In mid-July I traveled to the Karavshin region with Peter Fasoldt. Our goal was the first alpine-style enchainment of the three major peaks dividing the Ak-su and Kara-su river valleys: Peak 4,810m, Peak 1,000 Years of Russian Christia...
On January 23 the highest unclimbed mountain in Antarctica, Mt. Elizabeth (4,480m) in the Queen Alexandra Range, was the scene of a fatal air crash. The Twin Otter, owned by Kenn Borek Air of Canada and carrying three Canadian crew, crashed int...
The experienced British and ALE Guide David Hamilton led Paul Nicholson and Russians Vyacheslav Adrov, Olga Rumyantseva, and Vitaly Simanovich to the summit of Mt. Sidley in January, making the sixth known ascent of Antarctica’s highest volcano.
In the northeastern section of Livingston Island, a Chilean team of Gabriel Becker, Nicolas Danyau, and Gonzalo Lllul, traveling aboard the Ocean Nova, made the first known ascent of Sharp Peak via its east face. The team reached the summit in 1...
Hannah Baker, Derek Buckle, Jamie Goodhart, Mike Pinney, and I (all U.K.), Stefan Jachmich (Germany), and Bjorn Riis-Johannessen (Norway) traveled on the Spirit of Sydney to an unclimbed range north of Beaschochea Bay. Favorable ice conditio...
Three expeditions all targeted the same area of unclimbed mountains on the peninsula this season. Just south of the Waddington Bay–Argentine Islands region, Beascochea Bay is surrounded by peaks on three sides, those on the northern side being ...
If there was one thing that defined and controlled this trip—like a psychotic maestro conducting a death-metal- rock-and-roll orchestra—it was the unrelenting wind: fierce, biting, destroying, hypothermic- hammering, schedule-delaying, kat...
On January 20, 2013, Leo Houlding, Alastair Lee, Jason Pickles, Chris Rabone (all U.K.) and Sean Leary (USA) completed the first ascent of the huge northeast ridge of Ulvetanna, and fifth ascent of the mountain. The nature of the ridge, the ant...
Mt. Vinson (4,892m) continues to attract large numbers. One hundred and seventy individual climbers reached the summit during the 2012-13 season (a total of 184 successful ascents). Fourteen guides made two or more ascents. Only four clients...
Few climbing expeditions visited the Wakhan Corridor during the summer, and all were affected by hostilities. Surprisingly, the hostilities in question were not those in Afghanistan, but in Tajikistan, through which most climbers must enter and...
With Mary-Rose Fowlie (who hadn’t climbed for 20 years) and my brother Bill (who’d never climbed) both coming along as base camp support, two of us planned to visit the upper Qala Panja Glacier and attempt Rohazon Zom (6,535m) from the north...
James and Edward Bingham, Quentin Brooksbank, and Mark Wynne (UK) attempted the first winter ascent of Mir Samir, a mountain in the remote upper section of the Panjshir Valley, made famous by Eric Newby in his best seller A Short Walk in the...
In late February and March, John Trousdale, Elliott Woods, and I traveled to Bamyan to check out the potential for backcountry skiing, snowboarding, and ice climbing. I was also hoping to kite-ski on some frozen lakes in the region. I had be...
In August, Panos Athanasiadis, Nikos Lazanas, George Voutiropoulos, and I made a number of first ascents in the Raru Valley. In the past this has been erroneously referred to as Reru. However, everywhere the name of the village is written as...
South Zanskar is an exciting mountain area with many virgin peaks. In 2012 we did our third expedition to explore valleys in these mountains and identify unclimbed peaks. Temasa Nala is the next valley north of the Raru, and has been use...
After reading a report by Kimikazu Sakamoto on the exploration of Lenak and Giabul valleys [AAJ 2012], Karin Kosaka, Yusuke Morimoto, Yuki Sawada, and I as leader, all from Kyoto University Alpine Club, planned to attempt virgin peak L15 (6,...
In August, with five other members of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, I visited the Namka Tokpo valley of Zanskar, not that far from the frontier with Pakistan. The attraction wasn’t the potential for border conflicts, for which Scots are ...
Harish Kapadia, former editor of the Himalayan Journal, had made four trips to Sikkim before May 2012. One prize had escaped him: a visit to the most northerly valley in the state, adjacent to the Tibet border, and known as the Plateau. Afte...
Andrey Muryshev, who attempted the difficult northwest ridge of Shiva in 2010, was one of very few people to have seen in detail the new route Paul Ramsden and I hoped to try, and had been extremely helpful with information and photographs. In...
Activity at the newly developed sandstone trad climbing area close to the town of Liming has increased: There are now close to 200 routes, both single and multi-pitch, from 5.6 to 5.13. However, the area still holds vast potential; over seven ...