The west face of Little Podju as seen from Big Ramp. Photo by Joda Hankins On June 20, Travis Powell and I took an afternoon helicopter bump from Hunter Creek, where we both live, to a basin at 3,500 feet on the west side of a mountain that M...
Balin Miller’s gear was nowhere to be found—or so he claimed. The route line of No Guides Allowed on Relaxation Spire. Photo by Ethan Berkeland Fresh off his solo ascent of the Slovak Direct on Denali and a short crabbing season off the Sewa...
I sat upright in our tent with my back pressed against the wall. Cody Winckler, lying on his back, braced the other side with his legs, our world a dark maelstrom of flapping fabric and constant roaring. We’d spent the last two days shuttling load...
On February 8, 2025, Alex Burkhart, Matt Callahan, and I set out to climb the Second Mendenhall Tower (a.k.a. Midget, 58.53415, -134.49092) in winter. Starting at 1:30 p.m. at the trailhead, we planned to climb through the night to reduce the risk...
After months of heavy snowfall in the Cathedral Spires, the storms exhausted themselves and it was our turn. On June 10, Paul Roderick delivered Vincent Lapointe and me to the Shadows Glacier with high stoke and higher atmospheric pressure. Th...
Eli Sturm on the summit ridge of the Batwing (Peak 9,020'). Photo: Robes Parrish Detailed trip planning is usually antecedent to a successful trip into the mountains. But sometimes life conspires to steal that time and you just have to make d...
The line of Children of the Sun (14 pitches, VI 5.13-) on the northeast face of the Monolith. Photo: Maximilian Barlerin As the crow flies, the Monolith sits just a few miles south of the busy Cirque of the Towers. Despite its proximity, the ...
Wilson Cutbirth leading pitch five of The Living Stone on the northeast face of Mt. Hooker. It took three trips deep into the Wind River Range to establish and free the ten-pitch route. Photo: Leo Houlding Jonny Schaffer and I have both spent...
The 1,300-foot line of Crowheart (IV 5.12) on Roberts Mountain. Photo: Heath Rowland On August 23, Louis Aden and I wrapped up a multi-year effort to establish a new line on the seldom visited and remote northeast face of Roberts Mountain (12...
Photo by Martin Bravenboer Dip Top Peak (7,291’, 47.58292, -121.18279), situated on the rugged crest between the Deception Creek and Foss River drainages (north of the turreted Mt. Daniel, south of the Insta-famous Jade Lake), presents a comp...
Photo by Jason Griffith Visible to anyone cresting Easy Pass, the striking north face of Arches Peak (7,945’, 48.559545, -120.853425)—affectionately known as “Little J-Berg” for its structural resemblance to the more formidable Johannesburg M...
George Hurley on Frog's Head in the Gunks, May 10, 2015. Photo: Al Hospers George Foster Hurley, 91, died on March 6 at Taylor Community assisted-living facility in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, after a short decline.It’s difficult to write about...
Photo by Jason Thompson February 2021. I drove southwest from Colorado Springs in my Toyota Camry through the San Juan Mountains on slick, empty roads, to meet my 19-year-old brother, Balin, in Telluride for some ice climbing. Balin was drivi...
Photo by Steve Bartlett Ron Olevsky, a major—and colorful—player in the 1970s-80s blossoming of Utah desert climbing, passed away in July 2025 at age 71. Ron was key in transforming a then sleepy Zion National Park into a big-wall mecca. He ...
Photo: Pat Morrow Born in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), Robert “Rusty” Baillie became a rock climber and mountaineer of international acclaim. His introduction to adventure, and specifically rock climbing, came with the Boy Scouts at an early...
Rod Newcomb at home, November 14, 2024. Photo: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. / Jackson Hole News & Guide Rodney Albert Newcomb, who died October 9 at age 91, was a pioneering avalanche expert and educator, and a leading mountaineer of his time. ...
Dale Bard in 1978 during the fourth ascent of Pacific Ocean Wall on El Cap. Photo by Randy Leavitt When Dale Bard was informed that he had only about a year to live, he took the news calmly, and even joked about it. His doctor, surprised, rem...
Dick Jackson in September 2003, working as lead guide in the Khumbu, Nepal, on a paragliding-mountaineering expedition. Photo courtesy of Jackson–Vander Noordaa Family In the old Aspen days, Dick Jackson was easy to find, at his Rocky Mountai...
Pete Cleveland (right) at Devil's Lake, where he was a respected and integral presence for decades. Photo by Amy Ferryman There are no mountains in the Midwest, so it is left to certain climbers to cast long shadows. For well over half a cent...
My father, Peter Lev, often reflected on his time as a guide and climber as “a time like no other,” a golden age. “There were no rules or regulations,” he’d say. “We just climbed because that’s what we loved to do.” He spent his life living and ...