Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mt. Chamberlain Area, Crabtree Crags, New Routes California, High Sierra

On September 9, Scott Sinner and I hiked 12 miles from Whitney Portal to the base of Mt. Chamberlain. Going from sea level to over 13,000’ with a 60lb pack knocked me down a peg, and I slept for 14 hours. We camped on the eastern shore of the uppe...

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| Published 2014 | Author Dustin Portzline


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Tim Toula Spire, A Better Way To Die Arizona, Sedona

Jake Dayley and I made the first ascent of a spire in Mormon Canyon, on the north side of the drainage, directly across from Earth Angel. The route follows a crack system on the west face before traversing to the southwest aspect of the summit blo...

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| Published 2014 | Author Jake Tipton


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Jidege Shan Exploration China, Yunnan

I had always felt a fascination for northwest Yunnan, the region at the eastern end of the Himalaya where three great rivers flow close by and parallel to each other. The American climber Mike Dobie, who lives in China, suggested I check out...

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| Published 2015 | Author Anindya Mukherjee


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mooses Tooth, East Face, Illusions of the Raven Alaska, Central Alaska Range

From May 2–7, Alik Berg (Canada) and I established a new route on the east face of the Mooses Tooth (10,335’). Our route starts on the ramps of Arctic Rage (Gilmore-Mahoney, AAJ 2005) and then takes a steep and direct line up the massive upper hea...

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| Published 2015 | Author Skiy DeTray


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chanchakhi, North Face, First Winter Ascent Russia, Caucasus

At the end of January 2014 we realized our aim of making a new route and the first winter ascent of the north face of Chanchakhi (4,462m). Our team included four Ukrainian climbers: Mikhaylo Mironchak, Volodymyr Roshko, Dmytro Venslavovsky, and me...

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| Published 2014 | Author Mykola Shymko


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Sendero Luminoso Two Years of Effort to Free Mt. Hooker's Hardest Route

"Open up, I’m coming in!” I squeeze under the rain fly of the portaledge next to Nik Berry and Mason Earle. The rain is turning to sleet and the thunder’s getting closer. The three of us are hunkered down, 800 feet up the north face of Mt. Hooker ...

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| Published 2014 | Author David Allfrey


Feature Article AAJ
Soul Garden A Gift From Sean Leary

“Right now your grief is this giant gaping hole with sharp edges, but as you move forward in life the edges soften and other beautiful things start to grow around it…flowers and trees of experiences. The hole never goes away, but it becomes gentle...

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| Published 2014 | Author Jimmy Haden


Feature Article AAJ
Stairway to Heaven Climbing the Dreamy Ice Drips on Mt. Johnson’s Mythical North Face

Ryan: “A Wild Ride to the Summit of Mount Johnson” reads the American Alpine Journal. Beneath the headline, a meaty account of Jack Tackle and Doug Chabot’s first ascent of the Elevator Shaft in 1995.I’m fresh off my first real alpine climb, Halle...

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| Published 2014 | Author Ryan Jennings & Kevin Cooper


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Lurking Tower, southeast buttress, New Dog Old Tricks Canada, Baffin Island, Sam Ford Fjord

In May, Jonas Haag and I made the first ascent of Lurking Tower over 13 days by the route New Dog, Old Tricks (3,000’, VI 5.11 C3+). This was my sixth trip to Baffin Island and my partner’s first big wall—ever.I first went to Baffin 17 years ago....

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| Published 2014 | Author Mike Libecki


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Acropole des Draveurs, Sens Unique, first winter ascent Canada, Québec

Sens Unique (200m, 5.10+, Bérubé-Frick, 1974 ) is a particularly remote route that follows an imposing rock pillar up Acropole des Draveurs. The route is in the Charlevoix region and is well known as an ice-climbing destination because of the mega...

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| Published 2015 | Author Louis Rousseau


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mt. Stephen, Northeast Face, The Accomplice Canada, Canadian Rockies

Over three days in August, Jon Simms and I established a new route on the northeast face of Mt. Stephen (10,495’) in Yoho National Park. Our goal was the massive, unclimbed, and eye-catching wall known locally as the “Great Wall of China” or “Apoc...

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| Published 2014 | Author Chris Brazeau


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mt. Lawrence Grassi, Canmore Wall, New Winter Routes Canada, Canadian Rockies

This past winter a few friends and I did something unusual. Rather than further support the petro-state of Alberta by driving the six-hour round-trip to the Ice Fields Parkway or four hours of off-roading into the Ghost, we approached the mountain...

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| Published 2014 | Author Ian Welsted


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Capricorn Peak, northeast face, new routes Canada, Canadian Rockies

In mid-November I had some great adventures completing a couple of big, new mixed routes with strong partners on the lower northeast face of Capricorn Peak. This mountain is just north of and behind Mt. Patterson along the Icefields Parkway. The r...

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| Published 2014 | Author Jay Mills


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Storm Creek Headwall, New Routes Canada, Canadian Rockies

On November 8, Jon Walsh and Marc-André Leclerc (both Canada) completed the first ascent of a traditionally protected mixed route on the Storm Creek Headwall: the Plum (120m, WI6 M7). Storm Creek Headwall is similar to the Stanley Headwall, locate...

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| Published 2014 | Author Jon Walsh


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Hall Peak, east face, new routes Canada, Purcells, Leaning Towers Group

In August, Winter Ramos and I ventured into the Leaning Towers, a remote and rarely visited bleb of granite just south of the world-famous Bugaboos. After two friends, Ryan Leary and Evan Reimondo, put up a new route on the east face of Hall Peak ...

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| Published 2014 | Author Matthew Morriss


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Hall Peak, east face, free variation Canada, Purcells, Leaning Towers Group

In summer 2014, Katie Bono, Hannah Preston, and I went to explore the Leaning Towers. Following logging roads outside of Kimberly, BC, we set off on our adventure. Burdened with 80lb packs, we traveled along a horse trail for 10km. This was the ea...

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| Published 2014 | Author Michelle Kadatz


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Sharkshead Tower, east face Canada, Purcell Mountains, Leaning Tower Group

On August 6, Joanne Mauthner, Jeffrey Bury, and I climbed a new route on the east face of Sharkshead Tower in the Leaning Tower Group. We climbed glacial ice to gain the rock, and from there it was six 30m pitches to the north summit. The hardest ...

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| Published 2014 | Author Kirk Mauthner


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Wide Awake Tower, Electric Funeral Canada, Purcell Mountains, Bugaboos

In August, Jon Walsh and Michelle Kadatz flew into East Creek Basin and climbed a new route on Wide Awake Tower. The tower is located in the seldom-visited Pigeon Feathers group, and the new, nine-pitch route Electric Funeral (300m, 5.11+) mostly ...

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| Published 2014 | Author From information by Jon Walsh


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North Howser Tower, west face, Dodging Deanna Canada, Purcell Mountains, Bugaboos

On July 28, Tony McLane and Nathan McDonald climbed a new route on North Howser Tower’s west face: Dodging Deanna (V 5.10). The pair started up the Shooting Gallery and then crossed Seventh Rifle (Jones-Rowell-Qamar, 1971) to gain new ground. The ...

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| Published 2014


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Yak Peak, South Face, CardiYak Rhythm Canada, British Columbia

Anyone who has driven the Coquihalla Highway (#5), which runs beneath the south face of Yak Peak, just north of Hope, British Columbia, may know of its literary flare. The engineer of the complex series of bridges and tunnels through Coquihalla Ca...

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| Published 2014 | Author Lyle Knight