On September 8, Sean Goodrich (45) and his partner planned on climbing Funhouse to Upper Refuse, the classic moderate link-up on Cathedral Ledge. After finishing Funhouse (5. ), the pair eyed what they thought to be Upper Refuse (5.5), a right-lea...
On June 22, George (30) was leading and Steff (30) was belaying on Toxic Gumbo, a 5.8 sport climb on the left side of Main Cliff at Rumney. On a low-angled slab above an overhang, and while out of sight to the belayer, George unexpectedly fell. T...
On August 24, at Echo Crag, Lizzy Ragan (24) fell while climbing Avalanche (5.7), a single-pitch trad route. Lizzy was reported to be comfortable leading 5.10 sport, but was new to leading traditionally protected routes. According to her partner ...
At 11:30 a.m. on September 15, Liam Kirkpatrick (20) and his partner were climbing Moby Grape (8 pitches, 5.8 PG-13) on Cannon Cliff. The 5.7 fifth pitch of this route wanders, and from the traditional belay stance it is not possible to see the le...
Climbers are naturally detail oriented. We compare carabiner weights, argue over gates in or gates out, and research beta down to which way to hold that crimp rail on the third pitch. This level of scrutiny, and the intention that goes into it, ma...
Two falls occurred within the same week in August on the Southwest Ramp route of Granite Peak, the highest point in Montana. On August 20, a 50-year-old female climber slipped on a section of snow in the couloir portion of the route and was unable...
On July 19, two male climbers (ages 24 and 25) ascended the east ridge of Granite Peak (ca. 12,800 feet), summiting at 1:30 a.m on June 20. They became disoriented while attempting to descend in the dark and decided to bivy a few hundred meters to...
On the morning of July 14, at 4:30 a.m., Jackson Negri (25), Travis Swanson (33), and Will Hitchcock (29) began hiking from the East Mill Creek trailhead with the intention of group soloing Mt. Cowen via the northeast arête. This route is a promi...
On April 22, I (male, 35) was out in Rattler Gulch, climbing an easy stretch of limestone. Since spring in Montana usually means a lot of loose rock from the freeze-thaw cycle, I was testing every hold. I was about 10 to 15 feet above my last piec...
On November 8, Jason Miller (42) was cleaning the Offering, a 5.7 sport route at the Bruise Brothers Wall. After tethering to the anchors with slings, Jason threaded a bight of rope through the anchor system, tied a figure-eight on the bight, atta...
On August 31, Jarek (27) and his partner were climbing Whiteout (5.8), a two- pitch trad route at Emerald City. After finishing the second pitch, Jarek set up a belay at the anchors, belayed his partner up, and then lowered her to the ground, wher...
On the evening of July 4, Chief John May (51) of Wolfe County Search and Rescue was rappelling during a rescue operation at Chimney Top Rock in the Red River Gorge. During this single-line rappel, he noted some difficulty in controlling his speed ...
In October, Tommy Caldwell and I, along with help from Austin Siadak and Kevin Jorgeson, completed a new free route on El Cap. We followed the old Leo Houlding route Passage to Freedom (see AAJ 2000) up to El Cap Tower, and then pioneered an inter...
Jewell Lund (left) and Chantel Astorga below the Denali Diamond. In June 2015, Chantel Astorga and Jewell Lund completed the Denali Diamond, one of the testpiece routes up North America’s highest peak. When I learned of their five-day ascent...
On October 8 at about 4 p.m., USAF Tech. Sgt. Peter Kraines (33) and four others were climbing at the Black Cliffs area near Boise. All five were experienced Air Force climbers on orders to conduct climbing training. The five had been climbing sin...
In the late afternoon of June 22, ranger Stephen King received word that a climber had fallen at Parking Lot Rock. Witnesses and responders said that a 27-year-old female climber was descending from Delay of Game (5.8) when she rappelled off the e...
On July 21, Dan and Carolyn Morgan were climbing with a group of friends on the southwest face of Castle Rock. The pair were experienced climbers, she with 20 years and he with more than six years of experience. The two were staging an informal cl...
On May 27 at approximately 12:30 p.m., a man in his late 20s was rappelling down Bacon Is a Food Group (5.10 sport) and cleaning the draws when he lost his footing and swung over the side of an arête. He swung about 20 feet before slamming head fi...
While being struck by lightning is unlikely for a large portion of the population, it is more of a possibility for climbers due to the locations where we recreate, including ridges, mountaintops, and rock faces. In North America, mountain ranges a...
June 30 was a normal busy summer Sunday at Devils Head. We started the day on the west side of Chicken Head Ranch to avoid the hot June sun. Toward midday, we moved to the east side, and as usual in the summer, it started to cloud up. We climbed W...