Looking up the east ridge of Jethi Bahurani in 1978. Supplied by Hiroshi Hagiwara An expedition from Shinshu University in Japan, with five climbing members led by Kazuhiko Yamada, established base camp on April 4, 1978, east of Jethi Bahura...
In August 2019, Alan Goldbetter (Finland/USA) and I attempted Starikatchan (H7 on the Sakamoto sketch maps, 5,904m, 33°30'45.81"N, 76°43'29.58"E), an unclimbed peak above the Shimling Tokpo. From Tungri, a village at 3,500m in the main Zanskar (Do...
ON THE 14TH of June, I made the first ski descent of the Seattle Ramp variation to the West Rib of Denali, followed by the first female solo ascent of the Cassin Ridge, completing a longtime dream and a culmination of all the things I love about m...
What can I say about the Goliath traverse? I spent countless hours thinking about it, losing sleep, preparing myself mentally and cardiovascularly, learning about electrolytes, wondering how often I would be able to find water, how much weight I c...
Huntington Ravine on Mt. Washington, with its numerous icy gullies, is a renowned winter playground. The classic ice climb of Pinnacle Gully (WI3), in particular, makes for a fantastic alpine outing. Over the years, winter climbers have also explo...
On March 31, I soloed a 2,200’ new route on the north face of A Peak (8,634’), above Granite Lake. The Bull River Prowler climbs at AI4 M4 with snow to 70°. The route begins 400’ west of Canmore Wedding Party (2,500’, AI5 M7, Coldiron-Roskelley, ...
With only two prior visits, the Rassa Glacier remains relatively unexplored. The first expedition to this remote area was led by Divyesh Muni in 2014 (see report and map in AAJ 2015), and this inspired my own expedition two years later (AAJ 2017)....
Rocky Talkie and the AAC partnered in early 2022 to solicit nominations for the Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Awards. These awards recognize stand-out rescues from the previous year; $25,000 in grant funding is split among the winning teams. (Roc...
On October 20, two climbers nearing the top of Epinephrine, the long 5.9 classic in Black Velvet Canyon, fell while simul-climbing. Three pieces of protection between the two pulled out during the fall, and the two tumbled toward the ground far be...
The 25km-long ridge partially traversed by the 2022 team, seen from the northeast side of Ikasagtivaq Fjord. The traverse attempt began at the far left end. Photo by Noel Williams Our expedition comprised four members, Mike Bauermeister, Simo...
As we began our trek from Koto at 2,600m on the Annapurna Circuit, I was excited. With all the restrictions caused by COVID-19, how long had it been since I was last climbing in Nepal?” I asked myself. Ours was an eight-person team, including trek...
In June, Ryan Evans and Damien Nicodemi invited me to help them complete a full-length version of One for the Ladies, a 12-pitch route they had established on the upper southeast side of Tehipite Dome in July 2021. They accessed this portion of th...
During July and August, a six-member expedition—Chris Gneisser, Mike Jaques (skipper), Alastair Miller, Graham Tourell, Olly Young, and I—visited various locations on the east coast of Greenland aboard Mike’s yacht, Umiak. The team consisted of mo...
The climbs featured in the American Alpine Journal don’t occur in a vacuum—they reflect the broader evolution of climbing styles and performance around the world. The following achievements in 2021 provide additional context for the longer rock an...
In January 2022, my husband, Jeff Wright, and I completed a successful Patagonian “smash ‘n’ grab,” when an excellent forecast prompted us to make an 11-day round-trip (Seattle to Seattle) to El Chaltén, during which we enchained three of the fou...
In August 2018, Tomás Algañaraz (18) and I (23) arrived in the little town of Chochís, east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra on the eastern side of Bolivia. This place has plenty of potential for new routing. There are not a lot of cracks, but there is ...
Last summer Tommy Caldwell invited me to his home in Estes Park to attempt an enormous linkup along the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. We’d each been locked down in our respective homes all season by COVID—I was exploring new ...
The gambler’s fallacy is the mistaken belief that a certain outcome is more or less likely to occur, given a previous series of outcomes. For example, if you flip a coin and get four tails in a row, the gambler’s fallacy would suggest a greater ch...
In July I traveled to Pakistan with Eivind Hugaas (Norway) and Nelson Neirinck (Belgium) to attempt the first ascent of Dansam (a.k.a. K13, 6,666m). The day before jumping onto a plane, we learned that a French team had climbed our planned line o...
The Arrigetch Peaks at sunset, taken from the top of the Aquarius Wall. From left to right: the Citadel, East Maiden, West Maiden, the Camel, and Parabola. Photo by Cameron Jardell In July, Mathias Gruber, Maya Humeau, Luke Shacter, and I ven...