Photo by Will Saunders Golden eagle feathers are sacred to many and hold a place of prominence on a warbonnet. They carry strong medicine and guide the wearer toward courage, strength, and hope. In 2012, I witnessed two golden eagles dance to...
The unclimbed northwest ridge of Dhaulagiri is at least 6km in length and around 4,000m high. Although the average angle is not steep and there are long stretches of straightforward snow slopes, the ridge starts with a steep 500m rock buttress. It...
Photo by Roger Nix From December 21 to 23, John Kelley (USA) made the second overall and first winter ascent of Rokapi (a.k.a. Kap Chuli, 6,468m, 29°50’52.60”N, 81°2’19.20”E) in the Api Himal. Climbing alone, Kelley established base camp on N...
Mariyang (6,528m, 29°41’35.29”N, 82°53’13.89”E) is an impressive but little-known summit in the Kanti Himal, on the Nepal-Tibet border west of Danphe Shail (6,103m). It was added to the official permitted list in 2014 and until 2021 had no known a...
When I met Gunner Madsen in March 2021, he had only been climbing in the gym for 11 months, but was stoked to begin trad climbing. I decided to mentor Gunner with the intent of getting him ready for a route on the Elephants Perch in the Sawtooths ...
On September 8 and 9, Ky Hart and I climbed a new route on an unnamed spire in the Sawtooth Mountains. The north-facing wall of the spire rises above the cirque that drains the north face of Decker Peak, a few miles south of Redfish Lake and the E...
On May 27, Ky Hart, Earl Lunceford, and I climbed a new route on the north face of Williams Peak (10,636’). Davy Crockett’s Squirrel Gun is located climber’s left of the super-classic June Couloir (a.k.a. Kitty Litter Couloir, III 5.7), first clim...
On November 21, Kyle McCrohan, Michael Telstad, and I approached an obscure and improbable line in the Cascades that Kyle had noticed on a condition reports webpage. The approach was fairly long for a route about which we had no further knowledge....
Snoqualmie Pass has been extensively explored by skiers, but there is still plenty of untapped mixed-climbing terrain for those keen on adventure. On January 18, Doug Hutchinson and I skied around to the less-explored wes...
I knew I was going to Mexico and that was about it. I didn’t know where I was going to climb or with whom—if anyone at all. I had two haulbags full of bolting equipment, a fresh divorce, and all the time in the world. I decided to head to La Popa ...
Jacob Cook on the crux pitch (5.13b) of Los Naguales. Photo by Andrew Keating ONLY AN HOUR from the hustle of El Potrero Chico, La Popa has a very different feel. Way out in the desert, there’s nobody home except the wild horses and endless,...
Hamish Fleming traversing over Malaspina (3,042m) at sunset. Photo by Alastair McDowell The concept of linking multiple summits in an “enchainment,” birthed in the European Alps, has become increasingly popular. In 2015, Ueli Steck completed...
In July, a team of three Chamonix-based alpinists—Bruno Dupety (France), Giovanni Rossi (Italy), and I (U.K.)—made the first ascent of Pregar (6,185m GPS, 36°36’35.13”N, 75°1’50.74”E) in the Morkhun Valley. We chose the area due to its relatively ...
On July 30, Rolf Larson and I completed a new route on Phantom Peak, climbing its west ridge. Phantom Peak (8,000+’) is in the northern section of the rugged Picket Range of North Cascades National Park, and requires an involved two-day approach. ...
Twin-summited Fyanlabte (6,065m) from Valley 4 Glacier to the north. The first ascensionists followed the right skyline ridge to the west summit. In August, Rajesh Gadgil, Vineeta Muni, Atin Sathe, Rajendra Shinde, and I explored a branch of ...
The Fisher Towers hold a special place in my heart. Composed of Culter sandstone, mud, and a Moenkopi sandstone caprock, they are beautiful but barbaric, delightful but potentially deadly. Each year from 2002–2015, I spent at least one weeklong tr...
On August 7, Taylor Harmon and I left the St. Lawrence Basin ranger station on the east side of the Winds with the intention of establishing a few new routes in the Wolverine Cirque. This area was first visited in August 1988 by Fred Beckey and Ja...
Ruari Macfarlane during the first wintertime Torres-Tasman traverse. Photo by Gavin Lang The New Zealand summer of 2019–’20 was typified by stable spells of warm, dry weather interspersed between significant storm fronts, the worst of which h...
In a career spanning decades, Doug Scott was recognized worldwide as one of the greatest mountaineers of the postwar era. The statistics speak for themselves: over 40 expeditions to Central Asia, countless first ascents all round the world, the fi...
Mark Powell (left) and Jerry Gallwas on the summit of Totem Pole, Arizona, after the first ascent. Marion “Mark” Lyle Powell, was born in Selma, Califor- nia. His family moved frequently, and when Mark was 15 years old, his parents divorced ...