Mathieu Detrie following M4 terrain. [Photo] Nangpai Gosum collection

In October, four French climbers, Mathieu Detrie, Julien Dusserre, Pierre Labbre and Mathieu Maynadier, traveled to Nepal with the goal of climbing one of the three 7000-meter summits of Nangpai Gosum (also called Pasang Lhamu, after the first Sherpani to climb Mt. Everest). They spent three days attempting the south ridge of Nangpai Gosum I (7351m) but retreated from 6400 meters because of unfavorable conditions. The team decided to salvage the expedition by attempting the nearby northeast face of lower Dzasampa Tse (6295m).

Dzasampa Tse is a minor peak next to the Nangpai Gosum group and nearby Cho Oyu (8201m), the sixth highest mountain in the world, along the border of Nepal and China. The subpeak was originally climbed in October 2004 by two Slovenes, Tadej Golob and Urban Azman, who were part of a larger Slovenian expedition that made the third ascent of Nangpai Gosum I. The pair climbed the southwest face by a route they named Mali Princ (TD+ M5, 600m).

After settling on the new objective, the French team elected to climb the peak in successive days in two teams of two. Dusserre and Detrie made the first attempt. The pair left base camp at 2 p.m., slogging for three hours across a moraine, its boulders still unstable from last spring's earthquake, and bivied below the northeast face. Early the next morning, October 17, they roped up at the bergschrund below the wall and climbed a 60-meter pitch, then climbed a long snow ridge with occasional M3 sections of 70 degrees to a gully with WI4+ ice.

Julien Dusserre at the base of the route at sunrise. [Photo] Nangpai Gosum collection

Higher was the route's crux, a steep WI5 ice gully. The climbing here had thin ice and was difficult to protect with screws. They continued up, climbing 100 meters of 70-degree ice, then traversed around the summit serac. Above was a flat tedious section blanketed with two feet of unconsolidated snow, a tricky bergschrund crossing in loose snow, and the final summit ridge. At about 3 p.m. the pair was just a few dozen meters below the summit, but decided to descend because it was late and ominous clouds were building. They descended the southwest face, making ten rappels down ice and rock slopes to a col, then downclimbing to base camp in darkness.

The next day, October 18, Labbre and Maynadier repeated the route, climbing faster by following the tracks from the previous ascent. The climbers named the route A la Verticale de la Peine, which Dusserre says is best translated as "Approach Punishment." The name originated from the dangerous and difficult hike across the unstable moraine to base camp.

Mathieu Detrie and Julien Dusserre on the summit ridge of Dzasampa Tse. The Sumna Glacier, location of the team's basecamp, is visible in the background. [Photo] Nangpai Gosum collection

Sources: Julien Dusserre, Pierre Labbre, publications.americanalpineclub.org, YouTube

Photo of the late Kei Taniguchi from her story "Being with the Mountain" in Alpinist 52. [Photo] Kei Taniguchi collection

On December 21, Kei Taniguchi slipped and fell to her death while descending Mt. Kurodake (1984m) in Japan's Ishikari Mountains on Hokkaido.

The Japan Times reports Taniguchi, 43, lost contact with her four teammates after she untied from the rope during a group break. "Police say evidence suggests she fell from a cliff to the northwest of the summit trail," states NHK World. Gloves belonging to her were later found, as well as tracks leading to where she likely fell.

In 2009, Taniguchi and her partner Kazuya Hiraide received the Piolet d'Or after completing the first ascent of the Southeast Face of Kamet (7756m) in India, via the route Samurai Direct (WI5+ M5+, 1800m). Taniguchi was the first woman to win this award for climbs that represent the "spirit of alpinism." Her name is listed in ten entries in the American Alpine Journal from 2005 to 2015 for her significant climbs in Alaska, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan and China.

Taniguchi's essay "Being with the Mountain" appears in our latest issue, Alpinist 52--Winter 2015, as part of a feature on modern women alpinists titled "Freedom in the Hills."

"To me, exploring unknown mountains resembles life itself," she wrote in Alpinist 52. "Like many people, I exist, today, entangled in immense infrastructures of data. But I'd like my future to remain mysterious. I want to visit regions with the least available information--to encounter raw nature as it truly is. When I begin to see and touch the land, I'll start discovering what I can do, how I can climb beyond the imaginable."

[Read "Being with the Mountain," from Alpinist 52 here--Ed.]

Taniguchi's story "Being with the Mountain" in Alpinist 52--Winter 2015.

Taniguchi's Selected Climbs (From Alpinist 52)

2005: Second ascent in alpine style of the southeast ridge of Muztagh Ata (7546m), Kun Lun, China; and partial new route on the north face of Shivling (6543m), Himachal Pradesh, India, with Kazuya Hiraide.

2008: First ascent of the Samurai Direct (M5+ AI5, 1800m), Southeast Face, Kamet (7756m) Garhwal Himalaya, India, with Kazuya Hirade, receiving a 2009 Piolet d'Or.

2011: First south-to-north traverse of Naimona'nyi (Gurla Mandhata, 7694m), Tibet, including the first ascent of Gurla's south summit, Naofeng Peak (7422m), with Kazuya Hiraide.

2014: First ascent of Mansail (6242m), Mustang region, Nepal, as the technical advisor to four female college students, Eri Hasegawa, Yukiko Inoue, Kaho Mishima and Mariko Nakamura.

2014: First ascents of the Wasabi Concerto (AI4+ M5+ R) and the Wasabi Sonatine (WI4 M4) on the northeast buttress of Peak 11,300'; a possible new variation, the Wasabi Prelude (V 60 degrees), on the south face and a repeat of the east face (WI4 AI5 M5) of Mt. Dan Beard (10,260'), Ruth Gorge, Alaska Range, Alaska, with Junji Wada, earning a Piolet d'Or Asia.

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The journalist and historian Luca Signorelli, who climbed with Taniguchi in Italy's Susa Valley in 2010, writes:

"She was a beautiful, intelligent, strong and cheerful woman, a great climber and a popular and skillful mountain bicycling tour guide. Kei's humor, grace and charm will indeed stay with me forever."

[Read more about Taniguchi's life and climbs on pioletsdor.com--Ed.]

