I took a 40-foot fall on ice at Chapel Pond, smashed my face, and suffered a traumatic brain injury, but lived to tell about it. It was February 8, and I was guiding Rhiannon, a 200-foot WI4+ line in the Power Play amphitheater, above Chapel Pond....
On July 10, two climbers headed to the Barber Wall, a single-pitch crack climbing area on the upper left side of Cathedral Ledge. The pair decided to get on Nutcracker, a popular 5.10a. The leader (male, 30s) placed a number 2 Camalot, followed by...
On February 4, a team of climbers from Amherst, Massachusetts, was ascending the third and final pitch of the Black Dike (WI4 M3), Cannon Cliff’s most popular ice climb. As the leader (male, age 47) moved up the final ice before the route turns to...
Picacho Kasiri (as defined by the IMG map 5945-II) had looked full of promise when Roberto Gomez and I saw it in mid-July during a traverse of neighboring Pucusani. With unusually dry conditions and warm temperatures prevailing at the start of Dec...
In mid-July, Roberto Gomez (Bolivia) and I finally turned our attention to a formation that every rock climber sees when driving over Cumbre Pass and down toward the Bolivian jungle. Even though local climbers had implied the rock quality was real...
In 2007 and '08, the Vladostano Alpine Rescue Service, which operates mountain rescue services in Italy's Val d'Aosta, organized training courses for Bolivia's professional mountain guides. Since then, these IFMGA guides, operating under the title...
After making the first ascent of the east face of Charquini (5,392m) in 2017 with Sergio Condori (see AAJ 2018), I returned several times in 2018 to explore the potential of this small but attractive granite wall.On May 2, Felix Leger, Jules Tusse...
Inspired by a photo in AAJ 2018, and thanks to a Grit and Rock Award, Cecilia Buil (Spain), Ixchel Foord (Mexico), Spanish photographer Dafne Gisbert, and Anna Torretta (Italy) traveled to the Mugu Valley. They used a helicopter to fly from Nepalj...
Between the well-known summits of Khan Tengri and Pik Pobeda sleeps a seldom-visited yet interesting group of mountains known as the Ak-tau Group, after its central peak, Ak-tau. (Ak-tau is 6,181m; the highest summit of the group, an unnamed 6,201...
In far northern India, a number of steep-sided granite valleys are enclosed by the “Great Bend” of the Shyok River. Their mountaineering potential was first recognized by Chewang Motup of Rimo Expeditions, and his company has supported all approve...
In July and August, Robert Jasper made a "by fair means" solo expedition, sea kayaking to the Fox Jaw Cirque, where he put up a hard new free route on the Molar. He was accompanied by friend and photographer Frank Kretschmann as far as the last In...
From October 13 to 21, Ramiro Casas and Glauco Muratti explored a quebrada (valley) that flows into the Tupungato River south of Punta de Vacas. The pair crossed the Tupongato with difficulty and then walked to the east and southeast along the unn...
An unprecedented five fatalities occurred within a six-week span on 14,137-foot Capitol Peak, one of Colorado’s most challenging 14ers. The mountain’s standard route, the northeast ridge, is a 17-mile round trip concluding with an exposed stretch ...
On July 23, a female climber (25, 15 years of experience) and her male climbing partner (24, six years of experience) were climbing the Northwest Buttress route (IV 5.9) on Capitol Peak. By simul-climbing most of the route, the pair was able to re...
IN LATE MORNING on March 5, Ryan Montoya, 23, had nearly completed a solo winter ascent of 14,018-foot Pyramid Peak, near Aspen. After spending the night at the foot of the peak and climbing the west face and northwest ridge (4th class), he was ab...
On September 30, three climbers (one male, two female, ages 27 to 31) were climbing Wherever I May Roam, a popular five-pitch sport route (5.9) on the northwest face. One of them led the third pitch, traversing up and left to an anchor on an arête...
On June 30, a male climber (age 40) was attempting Helium Woman (5.9) when he fell and impacted the ground, fracturing both of his ankles. He had stick-clipped the second bolt and had climbed up and right to a point between the second and the thir...
At 10:40 a.m. on May 7, John Jenkins (32) was ascending the South Side (Hogsback) route on Mt. Hood when he slipped on ice above the bergschrund and was unable to self-arrest. He was unroped at the time and fell approximately 600 feet into the Dev...
On February 17, during the Michigan Ice Fest, a woman and two men, all in their 20s, set out to climb the steep pillar of Strawberry Daze (WI4), approaching from the top. The men had climbed ice before but the woman, who borrowed ice climbing equi...
In 2016, the Julbo eyewear maker ran a competition, with the winner having the opportunity to climb somewhere in the world with mountain guide and technical adviser Christophe Dumarest. An accomplished “amateur,” Antoine Rolle (a member of the Fre...