In February 2024, shortly after completing a team-free ascent of Riders on the Storm (1,300m, 5.13a) on the Central Tower of Paine, Siebe Vanhee (Belgium) headed to Cochamó Valley and made a free ascent of Entre Cristales y Cóndores. Located up ...
In late March 2023, Lisandro Arelovich, Federico Barberis, and Glauco Muratti (all from Argentina) climbed Cerro Santa Clara (ca 5,400m, 33°10’21”S, 69°41’35”W) via its northwest slopes. The mountain is approximately eight kilometers west-southwes...
Of the hundreds of climbers who enter Little Slide Canyon every year, only a few venture onto the cluster of soaring, granitic spires positioned on its west slope—collectively known as Little Slide Spires—rising above the approach to the famed Inc...
In early October 2023, Brandon Adams and I put up a new route in Little Slide Canyon on a formation called the Thing, which is down-canyon from the Incredible Hulk. This was the first first ascent of which I’ve been a part, so I was stoked. The ro...
In mid-August, Mo Shtilman and I climbed a route up the prominent central buttress of the west face of the Matterhorn (9,826’) in the Wallowa Mountains. In a state characterized mainly by basaltic crags and broad-shouldered volcanoes, the Matterho...
Located 80km by road northeast of Srinigar, the hill station of Sonamarg (2,730m) has long been a popular tourist destination, with picturesque alpine meadows and lakes. To the south and east of Sonamarg lies a collection of attractive alpine peak...
Thoda Peak (5,604m) and the 2023 route of ascent up the west ridge. Photo by Tom Davis-Merry. Brumkhangse (5,635m, several ascents) is one of Sikkim’s Open Alpine Peaks, accessed from the Lachung Valley to the east. It is surrounded by eight ...
In July, massive rainfall and flooding in Himachal Pradesh caused widescale loss of life and destruction of roads, properties, and livelihood. My wife, Vineeta, and I were to visit the Miyar Valley, but at the suggestion of a friend in Manali, we ...
Nya Kangri (6,480m), at the entrance to the Arganglas Valley, has received multiple attempts, including two from me (AAJ 2017 and 2023). In summer 2023, I tried again with Orestis Mitrou- Kintis, approaching the southeast side from Tirit village i...
Our goal, like many teams before us, was the unclimbed southeast pillar of Baintha Brakk (The Ogre) leading to the east summit. François Cazzanelli and Matteo Della Bordella (both from Italy), Symon Welfringer (France), and I arrived in Skardu in...
Antoine Girard, a pioneer in using paragliders to approach and descend from alpine climbs, climbed Diran (7,266m) in early July after flying to the mountain from the hills above Karimabad, about 23km to the north. Girard launched his paraglider a...
In the fall of 2019, I headed out to the limestone area of La Huasteca in search of a new-routing adventure. My dream team consisted of Kai Jacobson (Canadian photographer extraordinaire), Will McEvoy (English rope ninja), and me, the one who came...
In January 2023, Sam Boyce and I bolted and freed a new route on the north side of El Toro over three weeks. La Sombra de Muerte (1,500’, 16 pitches, V 5.12d) climbs the clean face about 100’ to climber’s right of El Sendero Luminoso (15 pitches, ...
I needed a change of scenery. For once, I wanted no glaciers, no heavy backpacks, no wind and cold. I wanted to climb in shorts. Where there was plenty of limestone and, above all, where you could still explore. So, I and three friends, Gio Ongaro...
I didn’t expect to feel so elated and relieved as I scrambled up the final stretch of Mt. Index’s North Norwegian Buttress (NNB) for the first time on July 28. Although plenty of work lay ahead—days of cleaning, trundling, and bolting—the element ...
On June 4, Michael Telstad and I ventured up the southwest face of Concord Tower in the Liberty Bell group. Our route, which is now perhaps the closest to the Blue Lake trailhead on the west side of Washington Pass, starts in the gully between Con...
In late August, Sam Boyce and I took a three-day weekend to climb a new route on the west face of Bonanza Peak’s southwest summit (9,320’). The Cascadian Route (V 5.10+) gains over 2,000’ in 16 pitches and 2,800’ of climbing. Our route is looker’...
Photo by Victoria Kohner-Flanagan Prayer for a Friend, a striking line on the southwest face of Prusik Peak, had been waiting for a free ascent for 20 years, ever since Fitz Cahall opened the route at 5.12- C1 in 2003, along with Becca Cahall...
On July 3, Alex Perz and I set out to climb a new route on the east face of Cutthroat Peak (8,050’), near Washington Pass. We hiked two miles from Highway 20, then cut right into the large basin to the east of the peak. Alex, having never climbed ...
With world-class alpine climbing right out the back door, my enduring curiosity about the Lake Ann Buttress struck friends as lunacy. The comments included “The rock is choss” and “Beckey said it’s repulsive.” But after staring up at the 1,000’ bu...