Sources: Luca Signorelli, Alpinist 52, ajw.asahi.com, japantimes.co.jp, pioletsdor.com, publications.americanalpineclub.org

Ryan Jennings during an expedition to the Alaska Range. Partnered with Kevin Cooper, he climbed the first ascent of Stairway to Heaven (AK 6: A1 WI4 AI5+ M6), on the north face of Mt. Johnson (8460'), Ruth Gorge, Alaska, May 1-4, 2014. [Photo] Kevin Cooper

Late Thursday morning, New Year's Eve, with feet still banged up from a nine-hour ice-climbing outing at Smugglers' Notch the day before, I'm in the office catching up on work. I call a contributor to go over the latest news and he says that the Aspen Times reported an ice climber died after a fall in Redstone, Colorado, but his name had not yet been released to the public.

Redstone, seventeen miles from Carbondale, in the Roaring Fork Valley, is where I learned to climb ice ten years ago. I've since stayed in touch with many members of the community, so I likely knew the climber. I called my old climbing partner Mike Schneiter, and I asked if he knew who died. "I do," he said. He paused. "You do, too. It's Ryan Jennings. He was at the Redstone Slabs. He'd been climbing a pillar that [rarely] forms. It collapsed." Ryan was alone on the WI5 ice pillar, located more than 1,000 feet above the road.

The author (in green) belaying Ryan Jennings on an ascent of Bonzai Pipeline (WI5 M5, Raleigh-Takeda, 1993) in Redstone, Colorado, in 2005. [Photo] BJ Sbarra/splitterchoss.com

I'd been on the phone with Ryan only a few weeks ago to congratulate him on winning a grant from the Mugs Stump Award committee to climb the West Face of Middle Triple Peak in the Kitchatnas, in Alaska. I still recall his sandy voice when I called him from the Bozeman Ice Festival, in Montana, where the winners would be announced later that evening.

"[Kevin Cooper and I] prefer to pack as much fun and suffering as possible into each day in the hills," he wrote in his grant application. "We have always returned to hard mixed climbing as our true calling, and hope to combine this with aid and free climbing to connect systems up Middle Triple Peak."

Jennings was a Carbondale resident, prolific ice climber, husband and father, real estate broker, architectural photographer and contributor to Alpinist. He wrote in "Unspoken" in Alpinist 50, an account of the 2014 first ascent of Stairway to Heaven (AK 6: A1 WI4 AI5+ M6) on the north face of Mt. Johnson (8460') in Alaska's Ruth Gorge:

"I look down at Coop [Kevin Cooper] wrapped tightly in his bivy bag. Spindrift gently covers him till he blends in with the ledge. A peaceful presence hangs in the air. I think of the splendor of life that has led me here. I feel connected to the creator, as if I'm merely an extension of senses sent to experience this place and this moment. Soon I lie back for some sleep, wondering if Coop also feels this connection. For the moment, I'm happy.

'This is the life, Coop,' I say.

'Sure is...sure is,' he replies, too tired to say more."

The North Face of Mt Johnson, Ruth Gorge, Alaska

Ryan Jennings was one of the first people I climbed ice with, when I followed him up Bonzai Pipeline (WI5 M5, Raleigh-Takeda, 1993), a rarely formed, desperately runout route near Redstone. I met Ryan after hiking to the crags with BJ Sbarra and BJ's wife Tracy Wilson. I nervously held the rope that day as Ryan made his way up the route's first pitch. Twenty feet off the ground, he swung a tool around and, using the ice axe handle, bashed a few knifeblades into the granitic choss, then carried on. Watching him climb was one of the most impressive performances I'd ever seen. Above the pins, he climbed a thin varnish of ice over bare rock, stopping to place gear only a few times. In that one-rope length, Ryan became a superstar in my mind.

Later after I started working for Alpinist, we got back in touch and worked together on a few projects, including his story "Timed Just Right" about climbing North Maroon Peak near Aspen. He wrote:

"Five a.m. We sit to brew up under dim skies, two hours after the alarm's first ring. Trees creak in the breeze. I breathe in the fresh morning air. Snow has fallen in rhythmic stages recently, and warm days have combined with cool nights. I envision ice forming up high, ribbons of white snaking down, over constrictions, filling in steep sections of rock. These choss mountains will be safest when ice and snow bind rock together, when the powder and slabs finally blend and sunny faces harden into sheets of neve."

On the day Ryan died, Tracy Wilson recounted: "Our climbing community lost an incredible member. Ryan was an inspiring family man. We're all devastated."

Tracy passed the phone to BJ Sbarra. "He was the conservative one, being calm, and conscious--he was in control all the time," he said. "It was one of those freak things. It's like when ten people ski a slope and the eleventh person hits that one spot that triggers the slide. When I saw the pillar was in, I immediately thought of him [wanting to climb it]. He was solid, wasn't reckless."

Jennings is survived by his two children and his wife Robin Beck-Jennings.

Sources: BJ Sbarra, Mike Schneiter, Tracy Wilson, Alpinist.com, Aspen Times, splitterchoss.com

Doug Walker takes a drink on Mt. Baring (6,125') in Washington, April 2008. [Photo] Joe Sambataro

Doug Walker, a 64-year-old climber, conservationist and philanthropist died on Thursday, December 31, on Granite Mountain (5,629') near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. Walker was snowshoeing up the mountain with friends when they encountered rising winds. The rest of the group turned back, and Walker continued up the peak alone.

His friends waited at the trailhead for two hours, and then called search and rescue after he didn't show up. Over 60 members of several SAR units, including the Kings County Sheriff team, searched for Walker through the night without success. Walker was found dead on Friday morning, January 1, at 10:30 a.m. in a debris field a couple of miles up the mountain. He appeared to have been struck by an avalanche.

Throughout his life, Walker was deeply committed to preserving natural places and access for climbers and hikers. Brady Robinson, Executive Director of the Access Fund, told Alpinist: "Doug was one of our greatest advocates. He was well connected politically as well within the conservation world, and he was a climber at heart. Climbing and adventuring outdoors were core to who he was."

Walker on Forbidden Peak (8,816') in Washington's North Cascades, August 2014. [Photo] Joe Sambataro

Walker was one of the first major funders of the Access Fund's land conservation campaign, and he was currently backing an expansion of the policy program. Robinson notes that Walker served an important leadership role in getting the Access Fund and the American Alpine Club to work closely on significant climbing issues.

