On September 1, Rolf Larson and I pioneered a nine-pitch, 1,000+’ line on the turreted massif of Mt. Cleator (7,625’), the north side of which offers many ribs and ridges that are probably unclimbed. After a pleasant trail tramp past Buck Mountain...
Fifty-eight years after the first ascent by Art Gran and Yvon Chouinard (AAJ 1962), two parties met below the ominous northwest face of East Temple Peak to vie for its first free ascent, resulting in a pair of routes on the cusp of 5.12. Their p...
Mark Robson and I have made several trips to the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and were keen to visit the Stikine Icecap, which straddles the USA-Canada border farther north. Despite the area’s notorious reputation for poor weather, we dre...
At 8,005', Bashful Peak is not only the tallest peak in Chugach State Park, it is the park's only peak over 8,000'. It has long been sought as a ski descent, and has seen attempts by Chugach hardmen such as Zach Schlosar, Aaron Thrasher, Mike Burm...
Peak 8,010’ is located on the eastern shore of the Copper River, upstream of the Bremner River and within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It's notable for the outstanding prominence of its western flank, going from the summit at 8,010' to the ...
In what is becoming an annual tradition, Michael Gardner and I showed up in Alaska in the final hours of a massive high-pressure system. This year we chose to ignore the ominous forecast and flew into the west fork of the Ruth Glacier, with no r...
In July, Giselle Field, Dave Spies, Joey Jarrell, and I used an AAC Live Your Dream Grant to partially support a nine-day expedition to the Juneau Icefield. On July 14, after two days in Juneau, we were flown to the west side of the Taku Range b...
Our table football skills had started to improve when we finally heard "weather is good for flying, get ready." It was mid-March, and Miha Zupin and I enjoyed the beautiful views flying into the Alaska Range, passing Denali, the Kichatna Spires, a...
“We’d be climbing 90˚ water ice right now if it were only winter,” I said to a very moist Casey Elliot as he mantled onto moss on a tiered ledge system. We were halfway up the northwest face of East Temple Peak, in the Deep Lake area of the Wind...
With no real objectives other than finding unscripted adventure in the mountains, Matt Threlfall and I set off for the Winds in early August. We decided to start in the Deep Lake area and do some warm-ups, but upon arrival we were immediately draw...
In July, Oliver Deshler and I once again returned to our old haunts of the Clear Creek region in the northern Winds. Two years prior, we had reconned the east-southeast face of Osborn Mountain (11,811’), several hundred feet right (east) of Forl...
In August, Jon Jugenheimer, Jared Leader, Bryan Miller, Geoff Ris, and I headed into the Wolverine Cirque in the northeastern Winds. Over the course of 10 days we established a few new routes, bailed off of a few ground up attempts and started f...
Some 15 miles of rolling forest and open grassy meadows lead from Big Sandy Opening to the boulder-strewn base of Mt. Hooker in the Wind River mountains. In August 2018, Nick Mestre and I met up to explore some crack systems on the left side of...
In July, two climbers sailed from Washington state to the Toba Inlet, about 100 miles northwest of Vancouver. They made their way to the head of the Tahumming River and hiked a little less than four miles of logging roads before reaching a sign th...
Looking south from Pik Wolfi. (1) Northwest face of Pik Elo. (2) Northeast flank of Gora Riri. (A) Peak of about 5,450m. (B) Pik Anto (southeast flank, climbed in 2019, not visible). Marc Andri Riedi In late June we flew from Switzerland ...
The west face of Abi in the northwest Siguniang Range. (Blue) Chen-Hua-Tong Route (2019). (Red) Shivering (Yan-Zhao, 2010). Photo supplied by Xia Zhongming Until 2019 there was only one route on the west face of Abi (5,694m): Shivering (5....
Abi from the southeast. (1) West face and southwest ridge (Shivering, 5.7 M3 AI2, Li-Yan-Zhao, 2010). (2) Breakthrough (Wang-Xiang, 2019). (3) Graduation Exam (Liu, 2014). On the original ascent of Abi, in 2004, French climbers continued up this...
Delusion Dweller (500m, 13-14 pitches, 5.10d/5.11a) on Bill's Dome. Photo by David Lussier One hundred years ago, a trapper named Bill Drinnan roamed the headwaters of Hoder Creek, in the southwest corner of what’s now Valhalla Provincial Par...
Peak 620m (65°55'5.53"N, 6°40'57.51"W) lies on the north coast of Qianarteq Island, opposite the abandoned American military base at Ikateq (Bluie East Two Airfield, built during World War II). I first caught sight of it while working in this area...