It was January 2020, and I was looking for a climbing project for the summer—something really different, a challenge that would test my limits, but also something with less environmental impact than an expedition involving many planes. After som...
The northeast face of Þverártindsegg and a recent avalanche. (1) Sinful Pleasures. (2) Finnbogason-Sigurðsson original route. The normal route to the summit follows the right skyline ridge from the north. Þverártindsegg (1,554m, 64°12'36.90"...
On October 16, Árni Stefán Haldorsen and Íris Ragnarsdóttir Pedersen climbed the west face of Rótarfjallshnjúkur (1,848m, 63°58'36.02"N, 16°39'40.24"W). This peak lies on the southern rim of the Öræfajökull, a large, ice-filled caldera that last e...
After four previous attempts in the seven years, He Chuan, Sun Bin, and Wang Zhen completed the second ascent of Jiayou, the route that Yasushi Yamanoi from Japan climbed in 2005 up the north face of Potala Shan (5,428m). Yamanoi soloed the route ...
IN BRIEF In The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest (Avid Reader Press, $28), Ed Caesar tells the story of Maurice Wilson, who in 1933 crash-landed his Gipsy Moth biplane on the slopes of Everest, intending to solo the m...
WINTER 8000: CLIMBING THE WORLD’S HIGHEST MOUNTAINS IN THE COLDEST SEASON. Bernadette McDonald. Mountaineers Books, 2020. Paperback, 272 pages, $21.95. When a team of 10 Nepalese mountaineers reached the summit of K2 in the waning hours of Janua...
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ON THE WALL. Silvo Karo. Translated by Gorazd Pipenbaher. Self-published, 2020. Paperback, 304 pages, €25. I bumped into Silvo Karo and Mauro “Bubu” Bole on the streets of Huaraz, Peru, in 2000. Asked what they’d been up to, Silvo ...
EMILIO COMICI: ANGEL OF THE DOLOMITES. David Smart. Rocky Mountain Books, 2020. Hardcover, 248 pages, $32. David Smart’s new biography of Emilio Comici (1901–1940) draws on a variety of sources to paint a nuanced picture of Comici, a man of geni...
EDGE OF THE MAP: THE MOUNTAIN LIFE OF CHRISTINE BOSKOFF. Johanna Garton. Mountaineers Books, 2020. Paperback, 240 pages, $19.95. Johanna Garton’s Edge of the Map follows the life and high-altitude climbs of Christine Boskoff, a widely admired and...
TO LIVE: FIGHTING FOR LIFE ON THE KILLER MOUNTAIN. Élisabeth Revol. Vertebrate Press (U.K.), 2020. Paperback, 160 pages, £24. In the winter of 2013, French alpinist Élisabeth Revol made her first attempt on Nanga Parbat, marking the beginning o...
Laura Tiefenthaler (left) and Jana Moehrer take a short break: The fine rock pillar to the south above Tiefenthaler is the Obelisk. The aiguilles visible lie south of the Pass of the Obelisks and some were climbed by British teams in the 1960s a...
Looking west from the summit of Atal I. Nehru Institute of Mountaineering In October 2018, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (established in 1965) and the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board jointly organized an expedition to attempt u...
The top half of Good-bye Happiness on the northwest face of Daddomain West. The west ridge, on the right, was partially followed by New Zealanders in 2004 to make the first ascent of Daddomain (hidden beyond the top of Daddomain West). Photo by ...
On the approach to the southeast face of Jiehkkevárri, with the line of the ski descent. Photo by Hamish Frost In the early morning of April 28, Eivind Jacobsen and I made the first ski descent of the 1,100m southeast face of Jiehkkevárri (1,...
The southwest slope and southeast ridge of Kyungka Ri II from the upper Shalbachum Glacier. Photo by Sophie Lavaud On December 8, Dawa Sangay Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Tenjing Sherpa, four local porters, Kukur (a lovely crazy dog that followed u...
On October 29, 2019, Adam Butterfield and I completed a likely new route on the northeast buttress of Axis Peak (7,550’), above Eightmile Lake in the Stuart Range, near our homes in Leavenworth. Arctic air had spread south into the region, and t...
The idea of a free ascent of Mystery Dome had been lodged in the back of my mind since happening across the trip report of the first and only known technical ascent (see AAJ 2014). The details of the first ascent, a bold and committing 13-pitch ...
Big Rock Candy Mountain is the largest formation in Colorado’s South Platte, rising over 1,000’ above the South Platte River. Early climbers were drawn to the lower-angle slabs of its west face, and in 1979 Pete Gallagher and Pete Williams made ...
Spring Lake Wall is a beautiful formation located about a four-hour hike out of Mineral King. The best approach is over the old Glacier Pass trail. All of the previously reported activity (see AAJ 1976, 2016, 2020) has focused on the main wall, ho...
Iridescent Wall is a distant south-facing point on a southwest spur of Mt. Le Conte (ca 13,960’). The wall, which rises above an idyllic lake nestled in the Miter Basin area, can be reached by a strenuous cross-country route up the South Fork of...