In addition, Walker was the current president of the American Alpine Club, the past chair of the governing council of the Wilderness Society, and the former director and chairman of REI from 2005 to 2008. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who used to work with Walker at REI, told KING 5 News in Seattle on January 1, "...our nation lost an amazing entrepreneur and true champion for access to the great outdoors for all people, especially youth. As a brilliant mathematician and devoted outdoors-person, Doug, alongside his wife Maggie, dedicated his time, energy and resources to many educational and environmental organizations, ensuring that young people from all backgrounds have an opportunity to experience the natural world." Secretary Jewell also called Walker a "fun hiking and climbing companion."

Originally from South Carolina, Doug Walker moved west in the 1970s as a student at the University of Washington. Longtime friend Steve Swenson told Alpinist, "Doug was a consistently active climber since his college days."

Besides his conservation efforts, Walker promoted the outdoors to young people, helping found programs at the Seattle YMCA that take thousands of disadvantaged youths climbing, river rafting and hiking. Swenson said, "Doug believed that getting young people outdoors was critical to the nation's long-term preservation and conservation efforts."

Walker crosses a snowfield on Three Fingers (6870') in Washington, April 2015. [Photo] Joe Sambataro

Swenson said that one of Walker's strengths was his ability to work well with other people and user groups to get things done. "Doug cautioned me to be careful to not make enemies with someone whom I may need to work with at some point in the future."

Doug Walker was a well-loved man who knew how to be a supportive friend. He was also obsessed with riddles, and he loved the kinds of counter-intuitive ones that boggled his companions' minds. Robinson recalls, "When we were climbing and I had something important to discuss with him, I'd have to start the conversation by asking that he not incapacitate my brain with an irresistible riddle." Secretary Jewell also recalled that Walker entertained "everyone with math brain-teasers and trivia on the Civil War and Shakespeare along the trail."

Doug Walker is survived by his wife, Maggie, and daughter Kina.

Doug Walker addresses a group of climbers and land managers at the Lower Index Town Wall in Washington in 2010. Walker worked with Washington Climbers Coalition, the American Alpine Club and the Access Fund to raise over $300,000 to buy the cherished climbing area and protect its climbing resource. [Photo] Joe Sambataro

Sources: Brady Robinson, Steve Swenson, americanalpineclub.org, SeattlePi.com, King 5 TV

This year, Rob Duncan, Jesse Mease and Marcos Costa were awarded the Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award to climb the much tried peak Link Sar (7041m), highlighted in the distance. The peak has been attempted nearly half-a-dozen times since 1974, without success, most recently by Andy Houseman and Jon Griffith, who reached Link Sar's West Summit. [Photo] Wiki Commons/Rupert Pupkin [Photo] Wiki Commons/Rupert Pupkin

On January 4, The American Alpine Club (AAC) announced the recipients of the 2016 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Awards. For sixteen years, this grant has supported eighty-six small expeditions climbing in "unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first free ascents, and similar cutting-edge climbing objectives," AAC Programs Manager Jeff Deikis said. This year, sixteen applications were submitted and awards were given, for $6,000, to two teams. The grant is named after the astrophysicist and climber, Lyman Spitzer Jr. (1914-1997).

Team One

Chris Wright and Tico Gangulee planned several objectives in the Kullu Himalaya of India, all of which are unclimbed. "We started with a totally blank slate," Wright told Alpinist, "and I poured through a lot of AAJ's and Himalayan Journals before I picked Stephen Venables and Andy Fanshawe's Himalaya Alpine Style and saw a picture of the Kullu that got me really intrigued." Wright looked into a pair of unclimbed 6000-meter peaks called the Shigrilas and another unnamed peak on the Tichu glacier. "I have a feeling we're going to see even more when we get there."

Team Two

Rob Duncan, Jesse Mease and Marcos Costa will travel to the Pakistani Karakoram for their primary objective: Link Sar, a 7041-meter summit located at the head of the Charakusa Glacier. Link Sar has seen multiple attempts including a Japanese party in 1979, a team that included George Lowe in 2001, and, most recently, by Jon Griffith and Andy Houseman, with a trip funded by the Mugs Stump Award, who attempted the peak four times since 2012. The team then plans to travel to the Choktoi Glacier and climb Ogre II (6960m) by its unclimbed Northeast Ridge. The route was attempted last year by Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson, who were just shy of the summit when Adamson fell 100 feet and broke a leg. Nine hours later, while the team was retreating, their v-thread anchor failed and they tumbled for three hundred feet (and lived).

[Read Andy Houseman and Jon Griffith's recent attempt on Link Sar, where they reached its West Summit, in the NewsWire from August 11, 2015--Ed.]

Every year the AAC gives thirteen grants and awards that offer assistance for up-and-coming athletes, research, conservation of climbing locations, anchor replacement and hard, committing alpine routes.

Sources: alpinist.com, americanalpineclub.org, outdoorresearch.com, Jeff Deikis, Paul Gagner, Janet Miller, Chris Wright

Widow's Tears (WI5, 1,680', Chapman-Worrall, 1975), Yosemite National Park, California. [Photo] Vitaliy Musiyenko

Yosemite Valley isn't known for its ice climbing, but a few waterfalls freeze up in the coldest winters, offering climbers some of the longest continuous ice routes in the Lower 48. Widow's Tears, an icefall tucked into a steep granite amphitheater west of Crocker Point on the south side of the Valley, is the tallest one. Mark Chapman and Kevin Worrall made the first ascent in 1975. It's a WI5 route that is climbed in about twelve pitches. The World Waterfall Database reports the total height of Widow's Tears is 1,680 feet, with an upper drop of 1,200 feet. The famous route forms infrequently so climbers have to wait until it's in condition. In the past few weeks, eight people climbed the route.

[We reported on an ascent of Widow's Tears in a NewsWire on January 18, 2007--Ed.]

Brian Biega nearing the final pitch on Widow's Tears. [Photo] Jimmy Haden

On January 1, Vitaliy Musiyenko, a registered nurse in the Bay Area, free-soloed Widow's Tears. This ascent marks the first documented ropeless ascent of the route. He wrote Alpinist: "I daydreamed about soloing the Widow's Tears for a while, but was not giving it serious thought, as it is so huge and I have not soloed any ice route ever. I ended up climbing the route onsight and free solo." After hearing rumors that the ice was coming in good this year, Musiyenko made plans to climb it on New Year's Day. At the end of work shift, he drove to the Valley, slept a few hours and hiked to the base of route to assess conditions and drop off gear.

