On October 2, a 55-year-old male was reported missing by his son. The missing climber had failed to return from a solo attempt on the West Gully of El Capitan. Members of Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) were deployed, and after a few hours of s...
Via Aqua (4 pitches, 5.8) is moderate climb characterized by its wandering route-finding, subpar rock quality, and stunning views. This unique route (yellow line) crosses a huge, massively exposed ledge system two-thirds of the way up the 1,500-...
The Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome saw a serious leader fall on July 7 (yellow circle) when a cam pulled out. Photo: Tuxyso | Wikimedia On July 7, two male climbers in their 30s began a proposed three-day climb of Half Dome’s Regular Nor...
On the afternoon of June 19, two teams were descending from Leaning Tower. The descent, which is known to be challenging, was the site of a devastating accident and a male climber in his 40s lost his life. While the lower team was trying to find ...
On July 21, Yosemite dispatch received an emergency alert from Tenaya Lake’s East Beach. Initial reports indicated that a climber in his 50s had taken a tumbling fall on Tenaya Peak and was not breathing. The first ranger arrived at the Tenaya Eas...
On June 16, Siskiyou County was notified of a missing climber on the Clear Creek Route of Mt. Shasta. The climber had been overdue for 30 hours, and loved ones had lost communication and called 911. Mt. Shasta climbing rangers mobilized to the tra...
A 54-year-old, solo male climber attempted a car-to-car climb of Mt. Shasta, starting at midnight on Friday, April 21. He carried a small pack and no overnight equipment. Two local climbers encountered the man high on the mountain on Saturday, Apr...
Mt. Shasta (14,179 feet) from the north. In May, a climber became separated from his party at the summit and mistakenly descended onto the Whitney Glacier—seen here as the ice flowing below the col between the two highest peaks. Photo: Frank Sch...
The 2023 climbing season kicked off in early April, after a robust winter that brought well above average snowfall. With a nearly 200-inch base at 7,000 feet, skiers and climbers were eager to get on the mountain. Strong north wind events througho...
The anchor at the top of Misty at Sand Rock, Alabama. Karsten Delap, a guide who visited the area after a fatal accident in October (see previous pages), said, “When she...undid the [locking] carabiner...she was probably a little bit above [the ...
Andrea Bender climbing Misty (5.10b/c), the scene of the fatal fall of Yutung Zhang in October 2023. Photo: Andrea Bender Collection On October 14, Yutung “Faye” Zhang (18) fell 90 feet from the anchors of Misty (5.10b/c) while preparing to c...
The West Ridge of the Mooses Tooth is a longsnow and ice route featuring ice up to 60° andlong expanses of steep snow. The snow sectionmarked above was the site of an avalanche thatcaused the death of two climbers in May 2023.Photo by Brian Ster...
At approximately 10 a.m. on June 7, I (Jonathan Gopel, 31), Jacob Dong (21), and Heath Himstedt (37) began descending from 17,200-foot camp on the West Buttress. Bad weather and extreme cold played into our decision to descend without a summit. We...
On May 30, an independent expedition at 14,200-foot camp notified rangers via radio that one member of their team, a 24-year-old Coloradan, had an altered mental status. The patient’s team stated that they had been dropped off by plane at base cam...
At approximately 11 p.m. on May 19, a 24-year-old male climber was descending the ridge below 17,200-foot camp when he fell roughly 1,200 vertical feet onto the Peters Glacier. He and his climbing partner had just summited via the West Rib and wer...
On May 17, a 43-year-old female climber fell into a crevasse while unroped on Motorcycle Hill, above 11,200-foot camp. This climber was ascending without skis or snowshoes at the time of the fall. She was assisted out of the crevasse by one of her...
Close to the summit of Angsi Dong Dong, looking southeast along the rim of the Angsi Glacier basin, in shadow behind the climber. Just to the right of the climber is Peak 6,013m, climbed by the left skyline ridge in 2024. The big peak in the dis...
Michael Telstad zigzagged up steep rock to reach the ice dagger on Borrowed Time. He wrote, “Finding decent protection was a slow, agonizing process.” Photo by Justin Sackett. The west face of Sloan Peak (7,835’) has been at the forefront of ...
Throughout the first week of July, Adam “Mo” Moline and I completed the fourth ascent of Wayne Wallace’s Mongo Ridge (VI 5.10a, 2006). Our climb was supported by the AAC’s Live Your Dream Grant and represents the culmination of six climbing season...
Worth the Jaunt (300m, Alaska Grade III, 5.10), the first ascent of Organa Pipette on the Juneau Icefield. Photo by Cameron Jardell. Loaded up with Costco’s finest provisions and two modified plastic sleds, Vincent LaPointe and I helicoptere...