1 - Don’t Let the Walls Cave in on You (2015). 2 - Recuperated Abandonment (2014). With José Callisaya, a mountain guide from La Paz, I made a new route on the very broad southwest face of Charquini (5,392m). Don’t Let...
Loch Vale is a popular north-facing ice climbing area at about 10,000 feet in elevation. At approximately 3 p.m. on December 21, two climbers began to free solo Mo’ Flo’ Than Go, a short WI2/3 route. They told a group of four climbers who were gat...
Our team of six—Emily Harrington, Mark Jenkins, Renan Ozturk, Cory Richards, and I, along with base camp manager Taylor Rees, headed to the far northern reaches of Myanmar in the fall to attempt the west ridge of Hkakabo Razi, in the eastern tai...
On a mid-September evening, Person 1, age 29, with many years of climbing experience, led the limestone sport climb Pleasant Dreams (5.9+) on Son Tower at the Pit. When the leader reached the top of the climb, the belayer (Person 2, age 30, with s...
On June 6, I was climbing a route near Scary Llamas (a.k.a. Hissing Llamas, a 5.8 sport climb) on the Phoenix Buttress with my wife, Claire, and our friend Mary. My wife and I witnessed a climber fall on Scary Llamas. The climber (age approximatel...
Roger Schäli and Simon Gietl climbed a new route on La Esfinge (5,325m) in the Paron Valley in early July. Chappie (600m, 7b+) is situated on the upper right (shorter) side of the southeast face, between the routes Intuition (AAJ 2001) and Dion’...
After a 20-hour trip in a pickup truck with nine people and three dogs, we made it into Basaseachic very late and rested. The next day, Tiny Almada, José Vega, Oscar Cisneros (our base camp support), and I (all from Mexico) reached Valentin Grijal...
Alexander "Sasha" Ruchkin, along with his climbing partner, Vyacheslav Ivanov, died while attempting a new route on the south face of Huandoy Sur (6,160m) in Peru. The estimated date of the tragedy was August 27, 2015. As reported by the rescuers...
Sarah Hart walks across the Trident Glacier shortly before the author's crevasse fall. Base camp is visible on the right. Sarah Hart, 35, and I, 32, intended to climb the east ridge of 13,832-foot Mt. Hayes, the ...
In April, Hassan Gerami, Farshad Mijoji, and I opened a new route up the stunning right (northeast) arête of Karambony Tower. We mainly aided at first, using hooks and bolts to make progress up the wall, then did our best to climb the route free. ...
After five days of travel from Ecuador, Felipe Guarderas, Nicolas Navaraette, and I reached Antananarivo, Madagascar. We were exhausted and could hardly complete our grocery shopping for the next month of climbing in this exotic place. After sever...
After having climbed some of the classics in the Tsaranoro Valley with Argyro Papathanasiou (Greece) in July, I was joined by Siebe Vanhee (Belgium) in August. He had spotted a major unclimbed line on Tsaranoro Atsimo. The route is located right o...
In mid-September—after I climbed in Tsaranoro Valley in July and August—a local Tsaranoro climber from Madagascar named Rakotomalala Herynony Samuel (a.k.a. Henry) raved to me about an unclimbed wall a few hours away, in the little village of Ambo...
On October 5, at approximately 11:15 a.m., a male climber (26) called Grand Teton dispatch to report that his partner (male, 39) had fallen and broken his leg while leading the first pitch of the Lower Exum Ridge. He stated they needed to be rescu...
On the morning of August 8, a solo climber sustained life-threatening injuries in a fall while attempting the Grand Teton. Steve Markusen (60) was climbing midway between the Friction Pitch and V-Pitch on the Upper Exum Ridge when the accident occ...
On July 27, Joshua Smith and I (both 32) attempted the Grand Teton via the Upper Exum Ridge. While climbing the route, I sustained severe injuries to my left foot when I pulled a loose boulder down. The incident occurred in a section of the climb ...
Late in the day on June 29, a female climber (27) fell and sustained serious injuries while descending the Lake Ledges route on Disappointment Peak. [Editor’s note: Lake Ledges is a 4th class route in midsummer and a moderate snow climb through sp...
On November 9 a male climber (28) was leading New River Gunks, a popular 5.7 traditional route, when he fell approximately 12 to 15 feet. The climber, whose only protection was a single fixed cam (Wild Country Zero 5), suffered a groundfall and la...
On August 30, Jay Sullivan (56) was bitten by a bat (species unknown) while climbing a short trad route called Playing Hookie (5.7). According to the climber, he was unsure whether he had been bitten or if he had jammed his finger awkwardly into t...
At around 2 p.m. on September 5, a report came in from an RMI guide that he had encountered an independent climber (age approximately 35) who had fallen into a crevasse on the Muir Snowfield at around 9,900 feet. The climber was several feet below...