The 2,000-foot-high south face of Abraham in Zion’s Court of the Patriarchs, showing the 2018 routes (1) Munkuntuwap and (2) Pangea. Earlier routes, not shown, were in the vicinity of Pangea. Photo by Dave AllfreyIN ADDITION to one of the heaviest...
In September 2018, Vitaliy Musiyenko and Brian Prince climbed a new route on the southeast face of Langille Peak in LeConte Canyon they called Three Quarters of a Man (IV 5.11c). The two followed slabby crack systems to the base of the main wall...
In August, Jake Smith and I headed into the Sierra, planning to join friends at Tamarack Lake in the Lone Pine Creek drainage below Mt. Stewart (12,205’), keep our options opened, and climb whatever looked good. After the 16-mile march in to camp,...
I met Pete Cutler in Patagonia during the winter of 2017. Since he lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and has a professional career, his climbing time is valuable, and when he does get a chance to take a short climbing vacation, he does things like the Sa...
Ever since Roger Putnam and I started to work on a complete guide to the High Sierra, I became increasingly interested in finding obscure gems around the range. Lone Pine Peak is an often-overlooked giant that has a huge south face and countless b...
In mid-May, Chaz Langlier and I made a trip to East Lake, south of the Bubbs Creek drainage, a beautiful base camp for three days and three nights. During our trip we climbed three routes that were likely first ascents.Climbing with Chaz is always...
The day after a climb on the Ruby Wall in September, Maxim Belyakov and I decided to check out Third Recess Peak (12,520’). We didn’t do much logistical research and were surprised by the approach—about eight miles (including a 12,000’ pass) from ...
In late May and June, Shaun Reed and I made two quick trips to climb on the southeast face of the Cleaver (13,382’), northeast of Mt. Carillon and Mt. Russell. After helping Shaun with the first free ascent of the Butcher (III/IV 5.12, AAJ 2017) i...
Since Roger Putnam and I are in the process of writing a guidebook to the High Sierra, we had planned a scouting mission to figure out all the routes on Mt. Chamberlin. While approaching Crabtree Lakes from the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead in early ...
OVER TWO SEASONS, in the winter and fall of 2018, several partners and I did first ascents of three ice couloirs in the eastern Sierra.The Central Tower of Pine (11,670’) is but a minor bump along the sinuous north ridge of unnamed Peak 12,388’, v...
SCOTT SINNER AND I FOUND the formation we named the Black Obelisk by accident after following some bad guidebook beta while looking for an established route in the area. We returned a week later, on April 21, armed with more substantial equipment ...
On October 20, Myles Moser, Amy Ness, and I hiked into the mouth of rugged Sawmill Canyon from the edge of the desert, about nine miles northwest of the town of Independence. This narrow, brush-choked canyon has thwarted many potential explorers f...
During the summer of 2017, Adam Sheppard, Daniel Jeffcoach, and I went out to Bubbs Creek Wall and attempted a line left of the Samurai Warrior/Ronin (V 5.12a) and Crystal Bonzai (VI 5.11 A3). We climbed to a dihedral toward a huge, guillotine-lik...
MANY HUNDREDS have passed by the Checkered Demon (13,121’) while descending from the adjacent and popular East Arête of Mt. Humphreys. The north side of Checkered Demon features one of the most stunning arêtes in the High Sierra, and the peak is u...
AN ATTRACTIVE and sheer granitic wall juts out of the North Fork of Lubken Creek Canyon, south of Tuttle Creek near Lone Pine. This 1,000’-plus cliff is plainly visible from town and many areas in the nearby Alabama Hills, but our research reveale...
In July, Neal Harder, Sebastian Thau, and I established a nearly 1,000' route on the east side of Lower Tokapah Dome. 1,000 Piece Meal Deal (5.10d) climbs a direct line to the summit and is to the right of previously established routes. The first,...
In October, Brian Prince and I completed the Money Shot (9 pitches, 5.11 C1), a spectacularly steep route that climbs the left side of the prominent Sunset Buttress, the first route up the face. [This Nose-like buttress was climbed by Richard Leve...
In September, Cristina Engel, Neal Harder, and I established the first known technical routes on Confluence Dome (37.445315, -119.242106), located at the confluence of the south and main forks of the San Joaquin River, downstream from Balloon Dome...
In early August, Becca Pilkerton and I approached Mt. Chamberlin (13,175’) from Cottonwood Pass. After a day of swimming and staring at potential routes, we climbed a mostly new nine-pitch route on the west buttress of Mt. Chamberlin’s northeast f...
In July, I backpacked to Upper Boy Scout Lake with my friend Steve Yamamoto and my wife Giselle Field. It was to be Steve’s first true rock climbing experience, and we had the intention of climbing standard routes on Mt. Whitney and Mt. Russell. H...