In the last decade, the use of remote-controlled quadcopters, a.k.a. drones, has skyrocketed. In the United States alone, more than one million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. Today’s ...
In 2019, on my 35th expedition since 1993, I was able to get a permit to lead a group (11 French, two Poles, and one Pakistani) to visit the upper eastern end of the Chiantar Glacier. In 1967 a German expedition penetrated the upper Chiantar, wher...
The Yarkhun Valley runs parallel to the Wakhan Corridor, just to the north in Afghanistan. The labeled glaciers are: (1) Madit, (2) Risht, (3) Shetor, (4) Ponarilio, (5) Kotalkash, (6) Koyo, (7) Pechus, (8) Chhatiboi, (9) Chikzar, (10) Chiantar,...
Koyo Zom (6,877 meters) under fresh snow. The attempt on the northeast buttress generally followed the left skyline. The successful northwest face ascent was near the right skyline. Toward the end of September, almost three weeks after ar...
Koyo Zom (6,877 meters) from the Yarkhun Valley. The northwest face is near the right skyline, with a steep icefield leading to a difficult mixed headwall and the long summit ridge. The upper northeast ridge is along the left skyline. Tom Living...
What wonderful years. Fifteen years ago, newly at the helm of the American Alpine Club, I quoted the AAJ subtitle—“the world’s most significant climbs”—in my first note to members. One recipient reminded me that, “The most significant climbs are ...
On the afternoon of September 16, Marty Vogel (59) was working on Baby Face (5.12b) at Midnight Surf in the Muir Valley. For this route, the climber begins on a ledge approximately nine feet above the belayer. They were climbing in a group of thre...
Granite and Grace: Seeking the Heart of Yosemite. By Michael P. Cohen. Illustrations by Valerie P. Cohen. University of Nevada Press, 2019. Paperback, 232 pages, $21.95. “Tell me what you pay attention to,” writes the philosopher José Ortega y ...
Dr. Robert “Bob” Rockwell’s love of the mountains began in high school when he and friends, quite unprepared, climbed Mt. Whitney and witnessed the glow of an atomic bomb test in Nevada from the summit. The door was off the summit hut; it was full...
Note: Some of the climbs highlighted in this summary are described in more detail elsewhere on this site. Follow the links for additional information and photos from these climbs. The spring season in the Rockies began with a tremendous first asc...
Lonnie Dupre en route to Happy Camp (Camp 1) at 11,200 feet on the east face of Mt. Wood in the St. Elias Mountains of Kluane National Park and Reserve in Canada’s Yukon. Photo by Pascale Marceau On March 11, at 3:10 p.m., Pascale Marceau and...
Aerial overview of the upper south fork of the Fool’s River in the Ragged Range, looking south. The 2019 team’s base camp is marked (BC), with lower flanks of Die Eisspitze to the left. (A) Unnamed Peak, likely unclimbed. (B) Plymouth Peak, cl...
The east face of Howse Peak (3,295m), showing the line followed by Auer, Lama, and Roskelley. Their route started on M16, then traversed left to a bowl above Life By the Drop, continuing to the top with difficult mixed climbing. During their d...
The line of the North Spur (600m, IV) on Mt. Phillips (3,246m) in the Canadian Rockies. The high peak behind the left skyline is Whitehorn. Photo by John Scurlock Simon Richardson and I branched out to new-for-us ground when, in July, we turn...
The line of Eye of the Storm (700m, M6 WI5) on the lower north face of Storm Mountain. Photo by Maarten van Haeren After much discussion over Thanksgiving dinner at Jim Elzinga’s house (and some primo beta from Ian Welsted), Maarten van Haere...
The Russian route Unfinished Symphony on the east face of Jannu. The climbers descended the French route, behind the ridge to the left. Photo by Dmitry Golovchenko Jannu (Kumbhakarna, 7,711m) has four established routes, but the east face ...
The 950m west face of Kyajo Ri and the new Russian line, Way of the Dragon. Photo by Dmitry Rybalchenko From October 2 to 9, Russian climbers Ivan Osipov, Dmitry Rybalchenko, Vitaly Shipilov, and Andrey Vasiliev, on their first trip to N...
The unclimbed north pillar of Chamlang rising to Point 7,240m. The main summit, and the 2019 Czech route on the northwest face, are out of picture to the right. Photo by: Benjamin Védrines Chamlang has a certain aestheticism. Its shape prod...
Brakk Na Brakk from base camp to the southwest. The first ascent route climbed to the large snowfield below steep walls on the left, then moved up and around to the right onto the south face, where a couloir led to the summit. Photo by Tomeu R...
Matyushin Nikolai on the southeast face of Tangra Tower, with peaks on the south side of Khane Valley behind. Photo by: Konstantin Markevich In mid-July, the Russian team of Anton Ivanov, Konstantin Markevich, Nikolai Matyushin, Marina Popo...