September 12 started out on the wrong foot for a pair of experienced climbers and outdoor recreationalists. They had not climbed on this part of Mt. Temple and were “off route” nearly as soon as they shut the car door at 3 a.m. Unfamiliar with th...
A 32-year-old male and a 25-year-old female attempted Mt. Edith Cavell via the third-class west ridge during the weekend of September 19 and 20. It is not known if they reached the summit, but there is evidence they got high on the ridge. During t...
On August 16, an experienced climber fell 250 meters to his death while moving unroped on the northwest ridge of Mt. Sir Donald. Reports suggested the 25-year-old man fell after pulling off a large block or boulder. Parks Canada was notified about...
Seven mountaineering club members had planned a climb of Chimai Mountain (2,306 meters), northwest of Squamish, in July. Although the mountain is glaciated, online research had suggested there was a route to the top that did not involve glacier tr...
On February 8, I took a long leader fall on the third pitch of Broken Hearts, a long ice route in the South Fork Valley. I was climbing in a group of three ahead of five friends doing the same route in two rope teams. At around 11 a.m., I was near...
On August 2, Junghyun “Jiji” Nam fell at the base of the Feather Buttress route (5.10+) on the north side of War Bonnet Peak, above the Cirque of the Towers. Nam and her climbing partner were gearing up to start the climb when she slipped and tumb...
Four climbers summited Pingora Peak in the Cirque of the Towers on September 5 and started down the south buttress. They chose to rappel a line to the left of the main south buttress route, using two ropes tied together. Two of them had used this ...
At approximately 6:45 p.m. on September 10, the SAR coordinator on duty was connected with a caller who said he and his partner were at the “Boulder Problem in the Sky,” near the top of the Exum Ridge and the summit of the Grand Teton. The partner...
After descending from Mt. Owen via rappels in the Koven Couloir, a two-person climbing party (Kia M., Ryan S.) came upon a distressed climber (Josh A.) in the flats of Teton Glacier at about 9:20 p.m. on August 8. Josh explained that his partner, ...
On July 4, a party of two male climbers climbed the South Teton from their camp in the Meadows of Garnet Canyon. They were using ice axes and crampons and wearing helmets. During the late afternoon and early evening, several thunderstorms passed o...
In the afternoon of June 21, a party of four was top-roping Gill’s Nose, a 5.11 route at Gill’s Buttress. The top-rope had been set up by Person 2. Three of the climbers had climbed on the route, falling and lowering safely without any issues. Cli...
It was November 21, and our day started by warming up on Riding the Crest of the Wave (5.9 trad) at Idol Point. We then walked to Party Buttress to attempt Harbinger Scarab (5.12c), a 100-foot, mostly bolted route that requires a couple of traditi...
On October 4, I (Mike Paugh, 38) and Sarah Smith were searching for areas at Cooper’s Rock to bring clients with my new guide service, Ascension Climbing Guides. We were also climbing routes in the area. At about 2 p.m., I racked up to attempt Upc...
In the afternoon of June 26, Matthew Bunker (28) was descending on skis when he fell on steep terrain around 10,400 feet, just below Thumb Rock, the high camp for the Liberty Ridge route. His partner reported Bunker missing at about 3 p.m. Climbin...
On July 29, a 23-year-old woman was struck by rockfall near the top of the north ridge of Mt. Stuart and took a long fall as a result. She was seriously injured, with a head injury and fractured arm and leg. A Naval air rescue team tried to reach ...
On March 21, with COVID-19 shutdowns and social-distancing guidelines in place, my housemate, Will, and I decided to avoid crowded Mt. Saint Helens and instead go search for unclimbed boulders near the established Morpheus area, south of Highway 2...
On September 5, Jake Robinson (26) and a partner were traversing below a rock wall near the head of the Suiattle Glacier on Kololo Peaks, at 8,000 feet in elevation. The climbers were unroped, and Jake suddenly plunged into a hidden hole and disap...
Casey Shaw in the elevator-shaft chimney of Captains Courageous during the 1999 first ascent of the longest ice climb in eastern North America, gaining over 2,000 feet in all. Photo by Joe Terravecchia “Feel free to get involved, Jimmy,” says...
On September 5, two experienced climbers (female, 32, and male, 36) were attempting to climb the Northeast Buttress of Mt. Goode. A little after 10 a.m., as they were trying to cross from the Goode Glacier onto the start of the rock route, a large...
On August 14, two climbers were attempting to reach the west ridge of Forbidden Peak via the Cat Scratch Gullies. The two had just switched over to rock shoes and started to travel up a gully unroped when one climber, a 24-year-old male, fell abou...