In 2002–’03 the leashless revolution was just starting, and it brought together a small group of Salt Lake and Provo, Utah, climbers. Focusing on the steep choss of Provo Canyon limestone, they farmed ice and created new routes, and one of Scott...
Hooman Aprin, climber and mountain guide, succumbed to frontal temporal dementia in May 2015 at age 68. At death he was surrounded by loved ones: Lisa Goldoftas and their children, Dora Aprin and Joey Aprin, Hooman’s daughter Tara Aprin, and his g...
I climbed the classic west ridge of North Twin Sister Mountain near Mt. Baker on a fine August day. It was very warm and I got a late start. As many do, I used a mountain bike for the approach, which follows about nine kilometers of logging roads....
In late July, Tim Halder and I ventured into the remote and mythical Arrigetch Peaks for three weeks of packrafting and climbing. I’d first read about this range in David Roberts’ autobiography years ago, and had dreamed about granite towers, blue...
Two and half weeks, one African country, and three completely unique objectives: Why not? In December 2016, I traveled to Kenya with Alex Honnold, Cedar Wright, Ted Hesser, and Taylor Keating to climb the country’s biggest rock wall, put up firs...
Isolated by wide longitudinal valleys, the At Bashi Range extends 100km in a southwest to northeast direction, with an average width of 25km, and has a collection of mostly rocky peaks reaching about 4,790m. It is bordered on the northern side by ...
In mid-July, Mark Chonofsky, Sandy Fowler, Sam Newmark, Calum Nicoll, Neil Smith, and I set out for unexplored and poorly documented valleys in the Djenghi-Djer, a subrange between the At Bashi and Borkoldoy. The Dejnghi-Djer, which in Krygyz mean...
From August 4 to 28, Giovanni Pagnoncelli and I climbed three long new rock routes in Ala Archa National Park, all on trad gear. The weather was very bad throughout our stay, with only one day that was fine; the rest had at least two to three hour...
Maria Dixon, John McEvoy, Will McEvoy, Claire Stringer, Guy Williams, and I (all U.K.) drove to the village of Tamga, south of Issyk-kul, where we stayed in a brilliant guesthouse run by the parents and sister of mountain guide Misha Danichkin, wh...
This year's expedition to Kyrgyzstan was planned somewhat more on the hoof than normal: I only booked flights three days prior to departure. On the morning of September 19, Vladimir Komissarov, director of the ITMC agency, kindly met me to pass on...
From August 19–22, 2015, Giorgi Tepnadze, Levan Tsibadze, and I climbed the Kartvelishvili Route on the southwest face of Dzhangi-tau (a.k.a. Jangi-tau or Janga, 5,058m, the second-highest peak in the Georgian Caucasus), creating a new variant of ...
From February 9 to 13, Giorgi Tepnadze and I climbed a new route up the Dragon's Wall on Kazbek (5,047m, a.k.a. Kazbegi), which rises 3,200m above the village of Stepantsminda. Our route climbs the east face via a steep icefall through the left si...
East of the higher and better-known peaks of the Caucasus, the Chaukhi massif is one of the most popular mountain regions of the range. It is only about 100km north of Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, followed by a short walk to base camp at around 2,6...
While climbing a new route on the north face of Agmashenebeli the year before, it was hard not to notice the east face of Asatiani (3,820m; some sources say 3,842m) and wonder why it remained unclimbed. The wall seemed more monolithic and safe fro...
In January 2016, Egor Suzdaltsev and Ivan Temerev from Russian Siberia made what is thought to be the first ascent of Chon-tor (4,180m) in the Sokuluk Valley of the western Tien Shan. The valley is about 40km southwest of Bishkek, a little to the ...
After some climbs in the popular Ulamertorssuaq region of the Tasermiut Fjord, including perhaps the second ascent of Grmoland (Grmovsek-Grmovsek, 2008) on Ketil Pyramid, Duncan Barrack and Wil Treasure (U.K.) set off to repeat the Swiss route Les...
Lionel Daudet invited me to take part in his Big Seas, Big Walls expedition, and I quickly accepted this incredible opportunity. At the end of June, Lionel and fellow Frenchman Enzo Oddo departed Scotland on Ada 2, skippered by the renowned French...
I have been on 10 expeditions to Greenland since first visiting in 1998. One particular area on the east coast, between Thor’s Land and Tingmiarmiut, has been especially attractive to me, as almost no other climbers have been there. I first travel...
With our two Icelandic mountain guides, Bjorgvin Hilmarsson and Leifur Orn Svavarsson, Mike Brinkworth, James Masters, Dave Minghay, and I established base camp about 33km due north of Tasiilaq on July 21, on the northeast side of the Ikaasatsivaq...
My friend Matthias Konig had mentioned that the characteristic shape of 7,284m Muztagh Tower made it his longtime dream mountain. On July 12, after a five-day trek, we arrived at our base camp (4,400m) on the Baltoro Glacier, just below the tower,...