The Southwest Face (a.k.a. The 51st, 1,500’, 13 pitches, V 5.11+) on Mt. Kinesava, Zion National Park, Utah. Mt. Kinesava is named after the Paiute god of trickery. Photo by Andrew Andraski Named after the Paiute god of trickery, Mt. Kinesav...
There is a ledge 250’ off the ground on the north face of Tucupit Point, and below the ledge is a wide vertical wall, devoid of even the smallest seam. Above are several crack systems that continue 1,000’ to the summit, and hold what I hoped would...
After realizing that Redfish Lake Creek was too high to cross to reach Elephant’s Perch during a trip in early June, Sara Morrow and I opted to backtrack and climb a pinnacle we’d spotted along the canyon rim earlier in the approach. We scrambled ...
The Northwest Buttress line (1,200m, 5.11-) on Mt. Temple. Photo by Dane Steadman. In mid-September, I drove up to Canmore from my home in Wyoming, intent on a month of fall alpine climbing. The summer had been unusually hot, but I figured it...
The first time I saw the north face of Table Mountain (6,265’), I got pulled over for driving too slowly. Nearly 1,000’ tall, it was the largest continuous rock face I had seen in the Tucson area. Viewed from the city, from the south, Table Mounta...
In the early morning alpenglow, Red Rock comes alive. Every morning that I drive the loop road, my eyes trace the skyline back and forth. Watching the features, tracking the shadows as they dance. There are many distinct features that pop out, but...
View to the north over Red Rock. The peaks’ vertical relief averages around 2,000 feet. The HURT started with (A) White Rock Peak and crossed (B) Bridge Point, (C) Mt. Wilson, (D) Black Velvet Peak, and nearly 20 other summits before finishing a...
From April 16 to 18, Zach Dugan and I climbed a probable new route on the east face of Peak 11,300’. During an impeccable weather window, we climbed the route in 39 hours round-trip from our base camp on the Ruth Glacier. On the evening of the ...
I first saw a photo of Pyramid Peak in 2016 and was immediately drawn to a central line on the mountain, though it looked improbable. Paul Robertson and I applied for a grant in 2017 to attempt it, but we didn’t receive funding. The Revelations ...
“Zach, I just learned that Mason Stansfield died in a crevasse fall in AK.” I read and re-read the message on my satellite phone. Aside from the steady purr of a white gas stove, there was a somber silence in our kitchen tent. Four days prior, m...
On April 11, Matt Kogel and I flew into the central Chugach and completed the first recorded ascent of the north ridge of Mt. Goode (10,610’). The peak lies at the head of the Knik Glacier, approximately 40 miles southeast of Palmer, and this st...
On June 27, Nadine Lehner and I flew from Talkeetna to the Pika Glacier, prepared to glacier glamp with copious amounts of fresh comestibles. Paul Roderick of TAT dropped us off about a mile down-glacier from the busy flight-seeing landing zone,...
On October 30, Dana Drummond and I walked five miles to South Yuyanq’ Ch’ex to attempt a line I had previously spotted on the northwest side of the mountain. (Formerly known as the Suicide Peaks, North and South Yuyanq’ Ch’ex were officially renam...
I’m not sure why, but I don't like the smell of airports. And yet the smell of duty-free is always synonymous with great adventures to come. So I rejoiced when that familiar scent hit my nose while passing through the Anchorage airport, the gate...
From April 11–21, Fred Caloggero and I climbed off the Cul-de-Sac Glacier in the Kichatna Mountains. Initially we attempted a beautiful line on the west face of Sunrise Spire. We climbed three pitches of thin, narrow ice to gain a snowfield and ...
Ethan Berkeland pausing along the Aquarius Traverse. The snowy peaks in the background, including Xanadu in the center of the frame, lie at the head of the Arrigetch Valley. Photo by Tristan O'Donoghue. In 2022, I was working in the central B...
Away from the crowds, beyond the big trees, and 1.5 miles above the famed Valhalla sits Tamarack Lake, from whose shores myriad rock climbing objectives rise. These include Mt. Stewart (12,205’), whose almost mile-long north-facing behemoth of a w...
Besides being one of the more beautiful places in the Sierra to camp, Tamarack Lake is surrounded by the impressive north face of Mt. Stewart (12,205’) and several striking domes, including the Prism. In 2007, Neal Harder, Chris LaBounty, and Bran...
Josef Maier making the first free ascent of the original second pitch of the East Face route on Castle Rock Spire. Maier freed this pitch during a pause in the rappel descent from the summit after climbing Spaghetti Western. Photo by Brian Prin...
Vitaliy Musiyenko and I both have long lists of formations to explore for new route potential, and the northeast face of Mt. Francis Farquhar’s (12,893’) lower northwest summit, sometimes called the North Fin (ca 12,500’), is a beautiful alpine wa...