Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Runnel Vision: An 800-meter sport climb on Pedra Baiana Brazil, Minas Gerais

Pedra Baiana in the morning light. The 2019 route Runnel Vision (800m, 8a A0) climbs the prominent left-to-right dike on the shaded wall, eventually finishing up a prominent runnel in the central southeast face. The 2016 route Sangre Latina asce...

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| Published 2019 | Author Mike “Twid” Turner


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chon-turasu, North Face Kyrgyzstan, Western Kokshaal-too

Max Ten on the east ridge of Chon-turasu, close to where he and Kirill Belotserkovskiy reached the ridge after climbing the north face. Photo by Kirill Belotserkovskiy Together with Zakir Abduraimov, Kolya Ovchinnikov, Grisha Schukin, and...

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| Published 2019 | Author Kirill Belotserkovskiy


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Kara-su Valley, Various Routes Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai, Karavshin

Silver and Green walls from the east. (1) East Ridge (2014) to Silver Wall South Summit (3,850m). (2) Ternerev Route on southeast face of Silver Wall Main Summit (2011). (Not shown) Rocket Donkey (2019). (3) Opposite to Asan (2006). (4) Tyrolean...

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| Published 2019 | Author Gebhard Bendler


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Surmetash Valley, Archakanysh Gorge, Sauk Dzhaylyau Central, Northeast Face Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai

Leaving the bivouac on September 7, 2019, at 4,480m on the northeast face of Sauk Dzhaylyau Central. Supplied by Anna Piunova The development of the Sauk Dzhaylyau Cirque began in 1977 with a visit by climbers from Leningrad. Expeditions ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anna Piunova


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Kotina, Operation KIK Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai, Karavshin, Kara-su Valley

Kotina seen from the southwest. (1a) Russian Direct on Dreaming Spires (2018, to summit). (1b) Dreaming Spires (2012, not to summit). (2) An Inconvenient Truth (2012). (3) Awesome Fucking Dihedral (2012). (4) Krukonogi (2019). (5) Czarna Wolga (...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anna Piunova


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Kotina, West Face, Krasnoyarsk Route Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai, Karavshin, Kara-su Valley

Kotina seen from the southwest. (1a) Russian Direct on Dreaming Spires (2018, to summit). (1b) Dreaming Spires (2012, not to summit). (2) An Inconvenient Truth (2012). (3) Awesome Fucking Dihedral (2012). (4) Krukonogi (2019). (5) Czarna Wolga (...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anna Piunova


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Minteke Valley: Achu, South Face, and Other Ascents Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai

Pik Minteke (5,482m). The Swiss route of ascent followed the right skyline—the northwest ridge. Photo by Silvan Schüpbach A group of seven Swiss female alpinists (Anne Flechsig, Florence Nikles, Lisa Pfalgraz, Rahel Schönauer, Ramona Volken, ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Lydiane Vikol


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Pik Alexander Blok, North Face, Rereading Classics Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai, Laylak Valley

Rereading Classics on the north face of Pik Blok. Supplied by Anna Piunova From August 6 to 10, and in a total climbing time of 57 hours, Alexander Parfenov, Alexey Sukharev, and Vjacheslav Timofeev, from Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, Siberia,...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anna Piunova


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Big Climbs in Squamish, 2017–2019 Canada, British Columbia, Squamish Area

Drew Marshall climbs a 5.10c pitch on Deep Impact (5 pitches, 5.11a) on the Slhanny’s Dog Wall. Photo by Danny Guestrin New route development continued to be very popular in Squamish and the surrounding Sea to Sky corridor during 2017–2019, p...

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| Published 2019 | Author Chris Small


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Princess Louisa Inlet Wall, Journey to the Center of the Earth Canada, British Columbia, Coast Mountains, Princess Louisa Inlet

The Princess Louisa Inlet Wall, rising about 1,400 meters at the head of a fjord off Jervis Inlet. (1) PLI Trail (17 pitches, ED1/2 V 5.10+, Brodie-Rowat, 2002). (2) Journey to the Center of the Earth (25 pitches, VI 5.10+ C2, Besen-Heinrich, 20...

