In July, James Gustafson and I returned to the Pika Glacier of Little Switzerland, hoping to complete a traverse of the Dragon’s Spine [The Dragon’s Spine is a long ridgeline that culminates in a 7,490’ summit. It lies three miles down glacier (no...
Lonnie Dupre reached the summit of Denali on January 11, 2015. This was his fourth attempt to become the first person to solo Denali in January. Dupre was flown to base camp on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier on December 18. He climbed ...
On April 28, Nathan Lane and I launched my 16-foot inflatable Achilles boat (the HMS Marmot) in Whittier, Alaska, hoping to make the first ascent of Mt. Muir (7.605’) via Harriman Fjord. I had been studying topographic maps of Mt. Muir and the app...
After a seven-day trek with porters, Tino Villanueva and I arrived at our 5,300m base camp below the west face of Parchamo (6,279m). We had planned on objectives a little further up glacier, but the new snow that fell in mid-October and caused dea...
Not far from the famous peaks of Kangchenjunga and Jannu, the Dudh Pokhari (or Yamatari) Glacier basin offers beautiful peaks for lovers of unspoiled corners of the Himalaya. Boktoh, east of the Lapsang La, has a steep and impressive north face. T...
Over two weeks in July a team of British climbers and film crew journeyed into Sarawak on Borneo to establish a new route in the Melinau Gorge and to document the wildlife we found there. Due to the number of people involved and the associated noi...
Beginning on November 21, Laurent Bibollet, Emmanuel Chance, Yann Delevaux, Paul Dudas, David Lacoste, and I, operating from the yacht Podorange, made the first traverse of the Seven Sisters of Fief, above Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island. The first...
There was a considerable increase in climbers in the Vinson Massif this season, with 207 people attempting Mt. Vinson (4,892m), and 187 of them reaching the summit.In the Heritage Range, staff and visitors at the Adventure Network International (A...
Hua Shan is the West Mountain (Xi Yue) of the Five Great Mountains (Wu Yue, the holy Taoist mountains) in Chinese traditional and religious custom. Cable cars and impressive "via ferrata" pathways lead to the various tops. Hua Shan has five peaks,...
In 2001 a glimpse of the Rassa Glacier during our expedition to the Arganglas Valley (AAJ 2002) indicated great potential for climbs and exploration. Due to security restrictions and a remote location, many mountains and valleys of the East Karako...
Hervé Barmasse (Italy) enchained the four major ridges of the Matterhorn (4,478m), solo, in 17 hours, climbing up the Furggen Direct, down the Hornli, up the Zmutt, and down the Lion. The March enchainment included the first winter solo of Furggen...
Antoine Avenas, Jonathan Isorad, and Hélias Millerioux climbed Le Reactor (1,000m, 26 roped pitches, ED+ 6b M7 WI5+ R) on the northwest face of Ailefroide Occidentale (3,954m) over two days in June. More info at Montagnes magazine.
Max Bonniot and Mathieu Maynadier climbed Eté Blizzard (ED- 4 M6+ A1 70°), with 470m of new terrain, on the left side of the north face of the Meije (3,984m). This was the start of a seven-day enchainment through the Écrins in August. More info at...
Les Droites (4,000m). In March, Jan Straka and Pavel Vrtik (Czech) put up Le Vol du Dragon (1,200m, M7+ A2) on the northeast face of Les Droites (4,000m), between the Czech Gully (1977) and Tournier Spur (1937), over four days. More info at Singin...
Luka Krajnc and Luka Lindic (Slovenia) completed the first free ascent of Rolling Stones (1,100m, Prochaska-Rutil-Schlechta-Svejda, 1979) on the Grandes Jorasses (4,208m) in March. The ascent took four days, and they graded the climb M8. Planet Mo...
Over two days in August, Andreas Klarstrom (Norway) and Adam Pustelnik (Poland) climbed a very difficult variation to Freya (Jasper-Jasper, 1998, 800m 7c A3+) on the Storpillaren, the central pillar on the north face of Vagakallen (942m). After 13...
On February 9, 2015, we completed a new route on the north face of Trollveggen (Troll Wall) in the Romsdal area. Katharsis (1,100m, 27 pitches, VI A4 M7) was climbed over 18 days (January 23–February 9), including two rest days during Hurricane Ol...
Gyao Kang (6,735m), the most northerly of the bigger peaks in the Lapche Kang Range, is a fine snowy summit that can be climbed in a day from a base camp to the north at 5,890m. The slope angles are such that it would be an agreeable peak to climb...
I had visited Alaska several times, but this time Junji Wada and I—“Team Wasabi”—had the extreme luxury of not seeing anyone during our seven-week stay on glacier (April 21–June 6). This was a real treat that gave us significant time to face each ...
Fred Beckey shifted conspicuously in his chair, looking over his shoulder as if someone were about to steal his most prized possession: Before me lay Beckey’s “Black Book,” a file of tattered photographs of unknown mountains scrawled with hand-dra...