From July 24–27, 2016, Maciej Bedrejczuk, Piotr Sulowski, and I made the first free ascent of the Rhombus, the outstanding north-facing feature on Chatyn-tau (4,412m). Around half a dozen routes climb the 600m-plus rock wall of the Rhombus, and we...
In March, Bolivian resident Davide Vitale and friends traversed Peak 5,396m in the Negruni Range of the central Cordillera Real. As had been done in the past, the Vitale team climbed onto the southwest ridge from the south (AD), but from the summi...
I met Brette Harrington at Gripped magazine editor Brandon Pullan’s house—a veritable couch-surfing operation for climbers hanging around Canmore—in mid-March, almost exactly five weeks after the death of her partner, Marc-André Leclerc. There was...
Edward (“Ed”) Boulton died at his home in North Seattle on September 27, 2018. He was 91.Ed was born and raised in Seattle and attended Roosevelt High School. He served in the U.S. military for a few years immediately following the end of WWII. Ed...
On the afternoons of September 27 and 28, a series of rockfalls occurred on the far right side of El Capitan, near the line of Horsetail Fall. The initial rockfall on September 27 struck two climbers who were walking along the base of the cliff af...
At 6:59 p.m. on June 10, Yosemite dispatch received a report that a climber had rappelled off the end of her rope while descending Harry Daley (2 pitches, 5.8). Barbara (mid-30s, not her real name) was now on top of the fourth-class pinnacle that ...
The period from May 11–19 delivered a mix of spring weather to Yosemite. Cameron Brown (age 41) and I (Stephen Shostek, age 59) experienced sun, rain, snow, and cold weather during our Salathé Wall climb. We sheltered for two days in the Alcove (p...
On August 24, Tom Frost—whose character and influence outshone his remarkable routes—died peacefully after a short battle with cancer.Frost was the last survivor of the team that made the first ascent of El Capitan’s Salathé Wall, the second route...
After an attempt from the south in 2017 (AAJ 2018), Eric Kowalski, Alex Tang, and I returned to the China-Kazakhstan border for another attempt on the peak popularly known as Sauyr Zhotasy (3,840m). This mountain is not exceptional in either altit...
On the night of May 15, around midnight, two climbers (male and female, both in their 30s) reported they were stranded on a ledge below Dolt Tower on El Capitan. The climbers had attempted an alpine-style ascent of the Nose, bivying once at El Cap...
On March 3, at 8:24 p.m., two male climbers (both in their early 20s) reported they were stranded partway up the Royal Arches route (approximately 15 pitches, 5.7 C0). The climbers had moved slower than expected, and, with a storm approaching, the...
AMONG THE MOST COMMON sites for traumatic climber injuries are the lower leg and ankle. These injuries are also likely to cause the need for evacuation and a visit to the hospital. Injuries to the lower leg range in severity from a sprained ankle ...
Charlotte Fox was strong and good in the mountains, not known for speed so much as being able to go and go and go. She climbed Everest in 1996, surviving the famous nighttime “huddle,” with her eyes and contact lenses freezing and patches of frost...
Cathedral Peak’s big east-facing wall, rising above Cathedral Lake in the eastern Wind Rivers, has a long history, attracting the attention of climbers since at least 1979, when Fred Beckey and Jim Kanzler completed the route they named Orion’s Re...
THE WORLD has lost a great climber, friend, and mentor.Jim Bridwell made huge contributions to the world of climbing. He was adept in free climbing, big wall, and alpine climbing, establishing over 100 first ascents in Yosemite Valley and multiple...
On the afternoon of December 22, Nicholas C. (29) led Dominion, a 5.10a crack. After pulling the crux and moving through 30 feet of easy 5th-class terrain, Nicholas reached a set of bolted anchors and rigged to lower. He asked his belayer, Robert ...
The Line (5.9), a popular traditional route, has been on my tick list for a couple of years. There’s normally a conga line of climbers at the base, so my partner, Ben (30) and I (30) woke early on July 2 to make sure we were the first ones on the ...
In 2017 there were four climbing-related incidents on Mt. Shasta. One accident was the result of rockfall, while the other three were primarily due to poor preparation for the terrain and environment. On April 23, a party of three male climbers at...
On April 13, Kurt Ross, Steven Van Sickle, and I flew into Kahiltna International and skied to a point near Camp 1 on Denali’s West Buttress route to scope out the southwest face of West Kahiltna Peak (12,835’), between the east fork and northeast...
On July 10, Giselle Fernandez and I made the first known ascent of the east ridge of Bedayan Minaret (12,080’). This feature is one of the largest in the Minarets, rising nearly 1,000 vertical feet out of the fleeting icefield below. The twin east...