January 1, 2016: Helmet-cam footage by Vitaliy Musiyenko taken during his onsight, free-solo ascent of Widow's Tears. [Video] Vitaliy Musiyenko

Musiyenko reports that the temperature was cold and the winds were calm. He said, "I was excited to have my dream route right there. I decided to climb." He said the main difficulties were thin, hollow ice sections where it was hard to get solid pick placements. "While I did my best to have fun, I was also very serious and careful while climbing." One placement sheared off a chunk of ice that cut his nose, but he continued climbing to a stance where he applied snow to stop the bleeding. He reached plastic ice below the top that offered good pick placements. Musiyenko noticed that a party the day before had climbed an easy exit but, he said, "I didn't want the climb to be over and took a steeper and longer option."

After hearing about Musiyenko's ascent, first ascensionist Kevin Worrall wrote him a personal note: "I hope you weren't too gripped to enjoy the architecture up there. That's a major accomplishment that sets the bar a notch or two higher for Valley ice, I'd say." Peter Mayfield soloed The Silver Strand (Chapman-Minks-Worrall, 1977), a 600-foot WI5 in the Widow's Tears area, "some time ago, but the scale of The Tears is a step beyond," Worrall continued.

Brian Biega following a pitch high on Widow's Tears. [Photo] Jimmy Haden

While no records are kept of Widow's Tears' ascents, it has been climbed an estimated 30 times, and it is possible that someone else may have previously soloed it. Musiyenko climbed the route in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Two parties made ascents of the icefall on December 31, 2015, the day before Musiyenko's solo, including Sarah Thompson and Mike Collins. She reported on her Facebook page that it was the third ice route she's ever climbed.

A Valley local, who prefers to remain anonymous, told Alpinist that he soloed Widow's Tears the day after Musiyenko. The anonymous climber ascended Tombstone Falls, to the left of Sentinel Rock, the day before his solo ascent of Widow's Tears. He wasn't alone on Widow's Tears, as he ran into Brian Biega and Jimmy Haden. "It was in great shape, but it was thin in spots. I'm glad I brought a file so I could sharpen my tools while hanging out and waiting for those guys."

"On the first pitch you're definitely climbing two- to three-inch ice and you're banging rock," Haden said. "As you get higher on the route, it gets better and better."

As temperatures are rising, Widow's Tears is quickly falling out of condition and rain is expected tomorrow (1.15.16).

Yosemite climber Dan McDevitt told Alpinist regarding the flurry of activity on the route, "It's the biggest season yet."

Sources: Jimmy Haden, Dan McDevitt, Vitaliy Musiyenko, MountainProject, SuperTopo.com, World Waterfall Database

Maciej Bedrejczuk gearing up on the morning of the second day after a windy bivy halfway up the route. [Photo] Tomasz Klimczak

Polish alpinists Tomasz Klimczak and Maciej Bedrejczuk recently linked two separate routes creating a significant enchainment on the north face of Krivan (2494m), a peak in the Slovakian High Tatras.

"Honestly I do not think we covered any new terrain," Klimczak said. "In the 1980s, Slovaks were climbing in this area quite a lot, so probably someone has been there. Where exactly, we do not know as there are no sources. It is quite hard to make anything new in the Tatras, as almost all the interesting lines were made by the Jerzy Kukuczka generation." Since posting the news of the climb on his social media page a few weeks ago, Klimczak has not been informed that anyone previously climbed this linkup route.

On December 28 and 29, Klimczak and Bedrejczuk climbed the 1960 Jurkowski route (FA: Zbigniew Jurkowski, Andrew Kantowicz) on the lower portion of Krivan's north face, and then finished up the standard route, climbed in 1914, on the northwest face. They called the new linkup Wild and Beauty (grade 6, 650m).

The two routes ascend separate sections of the north face. The wall's lower section faces northeast while the upper section faces northwest. A prominent ridge cuts across the face at half-height.

"There are about 650 meters of altitude gain and it is all [technical] climbing," Klimczak told Alpinist. "The lower section is harder and offers several pitches graded 6 (5.10), with loose rock and sometimes problematic protection." The two climbers bivouacked on a ridge about halfway up the route.

Bedrejczuk leading the last pitch on the first day. [Photo] Tomasz Klimczak

"The lower section took us seven hours," Klimczak said. "The upper section is easier but beautiful. It took us about five hours to the top. The route has alpine character. It is remote and wild with no in-place protection."

(Top) Walking down from the summit of Krivan on a tourist path. (Bottom) Wild and Beauty (grade 6, 650m) follows the marked red line on the north face. Triangle indicates the bivy. [Photo] Tomasz Klimczak

Krivan is a prominent mountain in Slovakian culture. A national vote in 2005 prompted its image to be used on one of Slovakia's euro coins.

The North face of Krivan is rarely ascended due to a long approach and technical climbing on the steep wall. Klimczak and Bedrejczuk are one of the few teams to climb the face in recent years. "Each time it is a great adventure," Klimczak said.

A video of Klimczak and Bedrejczuk climbing on another route on Krivan the previous winter. [Video] Robin Klimas

Sources: Tomasz Klimczak, alpinist.com, facebook.com, portalgorski.pl

Corrado Korra Pesce climbing Psycho Vertical (5.10b A3 M8 90 degrees, 950m), Torre Egger (2850m), Patagonia. [Photo] Roland Striemitzer

Psycho Vertical, a direttissima up the south face of Torre Egger in Argentine Patagonia, finally received a repeat ascent after almost 30 years. Between January 7 and 9, Italian Corrado Korra Pesce, Austrian Roland Striemitzer, and Argentines Tomy Aguilo, Inaki Coussirat and Carlitos Molina climbed the 950-meter route, despite initially arriving as two separate teams.

A strong team of Slovenian alpinists, Janez Jeglic, Silvo Karo and Francek Knez, first climbed the legendary route, considered one of Patagonia's best unrepeated testpieces, in December 1986. The 2016 second ascent was done alpine style without fixed ropes or camps. The five climbers repeated Psycho Vertical (5.10b A3 M8 90 degrees, 950m) in 28 pitches, with aid placements in icy cracks and difficult mixed climbing.

