On September 17, two female climbers in their 20s were top-roping a 5.10c route called Gueuse. One climber had just completed the route. The sun was going to set in 20 to 30 minutes. Everyone else at the crag had just left, so the two climbers wer...
I have been lucky to become friends and climbing partners with a great group of Sherpas from the Rolwaling Valley. These include Mingma Tsiri Sherpa of Ascent Himalayas (first Nepalese to summit K2), with whom I climbed Everest in 2012. One mounta...
The first repeat of the East Face Route (ED2 VI 5.9 A3+) on Mt. Slesse—first climbed in 1997 by Sean Easton and Dave Edgar—has been on the minds of local rock climbers for almost 20 years. In spite of attempts by skilled climbers, the route remain...
In mid-March, Johnny Ticona (Bolivia), Davide Vitale (Italy/Belgium, resident in Bolivia), and I made what we believe to be the first ascent of the southwest face of Jakoceri. (This peak is often quoted as ca 5,800m, but is possibly higher; it is ...
Peter Inglis, who died after a cornice collapse in the St. Elias Range in Alaska, was a Telluride (Colorado) ski patroller for over 20 years and a longtime San Miguel County search and rescue volunteer. In addition, he guided clients all over the ...
Justin Tyler Griffin wore many hats. He was an above-average athlete, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and by profession a builder. Justin grew up in the great state of Kentucky and attended Bowling Green High School. During high school he m...
Floyd Allen “Tex” Bossier, a key figure in Colorado climbing’s “golden age,” died in Saint- Joriez, France, on September 6, at the age of 71. Tex was born far from the mountains in the oil town of Port Arthur, Texas, the youngest of four. When he ...
On June 8, Rodrigo Lobo and I made the first ascent of Al Fondo Hay Sitio on the east face of Pico Italia (ca 5,750m). We trained specifically for this route: Among other things, we climbed 25 sport pitches in the Aranjuez Valley in one day. This ...
In October 2015, Mattia Buzzetti and I climbed an icefall on the south face of Pacokeuta (5,589m), which can be clearly seen from the Peñas–Laguna Jankho Kkota–Paso Mullu–Amaguaya road. The route was 120m, up to WI4, but we did not continue to the...
At approximately 4:30 a.m. on July 25, Climber 1 and Climber 2 (both age 25) departed the Lupine Meadows Trailhead with plans to climb the Dike Route on the Middle Teton. At approximately 4 p.m. they reached the top of the Dike Pinnacle and decide...
One thing that can be said about the Great White North’s preeminent crag is that it’s no longer a locals-only hang. Over the past decade the place has completely blown up. Where once we only saw clunkers rattle in from no farther than Oregon and...
For some years I have been captivated by the many big walls in Basaseachi Falls National Park. At 2,700’, El Gigante is the biggest vertical wall in Mexico, and then there’s Piedra Bolada, with the highest seasonal waterfall (1,500’), and Basaseac...
In January 2015, Dave Anderson, Matt Hartman, Jared Spaulding, and Szu-ting Yi traveled to the Avellano Towers. They first made an attempt on the east face of South Avellano Tower, climbing approximately 400m of the 800m wall, with difficulties up...
Alpine Warriors. Bernadette McDonald. Rocky Mountain Books, 2015. 335 pages. Hardcover, $30.Any follower of modern climbing in the Himalaya will know of the exploits—bold, inspirational, occasionally shameful—of Slovenian climbers. The names Štrem...
In early 2016, Ines Papert (Germany), Thomas Senf (Switzerland), and Mayan Smith-Gobat (New Zealand) repeated Riders on the Storm (1,300m, 7c A3, Albert-Arnold-Bätz-Dittrich-Güllich, 1991) on the east face of the Central Tower of Paine. Papert and...
On January 9, 2016, I arrived in the British Camp in the French Valley of Torres del Paine with my wife, Heather Baer. We were intent on repeating the normal route on Aleta del Tiburón (Shark’s Fin), but information on the climb is scarce and the ...
Ogling photos at home in Colorado, on the plane ride down to Patagonia, and even from a vantage point at Niponino camp, Max Barlerin was doing his best to convince Mike Lukens and me there was a new line to try on Fitz Roy. Just one day back from ...
El Chaltén is a vast playground where the possibilities for new routes are still infinite. So when Dani Ascaso and Santi Padrós showed up at the hostel where Jerôme Sullivan and I were staying and told us they had the exact same plan as us for a...
Although there were hardly any accidents in the area this past season, one of the incidents unfortunately resulted in the death of Argentine climber Iñaki Cousirrat. He was hit by rockfall while attempting a route on the east face of Cerro Fit...
Jason Thompson and I received a Mugs Stump Award and a Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award to attempt the unclimbed south face of Hathi Parbat (6,727m). Unfortunately, because of its proximity to the Chinese border, a permit was denied, and instead w...