On October 17 Chris Guyer and I went on an early morning recon run in the northern part of the central Beartooths. About five miles in we discovered a brilliant vein of ice dripping down a prominent north-facing wall. On October 19, Tanner Callend...
The year 1998 marked my first trip to Cooke City, Montana. I had been living in Bozeman for about a year, as a student at Montana State University, and had just discovered the mind-blowing sport of ice climbing. Hyalite Canyon had impassable roads...
On the last weekend in June I met up with Ian Cavanaugh and Peter Hekan to take care of some unfinished business at the Elephant’s Perch. It was my third trip in twice as many years, and we finally managed to free-climb Boomer’s Story (V 5.13-). B...
The growing popularity of ice climbing was a source of increasing frustration before I discovered the potential for mixed first ascents in the San Juan Mountains. In January–February 2015, Grant Kleeves and I dedicated ourselves to trying a new ro...
In October, Ben Collett and I added two new routes to the Silhouette Buttress (ca 13,000’) on the Mt. Evans massif, both located left of last year’s route Silhouette (AAJ 2014). After trying many different options to approach this buttress once t...
In October, Mike Brumbaugh and Rob Pizem climbed a possible new route/variation on the Great White Wall, located on the eastern side of the Long Draw: Any Color You Like As Long As It’s Black (12 pitches, 5.11+ PG).The Great White Wall has a numbe...
This mission started in April when Josh Wharton invited me to the Black Canyon’s South Chasm View Wall to have a look at freeing an old, obscure aid route called Harpua (V 5.11 A1, Gunther-Schoepflin, 1994). The line starts just right of the infam...
After staring at the Lost Brother formation for weeks on end while soloing routes on El Capitan, I finally ventured over in May to explore. Lost Brother hadn’t seen a new route in a decade; however, I quickly found a line following a stark white f...
After staring at the obscure shady buttress on the left side of the Glacier Point Apron for three years while new-routing on Liberty Cap, Steve Bosque and I decided to hike up in Summer 2013 and check out the options for a new route.We chose a dir...
Last spring a team of jokesters with positive attitudes and some big-wall experience ganged up in Camp 4 for early morning libations. Richie Copeland was on the scene with his newly spray-painted chrome helmet and haul bag. A passerby couldn’t hel...
Climbing around Yosemite Valley has been tremendously rewarding over the past few years, as obscure walls have delivered excellent new routes and solitary experiences. In the spring, Steve Bosque, Josh Mucci, and I established another of these rou...
Cheyne Lempe and Ethan Pringle established the Constant Gardener (V 5.11+ R A3) on the north face of Higher Cathedral Rock, from September 12–13. The approximately 1,000’ climb ascends 600’ of new terrain before joining the Chouinard-Kamps-Pratt R...
From June 4–5, Cheyne Lempe and Everett Phillips completed a new route up Sentinel Rock: Short Haul Bait (V 5.8 A2+). The route climbs seams, chimneys, and corners on the left edge of Sentinel’s sheer northeast face for approximately 1,000’. Much ...
Over the summer, Jake Whittaker and I put up a new free route approximately 100 yards left of the Widow’s Tears amphitheater. We called the climb the Lurch (7 pitches, 5.12c/d), after one of the last moves on the route—by far the crux.The Lurch fo...
Myles Moser and I began climbing a new route on Bastille Buttress in October. Located on the south side of Lone Pine Peak, the Bastille is a whale of granite soaring about 2,000’ and with only two established routes: the Beckey Route (Beckey-Brown...
As full-time desk jockeys, Daniel Jeffcoach and I did not have an extra day for an approach that gains 4,000’ over seven miles. We did not want to carry much water either. We thought our new route on the Sphinx (9,146’) would go quickly and be no ...
My infatuation with the Juggernaut began years ago. Dave Nettle and I were high on the Incredible Hulk, waiting out a summer thundershower. As the rain eased and the clouds lifted, I noticed the profile of the Juggernaut to the west. I later asked...
On August 10, Greg Horvath and I established a new route on the east pillar of Mt. Barnard (13,680’), which is ca 3 miles north of the Mt. Whitney massif. I first eyed the route a year earlier during an ascent of the east pillar on which Mike Maid...
Over a weekend in mid-June, Caitlin Taylor and I established a new route and first free ascent on the remote Flatiron Butte (ca 11,600’), a seldom-visited wall somewhat lost to history. In recent years the area has come to be known as Shangri La. ...
In local Paiute legend, a young boy named Hai’nanu disrespected Tuvaimawiye’e (what we now call Convict Lake) and challenged its power. The lake swelled up and chased Hai’nanu high into the mountains. After climbing to the top of the highest peaks...