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| Published 2019 | Author Kevin Heinrich


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Gimli Peak, North Face, Kootenay Canaleta Canada, British Columbia, Selkirk Mountains, Valhalla Ranges

The route line for Kootenay Canaleta (350m, D+ WI4 M5) on the north face of Gimli Peak (2,774m). Photo by Douglas Noblet The Valhallas are primarily a summertime rock climbing destination, but that doesn’t mean winter-season climbing is impos...

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| Published 2019 | Author Jen Olson


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Rugged Mountain, Thunderbird Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Haihte Range

The southwest face of Rugged Mountain in the Haihte Range of Vancouver Island. (The photo was taken in a dry February.) The route line for Ahren Rankin, Garner Bergeron, and James Rode’s Thunderbird (ca 800m, 22 pitches, 5.10 A1) is in red; the ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Ahren Rankin


Book Reviews AAJ
The Adventurer's Son By Roman Dial

THE ADVENTUER'S SON. Roman Dial. William Morrow, 2020. Hardcover, 351 pages, $28.99. In this heart-wrenching memoir, Roman Dial walks the reader through that most horrific of losses, the death of one’s child. On July 10, 2014, Cody Roman Dial be...

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| Published 2019 | Author Michael Kennedy


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
2019 New Zealand Alpine Highlights New Zealand

Ben Sanford climbing onto the summit ridge of Mt. Haast after the first ascent of Hotline on the east face. Photo by Gavin Lang The 2018–2019 summer climbing season in New Zealand was highlighted by several significant repeat ascents in Aorak...

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| Published 2019 | Author Ben Dare


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chomotang Group, Spang Nala Kangri, Spang Nala Dome, Sum Nomo Kangri, Amloca Kangri India, Ladakh

Looking more or less south up the western arm of the Spang Nala Glacier from Chomotang at the three peaks climbed by a French party in August 2019: Spang Nala Dome, Spang Nala Kangri, and Sum Nomo Kangri. Photo by Laurent Lafforgue The combin...

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| Published 2019 | Author Laurent Lafforgue


Feature Article AAJ
Menthosa, South Ridge and Traverse India, Himachal Pradesh

During the descent of the east ridge of Menthosa after making the first traverse. The ridge drops to a wide col, the Urgus Pass, then rises again to a triangular rocky peak on the left (Urgus Pharbrang). Photo: Spencer Gray Rushad Nanavatty, ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Spencer Gray


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chomotang, South-southwest Top, South Flank India, Ladakh

The Chomotang Group seen from the valley running southwest from near to the Sirsir La. (A) Chomotang south-southwest top. (B) Chomotang northeast (designated Chomotang I on most maps but actually the second-highest top in the group and more accu...

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| Published 2006 | Author Andrea Bollati


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Skiing the Caroline Face: The first descent of the giant southeast face of Aoraki/Mt. Cook New Zealand, Southern Alps

This historic descent was made in October 2017 but was not previously reported in the AAJ. This is a first-person account. The Caroline Face—the huge, steep, serac-laden southeast face of Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak (3,724m), ha...

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| Published 2017 | Author Tom Grant


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Bhagirathi III, West Face, Attempt India, Western Garhwal, Gangotri

The west faces of Bhagirathi III (right) and Bhagirathi IV. (1) Huserka-Smolen attempt (2019). (2) Stairway to Heaven (2004). (3) Scottish Route (1982). Photo by Ondrej Huserka As part of a larger Slovakian expedition to the Gangotri, Jan Smo...

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| Published 2019 | Author Ondrej Huserka


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Chombu, Northeast Spur, Attempt India, Sikkim

The summit (north) ridge of unclimbed Chombu seen from the north-northwest. Photo: Victor Saunders By October 10, Mick Fowler and I were running out of time. We had ruled out the east (not accessible from our base camp), the west (too dangero...

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| Published 2019 | Author Victor Saunders