In April, a party of three climbers attempting the east ridge of Mt. Logan required evacuation from approximately 4,800 meters (15,748 feet). One of the members was experiencing symptoms of high altitude cerebral edema (HACE).In early May, a femal...
THE IDEA CAME UP as it often does, after a nice afternoon of climbing and a well-deserved beer. A good friend told us about the spectacular Pico Cão Grande (“Big Dog Peak”), a volcanic plug rising out of the jungle on the island of São Tomé, off t...
On July 22 our Estonian expedition summited Peak 6,801m GPS (6,751m on the Indian map; 34°37'06.3192"N, 78°04'38.7084"E), the highest unclimbed peak in the Kunzang Range. [The Kunzang Range is generally defined as the mountainous region north of t...
After searching for a destination offering a potential first ascent, Alex Gammeter and I decided on the Gangotri. Two different contacts told us about mountains lying within the so-called Inner Line, an area of restricted travel near the border wi...
Dhechyan Kang (6,019m, 29.036532°N, 84.249716°E) was opened for mountaineering in 2014 but has no recorded ascent. I found this rather surprising, as satellite images show it to be a broad, rounded hill without technical difficulties. The main cha...
On May 5, in poor weather, Carole Chambaret, Boris Langenstein, and I (all French) established base camp at Dalsampa (ca 4,200m) on the Gondokhoro (a.k.a. Ghondogoro) Glacier, intent on skiing from the summit of Laila (6,096m). The safest approach...
In January a four-man Kyrgyz-Russian team climbed a new route up the middle of the south face of Korzhenevskaya (7,105m) in the Academy of Sciences Range. The main difficulties of this line are associated with icefalls that in summer often produce...
Tomaž Goslar, Mojca Švajger, and I arrived in Pakistan on July 10 with the aim of climbing a high peak in the Hindu Kush. However, due to security issues on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, our permit was denied and we had to focus quickly on anot...
On April 2, at 5:10 p.m., Canadians Vern Stice of Edmonton, Pascale Marceau of Canmore, and I (from Minnesota) reached the summit of Jeannette Peak, which we believe was previously unclimbed. At 3,089m/10,135’, it is the highest summit in the Selw...
From mid-June to mid-July, Brian Houle and I visited the Cordillera Real to explore new technical routes on some of the big ice faces in the range. Our main objectives were the southeast face of Cerro Arkhata (5,650m), believed to be unclimbed, an...
Browsing Google Earth, I came across an impressive wall of 5,000m mountains on the Georgia-Russia border. By searching the AAJ, I soon learned this was the 13km-long Bezengi Wall (named after the glacier on its north side). There was a proud cou...
In the summer of 2010, Boris Avdeev (an American resident) and I went to the Caucasus, where we climbed Shkhara (5,193m) by the Beknu Route on the south pillar (2,200m, 5B 55°). I was then able to make a partial ski descent of this route, from the...
THE IDEA of going to Peru wasn’t sparked by some coveted unclimbed line. It was simply out of convenience and practicality. As the winter season in the Canadian Rockies wound down, I was getting antsy to go on a trip. Peru seemed ideal: big mounta...
THE IDEA of linking the three Howser Towers in a single day dawned on me back in 2010. It was my second season in a row climbing above the East Creek Basin; the year before, Jason Kruk, Matt Segal, and I had done the first free ascent of the west ...
I SAG DEEP INTO MY HARNESS and absently stare upward into a mesmerizing plane of granite. From my precarious hanging position, I am doing my best to keep the moist arctic wind from blasting my skin. Despite wearing every layer that I packed for th...
On April 12, at approximately 1:15 p.m., the Coconino County Sheriff's Office received a call regarding an accident at the Pit. The county search and rescue unit responded, along with the Flagstaff Fire Department and Guardian Medical Transport. I...
Looking west from the summit of Gangapurna. Various mountaineers have ascended the peak labeled "D" from the north (right) and "E" from the south, both using a "Tarke Kang" permit. In fact, it is obvious from this vantage th...
In June, Damien Gildea attempted the south face of CCKN (6,303m, a.k.a. Chau Chau Kang Nilda, the “Blue Moon in the Sky.) Gildea climbed 650m of snow, ice, and rock (50°) to around 6,150m, where he was stopped by a large crevasse. He retreated dow...
On February 16, Tim Nielsen and I hiked up to the north face of West Lion (49°27'28"N, 123°11'11"W), just north of Vancouver in the North Shore Mountains, via the Lions Bay Trail. Our plan was to repeat the North Couloir (300m, WI3+), which Matteo...
FAR FROM the ever-connected hustle of modern life, deep in the heart of northern Chilean Patagonia, the pristine granite faces and snowy caps of the Avellano Towers rise up from a hidden valley at the head of the Avellano River. They say the best ...