On June 23, as Waldo Etherington, Leo Houlding, and I flew into Pangnirtung (Pangniqtuuq), pure excitement surged as we gazed upon the magnificent valley we would be exploring for the next month and a half, contrasted by trepidation as we observed...
In early June, Will Kovacic and Jeremy Roulette climbed a route up the east side of Mt. Parkes (ca 2,100m), a summit on the long Crossover Ridge that runs north from Slesse Mountain. The two had been aiming to climb the North Rib of Slesse, but sn...
As the moon rose from behind a jagged ridgeline, the world exploded beyond the fading beam of my headlamp. I struggled to comprehend the scale of the mountains in front of me. From down on the Tiedemann Glacier, the monolith of Mt. Waddington rose...
“What about traversing the front side of North Mountain?” Nate Vince asked me on the porch of the Hueco Mountain Hut. With a history of world-class bouldering, Hueco Tanks does not attract many roped climbers, let alone multi-pitch trad climbers. ...
Across Canyon Creek from Camp Bird Road, above Ouray, is a forbidding wall, up to 425m high, that locals affectionately call the Dark Side. It never sees the light. Legends such as Steve House, Hayden Kennedy, Jeff Lowe, and Charlie Fowler all lef...
Given that I’d never stepped foot into Glacier Gorge, you might say my plan to rope-solo a new line up the 1,500’ northeast face of Chiefs Head (13,577’) was ambitious. Maybe, but my buddy Greg Davis, who’d established some classics on that alpine...
“It’ll be, like, 5.10 for you guys! You’ll be able to pull it off in a weekend trip, and, man, it’ll be great climbing. Totally worthwhile!” These were the words of encouragement from Estes Park legend Harry Kent when I first approached him about...
In early May, Zach Lentsch and I set our sights on a massive and unclimbed sandstone cliff near the town of Shell, just west of the Bighorn Mountains. Standing roughly 700' tall, Devils Leap is certainly the largest sandstone cliff in Wyoming, and...
Perhaps the most striking long line in the Tetons is the 1,000m north ridge of Mt. Owen (12,928’), leading into the north ridge of the Grand Teton. The only routes that compare would be climbs on the south buttress of Mt. Moran continuing to its s...
In early November, Blake Berghoff, Aidan Whitelaw, and I attempted to repeat the route Quantum Entanglement (2,100’, WI5 M4, Hoiness-Kisner-Willis, 2020) on Silver Run Peak’s (12,542’) northwest aspect. We found less ice than reported on the first...
In early August, Matt Cornell, Jackson Marvell, Austin Schmitz, and I set off for a two-week base camp–style trip up East Rosebud Canyon to complete a line on Bear’s Face that Jackson, Matt, and Justin Willis had started in 2020. The road to East ...
While approaching the classic California Ice route in East Rosebud Canyon in late November, I noticed ice pouring down the upper left shoulder of the mythical Bear’s Face. In an area known for either very compact or very loose rock, and a scarcity...
In late November 2017, Brent Anderson and I made our first trip into Avalanche Basin in Glacier National Park to climb the ice routes formed by runoff below the Sperry Glacier. We left completely enamored by the beauty and abundance of ice in the ...
To those who look upon it from the east, Aiguille Extra (14,048’), a peak in the Whitney Massif, cries out to be climbed. At the base of the needle is an excellent bivy, cradled in an isolated drainage between Wotans Throne (ca 12,730’) and Pinnac...
Standing beneath Hairline (12 pitches, IV 5.10d C2+) for the first time in 2018, looking up at Mt. Whitney’s imposing east face, I could hardly imagine the vision and audacity it had taken Bruce Bindner and Alex Schmauss to attempt this route back...
As a climber just beginning to explore the Sierra, the possibility of finding unclimbed terrain seemed unlikely. But when I started working as a fire and fuels assessment tech for the U.S. Geological Survey in Sequoia and KingsNational Parks (SE...
On December 17, Christian Black, Chris Koppl, Josef Maier, and I completed a project that I had originally envisioned in 2016. After multiple trips over several years, including a three-pitch false start that dead-ended at unclimbable terrain, we ...
Frozen lakes weren’t part of my childhood in Rhode Island, so I was a little nervous when Jack Cramer and I skied out onto Convict Lake at dawn. The ice came alive with sound: booms, cracks, and all sorts of sci-fi noises. Panicking, I started pol...
The Sierra Nevada is a range where pristine golden granite dominates the landscape. Mt. Morrison, however, doesn’t care about fitting in with the masses. Known as the “Eiger of the Sierra,” the 12,240’ peak’s notoriously chossy northeast face, mad...
From September 13 to 15, Greg Rickenbacker and I finished a new route up the southeast face of the Elephant’s Perch. I grew up in the nearby town of Stanley, so establishing a route on the formation was a longtime dream come true. I first attempt...