to climb in the Bat Caves area. They hiked to the top of a 40- to 50-foot cliff, where they used a static line to anchor themselves as t...
On March 29, Emir Alikadic (38) and Thomas Gappmayer (27) had just finished climbing Tingey’s Terror (5.7), a multi-pitch route on the Gate Buttress. After having lunch on top, the two decided to descend via a rappel into Green Adjective Gully, a ...
During the afternoon of February 1, Susan DeBruin (30) and Derek DeBruin (27) hiked in to Maybird Gulch above Little Cottonwood Canyon and established camp with the intention of climbing the Pfeifferhorn (a.k.a. Little Matterhorn Peak) the followi...
On September 27, I took my girlfriend climbing at Birdsboro Quarry. I had been climbing for about five years, but she had never belayed a leader. I quickly showed her how to belay, then led the easiest routes, 5.3 to 5.5, and set up top-ropes so s...
The summits of the Neacola Mountains are not as high as in the nearby Revelation Mountains or Central Alaska Range, but the glaciers are much lower, meaning the walls still reach heights of 1,000m or more. With three different projects in mind in ...
The “Clarkachamna Peaks” are a very remote group of mountains, west of Cook Inlet and the Aleutian volcanic peaks, and lying about halfway between Lake Clark, to the south, and Lake Chakachamna, to the north, hence my joking unofficial name. [Toda...
On May 2, Jon Bracey and I set off to attempt the unclimbed northwest ridge of the Citadel (8,305’) in the Neacola Mountains. Unfortunately, a few days before our arrival, a heavy snowfall buried the ridge under powder, making for slow going. On t...
Many climbers have never heard of Alaska’s Neacola Mountains. In half a century, only a handful of climbing expeditions have gone there—and even fewer successful ones. Lower-elevation peaks (for Alaska), a remote location, harsh weather, and unnam...
No matter how many times the Kathmandu baggage carousel went around, I knew my bags were not going to turn up. It’s funny: You often joke about bags going missing at the start of an expedition, but now that it was happening for real I realized it ...
On September 3, Peter Kettering, 61, was starting up what he believed was Revelations (5.9). In fact, he was mistakenly leading the harder climb Irreverence (5.10a). Just before clipping the first bolt, Kettering fell 12 to 15 feet to the ground. ...
On June 23, Bryan Simon (39) was bitten by a bat (species unknown) while climbing Pet Cemetery, a 5.11b sport route at the Catwalk Cliff of the Lower Gorge. After clipping the fifth bolt, the climber placed a hand under a flake on the left side of...
Keith Kowalczykowski, 30, was leading Hesitation Blues, a 5.10b face and finger crack, on April 18. He clipped the route’s two bolts, at approximately 15 and 25 feet, then placed a small cam at 30 to 35 feet. He placed a fourth piece (type unknown...