The team of Pesce, Striemitzer and Aguilo attempted the route during a five-day good weather window that began on January 6. The three bivouacked at Noruegos Camp below Torre Egger (2850m), meeting up with Argentine climbers Coussirat and Molina who also planned to climb the same route.

Roland Striemitzer jumaring up the big red corner on the lower half of the route. [Photo] Corrado Korra Pesce

On January 7, the first team began climbing, with Striemitzer leading several pitches up a steep gully. Above, Aguilo and Pesce began leading eight pitches of time-consuming aid climbing. The second team of Coussirat and Molina soon caught up and waited. Realizing that climbing in separate teams would jeopardize their ascent, and after a discussion, the first team began fixing ropes for the second climbers for the next eleven pitches. Team two led the upper section.

The bivouac that night was on a two-man-wide shelf at Pitch 15 below an overhanging dihedral. While Pesce led the next pitch, the others cleared the ledge so all five climbers could squeeze onto it. That night the clouds cleared and the wind calmed.

Corrado Korra Pesce leads a steep aid pitch up the southeast face of Torre Egger on the first day. [Photo] Roland Striemitzer

The next day the teams made quick progress up large dihedrals high on the route, reaching Torre Egger's final mushroom cap at 10 p.m. They bivied on the summit. The next morning the five-man team rappelled the south face of Torre Egger, following Americana, the 1976 American first ascent route.

Patagonia climbing historian Rolando Garibotti congratulated the climbers for their second ascent on his website Pataclimb.com: "A very impressive first ascent, an equally impressive second ascent, because of the style and speed in which it was done. Chapeau! [Hats off!]"

Top: After spending the night on the summit, Roland Striemitzer stands near the top of Torre Egger in the early morning before beginning a long series of rappels. [Photo] Corrado Korra Pesce. Bottom: Torre Egger (2850m) with the route line of Psycho Vertical (5.10b A3 M8 90 degrees, 950m). [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Sources: Rolando Garibotti, Silvo Karo, Corrado Korra Pesce, Carlitos Molina, alpinist.com, pataclimb.com, planetmountain.com

Katie Ives on the summit of The Spearhead (12,575'), in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, after climbing its North Ridge (5.6, 7 pitches, Schobinger-Soby, 1958). July 2010. [Photo] Chris Weidner

Yesterday afternoon, a few before days from completing our latest issue, Alpinist 53, an email came across my desk stating that the Editor-in-Chief of our magazine, Katie Ives will be recognized for excellence in climbing literature at the 2016 American Alpine Club (AAC) Annual Benefit Dinner on February 27.

It stated: "Katie Ives has brought thoughtful analysis, brilliant writing and finesse to climbing literature since joining the Alpinist team in 2004."

The honor, previously called the American Alpine Club Literary Award, was renamed in recent years to the H. Adams Carter Literary Award in memory of a professor at Milton Academy, in Milton Mass., who died on April 1, 1995. For four decades, Carter was editor of the American Alpine Journal. "He made it what it is today," AAC Executive Director Phil Powers said over the phone. "I would get these letters from him typed out saying 'I hear you were in Pakistan, tell me your story.' Getting those letters in the mail was really special. That was back in the days of typewriters. At the time, getting in a magazine or the American Alpine Journal was the only way to get recognized as a climber. We renamed it for him two to three years ago "

"I think where Katie expresses herself so eloquently goes beyond her editorials and articles to include her role as an editor," Powers said.

Previous recipients include:

Jon Krakauer: 1986

Greg Child: 1987

H. Adams Carter: 1988

Ed Webster: 1990

David S. Roberts: 1992

Jeff Long: 1993

Elizabeth Hawley: 1994

Allen Steck: 1995

Steve Roper: 1995

Jonathan Waterman: 1996

Broughton Coburn: 1997

Michael Kennedy: 1998

Audrey Salkeld: 1999

Rick Ridgeway: 2002

Tami Knight: 2003

Galen Rowell: 2003

Brad Washburn: 2003

Mark Jenkins: 2004

John Sherman: 2005

John Long: 2006

Alison Osius: 2007

John Harlin, III: 2008

Maria Coffey: 2009

Doug Robinson: 2010

Royal Robbins: 2011

Bernadette McDonald: 2012

Duane Raleigh: 2013

Freddie Wilkinson: 2014

Jeff Lowe: 2015

Sources: American Alpine Club Executive Director Phil Powers, americanalpineclub.org

The Torre group, showing Cerro Torre, Torre Egger (highlighted), Punta Herron and Aguja Standhardt. Colin Haley completed the first solo ascent of Torre Egger on January 19. [Photo] Alex Proimos/Wiki Commons

American alpinist Colin Haley made the first solo ascent of Torre Egger (2685m), which many consider to be the hardest peak in the Torre group, on Tuesday, January 19. Haley said that after his first solo ascent of Aguja Standhardt in 2010, "Torre Egger became the focus of my soloing aspirations."

He had previously made the first solo ascent of Standhardt in November 2010, climbing Exocet (5.9 WI5, 500m) in 12 hours.

Since then, Haley worked toward soloing Egger's slender needle, spending "time daydreaming about this goal, about what skills I needed to develop, about what strategy to adopt, about what equipment to take, and about whether or not I had the gumption to make it happen," he wrote on Facebook. He hiked into Torre Valley a couple of times to attempt a solo but conditions weren't right or he "didn't have the nerve at that moment."

On Tuesday, conditions were good. Haley left Noruegos camp below the Torre peaks at 12:45 a.m. and after a three-hour approach started climbing. He choose to connect a series of routes to reach Torre Egger's summit. Haley was familiar with this line, having climbed it in 2015 with Alex Honnold.

After climbing to Col Standhardt, he traversed left up steep ramps on the East Face of Aguja Standhardt (ca 2700m), and then rappelled from Standhardt's south shoulder to the upper groove of Tobogan (5.10- A1 M6, 500m), a direct line to Col Dei Sogni between Standhardt and Herron.

[Read the NewsWire "Haley Solos Patagonia's Cerro Standhardt," from December 9, 2010--Ed.]

