While I was taking my ACMG apprentice alpine guide exam, Craig McGee, one of my instructors, told me about the Waddington Range. “It’s amazing,” he explained. “Like Chamonix, but ten times as big. Also, there is still a lot of potential for first ...
Working with a report in the Japanese Alpine News by Kimikazu Sakamoto and some Google Earth imagery, but with limited information on the peaks we hoped to climb, we decided to plan a low-budget summer expedition to the Zanskar Range. Sakamoto’s r...
Otis Peak is a 12,486’ mountain along the Continental Divide with a broad south face that hosts a plethora of spires along its east to west axis. After climbing Zowie, a tower at the eastern end of Otis Peak, I spotted some uncharted terrain to th...
Early on July 3, Jay Bachhuber, Michael Crouch, Jeff Woodward, and I forded the Rio Grande in a Toyota Tacoma and drove to the Hunchback Pass trailhead. Our party of four approached the Guardian (13,617’) that morning, crossing Vallecito Creek by ...
It is impossible to shiver through a belay on the north face of the Monolith and not notice the sunny, warm south face of Dog Tooth Peak across the canyon. It is also impossible to ignore the line that splits the middle of Dog Tooth Peak’s souther...
Our time was running out. Mark Evans, Oli Shaw, and I had already bailed from high on Fremont Peak’s west face—twice. On our first magnificent failure, in September 2014, we nearly froze to the wall (see AAJ 2015). The second was a week ago, from ...
On March 23, Argentine climbers Charly Contartese, Esteban Degregori, and Juancho Torres opened a new route in the granite towers known as Agujas del Sosneado, on Torre Blanca de Ectelion. This is the second route on the tower and is located left ...
In October, Ricardo Hernandez and I traveled to the Torres del Brujo (a.k.a. Sierra del Brujo), in the VI region of Chile. We started up the University Glacier until the point where it intersects the Mañke Glacier—a two-day approach. It took one a...
On January 10, 2016, Argentine climbers Lissandro Arelovich and Glauco Muratti ascended an unclimbed 4,905m peak above Quebrada Potrero Escondido. They departed on January 7 from Punta de Vacas, making three camps west of the peak before beginning...
On November 14, Argentines Adrían Petrocelli and Ramiro Casas departed from Punta de Vacas, trekked along Quebrada Tupungato, and camped in Quebrada Potrero Escondido at ca 4,100m. The next day they continued to the foot of unclimbed Cerro Colorad...
Mt. Parofes is a 5,845m volcano that rises between Pissis and Bonete in Argentina’s La Rioja Province. It was said to be the highest unclimbed American summit, until Máximo Kausch (Argentina), Jovany Blume, and Pedro Hauck (both Brazil) ascended i...
Volcán Granada (5,697m) is a volcano in the Puna region, a highland desert zone near the point where Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina meet. It was first ascended by Incas long ago for ceremonial purposes. On June 21, Argentine climbers Agustín Piccol...
Over two days in September 2014, Ryan Brooks and I free climbed a new route on the big- wall sector of Cannon Cliff in Franconia Notch. The route ascends seven pitches over roughly 800’ and contains some of the best and worst Cannon has to offer. ...
In September and October 2014, Ben Collett and Rob Smith climbed two moderate new ice/ mixed routes in the Longs Peak area. Smith’s Route (III M5) ascends the gully left of Zumie’s Thumb in the east cirque of Longs Peak. Duncan Did It First (800’,...
In July, Pete Walka and I completed Highway to Heaven (11 pitches, 5.8) on Storm Point in the Tetons. As reported in AAJ 2015, the route ended at a high point I dubbed Tranquility Point. Upon returning in 2015, we found a free route to reach the t...
In February and March, Scott Coldiron and partners climbed two long new routes in the Cabinet Mountains. On February 22, Coldiron and Christian Thompson climbed Blackwell Falls (900’, WI5 M4), a mostly ice route below the northeast side of A Peak ...
I first climbed in the Fisher Towers during my freshman year of college. During the next three years, I gradually climbed one tower after the other, learning from each success and failure, until I had done them all. My most profound failure was on...
I started working on this climb with Mary Harlan, when we climbed and cleaned the first two pitches of Sucker Punch (AAJ 2014) and this route (located just right of Sucker Punch on the northwest face) over two days. I added the remaining hardware ...
In early November, Nikki Smith, Matt Tuttle, and Angela VanWiemeersch climbed a new ice route in Henry’s Fork Basin, below King’s Peak (13,528’), on the north slope of the Uinta Mountains. The climb, Trivium (100’, WI4), is significant for its 10-...
On October 30, Matt Mower and I made what is likely the first ascent of Castle Dome. From the West Rim, we rappelled into the saddle between the West Rim and Castle Dome. We eventually reached the southeast corner, where one can look down onto Zio...