In early June 2019, Ian Schwer, Juan Pablo Cano, and I (all Argentina) climbed a new route up the west face of Huamashraju (5,434m; 9°31'27.98"S, 77°23'5.32"W) to the left of El Chumita (see AAJ 2021). The west face consists of a 300m headwall mad...
In July 2019, Nicolas Secul (Chile) and I headed into the Rajucolta Valley in the Cordillera Blanca. The Pou brothers from Spain had tipped us off about their first ascent of the huge granite northeast face of Cashan Oeste earlier in the same summ...
On September 19–20, Nicolas Davalos and I climbed what may be a new route on the rarely visited southwest face of Illiniza Sur (5,263m) in Ecuador’s western Andes. This face, according to our local sources, was first climbed by Jorge Anhalzer and ...
Over October 9–10, Nicolas Davalos and I targeted the very rarely visited southeast face of Chimborazo (6,268m) and its attractive southeast summit, which is commonly known as Pico (or Cumbre) Nicolas Martinez (5,719m). After a relatively short ap...
In late 1996, the late Jean-Christophe Lafaille (France) planned a bold, solo, clandestine ascent of the southwest face of Xixabangma during the first few days of the official Nepal-China winter mountaineering season (December 1–February 15). He w...
On December 13–14, 2020, Juliana García, Francisco Pulluquitin, and I completed the first ascent of Antisana Este (5,580m, 0°29'14"S, 78° 8'28"W) from its base via the south face. This face is located between the central (main) and south summit in...
Pedra do Sertão is located near Marmelópolis in Serra da Mantiqueira, approximately halfway between São Paulo and Rio de Janerio. Despite this formation having an official name, it has no trail to its summit and the cliff is unlikely to have bee...
At the end of July, Mike Pond and I made the trek into the northeast face of Mt. Hitchcock in search of new climbing terrain. We approached via the Russell-Whitney col and set up camp at beautiful Hitchcock Lake, directly beneath the mountain. A...
In July I spent a total of 10 days (including hiking, rest days and resupplies) attempting to rope-solo the first free ascent of the north face of Sundance Pinnacle, just south of the Cirque of the Towers. Four days were spent top-down brushing li...
Back in early 2018, the Kolob Canyon Scenic Drive was about to close for an indefinite period to undergo substantial road repairs, and I was nervous. For years I had enjoyed unfettered access and good fortune, resulting in the opening of multiple ...
In 1996, Peter Croft completed an awesome eight-mile traverse along the crest of the peaks surrounding the Evolution Lakes basin, defining the classic Evolution Traverse. Some ten miles to the south, the jagged Palisades span from Bishop Pass in...
After a low snow year in California, much of the alpine melted out earlier than usual, providing an early start to the high-country climbing season. With an extra day off to explore over the Fourth of July weekend, Johnny Lomas and I decided to ...
As research for the High Sierra guidebook I've been working on for the last several years, I was able to recruit my friend Sean Sullivan for an adventure with the aim of finding an obscure climb on Mt. Bago (11,870’) called Dee-Bees Rib (5.7, Boyd...
Last summer, my friend Tess Smith and I got increasingly involved in route development in the Eastern Sierra, mostly sport climbs. After figuring out that drills should be set to hammer mode and that rocks don’t make good wall hammers, we decide...
On November 4, Emily Harrington (USA) became the first woman to free El Capitan’s Golden Gate (ca 38 pitches, 5.13a) in a single day, the fourth person to free this route in a day, and the fourth woman to free climb any route on El Cap in a day. ...
On a reconnaissance flight into Alaska’s Hayes Range in early September, Ben Lieber and I previewed a handful of promising objectives. Less than 48 hours later, we were making the seven-mile approach from a dry landing strip near the tongue of t...
(1) Stokeman Pillar (250m, 5.11a) and (2) south face of Stoltmann Tower (350m, 5.11a). The first route up Stoltmann Tower, the Lillarete (Brayshaw- Buda, 1999), generally followed the left skyline over both towers. Photo by Paul McSorley If y...
The Batura massif from the south. (G) is unclimbed Muchu Chhish (7,453 meters). See below for the complete caption. Photo by Jon Bowles Photography. Despite very few foreign expeditions reaching the Karakoram in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrict...
On August 3, the day before Alik Berg and I climbed All Along the Watchtower (900m, 5.12-) on North Howser Tower, we spent some time scoping the west face. Traditionally, to get to the start of all the routes on the west face, you have to do sever...
On May 6, Paul Roderick, Charlie Sassara, and I made what we believe to be the first ascent of Peak 8,900’+, a pyramidal mountain approximately 5.5 miles to the southwest of Mt. Russell in the Alaska Range. Paul is the longtime glacier pilot a...