From the col between Standhardt and Punta Herron, Haley climbed Spigolo dei Bimbi (5.10 90 degrees, 350m), a steep route up an exposed slabby prow to reach the snow-crusted summit of Punta Herron (2750m). He rope-soloed four of that route's pitches. This was the first solo ascent of the semi-detached Herron, a sharp sub-summit of Egger. He then descended 80 meters down Cara Sur to the Col de Lux, a sharp notch between Herron and Torre Egger. Using a self belay, Haley climbed four more pitches of incipient cracks and flakes up the Huber-Schnarf Route (5.10+ 80 degrees, 200 meters) on the slabby North Ridge of Egger to the final mushroom icecap. He reached the summit at about 5:15 p.m. in the afternoon, after 16 and a half hours of continuous climbing.

Haley described the challenges he encountered on the descent as "a bit of an epic" on his Facebook page. He rappelled Egger's South Face to the Egger-Torre Col. After the next-to-last rappel, his rope got hung up. Haley spent several hours bouncing on the rope, moving it inches at a time until it finally pulled free, although the sheath was damaged from his efforts to free it. He continued down without further incident, rappelling over the American Route, the original line up Torre Egger pioneered by Jim Donini, John Bragg and Jay Wilson in 1976.

The next day Haley wrote on his social media page: "I'm sure that yesterday's climb is among the very best climbing accomplishments I have made in my life thus far. Very tired."

Haley and Wyatt Speed Climb Fitz Roy

Before Colin Haley's solo ascent of Torre Egger, Alpinist had been following his other adventures in Patagonia. During the first week of January, he made an endurance feat with American Andy Wyatt.

On January 6, Haley and Wyatt completed a car-to-car ascent of Monte Fitz Roy (3405m), also called Cerro Chalten, in 21 hours and 8 minutes. This is the fastest round-trip time on Fitz Roy to date. The ascent was Haley's tenth time up the mountain and Wyatt's first big route in Patagonia.

The pair climbed the Supercanaleta route (5+ 80 degrees, 1600m, Comesana and Fonrouge, 1965), an obvious line up a gully on the west face to moderate rock and mixed climbing and the summit ridge. This speed ascent was Haley's third time up the route. He had previously climbed it in 2007 with Quebecois climber Maxime Turgeon. In January 2009 he made the second solo ascent in bad conditions (Dean Potter did Supercanaleta's first solo in 2002). Haley told Alpinist, "That day left me more physically and psychologically wasted than I've ever been before or since."

[Read the late Dean S. Potter's account of completing the first solo ascent of Supercanaleta, "The Call of the Wild," first published in Alpinist 0--Ed.]

Haley said Patagonia climbing guidebook author Rolando Garibotti gave him the idea of climbing Fitz Roy in under 24 hours round-trip from the road a few years ago. Haley said, "I always thought it was a cool idea, but it was never a high priority for me."

The duo started from the Rio Electrico bridge, about ten miles from El Chalten, at 10:15 p.m. in the evening. After five-and-a-half hours of jogging, they reached the bergschrund below the route at 3:30 a.m. and began climbing, reaching the summit of Fitz Roy at 11:14 a.m. after another seven hours and 34 minutes.

They simul-soloed the lower couloir, and then simul-climbed the fifth-class terrain above. Haley said, "The hardest moves are on one of the upper pitches on the ridge, but like most alpine climbing, the challenge was in the whole journey, not individual pitches." The pair spent "about six or seven minutes" on the summit, he told Alpinist. "Andy wanted to stay longer, but I was cracking the whip!"

They descended the French Route (6a+ A3 55 degrees, 650m) on the Southeast Face, the line of French climbers Guido Magnone and Lionel Terray's 1952 first ascent. They finished the speed climb at El Pilar at 7:23 p.m. Haley said he could do the round-trip time a couple of hours faster since they moved slowly on some sections of the climb and descent, and they took a 40-minute break at Laguna de los Tres on the hike out.

"I'm not under any delusion that climbing the Supercanaleta fast is really hardcore alpine climbing," said Haley. "I think that climbing harder routes is generally cooler than going for speed on moderate routes. However, going for speed on moderate routes is simply really frickin' fun."

Colin Haley's remarkable season has been the culmination of years of effort, refining his solo-climbing systems and studying the region.

Sources: Colin Haley, alpinist.com, colinhaley.blogspot.com, facebook.com/alpinistcolinhaley, pataclimb.com

Diablo Canyon, located outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. [Photo] Bureau of Land Management

New Mexico medical resident Keith Azevedo stood at the base of Grape Ape in Diablo Canyon, focused on the rope that passed through his belay device. He heard a voice cry out. The sound came from the second-pitch anchors of the neighboring route Appendicitis (5.9+), 180 feet off the ground. A climber was falling.

Azevedo shouted up to his partner Stewart Walter. While Walter prepared to lower, their friend, medical resident Elise Lowe, darted 100 feet around the corner of the Sun Devil Wall to the base of Appendicitis. Azevedo was seconds behind her.

Susan Sarossy lay on the ground surrounded by friends. Azevedo, Walter, and Lowe scrambled to try to save her, but she later died from her injuries.

Diablo Canyon's basalt draws both sport and trad climbers from Santa Fe and Albuquerque. [Photo] Sandra Corso

Fifty-nine-year-old Sarossy was a longtime climber, social worker and mother of two from nearby Santa Fe. That day she was climbing with friends at the Sun Devil Wall, a south-facing 300-foot-high basalt cliff in Diablo Canyon, a 20-minute drive northwest of Santa Fe in central New Mexico. After climbing the two-pitch route on toprope, she reached the anchor. As she was cleaning the anchor and transitioning to descend, something went wrong. It's still unconfirmed exactly what happened. She leaned back and fell.

"An accident this severe hasn't happened in the last ten years," said Andre Wiltenberg, owner of the Santa Fe Climbing Center, where he saw Sarossy climb two or three times per week. He said the gym seemed like her second home, and her death has deeply impacted the community. "She was always joyful, and she was someone who made the community better by connecting people with each other," Wiltenberg said. Heather Volz, a close friend of Sarossy who was at the accident, remembers Sarossy from neighborhood gatherings. Volz says Saross was as an active climber despite receiving two hip replacements. She was a bright spirit in the Santa Fe climbing community, and regularly invited newcomers to climb with her group on weekends. "Susan was that person who really made people feel at home," Volz said, "and she always wanted to do one more climb."

