Pico de Orizaba, the highest point in Mexico. A fatality occurred in February 2025 at a point called El Sarcófago, here seen as the rocky spur on the right skyline at the base of the glacier cap (yellow oval). It was there that a Mexican climber...
Iztaccíhuatl (17,159 feet), the “Sleeping Woman” in Nahuatl, is Mexico’s third-highest peak and is visible on clear days from Mexico City. In December 2025, a climber from Puebla fell, fatally, during a north-to-south traverse that roughly follo...
The Little Diamond is a high-altitude wall in the Medicine Bow Mountains. It offers adventure trad climbing for a remarkably short approach. Mark Jenkins, one of the wall’s developers, had an accident (yellow X) on the first pitch of a route he ...
Grand Teton National Park has seen an ever-growing influx of visitors, along with an ever-growing number of accidents. Photo fortherock A special thanks goes out to Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR), who reported 16 climbing-related res...
Ten Sleep Canyon has established itself as a destination sport climbing area in North America. It was the scene of a fatality in June 2025. Photo: Martin Kraft On June 26, Jonathan Paul Schleicher (32) of Leawood, Kansas, fell 60 feet while r...
This view from near the summit of Cloud Peak shows the rugged and shattered terrain that contributed to a fatality in July 2025. Photo: Ownwork On July 29, Grant Gardner (38) of Minnesota summited Cloud Peak (13,175 feet) at 7 p.m. and sent a...
In April 2025, a 20-year-old climber broke a piton during a 65-foot-long leader fall off the second pitch of Climbin’ Punishment (3 pitches, 5.8+). The higher yellow X marks the point where he fell. The lower X marks where he finally stopped. Ph...
I went to the Ozone area in the Columbia Gorge in April 2025 with four friends. I was 18 and was consistently leading 5.9s outdoors. At the end of the day, I tried Step Child (5.10a), an overhanging route with a runout between the third and fourth...
Castle Rock in Tumwater Canyon is home to many classic moderates. The yellow X marks the site of two accidents in June 2025. Photo: Mitchell McAuslan On June 18, my climbing party of three set out to climb six pitches to the top of Castle Roc...
Ross Girshick is assessed after being stricken by anaphylactic shock—he was stung 100 to 150 times by wasps. Photo: Jeni Jensen On July 23 at around 7:30 p.m., Ross Girshick (43) was top-roping Chode Castration (5.12a/b) at The Woods at Littl...
On May 10 around 1:30 p.m., during a basic mountaineering course at Stevens Pass, the lead instructor (44) had a close call while preparing a glissading practice area. Prior scouting found significant snowmelt, running water, and thin snow bridges...
On January 25, two friends and I, Tyler Christensen (33), set out to climb the Merrill-Minton (1,600’, 10 pitches, IV WI4+) on Sloan Peak (7,835’). The weather had been cold, and we’d heard the route had been done by another party a week prior. Th...
The North Early Winter Spire was the scene of a triple rappel fatality in May 2025. The Early Winter Couloir climbs the obvious gap between the two prominent spires. The deceased were discovered in the area marked by the red circle. Photo: MaKen...
Diagram of the anchor configuration and fall line at Sandbox, Great Falls, Virginia. Courtesy of Eunny Jang On June 8, I, Eunny Jang (40), was at the top of the Sandbox cliff pulling my ropes off Sand Box Corner (5.4) when I noticed a climber...
A climber in 2018 on the first ascent of Little Pico (5.11b) at White Rocks, Utah. Seven years later, in October 2025, a climber at the base was struck by a rock that was dislodged by a climber on the route. Photo: Tommy Guns On October 10, a...
In July 2025, a climber died on the East Ridge of the Pfeifferhorn after dislodging a large rock that triggered a landslide and carried him down steep talus slopes below. The yellow X marks where the climber fell; the yellow arrow shows the line...
On April 13, Eric Newhart was trapped upside down in an inversion offwidth. His taped hand is visible behind his partner, Mike Ryan (in green jacket), who spent almost five hours to free him. Photo: Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue ...
Cole L. on Pudgy Gumbies (5.11d, PG-13) in 2026. In May 2025, Adam Fleming fell while going for the redpoint. On the way down, Fleming pulling a fixed piton (yellow arrow), increasing the length of his fall. Photo; Adam Fleming On May 2, Luke...
The summit of 7,134-meter Koh-e-Langar in Pakistan’s Hindu Kush lies very near the frontier, and not far to the north, in Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor, is the village of Langar. The name carries meaning for communities across central and south As...
In October 2025, a local climber fell 75 feet and, amazingly, walked away. Photo: Deschutes County Sheriff's Office SAR On October 3 at 3:09 p.m., I was dispatched after there was a report of a fallen climber on the northeast side of Monkey F...