Sierra Velluda (3,585m) is an eroded stratovolcano and the tallest peak in Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja, in Chile’s Bío Bío Region. The main, north summit was first climbed by Fahrenkrog, Kroessig, and Tilly in 1940. The southern summit, appr...
In November 2022, Lisandro Arielovich, Federico Barberis, Glauco Muratti, and Martin Suso made the first ascent of the remote peak Cuchilla Negra (ca 5,130m, 33°01’07”S, 69°54’12”W) in the Cordón del Potrero Escondido. Muratti had attempted the p...
Cerro Tres Hermanos (4,751m, 32°43’55”S, 70°8’16”W) is located on the Chile-Argentina border and contains three summits: north (4,751m), central (4,595m), and south (4,274m). The north summit was first ascended from Chile in the 1960s by Hermann A...
Cerro Piloto (5,054m, a.k.a. Cerro Amarillo, 32°34'42"S, 70°9'3"W) is located at the northern head of the Quebrada Benjamin Matienzo (a.k.a. Las Cuevas valley), approximately 15km northwest of Aconcagua. The peak was first climbed in 1960 by a Chi...
The east side of Cerro Alma Negra (6,110m, 32°5'47"S, 70°4'45"W) drops precipitously into a glacial cirque about 10km southeast of Cerro Mercedario (6,720m) and 5km west of Cerro de la Ramada (6,388m) in the Cordón de la Ramada. The peak was firs...
On March 28, 2022, the international team of Carla Cespedes, Lauren Hooper, JP Naylor, Mario Sepulveda, James Solan, Mike Solan, and Eduardo Tonetti climbed a 5,145m peak on the border between Chile and Argentina, at -24.9047,-68.4334, south of th...
From 2019 to 2023, Alvaro Rojas Rivera and various Chilean partners ascended three previously unclimbed, nontechnical, 5,500m-plus volcanoes in a remote zone of the Atacama. These peaks are about 57km north of Ojos del Salado, near Paso de San Fra...
The Cordillera Huanzo, located 40km west-southwest of Santo Tomás, is one of the forgotten ranges of Peru’s Andes. Because of its isolation, only two expeditions have been recorded. In 1970, John Ricker and Sue Tatum made a long traverse between S...
In July 2022, Marcelo Delvaux (Brazil) made an unsupported, nine-day counterclockwise traverse in the central Cordillera Vilcanota, possibly making the first ascent of a 5,780m summit (13°44'5"S, 71°4'3"W), southeast of Chumpe (6,106m; 13°43'32"S,...
In late June, Tim Sonnenberg, Trey Worley, and I climbed a possible new variation to the northwest ridge of Campa I (5,500m, 13°46'27"S, 71°10'55"W), which is sometimes called Vía Engañada (“Route of Deception”) for the many false summits it cro...
On July 26, Luke Bird and Pete Takeda completed the first ascent of the west face and ridge of Nevado Tinki (a.k.a. Tinke, 5,450m, 13°45'7"S, 71°11'14"W) to its summit. We arrived in the area on July 13, first acclimatizing by bolting some new sp...
Lasunayoc (5,936m, 13°16'6"S, 72°47'45"W) anchors the southeastern end of the Pumasillo group in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. Its normal route on the eastern glacial ramp and upper east face (including minor variations) has been repeated a handful o...
The southwest face of Pumahuacanca (5,563m, 9°35’9”S, 77°19’51”W) is a mostly rocky wall on the east side of Quebrada Rurec, about 4km southeast of Cashan. It likely has seen a handful of ascents on its most accessible slope and first ascent route...
The Cashan massif is located in the Rajucolta Valley, which hosts several peaks over 5,600m. On previous trips to climb the north face of Cashan Oeste (AAJ 2020) and the south face of Huamashraju Este (AAJ 2022), we noticed the elegant north face ...
Approaching the south face of Ango Raju. The Ice Maiden (400m, 6a R), climbed in 2022, is marked. In 1981, Rob Blatherwick and Dr. Johan Reinhard climbed much of the south face, following a route up the cleft to the right. At the time, a small g...
Two of the closest valleys to Huaraz for rock climbing in the Cordillera Blanca are the Quebrada Llaca and Quebrada Cojup, both about one hour northeast of the city. At the entrance to the Quebrada Llaca is the Portada. This massive granite wall ...
(A) Urus Oeste III, a 5,270m satellite spire due west of Urus Oeste. The 2022 route Emmoa (640m climbing distance, M6 75°) followed the obvious snowy weakness. (B) Urus Oeste (5,450m); the 2022 route Hanan Pacha (425m climbing distance, 90°) asc...
In early July 2022, Juan Benevides and Ignacio Vasquez Palominos climbed the first recorded route up the north face of Shaqsha (5,703m) in the southern Cordillera Blanca. Shaqsha is typically climbed via the broken glacier on the southwest side, l...
Sacred Mountains of the World (Cambridge University Press), by Ed Bernbaum, is thoroughly updated from the first edition (1991), expanding the original and freshly considering the impacts of climate change and cultural preservation. Everest 2022: ...
THE ART OF SHRALPINISM: LESSONS FROM THE MOUNTAINS. By Jeremy Jones (Mountaineers Books, 2022). Paperback, 288 pages, $29.95. The Art of Shralpinism is about doing what you love in the mountains, doing it as safely as possible, and how to continu...