The canyon, the nearest climbing area to Santa Fe, is popular with both sport and trad climbers as well as with local hikers. The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the cliffs, warns against loose rock and rockfall. Despite these dangers, Santa Fe Fire Department Director of Emergency Management Martin Vigil says climbing-related accidents are rare. Yet rappelling accidents are far too common throughout the climbing world. Often, problems occur during the transitions between the climb and the descent. In Yosemite alone, in 2015, such accidents accounted for five deaths, according to Yosemite Climbing Ranger Brandon Latham. "Climbers rappelled off the end of ropes, leaned back from unclipped anchors and forgot to attach belay devices before descending."

Alpinist digital editor Chris Van Leuven talked with Latham to learn more about the bigger picture regarding rappelling and lowering accidents. "When you're done [climbing] some of your stress falls away," Latham said. "Your acuity of awareness drops and you become more easily distracted."

Latham urges situational awareness and routine partner checks. "Getting to the top is not getting home," he said. "You're only halfway there."

Forty-year member of Yosemite Search and Rescue John Dill added, "So many of these accidents are because someone didn't back themselves up or carefully double check their rigging, or their partner was afraid to say something."

To read more about staying safe throughout the transition period, visit John Dill's reports The Belay Chain and States of Mind.

Sue Sarossy died after an accident in Diablo Canyon on January 18. [Photo] Sandra Corso

This story was updated on January 30 at 9:30 p.m.

Sources: Keith Azevado, Sandra Corso, John Dill, Brandon Latham, Elise Lowe, Martin Vigil, Stewart Walter, Andre Wiltenberg, blm.gov, Santa Fe New Mexican, mountainproject.com, rockandice.com, santafenewmexican.com

"Sunrise on the South East Ridge of Cerro Torre as Colin Haley leads our rappels down after a long day of traversing the range," Alex Honnold wrote on his Facebook wall. [Photo] Alex Honnold

Alpinist catches up with Alex Honnold and Colin Haley after the climb

Colin Haley and Alex Honnold have made the second ascent of the "Torre Traverse," (from north to south) and its first one-day ascent. On January 31, the two Americans, starting at Col Standhardt, climbed the four major Torre Group peaks--Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger and Cerro Torre in just over 20 hours (20:40).

In a NewsWire from January 28, 2008, Rolando Garibotti said the north to south Torre Traverse "involves little extreme climbing, with difficulties never above 5.11 and A1."

The traverse was completed once before--in 2008, by Garibotti and Haley. Garibotti and Haley took four days during that first ascent. In January 2015, Haley and Marc-Andre Leclerc reversed the route in four days, calling the south to north version "La Travesia del Oso Buda." Linking up the peaks in reverse has less elevation gain but "much more ice and mixed climbing," Garibotti reported. Last year, Haley and Honnold almost pulled off the first one-day ascent of the north to south traverse, but turned back below the summit of Cerro Torre in a storm.

The route involves thousands of feet of rime-covered stone, snow-mushroom-capped summits, tricky route finding and rappels--along with potential hazards such as storms and rockfall. "Something tells me this record will stand for a long time to come," Garibotti wrote on his website PataClimb.com.

"What makes it demanding is how technical the terrain is, not necessarily how big it is," Honnold said. The total elevation gain is about 2200 meters (7200 feet).

"Honnold leading the north face of Cerro Torre on Sunday evening, at roughly the junction of Directa de la Mentira with El Arca de los Vientos," Haley wrote on his Facebook wall. [Photo] Colin Haley

The pair began by climbing snow and ice to Col Standhardt, and then continued up and left on Exocet (5+, WI5 500m, Bridwell-Smith-Smith, 1988) to reach Aguja Standhardt's summit (ca 2700m).

"Since this climb [Exocet] is done all in crampons, it was my lead block," Haley wrote on his Facebook wall today. "It isn't an especially difficult climb for me in general, but in late-season conditions the ice is more difficult. We were climbing as quickly as possible, and short-fixing three pitches of ice chimney with seven ice screws makes for some serious runouts."

They rappelled to the Col dei Sogni, a sharp notch, and climbed Spigolo dei Bimbi (6b, 90 degrees, 350m, Cavallaro-Salvaterra-Vidi, 1991) to the top of Punta Herron (2750m), a sub-summit of Torre Egger. A short downclimb led to another notch. The pair climbed the Huber-Schnarf (6b+, 80 degrees, 200m, Huber-Schnarf, 2005) up Torre Egger's exposed north ridge to a snow mushroom cap and Egger's summit. Next, Haley and Honnold made several long rappels down Torre Egger's South Face to the Cerro Torre-Torre Egger Col.

"We breezed over Standhardt, Punta Herron and Egger," Haley noted. "It almost felt too easy.... We reached the summit of Cerro Torre at exactly midnight, for Alex's first time and my eighth."

On Cerro Torre, they faced their main challenge: warm temperatures. "The entire north face of Cerro Torre was running water," Honnold said. "And there was a non-stop rain of rime chunks coming down because it was so warm ... The mountain was falling apart above us. It made the climbing wet and slow."

They climbed Cerro Torre via Directa de la Mentira (6b+ C1, 250m, Haley-Leclerc, 2015), first done last year by Haley and Marc-Andre Leclerc. The route goes directly up the face left of the North Ridge, then finishes via El Arca de los Vientos (6b+ C1, 60 degrees, Beltrami-Garibotti-Salvaterra, 2005) to Cerro Torre's famous summit icecap.

The pair descended Cerro Torre's southeast ridge, "which took forever," Honnold said.

Haley and Honnold were able to climb the Torre Traverse so quickly, Honnold says, simply because "Colin is probably more familiar with the terrain in the Torres than any other human, ever. That was the biggest help. For me it was good to feel a little more comfortable on the terrain than last year, just general familiarity."

Honnold compared the route to his other long enchainments.

"The Torre Traverse in a day felt a bit like a combination of doing the Nose speed record and doing the triple link-up [South Face of Watkins; Free Rider on El Cap, and the Regular Route on Half Dome] with Tommy [Caldwell] in the Valley," he said. "It was all about having the logistics dialed and having a clear idea of which team member would be doing what. Colin and I actually talked through our strategy and beta several times the day before and on the hike in to make sure that we knew the plan super well. So when we executed the plan, it went pretty much seamlessly."

