The Cordillera de la Viuda is a subrange of the Cordillera Central (see Alpine Journal 2000 for more details about the area). With many 5,000m peaks and moderate climbing, it is an interesting place for exploration and climbing. The highest summit...
On June 26, from a high camp at 5,100m, my wife, Jeanne, and I climbed a possible new variation (grade AD+) to reach the previously climbed east ridge on Chaupi Orco (6,044m). Our route was necessitated by deep, fresh snow that forced us to find a...
On August 18, at around 4:15 p.m., rangers were notified that a climber had sustained traumatic injuries in an unroped fall while descending about 200 feet below the summit of the Grand. The climber, one of four brothers climbing together, had tum...
On July 8, we started hiking along Fryingpan Creek and made it to camp above Meany Crest, at around 7,500 feet, by midafternoon. The next day, we woke up at 1 a.m. and started our ascent of Little Tahoma (11,138 feet). We reached the summit around...
On June 2, Jason (45) and I (37) set out to climb the 11 pitches of Prime Rib of Goat (5.9). The sun was out, wind was mild, and we both felt confident in our ability. Starting the fourth pitch (the first 5.9 pitch), I was belaying while Jason led...
About 9:15 a.m. on May 29, Shelby Withington, 20, and three other climbers finished the seventh pitch on Sisyphus, a multi-pitch 5.11 sport route. The group decided to descend there rather than finish the easier last three pitches.In order to save...
A 19-year-old man glissaded into a hole in the snowfield below Aasgard Pass on June 4. This hole, which opens in the spring but is hidden from above, has been the scene of several glissading fatalities. Episode 25 of the Sharp End podcast features...
On July 30, my climbing partner, Stefan Goldberg (62) and I (67, both highly experienced mountaineers) began the Ptarmigan Traverse, climbing north to south. Our plan was to spend 12 days on the route, go as far as time permitted, and double back ...
A 37-year-old man died after falling several hundred feet and landing in a crevasse on the northeast side of Mt. Baker in the afternoon of August 19. The man’s partner also fell and was seriously injured; he was rescued by helicopter. The two wer...
On the morning of July 21, Susan Bennett, 61, and three partners set out to climb the Torment-Forbidden traverse. They completed the south ridge of Torment, and after a bivy on the ridge between Torment and Forbidden they got a late start the next...
Little Cottonwood experienced a wide range of accidents in 2017, including an apparently intoxicated climber who fell 25 to 30 feet to the ground from a sport climb when his belayer failed to catch him. The climber was not wearing a helmet and suf...
On March 11 a 27-year-old man led C.P.O.D., a 5.11- crack climb. None of his companions wanted to follow the climb, and since it traverses to the right, the climber decided it would be easiest to descend and then reclimb the pitch on top-rope to c...
On June 10, my partner Chloe (22) and I (23), both experienced climbers, hiked three to four hours to Big Willow Cirque, high above Salt Lake City. After three trips into this beautiful area that season, I had spotted a new line on a cliff we dubb...
On July 13, Matt Hearn (26) was climbing High Fructose Corn Syrup, a long single-pitch 5.8 at the Slips, a popular Salt Lake beginner area. When Hearn reached the top of the route, his belayer and a few others on the ground thought they heard him ...
On the afternoon of August 13, a female climber (21) and her brother (25) became disoriented while descending Three Fingered Jack when heavy fog blanketed the area. [The standard south ridge route on Three Fingered Jack (7,844’) has a couple of hu...
On August 12, a male climber (age 49) fell while descending the North Sister via the South Ridge (Grade II, Class 4) after summiting the peak with a group of 11 climbers from a local climbing club. The accident occurred in the “Bowling Alley,” a l...
On November 21 at around 11 a.m., two experienced climbers were attempting a multi-pitch sport route called Lost in Space (5.10b). Climber 1 (male, age 28) was leading the third pitch of the route. After clipping the third bolt, a foothold broke, ...
On October 21, JM (40) attempted a rappel from the top of the climb Honey Pot (5.5), located in the Three Bears area. As she rappelled, one end of the rope passed through her device and she fell approximately 30 feet, hitting a ledge, and then fel...
Late in the afternoon on April 16, a male climber (28) was injured after falling approximately 20 feet to the ground in the Moore’s Wall Amphitheater while being lowered from the route Quaker State (5.11a). The belayer’s end of the rope slipped th...
In 2017 there were 16 reported climbing-related accidents at the Mohonk Preserve. These resulted in four head injuries, one spinal fracture, four long-bone fractures, three shoulder dislocations, and minor ankle, wrist, and hand injuries. Ten acci...