The legendary duo of Fred Beckey and Louis Stur made the first ascent of Rotten Monolith in 1961 via its 150’ west face. In a report for the AAJ, Stur described decomposing stone and wrote that the “conspicuous tower...presents a formidable impres...
On May 4, Brad Ward and I climbed a new route on the north face of the west summit of Mt. Heyburn (10,229’). From the upper Bench Lake, our route ascended a large snowfield before entering the broad couloir directly below the summit. We soloed sno...
Over six days in early October, Lani Chapko and I completed The Red Rock Traverse (RRT). A couple of iterations of Red Rock traverses had been done in the past—including The HURT, an impressive ultra-running crossover by Alex Honnold in 2022—but a...
High above the Las Vegas valley, between Red Rock and Mt. Charleston, lies the La Madre Mountain Wilderness. Its tallest, steepest, and most inspiring cliff is the south face of La Madre (8,154’), a 1,000’ wall of limestone. Few people make the ap...
Travis Heidepriem on pitch ten of Golden Corners. Photo by Samuel Crossley. I have always been impressed with Kevin DeWeese’s eye for new routes on obscure formations in Yosemite Valley. Perhaps no route exemplifies this better than Blue Coll...
During a 28-day frenzy on the sandstone walls of Wadi Rum, in January and February 2023, Alberto Luque and Albert Segura (both from Spain) established seven new multi-pitch climbs from 6b to 8a. It was a particularly meaningful trip for Segura, wh...
In February 2024, shortly after completing a team-free ascent of Riders on the Storm (1,300m, 5.13a) on the Central Tower of Paine, Siebe Vanhee (Belgium) headed to Cochamó Valley and made a free ascent of Entre Cristales y Cóndores. Located up ...
In late March 2023, Lisandro Arelovich, Federico Barberis, and Glauco Muratti (all from Argentina) climbed Cerro Santa Clara (ca 5,400m, 33°10’21”S, 69°41’35”W) via its northwest slopes. The mountain is approximately eight kilometers west-southwes...
Of the hundreds of climbers who enter Little Slide Canyon every year, only a few venture onto the cluster of soaring, granitic spires positioned on its west slope—collectively known as Little Slide Spires—rising above the approach to the famed Inc...
In early October 2023, Brandon Adams and I put up a new route in Little Slide Canyon on a formation called the Thing, which is down-canyon from the Incredible Hulk. This was the first first ascent of which I’ve been a part, so I was stoked. The ro...
In mid-August, Moshe (Mo) Shtilman and I climbed a route up the prominent central buttress of the west face of the Matterhorn (9,826’) in the Wallowa Mountains. In a state characterized mainly by basaltic crags and broad-shouldered volcanoes, the ...
Located 80km by road northeast of Srinigar, the hill station of Sonamarg (2,730m) has long been a popular tourist destination, with picturesque alpine meadows and lakes. To the south and east of Sonamarg lies a collection of attractive alpine peak...
Thoda Peak (5,604m) and the 2023 route of ascent up the west ridge. Photo by Tom Davis-Merry. Brumkhangse (5,635m, several ascents) is one of Sikkim’s Open Alpine Peaks, accessed from the Lachung Valley to the east. It is surrounded by eight ...
In July, massive rainfall and flooding in Himachal Pradesh caused widescale loss of life and destruction of roads, properties, and livelihood. My wife, Vineeta, and I were to visit the Miyar Valley, but at the suggestion of a friend in Manali, we ...
Nya Kangri (6,480m), at the entrance to the Arganglas Valley, has received multiple attempts, including two from me (AAJ 2017 and 2023). In summer 2023, I tried again with Orestis Mitrou- Kintis, approaching the southeast side from Tirit village i...
Our goal, like many teams before us, was the unclimbed southeast pillar of Baintha Brakk (The Ogre) leading to the east summit. François Cazzanelli and Matteo Della Bordella (both from Italy), Symon Welfringer (France), and I arrived in Skardu in...
Antoine Girard, a pioneer in using paragliders to approach and descend from alpine climbs, climbed Diran (7,266m) in early July after flying to the mountain from the hills above Karimabad, about 23km to the north. Girard launched his paraglider a...
In the fall of 2019, I headed out to the limestone area of La Huasteca in search of a new-routing adventure. My dream team consisted of Kai Jacobson (Canadian photographer extraordinaire), Will McEvoy (English rope ninja), and me, the one who came...
In January 2023, Sam Boyce and I bolted and freed a new route on the north side of El Toro over three weeks. La Sombra de Muerte (1,500’, 16 pitches, V 5.12d) climbs the clean face about 100’ to climber’s right of El Sendero Luminoso (15 pitches, ...
I needed a change of scenery. For once, I wanted no glaciers, no heavy backpacks, no wind and cold. I wanted to climb in shorts. Where there was plenty of limestone and, above all, where you could still explore. So, I and three friends, Gio Ongaro...