IN THE SUMMER of 2010, after a ski descent from Shkhara in the Georgian Caucasus, Peter Schön traveled to the Tien Shan with Anders Ödman, hoping to make a ski descent of the north face of Pik Pobeda (7,439m). That objective proved too avalanche p...
Peter Schön and Andreas Riesner made the first ski descent of Lyap Nazar (5,990m) in August 2009. This peak, recently renamed Afzalsho Olimov by local authorities and situated at 38°21'58.74"N, 72°17'41.97"E, lies more or less immediately south-so...
LATE IN THE climbing season of 2017, Harry McGhie and I (both U.K.) headed to the east side of the Illampu massif, which appeared to have plenty of potential for new routes. We made base camp on a flattish boulder about 400m from the base of Peak ...
At the end of October, Jark Barker and Emil Tjonneland, two spritely 18-year-olds from Maryland, and I left Soray Pampa, along the popular Salcantay trek to Machu Picchu, with a couple of horses carrying our packs, aiming for Nevado Humantay South...
Oriol Baró and Marc Toralles (Spain) completed what’s likely the second ascent and first alpine-style ascent of the northeast ridge of Huantsán (6,395m). The two climbed the 1,700-meter route from June 4–8, finding mostly snow and ice, with sectio...
On June 3, Andres Putallaz (Argentina) and I left Urubamba at noon and traveled up the Chicón Valley. Climbing up the east side of the valley brought us to the glacier below the south peak of Nevado Chicón (5,526m), where we set a bivouac at 7 p.m...
Despite being accompanied to the Ruth Gorge by the all-star team of Alex Honnold and Renan Ozturk, conditions and motivations didn’t align for a big adventure. Instead, we made two minor first ascents on the sunny side of the gorge. On June 17, Al...
THERE WAS STILL only one route up the center of Jebel Misht’s highest face by March 2001 when Steve Sustad and I arrived in Oman, hoping to climb the very steep wall to the right of the original French route (1979). A 600-meter wall laden with ove...
I WAS RETURNING from a tough winter expedition in Nepal. It had been badly planned and badly executed, and all I had to show for it was some very cold bones. As I checked in at the Kathmandu airport, I asked for a window seat on the right side of ...
From June 5 to 25, a group of six young climbers of the Fédération Française de la Montagne et de l’Escalade (FFME) opened two new routes in the Tsaranoro range. Our team from the “Roc Aventure Programme,” with an average age of 20, consisted of M...
INTRODUCTIONBy Chris KalmanIN THE SPRING OF 2017, I was looking for something big, remote, and wild to climb in the upcoming summer, but I didn’t have the time or money for a place like the Ruth, Baffin, or Karakoram. I knew that a 50-pitch rock r...
Chiling I (left) and II from the Lalung Glacier to the northeast. The east ridge of Chiling I, climbed in 2017, is marked, as is the 2016 Spanish route on the east ridge of Chiling II. Four Americans attempted a similar l...
LIFE IN EL CHALTEN, a small town in Southern Patagonia, revolves around the weather forecast. Waiting for elusive weather windows is an exciting and sometimes frustrating way to live. When I first came to climb in El Chaltén, ten years ago, a frie...
A FIERCE GUST of wind blew across the summit ridge of Mt. Huntington. The snow hissing across the tent’s thin fabric sounded like the moan of a haunting wraith. The chill penetrated beyond my physical core, intensifying the dark emotions that had ...
On July 2, at 1:15 p.m., the Coconino County Sheriff's Office received a report of a climbing accident at Oak Creek Canyon Overlook. The report indicated that a climber had taken a 15- to 20-foot fall while on rappel.Once responders reached the pa...
EVEN AS A CHILD, knowing very little about the world, I remember conjuring images of India. These mental snapshots were total Indiana Jones fantasies: chaotic scenes filled with noisy, swirling crowds of people. Decades later, as the time for my f...
In 2010, I attempted a new route on the southeast face of the incredible Jebel Misht. During the ascent, I was hit by rockfall, leaving me with debilitating injuries to my face and foot. My climbing partner, Hamza Zidoum, and I began a self-rescue...
On July 22 a party reached the summit of Little Sister via the Grassi Route (northeast buttress) late in the day and chose to descend the way they’d come up because they were familiar with the terrain. During their descent, the climbers set up a r...
There were four separate rescues of uninjured but stranded groups of climbers on the Rundle Traverse in the summer of 2017. This 18-kilometer (11-mile) traverse follows a ridge across the many summits of Mt. Rundle. The terrain is mostly scramblin...
On August 23, two climbers were attempting the southeast ridge of Mt. St. Bride, near Lake Louise. To gain the base of the route, climbers must do a 45-meter overhanging rappel. The first climber successfully rappelled and moved off to the side to...