In a gesture befitting how he lived his life, close to nature and its poetry, my father, Herb, chose the harvest moon, September 20, 2021, for his departure. His focus around the appreciation of nature, both in its raw elements and its lyric forms...
Rick Reese was a great friend, humble, understated, honest, and so full of life. He had the ability to inspire us and lead us forward. He carefully balanced his zest and daring with common sense in the mountains. Approaching a mountain route with ...
Cesare Maestri was born in Trento, Italy, in 1929, where as a child he began to climb the walls of buildings and electrical poles—more than a few of these ascents resulted in falls, scratches, and hospital visits. During World War II, the young Ma...
The climbing community and many friends have been saddened by the passing of Richard Leversee on January 12, 2022. Although the term Stonemaster is somewhat overused, Richard embraced the ethos, and will be sincerely remembered as one. Thankfully,...
A legendary desert climber, Dave Jones, 65, unexpectedly passed away at his home on December 27, 2021. He was much too young. Born in Connecticut, Dave graduated with a degree in geology from Dartmouth College in 1978. Moving to Tucson, he receive...
After a youth and early adulthood spent in the flatlands, Dana’s peregrinations brought her to the Sierra Nevada, where she learned to climb and met an explorer named Bill Isherwood. Dana had loved before—she even had two daughters—but Bill swept ...
Climbers often consider hypothermia and frostbite as part of their risk assessment. Yet, heat-related illnesses can be a significant and often bigger threat in many regions. Heat illness is a preventable condition ranging in severity from mild hea...
After an aborted attempt on a west-east traverse of the Picacho Kasiri summits with Juan Gabriel Estellano in 2020 (AAJ 2021), I returned on July 9, 2021, with Marcelo Gomez to attempt the traverse in the opposite direction. As the two main summ...
Julieta Ferreri (Argentina) and Marcelo Motta Delvaux (Brazil) made two visits to the southern Cordillera Apolobamba in June and July, when they explored the region around Huanacuni (5,798m, approximately 14°50'48.04"S, 69°9'20.06"W). They then ...
The Kuilu (Kuylyu) is a seldom-visited range south of the Terskey Ala-Too, with abundant unclimbed 4,000m peaks offering plenty of opportunity for exploratory mountaineering at a reasonable technical difficulty. Bound to the north by the Kuilu Riv...
Sprężyna (“Spring”) was the nickname of Polish climber Maciej Gryczyński—the name given because of his curly hair. In the 1960s he put up now well-known and classic routes on four mountains, and all four routes are called Sprężyna: the northe...
Spectacular scenery on the northwest face of the Cima de Gasperi. Photo by Emanuele Andreozzi Late winter snow that took longer than normal to clear, ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in the first half of the year, and a surprisingly cool summer,...
The first ascent of the west face of Baruntse, by a Russian team in 1995, was reported in the AAJ only with a brief note. This account has been adapted from a longer article published in the 1997 Alpine Journal (U.K.), with permission; the complet...
Previously unreported in the AAJ was a new route up the west face of Ama Dablam (6,812m) climbed solo on November 9, 1993, by François Damilano (France). Damilano had reached the summit via the normal route on November 4 while part of a commerci...
The Kangchung peaks taken in October 2015 with their north faces in profile. Kangchung Nup is nearer the camera. The Czech route on Kangchung Shar and bivouac site are marked. The rappel descent was further to the right on the upper face, and ...
The new Italian line on Tengi Ragi Tau Southeast. The ridge was climbed direct and in its entirely to the summit by two Czechs in 2003. After two years of pandemic, the desire to climb in the Greater Ranges was intense. After the umptee...
The west face of Peak 5,794m points toward the camera. The original Scottish route climbed the right-hand ridge. The vast face behind is part of the west face of Chugimago. Photo by Domen Kastelic In autumn 1996, a small group of friends ...
Members of the Spanish female mountaineering team near Tashi Lapcha Pass. Photo by Marc Subirana The Spanish women’s mountaineering team was operating in the Rolwaling at the same time as the ment's team was in the Dorje Lhakpa region. (See t...
Panbari (6,905m) was first climbed by a Japanese expedition in late September 2006 via the Fukan Glacier and the slightly rounded, snowy north ridge. The lower Fukan had complex icefalls, unstable seracs, and hidden crevasses that took the team mo...
In late November, Jost Kobusch and Nicolas Scheidtweiler (Germany) made the first ascent of Purbung Himal (a.k.a. Putrung, 6,500m HMG-Finn Map, 28°48’4.48”N, 84°1’4.41”E) via a long approach from Thorung Phedi (4,450m), the last stop before the we...