In the spring, a joint expedition from Korea and Nepal, led by Um Hong-gil and Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa, completed the first ascent of Jugal I (6,591m, 28°10’26.73”N, 85°48’59.13”E), north of Kathmandu. The expedition marked the occasion of the golden ...
Nicolas Hojac (Switzerland) and I left Kyanjin Gompa on November 15 and walked more than five hours to reach the foot of the glacier that descends west from below the northwest face of Ganchempo (6,378m). We camped there at 4,760m. The next mornin...
Located immediately opposite the east face of Langtang Lirung, Kimshung (a.k.a. Tsangbu Ri, 6,781m, 28°16’19.74”N, 85°33’6.47”E) has a long south-southeast ridge between the Lirung and Kimshung glaciers, with subsidiary tops. The southern and lowe...
View from the 6,200-meter camp on Phungi. The summit is the tiny, rounded snow top to the right and behind the rocky top. Photo by Fumiya Yokomichi. In post-monsoon 2022, three young Japanese climbers—Goto Kisuke, Adachi Masaki, and Kagami Ta...
Seen from the east, from left to right: the southern top of Samaya Himal, Chame East, Lamjung Himal, unnamed peak, and Annapurna II. Photo by Paulo Grobel. The Kajin Sara is a small group of peaks to the south of Kajin Sara Lake, forming a ri...
The west side of the Nilgiri massif, showing the attempted route on the west ridge. Behind, the highest point of the skyline ridge is Annapurna I. Photo by Takuya Mitoro. In the fall of 2018, Tatsuya Aoki and I attempted the north face of Nil...
The west side of Patrasi showing the route of the first ascent of Patrasi I, traversing over the summit of Patrasi II. Photo by Pasang Rinzee Sherpa. In the premonsoon season, Nepali guides Vinayak Jaya Malla, Pasang Kami Sherpa, and Pasang ...
In October, as part of a tourist development plan, the Nepal government announced it was opening 57 additional mountains for climbing expeditions. These range in altitude from just below 5,900m to a little over 6,800m. The list includes many litt...
The red line shows the route on the upper east ridge of Granite Peak. A) The large ledge below the start of the 5th-class climbing. This is where the group waited for the helicopter. B) This is the location of the belay/rappel anchor at the top ...
David Baumann prior to falling off The Fat One (WI3) in Hyalite Canyon. “I am really shocked that my lower tool came out. This picture shows my position before I fell while placing a screw.” In general, it is good to place both tools at almost f...
Code Red (WI5) before and after a dramatic collapse in January 2023. The lower column was clearly leaning to the right, but appeared too big and solid to collapse. The two climbers involved in this accident were fortunately unharmed. Photo: Laur...
On February 7, James Bake (31) was ice climbing with a partner near Miners Castle Rock when he was struck by a heavy wave that swept him into Lake Superior. After Bake’s partner reported the incident at 5:15 p.m., a search and rescue effort follo...
I was getting back into outdoor climbing after a long break. I have been doing a lot of gym climbing over the last six years, including leading 5.11 in the gym. I started getting back outdoors. To optimize my time, I hired an AMGA-certified guide....
The bolt-end carabiner of this quickdraw broke in a leader fall, most likely when the gate improbably “nose-hooked” a glue-in, rod-stock-style bolt. Photo: Climber 1 On October 8, I (Climber 1) was leading Grandpa Joe (5.9) in the Red River G...
In the early evening of November 29, Robert Moresco (38) fell to the ground from a climbing wall equipped with auto-belays. Moresco wrote to ANAC: “I was new to climbing. The climbing wall was 22 feet high, and I fell about 15 feet. My foot land...
The Super Hits Wall at City of Rocks. A climber was lowering from Twist and Crawl (5.8) and fell when the end of his rope slipped through the belay device. His feet struck a large flake (marked with the yellow x) near the route’s base. That impa...
The quickdraw that failed at Catslab. The carabiner’s wire gate is not bent, but rather displaced to one side. When the carabiner was loaded, it must have momentarily opened, because the gate notch shows no damage. Photo: Climber 2 Climber 1...
On the evening of July 11, park rangers received a report of two climbers stranded and unable to complete their climb on Longs Peak. Neither party was injured. Rangers remained in contact with both climbers overnight, and National Park Service SAR...
Ypsilon Mountain, a 13,514-foot peak in northern Rocky Mountain National Park. The prominent ridge rising to the summit was the site of a free solo death in July 2023. Yellow circle marks the accident location. Photo: Christian Collins | Wikimed...
On November 11, Cory Jones and I, Max Conway (23), went to climb Mudflap Girl (10 pitches, 5.10+) on the Grizzly Creek Wall (a.k.a. Mudwall). We knew it was to be a chossy climb that entices the adventure seeker. The approach was not straightforw...