“It’ll be, like, 5.10 for you guys! You’ll be able to pull it off in a weekend trip, and, man, it’ll be great climbing. Totally worthwhile!” These were the words of encouragement from Estes Park legend Harry Kent when I first approached him about...
In early May, Zach Lentsch and I set our sights on a massive and unclimbed sandstone cliff near the town of Shell, just west of the Bighorn Mountains. Standing roughly 700' tall, Devils Leap is certainly the largest sandstone cliff in Wyoming, and...
Perhaps the most striking long line in the Tetons is the 1,000m north ridge of Mt. Owen (12,928’), leading into the north ridge of the Grand Teton. The only routes that compare would be climbs on the south buttress of Mt. Moran continuing to its s...
In early November, Blake Berghoff, Aidan Whitelaw, and I attempted to repeat the route Quantum Entanglement (2,100’, WI5 M4, Hoiness-Kisner-Willis, 2020) on Silver Run Peak’s (12,542’) northwest aspect. We found less ice than reported on the first...
In early August, Matt Cornell, Jackson Marvell, Austin Schmitz, and I set off for a two-week base camp–style trip up East Rosebud Canyon to complete a line on Bear’s Face that Jackson, Matt, and Justin Willis had started in 2020. The road to East ...
While approaching the classic California Ice route in East Rosebud Canyon in late November, I noticed ice pouring down the upper left shoulder of the mythical Bear’s Face. In an area known for either very compact or very loose rock, and a scarcity...
In late November 2017, Brent Anderson and I made our first trip into Avalanche Basin in Glacier National Park to climb the ice routes formed by runoff below the Sperry Glacier. We left completely enamored by the beauty and abundance of ice in the ...
To those who look upon it from the east, Aiguille Extra (14,048’), a peak in the Whitney Massif, cries out to be climbed. At the base of the needle is an excellent bivy, cradled in an isolated drainage between Wotans Throne (ca 12,730’) and Pinnac...
Standing beneath Hairline (12 pitches, IV 5.10d C2+) for the first time in 2018, looking up at Mt. Whitney’s imposing east face, I could hardly imagine the vision and audacity it had taken Bruce Bindner and Alex Schmauss to attempt this route back...
As a climber just beginning to explore the Sierra, the possibility of finding unclimbed terrain seemed unlikely. But when I started working as a fire and fuels assessment tech for the U.S. Geological Survey in Sequoia and KingsNational Parks (SE...
On December 17, Christian Black, Chris Koppl, Josef Maier, and I completed a project that I had originally envisioned in 2016. After multiple trips over several years, including a three-pitch false start that dead-ended at unclimbable terrain, we ...
Frozen lakes weren’t part of my childhood in Rhode Island, so I was a little nervous when Jack Cramer and I skied out onto Convict Lake at dawn. The ice came alive with sound: booms, cracks, and all sorts of sci-fi noises. Panicking, I started pol...
The Sierra Nevada is a range where pristine golden granite dominates the landscape. Mt. Morrison, however, doesn’t care about fitting in with the masses. Known as the “Eiger of the Sierra,” the 12,240’ peak’s notoriously chossy northeast face, mad...
From September 13 to 15, Greg Rickenbacker and I finished a new route up the southeast face of the Elephant’s Perch. I grew up in the nearby town of Stanley, so establishing a route on the formation was a longtime dream come true. I first attempt...
The legendary duo of Fred Beckey and Louis Stur made the first ascent of Rotten Monolith in 1961 via its 150’ west face. In a report for the AAJ, Stur described decomposing stone and wrote that the “conspicuous tower...presents a formidable impres...
On May 4, Brad Ward and I climbed a new route on the north face of the west summit of Mt. Heyburn (10,229’). From the upper Bench Lake, our route ascended a large snowfield before entering the broad couloir directly below the summit. We soloed sno...
Over six days in early October, Lani Chapko and I completed The Red Rock Traverse (RRT). A couple of iterations of Red Rock traverses had been done in the past—including The HURT, an impressive ultra-running crossover by Alex Honnold in 2022—but a...
High above the Las Vegas valley, between Red Rock and Mt. Charleston, lies the La Madre Mountain Wilderness. Its tallest, steepest, and most inspiring cliff is the south face of La Madre (8,154’), a 1,000’ wall of limestone. Few people make the ap...
Travis Heidepriem on pitch ten of Golden Corners. Photo by Samuel Crossley. I have always been impressed with Kevin DeWeese’s eye for new routes on obscure formations in Yosemite Valley. Perhaps no route exemplifies this better than Blue Coll...
During a 28-day frenzy on the sandstone walls of Wadi Rum, in January and February 2023, Alberto Luque and Albert Segura (both from Spain) established seven new multi-pitch climbs from 6b to 8a. It was a particularly meaningful trip for Segura, wh...