In the summer of 1965, Bill Buckingham and Lew Surdam visited the southern Logan Mountains, making the first ascent of Mt. Nirvana (9,097’), the highest mountain in the Northwest Territories. (The mountain’s name is being officially changed to Thu...
Eamonn Walsh, Carl Diehl, and I spent approximately one month (mid-April to mid-May) in the northwestern pocket of the Lowell Glacier, within Kluane National Park. After flying in, we set up camp below the north side of the Weisshorn, with the sou...
On June 2, my brother Silvestro Franchini and I climbed a route on the rocky right side of the southwest face of Nevado Churup (5,495m, a.k.a. Tsurup), directly in line with the peak’s west shoulder and right of the typical snow/ ice route on the ...
In July, Chilean climbers Jimmy Mora and Francisco Rojas climbed a partial new route on the west face of Cayesh (5,720m). The duo began on July 18 from the Quebrada Quilcayhuanca. On July 20 the climbers spent the day at a high camp scoping the wa...
When I first saw a route overlay for the Prism in AAJ 2011, I wondered: Why had the obvious wide cracks snaking up the middle of the wall been ignored?As I dug out bushes and pounds of dirt from the beginning of a giant crack, I realized the other...
In 100 Favorite North American Climbs, Fred Beckey describes Vinland, a line he and Alan Bartlett climbed on the north aspect of Ericsson Crag, as “one of my finest in the Sierra.” (See also AAJ 1988.) This is quite a statement coming from the man...
The Bubbs Creek Wall is one many excellent formations found along the popular Rae Lakes Loop near Kings Canyon. After completing the first ascent of the Emperor in 2014 (AAJ 2015), this route became my own “mini Dawn Wall.” While not pushing the g...
Between October 30 and November 1, Daniel Jeffcoach, Brian Prince, and I completed three new routes on the Tombstone Ridge, along the western boundary of Kings Canyon National Park. These formations are ca 9,000’, with the best known being the ...
On July 25, 1986, Japanese mountaineers made the first ascent of Hattal (ca 5,650m; H18 on the Sakamoto sketch map of the area) as well as unnamed Peak 5,550m in the Zanskar region.There has always been some confusion as to the location of Hattal,...
For years my brother Silvestro and I had the east pillar of Kishtwar Shivling in mind, and finally in the autumn of 2015 we found two friends—Nicola Binelli and Luca Cornella—to join us. We had the support of a local agency and four fantastic guid...
Jorge Martinez and I flew to Lukla and then, using no porters, carried all our gear to Pangboche over two days. From there we went up the Mingbo Valley (Nare Glacier on the HMG-Finn map), south of Ama Dablam, to a camp at 4,800m. Subsequently we m...
Jorge Cuadardo, Angel Salamanca, and Javi San Miguel arrived in Nepal in late April, and during their time in the Khumbu the weather was bad, with lots of snow and poor visibility. Prior to their arrival they had carried out some acclimatization i...
Two people were injured on August 1 by rockfall at the crag known as the Golf Course. The two had just arrived at the crag and were gearing up, and had not yet put on their helmets. Shoebox-size rocks came down, striking the two individuals. One w...
In February I soloed a couloir that zigzags up the central east face of Basin Mountain (13,240’), visible from the town of Bishop, which I believe to have been unclimbed. I climbed solo with ice tools and crampons. The route is comprised of steep ...
My first climb in Yosemite was over 20 years ago, and in the months and years I’ve spent there since I’ve mostly repeated existing routes. Meanwhile, I’ve spent many months of my life in faraway places, exploring for new route possibilities. I had...
I always knew that my wife, Heather Baer, and I would do a classic, signature new route in the Sierra Nevada, somewhere. But if somebody told me that route would be within spitting distance of the Regular Route on Fairview Dome, I would have calle...
Fifi Buttress is the impressive formation just right of Leaning Tower, first climbed in 1960 by Steve Roper and Richard McCracken. In 1980, Chick Holtkamp and Randy Russell climbed Vortex, which Russell freed with Eric Zschiesche in 1982 (IV 5.12)...
Over the summer, Steve Bosque and I walked up to Ribbon Falls to start a new line in the back left corner of the amphitheater (approximately 100’ left of the start of Sky People). As the falls raged, unable to look up, we prepped our gear and put ...
In January 2004 a letter arrived from William Bueler in Colorado (author of the Roof of the Rockies climbing history) with a brief description, maps, and pictures of his reconnaissance of Balagezong (5,545m) the previous year. I knew of this soari...
The south face of Mt. Broderick saw a number of new routes in 2015. Alec Zachreson and I established Thugz Mansion (V 5.10 A2) in the spring. Thugz Mansion is a varied line that ascends from the valley between Liberty Cap and Mt. Broderick. The ro...