Markel De La Fuente, Oier De La Fuente, Josu Linaza, and I planned an expedition to the Sosbun Valley similar to my 2023 trip to Ladakh (AAJ 2024), where we had a base camp close to a variety of rock walls. We opted to visit the South Sosbun Glaci...
The upper north-northwest ridge of Virjerab Sar. Photo: Virjerab Sar Expedition A small, multinational team left Shimshal on July 17 with the intention of ascending the Virjerab Glacier to its head, reaching Virjerab Pass, and from there maki...
Murilo Lessa and I visited the Ghujerab Valley, north of Shimshal, in September, with a view to attempting peaks around Dih Sar from their north side. After a three-day trek via Boesam Pass (5,000m), a base camp was made at the herder settlement o...
In a photo taken from the team’s second belay on Leaning Tower Direct, Jordan Cobb is attempting the third pitch prior to Levi Wilkins’ fatal accident. The key 0.4 Camalot placement (behind Cobb’s leg) is marked by the yellow arrow. Photo by Jak...
It’s an unsettling thought, but carabiners can, on rare occasion, unclip from bolt hangers. When the bolt is clipped from right to left and the hanger angles down to the right, tension on the quickdraw can raise the carabiner and lever the gate ...
The south face of Stone Mountain with climbers seen on (left to right) Rainy Day Women (5.10a R) and No Alternative (5.5). The historic Grand Funk Railroad (5.9-) follows a line of barely visible “railroad” dikes on the right side of this photog...
On June 13, a male climber (41) sustained a leader fall on Raunchy (5.8) and sustained minor injuries. After the fall, it was determined that the patient, a diabetic, was hypoglycemic. The extent to which hypoglycemia contributed to his fall, or i...
In May 2023, a Gunks climber was bitten by an eastern copperhead. This pit viper is endemic to eastern North America and favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands, where it may occupy rock outcroppings and ledges. Photo: Selbymay | Wikimedia ...
During the 2023 season in the Mohonk Preserve, there were numerous climbing-related incidents that resulted in either lower- or upper-extremity injuries. Much effort has been put forth within the climbing community to help educate climbers on safe...
The Prow is a prominent formation of not-so-high-quality granite in the Sandia Mountains. Bad rock quality and poor route selection played roles in an accident on November 25. Photo: Anna Brown. On November 25, Brian Beyer (male, 25) was clim...
On the northwest ridge of Peak 132. Photo: Piotr Tomala. In January 2024, Grzegorz Bielejec, Piotr Tomala, and I reached the Shimshal Valley and on the 14th began our approach from Ziarat (ca 2,735m) up the Southeast Karun Valley. In summer a...
The difficult approach to the upper Southeast Karun Valley. Photo: Masha Gordon In July, inspired by lines on a Jerzy Wala map, together with ample opportunities for first ascents in a less explored area of the Karakoram, Oswaldo Freire, Josh...
In September, Victor Saunders and I made the first ascent of Yawash Sar I (6,258m), a shapely peak at the head of the Koksil (a.k.a. Shop Dur) Glacier, located in the Khunjerab Group of the Ghujerab Mountains, very near the frontier with China. [I...
Zdeněk Hák traversing the western flank of the south spur of Batura V between camps 1 and 2, en route to the first ascent of Muchu Chhish. Sanglamamar is in the background. Photo: Jaroslav Bánský. I had planned to visit Afghanistan’s Hindu Ku...
Looking for a route on the west ridge of Sachban Sar. Photo: Takemi Suzuki. At the end of the summer, Ryo Masumoto, Takaaki Nagato, Takemi Suzuki (photographer and filmmaker), Katsutaka “Jumbo” Yokoyama, and I drove via Ishkoman to the Karamb...
Alex Manoliu and Ionuț Papa from Romania reached the Ak-su Valley in early July, hoping to repeat the famed Perestroika Crack on Slesova Peak and possibly to establish a new line of their own. When poor weather kept them off Perestroika Crack for ...
In late May, I completed a new route on the north face of Angels Landing. Civil Disobedience (1,250’, 10 pitches, V 5.9 A3) takes a direct, independent, and rather sheer path immediately right of the historic Lowe Route (1,200’, 12 pitches, V 5.10...
Sean McLane leading pitch eight (the second of three M9 pitches) on The Penitent Path, a week after redpointing the 12-pitch route. Photo: Jon Jugenheimer. After about 20 days of work over two months, Jon Jugenheimer and I completed what cou...
In August 2024, friends and I established two routes on Ptarmigan Mountain (12,324’) on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). I first came across the Ptarmigan Towers while flipping through Richard Rossiter’s RMNP guidebook; I hike...
The Lone Eagle Cirque, on the west side of the Continental Divide in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, is known for breathtaking views, beautiful alpine lakes, and the classic north face of Lone Eagle Peak (11,946’), climbed by brothers Joe and Paul St...