Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Hungabee Mountain, Northwest Face, Mordor Canada, Canadian Rockies

In May 2015, Steven Kovalenko and Maury Perrault climbed a 1,400m mixed line up the northwest face of Hungabee Mountain (3,490m) in a 30-hour round trip from Lake O’Hara (16 hours up, 14 hours down). Mordor (V 5.6 WI4 M4) topped out on the north r...

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| Published 2015 | Author Dougald MacDonald


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Great Sail Peak: Two New Routes Canada, Nunavut, Baffin Island, Stewart Valley

In the summer of 2016, Joshua Lavigne, Marc-André Leclerc and I spent six weeks in the fjordlands of eastern Baffin Island, establishing two new routes on Great Sail Peak (ca 1,500m). Our journey began on June 21, when we set off from the communit...

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| Published 2016 | Author Brette Harrington


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Trøllkonufingur: Huffin & Puffin Faroe Islands

Jack Grinsted, Dave McKinney, and I, from New Zealand, established a new route, Huffin & Puffin (12 pitches, 7a A3), on the iconic Trøllkonufingur, a huge pillar along the coast of Vágar, one of the 18 Faroe Islands. The pillar previously had ...

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| Published 2016 | Author Jason Blair


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Trollveggen: Solo Winter Ascent Norway, Romsdal

From January 11–26, 2017, Marek Raganowicz (Poland) made the first solo winter ascent of any route on Trollveggen (the Troll Wall) when he reached the top of Suser Gjennom Harryland (18 pitches to east pillar, Norwegian 6 A3, Hagen-Ostbo, 1996). T...

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| Published 2017 | Author Lindsay Griffin


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Jastrabia veža: Corona Slovakia, Tatras

On June 17 and 18, Mišo Bado and I made the first ascent of Corona on the south face of Jastrabia veža in Slovakia. After a pitch of UIAA VIII, climbing through an overhang and a corner, with two bolts, the crux pitch overhangs 4m in its 38m lengt...

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| Published 2016 | Author Jozef Kristoffy


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Annapurna III: Southeast Ridge, Attempt Nepal, Annapurna Himal

Austrian climbers Hansjörg Auer, Alex Blümel, and David Lama attempted one of the great unclimbed prizes of the Nepal Himalaya, the southeast pillar of Annapurna III (7,555m), in early May. They approached base camp by helicopter, and after three ...

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| Published 2016 | Author Lindsay Griffin


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Happy Dome: Men in Heat California, Kings Canyon National Park

A few years ago, Daniel Jeffcoach and I spotted an unnamed and apparently unclimbed formation above North Dome. The approach starts from the Road’s End parking lot, and to our surprise it took no longer than three to four hours to reach the base. ...

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| Published 2016 | Author Vitaliy Musiyenko


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
The Cleaver, Dark Tower, and Gambler's Special: New Routes and First Free Ascent California, Eastern Sierra

In June, Brian Prince, Alaina Robertson, and I set up a camp below the northeast face of the Gambler’s Special and Dark Tower to celebrate Alaina’s birthday with some exploratory climbing. The Dark Tower is a subsummit of the Cleaver (13,382’), an...

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| Published 2016 | Author Vitaliy Musiyenko


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Yosemite Overview (2016) California, Yosemite Valley

During what was likely a record-breaking summer for park visitation, three-hour traffic jams edged slowly in a counterclockwise loop around the Valley floor while El Capitan’s mostly empty walls flickered through the exhaust and idle air of 102° J...

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| Published 2016 | Author Eric Bissell


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
The Dawn Wall: Rapid Second Ascent California, Yosemite Valley

On November 21, Adam Ondra from the Czech Republic completed the second free ascent of the Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d), the 32-pitch El Capitan route generally regarded as the world’s hardest big-wall free climb. The route on El Cap’s southeast face, fre...

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| Published 2016 | Author Andy Anderson


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Harding Tower: New Life California, Yosemite Valley, Tenaya Canyon

Deep in Tenaya Canyon is a slabby dome hidden by Mt. Watkins to the west and Yasoo Dome to the east. In late September, with no knowledge of any previously established climbs on the formation or the best way to approach, Mark Westman and I hiked t...

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| Published 2016 | Author Vitaliy Musiyenko


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Summary of New Routes (2016) New Zealand

The majority of new-route activity in New Zealand during 2016 occurred during the summer period, with a number of new alpine rock climbs. Starting in the Darran Mountains, in January, Conor Smith and I climbed the northeast face of Pyramid Peak (2...

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| Published 2016 | Author Ben Dare


Book Reviews AAJ
New Books in Brief – 2016

The 9th Grade: 150 Years of Free Climbing, by David Chambre (Mountaineers Books, $50). A large-format, comprehensive history of free climbing; Eurocentric with terrific color photographs.My Old Man and the Mountain, A Memoir, by Leif Whittaker (Mo...

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| Published 2016 | Author David Stevenson


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mt. Huntington: Macho Madness Alaska, Central Alaska Range

On April 29, Nik Mirhashemi and Mark Pugliese established a 1,500’ alternate start to the French (Northwest) Ridge of Huntington. Their line begins near the start of the 1984 route Polarchrome and climbs straight up to the ridge, reaching it below...

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| Published 2016 | Author Mark Pugliese


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Bishkek Sport Climbing Area Kyrgyzstan

Readers may be interested to know about Chunkurchak, a sport climbing area close to Bishkek, with both single- and multi-pitch routes, possibly useful for a couple of days at the beginning or end of a Kyrgyzstan expedition. Directions to these gra...

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| Published 2016 | Author Kai Maluck


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mindzhar Valley: Pik 5,175m, Pik 5,390m, and Pik 5,414m Kyrgyzstan, Pamir

Before joining the estimated 1,000 climbers at base camp for Pik Lenin in August, we went by jeep to the next main valley west, the Mindzhar, where there were no mountaineers. At the head of this valley, the Mindzhar Glacier rises west to Mindzhar...

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| Published 2016 | Author Oleg Silin


Feature Article AAJ
The Line Third Time Lucky on Kyzyl Asker's Prized Ice Route

We spend the night half-sitting, half-standing, one butt cheek each, hanging from the anchor. We are freezing and our bivy sack keeps sliding down our bodies; it’s impossible to zip it completely, and snow keeps blowing in through a hole at the to...

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| Published 2016 | Author Ines Papert


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Dragontail Peak, Iceline Bling Washington, Stuart Range

On April 3, Craig Pope, my wife Priti Wright, and I climbed a new ice route on the north face of Dragontail Peak, a direct line up the north buttress that we dubbed Iceline Bling (250m, WI5 M4). This is an alternate start to the classic Triple Cou...

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| Published 2016 | Author Jeff Wright


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mt. Stuart, King Kong Washington, Stuart Range

On September 9, I made a free ascent of King Kong (IV 5.11+), a line on the west face of Mt. Stuart that I had completed the week before, after five years of attempts. This linkup climbs the first four pitches of Gorillas in the Mist before moving...

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| Published 2016 | Author Sol Wertkin


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Illusion Wall, The Epic Tail of Sir Norbert Washington, Darrington

In late 2015, Matt Leslie, Jeremy Luscher, Alan Semrau, and I finished a three-year project on the Illusion Wall, in the Squire Creek area of Darrington. Darrington is home to some of the best multi-pitch routes in Washington, but the 2,000’–3,000...

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| Published 2016 | Author Chris Hagen