The line of Erresistentziara Kondenatuak (10 pitches, 7a) on the west face of double-topped Torre Norte del Paine. Photo by Ibon Mendia. Opening a new route was not in our plans when Ibon Mendia and I left Puerto Natales in Chilean Patagonia ...
The line of Ultima Ronda (700m, AI3 M4) on the south face of Cerro Trono Blanco, climbed in December 2024. Photo by Sebastian Pelletti. Hernán Rodríguez and I awoke above a sea of clouds in Torres del Paine’s French Valley. Freezing levels we...
La Mascara from the southwest. (1) Zanetti attempt. (2) Alborada. (3) South African Route. (4) Duncan’s Dihedral. Photo by Galen Herz. Hernán Rodríguez and I dumped our packs and enjoyed the mid-day sun, watching as hundreds of toudrists scur...
In addition to new climbs on La Mascara, Cerro Trono Blanco, and Torre Norte, there were several notable ascents in Torres del Paine National Park. In February, Nicolás Gutiérrez and Aron Roca (Chile) completed a route called Espolón Chykillan on...
The northwest face of Cerro Pier Giorgio, with the west face on the right. (1) Via Gringos Locos, started in 1995 and completed in 2025. (2) Via del Hermano (2008). Other routes are not shown. Photo: Rolando Garibotti The northwest face of th...
Similar to the previous season, the weather in the summer of 2024–25 was statistically “average,” with mean temperature and levels of precipitation, which meant there were few favorable windows and mostly difficult conditions. After quite a few an...
The long, sustained splitters on the north face of El Mocho provide some of the best free climbing in the Chaltén massif. If this were in the Sierra or Chamonix, it would be a major destination, but in the shadow of giants, the face is often an af...
Ron Matous below the Eiger in 1976, when he and Mike Munger made the second all-American ascent of the north face. Photo: Mike Munger Ronald August Matous was born on October 25, 1952, in New York City. He died at 72 on December 18, 2024, as ...
On September 3, 2024, Emil Stefani, Martín Hurtado, and I—all members of the Club Andino Universitario (CAU) mountaineering group—crossed Lago O’Higgins to Punta Nahuelcar, adjacent to the Southern Patagonian Icefield. Once on the glacier, we ferr...
Camp in the cirque beneath the twin summits of Cerro Ambrosio Oeste (left) and Este (right). Both peaks were climbed for the first time within one year. Thor Retzlaff and Matthew Tufts made an ascent and ski descent of Cerro Ambrosio Oeste in No...
A western summit (3,150m) of Monte San Lorenzo, seen from the Calluqueo Glacier to the west. The right skyline is the top of the northwest spur, climbed in May 2024. Photo: Raimundo De Andraca Over six days from May 13 to 18, 2024, during a c...
In January 2023, an international team visited the Turbio IV Valley and made several ascents. John Collis, Mike Coyle, and Gareth Leah climbed most of a south-facing wall beneath Cerro Tres Negros, finding many flared and mostly unprotectable crac...
Wanting to go on an expedition with friends and colleagues, I organized a team of five women including Julia Cassou, Fay Manners, Belén Prados, Rocio Rodriguez Guiñazu, and myself to explore the Turbio IV Valley. We are all driven by a deep love f...
No Rolling Stone (13 pitches, V5.10 A3), the first route up the Redside Wall in Impassable Canyon, Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho. The wall was reached by a 22-mile hike and 3.5-mile swim and wade down the river. Photo: Matt Ward “Bea...
In late May, a group of three was attempting to climb King Trench (aka King’s Trench), the most frequented route up Mt. Logan (5,959 meters). Mt. Logan is the highest peak in Canada. This area of Kluane National Park and Reserve (KNPR) is known fo...
A skier captured images of his own sliding fall down a couloir on Little Bear Peak, a Colorado 14er. He impacted rocks in the choke but fortunately stopped soon below and was not very seriously injured. Photo: Dan Apodaca On April 15, I (male...
On Wednesday, March 15, a skier and a snowboarder departed from Heather Meadows near the Mt. Baker Ski Area, planning to climb and descend both Herman and Slate mountains. They climbed the south side of Mt. Herman to 6,000 feet (about 250 feet bel...
Looking up the avalanche path and debris on the north side of Hurd Peak. (O) Location of Skier 2 at the time of the avalanche. (X) Estimated location of Skier 1. Photo: Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center On the morning of June 14, a party of two...
Climbing the North Couloir of Mt. Emerson, shortly before falling ice struck the team. The frozen waterfall that was shedding ice is seen high on the right. Team Photo Our party of four planned to ski the North Couloir on Mt. Emerson (13,210 ...
Gunky is a popular route in Sinks Canyon that protects well with hexes and nuts. Familiarity with passive gear and more cam-placing skills might have helped prevent an accident that occurred in July 2023. The high X marks where Taylor fell, a...