Formerly known as the Gabelhorn, Ghandarbha Chuli (a.k.a Gandharva Chuli) lies on the ridge connecting Annapurna III (7,553m) to Macchapuchhare (6,993m), nearer to the latter. Before 2013 there had been no official attempt. The peak could only be ...
Gaurishankar's twin summits were mistakenly considered by early explorers to be the highest in the world. For both Hindus and Buddhists, the peak has deep religious significance. To Hindus, Gauri, the name ascribed to the 7,010m south and lower to...
It is 4 a.m., –20°C, and I am awoken from my stuttered sleeping pattern at base camp (4,605m) with the call for morning tent tea. It is November 16, day 15 of our expedition to climb Chhubohe (pronounced Chub Chay) and other unclimbed peaks in the...
In November, Dave Chapman, Neil Warren, and I visited the remote Chandi Himal along the Nepal-Tibet border. Reaching base camp took five flights (ending at Simikot) and six days of trekking. The journey was certainly an adventure, not least dealin...
I was searching for an area in Nepal that is off the beaten track, not well known by regular tourists, yet still offers unclimbed peaks and faces. After two friends showed me photos of Rolwaling's mountains, I knew this was the place. Santiago Pad...
On October 30 two strong Nepalese mountaineers, Mingma Gyalje and Pema Tshering Sherpa, and I made the second ascent of Bamongo. This is a pointed summit on the long west ridge of Kang Nachugo (6,737m), first climbed in 2008 by David Gottlieb and ...
Silvestre Barrientos, Alfonso Gaston, Ferran Rodríguez, and I (Spain) planned to try Cholatse’s north face in the autumn. From October 2–16 we trekked in the Annapurna region and climbed Chuli Far East for acclimatization. We arrived in the Khumbu...
Officially brought onto the permitted list in 2002, Anidesh Chuli (formerly known as White Wave) had no recorded attempts until April and May. The New Zealand team comprised of Ben Dare, Andrei Dusschoten, Rob Frost, and Scott Scheele had planned ...
In early October, An Chi-young, Kim Young-mi, and I made the first known ascent of Amphu I, which lies between (and east of) the Amphu Lapcha (a.k.a. Amphu Labtse, a popular 5,780m trekkers' pass) and Baruntse North. While the official height (HMG...
During July and August, the three-member Spanish-Basque team of Txemari Andres, Vicente Castro, and Kepa Escribano added five new rock routes in the region of the Torssuqatoq Spires. Andres and Escribano flew to Narsarsuaq, where they met Castro i...
On June 24, John Dickey, Prairie Kearney, Lizzy Scully, and I arrived by small powerboat in Torssuqatoq Fjord. The surrounding scenery remained illusive, socked in, but the rain eased as we shuffled loads up the steep, tufty slope to base camp. Th...
With research indicating there had been no previous ascents of peaks immediately north and south of the Storefjord, seven members of the Eagle Ski Club visited this area, northeast of the commercial airport at Constable Pynt, in April. Hunters and...
From June into August, the Oxford West Greenland Expedition combined a major sailing voyage with adventurous climbing in the Ummannaq area, putting up five big new routes and a number of minor routes, including first ascents of two previously uncl...
In 2007, operating mostly alone and moving around in kayaks, Eliza Kubarska and I climbed a new route, Golden Lunacy, on Maujit Qaqarsuassiaq (AAJ 2008). In July 2009 we returned with a film crew to record documentary footage. During that time we ...
In August, Murat Otepbaev and I climbed a new route up the western wall of Pogrebetsky Peak’s western summit (1,870m, Russian 5B, French 6c+). In all the ascent took four days: a day of approach and reconnaissance, two days to reach the summit, an...
Tom Bell, Max Folkett, Richard “Reg” Measures, Neil Thomas, Hugh Thomas, and I arrived in Bishkek from the U.K. and New Zealand in early August. On 5th we traveled to Maida-Adyr, and the following morning we took a 25-minute helicopter flight to o...
In August, Harry Bloxham, Clay Conlon, Al Docherty, Harry Kingston, Ross Davidson, and I (all from the U.K.) spent three weeks in the Djangart Valley. We had planned to attempt three 5,000m-plus unclimbed summits. Just before traveling, however, w...
I first thought about visiting Sabakh back in the 1990s, a time when my blood started boiling just from the possibility of doing a first ascent. During that time the archives of the Russian Mountaineering Federation were not in electronic format, ...
In Sedona, Zach Harrison and Jack Snyder climbed one new route and free-climbed another. In April 2013, they free climbed the aid route Justice of the Peace (550’, A2, McDonald-Shaffer,) on Courthouse Butte. The route climbs the northwest aspect o...
After two failed attempts, Tom Ruddy and I completed a new route on the east face of Castle Rock Spire in July. The route shares part of the first pitch with the Regular Route (Bettler-Long-Siri-Steck-Wilson, AAJ 1951) before it goes left and asce...