In June, Rob MacCallum and Doug Bartholemew (both Ireland) made the first recorded ascent of Cerro Cruzjasa (5,039m) by its northwest ridge. The non-glaciated peak is located in the Sisaypampa Valley, which neighbors Nevado Salcantay (6,279m). The...
In the summer of 2011, Mike Ybarra cornered me inside the tourist-laden Yosemite Lodge cafeteria and asked me if I wanted to go open a new route with him in Northern Patagonia. Controversial landowner, conservationist, and businessman Doug Tompkin...
The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy saw three new rock routes of moderate length and difficulty, all climbed in January 2015. The first was established on the slabby, high-altitude south face of Güicán Peak (4,890m) by Angélica Gutierrez and Luis Pardo: t...
At the beginning of November, Josef Ficek, Lukas Kozlik, Filip Martinek, David Michovsky, and I traveled to Rio de Janeiro, and from there we moved north 700km by bus to Pancas in the state of Espirito Santo. Pancas contains a huge array of dark q...
“Does everyone have a good feeling about this?” Scott said, before we descended south 2,000’ into the Valley of Death of the Tokositna Glacier. Scott Adamson, Andy Knight, and I were hoping to climb a new route up the center of the west face of Id...
The shaded corner of grey granite in the center of the Mt. Huntington’s west face rose above me toward the cobalt sky. Stemming my frontpoints against the walls of the dihedral, I could hear my breath in the stillness of the high-pressure air. My ...
After a successful expedition to Kyrgyzstan in 2012, I put the idea to Alek Zholobenko (U.K./Russian) that we should find an unclimbed north face in the Himalaya with a summit not exceeding 7,000m, due to our lack of altitude experience. On top of...
In July, James Gustafson and I returned to the Pika Glacier of Little Switzerland, hoping to complete a traverse of the Dragon’s Spine [The Dragon’s Spine is a long ridgeline that culminates in a 7,490’ summit. It lies three miles down glacier (no...
Lonnie Dupre reached the summit of Denali on January 11, 2015. This was his fourth attempt to become the first person to solo Denali in January. Dupre was flown to base camp on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier on December 18. He climbed ...
On April 28, Nathan Lane and I launched my 16-foot inflatable Achilles boat (the HMS Marmot) in Whittier, Alaska, hoping to make the first ascent of Mt. Muir (7.605’) via Harriman Fjord. I had been studying topographic maps of Mt. Muir and the app...
After a seven-day trek with porters, Tino Villanueva and I arrived at our 5,300m base camp below the west face of Parchamo (6,279m). We had planned on objectives a little further up glacier, but the new snow that fell in mid-October and caused dea...
Not far from the famous peaks of Kangchenjunga and Jannu, the Dudh Pokhari (or Yamatari) Glacier basin offers beautiful peaks for lovers of unspoiled corners of the Himalaya. Boktoh, east of the Lapsang La, has a steep and impressive north face. T...
Over two weeks in July a team of British climbers and film crew journeyed into Sarawak on Borneo to establish a new route in the Melinau Gorge and to document the wildlife we found there. Due to the number of people involved and the associated noi...
Beginning on November 21, Laurent Bibollet, Emmanuel Chance, Yann Delevaux, Paul Dudas, David Lacoste, and I, operating from the yacht Podorange, made the first traverse of the Seven Sisters of Fief, above Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island. The first...
There was a considerable increase in climbers in the Vinson Massif this season, with 207 people attempting Mt. Vinson (4,892m), and 187 of them reaching the summit.In the Heritage Range, staff and visitors at the Adventure Network International (A...
Hua Shan is the West Mountain (Xi Yue) of the Five Great Mountains (Wu Yue, the holy Taoist mountains) in Chinese traditional and religious custom. Cable cars and impressive "via ferrata" pathways lead to the various tops. Hua Shan has five peaks,...
In 2001 a glimpse of the Rassa Glacier during our expedition to the Arganglas Valley (AAJ 2002) indicated great potential for climbs and exploration. Due to security restrictions and a remote location, many mountains and valleys of the East Karako...
Hervé Barmasse (Italy) enchained the four major ridges of the Matterhorn (4,478m), solo, in 17 hours, climbing up the Furggen Direct, down the Hornli, up the Zmutt, and down the Lion. The March enchainment included the first winter solo of Furggen...
Antoine Avenas, Jonathan Isorad, and Hélias Millerioux climbed Le Reactor (1,000m, 26 roped pitches, ED+ 6b M7 WI5+ R) on the northwest face of Ailefroide Occidentale (3,954m) over two days in June. More info at Montagnes magazine.
Max Bonniot and Mathieu Maynadier climbed Eté Blizzard (ED- 4 M6+ A1 70°), with 470m of new terrain, on the left side of the north face of the Meije (3,984m). This was the start of a seven-day enchainment through the Écrins in August. More info at...