Honnold's other big noteworthy Patagonian enchainment was the Fitz Traverse--climbing the Fitz Roy massif's ridgeline, including Aguja Guillaumet, Aguja Mermoz, Cerro Fitz Roy, Aguja Poincenot, Aguja Rafael Juarez, Aguja Saint-Exupery and Aguja de l'S--in 2014 with Tommy Caldwell.

Haley has climbed numerous routes on Patagonia's best known spires, including ten ascents of Fitz Roy and eight of Cerro Torre, and in January this year, Haley and Andy Wyatt made the first one-day "car-to-car" ascent of Fitz Roy, taking just 21 hours and 8 minutes.

Haley and Honnold were taking a break in El Chalten after their wild climb above the Torre Valley when they exchanged information with Alpinist. Asked what was next, Honnold said, "We have a few other little things we might try to climb, but the traverse was certainly my big dream. Cerro Torre is a lifetime summit for me--one of those mountains you have to climb eventually in your life."

"The first part of the Torres Traverse is up Cerro Standhardt, which we climbed via Exocet Since this climb is done all in crampons, it was my lead block," Haley wrote on Facebook. "It isn't an especially difficult climb for me in general, but in late-season conditions the ice is more difficult, we were climbing as quickly as possible, and short-fixing three pitches of ice chimney with seven ice screws makes for some serious runouts." [Photo] Colin Haley

Haley, meanwhile, noted on his Facebook wall, "On no other day of my life have I covered so much extreme terrain, with such a great variety of climbing styles."

This story was updated on February 4 at 12:24 p.m.

Sources: Colin Haley, Alex Honnold, alpinist.com, pataclimb.com, facebook.com/AlexHonnold, facebook.com/alpinistcolinhaley

Aguja Desmochada (ca. 2550m) from the Italian Col. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

On Jan 31, American alpinists Colin Haley and Alex Honnold completed the first one-day ascent of the Torres Traverse (5.11 A1, 2200m, Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger and Cerro Torre).

Then, on Feb 6, Haley and Honnold repeated the Wave Effect (7b+ 40 degrees, 1900m), a traverse of towers on the southwestern side of the Fitz Roy massif. The route--which takes in Aguja Desmochada (via Golden Eagle; 7a+ (6b C2), 450m), Aguja de la Silla (via El Bastardo 6b A0, 500m) and Fitz Roy (3405m) itself (via the famed Californiana "Fun Hogs" route, 40 degrees 6a+, 400m)--was first done by Americans Whit Magro, Nate Opp and Josh Wharton in February 2011.

Since both the Torres Traverse and the Wave Effect were done within one week, Haley said this was his most successful period of climbing to date.

We caught up with Haley via email on February 9 and asked him about his most recent Patagonia outing with Honnold.

Alpinist: Why these towers?

Colin Haley: Actually, it's a very natural and logical linkup; it's just that there aren't many photos that do it justice.

Alp: How does this compare to the Torres Traverse?

CH: The very big difference between the Wave Effect and the Torres Traverse is that the Torres Traverse is full-on alpine climbing, and the Wave Effect is pure alpine rock climbing. The Torres Traverse is about half ice and mixed climbing and half rock climbing--that meant that each of us brought a valuable unique skill set to the climb. Since the Wave Effect is pure rock it pretty much meant that Alex took us up, and I just tried to hang on for the ride. For the same reason I think that Alex found the Torres Traverse more intense than the Wave Effect, and I found the Wave Effect more intense than the Torres Traverse.

Alp: You freed the entire traverse?

CH: Yes. For Alex this is really no surprise, although for me it certainly is. We didn't start out with free climbing as a goal. For me personally, free climbing is usually a fairly low-priority in the mountains. I usually am more into just a totally berserk anything-goes style for speed. However, when we arrived on the summit of Desmochada I had freed everything quite easily up until then without really trying, so I thought what the heck, I might as well try to free climb the rest. El Bastardo (the route we climbed on Aguja de la Silla) turned out to be significantly more difficult than Golden Eagle (the route we climbed on Aguja Desmochada), and in the end I only just barely managed to free everything with some pretty desperate moves in there. Anyway, my free climbing efforts in the end weren't much of a compromise to our speed, because Alex only places pro about once every 20 meters, so pulling on gear would've only expedited one move every once in a long while.

While it is, of course, less surprising for Alex to free everything than me, there is a big difference because Alex was leading all the hardest parts of this link-up. I had the confidence to try desperate moves because if I fell I would've only fallen about three to five meters, whereas Alex was usually massively runout, and that changes the character of hard moves completely. In addition, despite being the one leading, Alex was carrying a heavier portion of group gear than I was--he's simply so much stronger than me on steep granite that it makes sense.

"Alex Honnold starting the third simul-pitch of their Wave Effect linkup on Saturday, February 6, from the 'Eagles Nest' ledge to the summit of Aguja Desmochada," Haley wrote on Instagram. [Photo] Colin Haley

Alp: What problems did you experience?

CH: The only real "problems" was that the climbing on El Bastardo was unrelenting wide (fist cracks, off-widths, flares), and that our packs were heavy enough that all the steep climbing, both on Desmochada and Aguja de la Silla, was much more exhausting, physical and pumpy than it would've been otherwise.

Alp: What's next?

CH: Alex is flying home in a couple days, which I don't blame him for at all. The Torres Traverse in a day and the Wave Effect in a day were the two big goals that we set for ourselves this season, and we got them both done in a week. I may head home early as well, but I haven't decided yet.

Sources: Colin Haley, Alex Honnold, pataclimb.com

The East Face of Fitz Roy (3405m) in Argentine Patagonia. On January 21, Quinn Brett, Max Barlerin and Mike Lukens established the new line "Colorado Route" (5.11c, 45 degrees, 500m) on the South Face of the peak (out of view in this image). [Photo] Lion Hirth/Wiki Commons

After ogling over Patagonia photos at home in Colorado, on the plane ride down to South America, and even from a vantage point overlooking the mountain, Max Barlerin did his best to convince me that we should climb a new route up Fitz Roy. During the start of our trip, while climbing in glorious weather, we started a cost-benefit analysis as a joke to help us decide on our next adventure. As we sat drinking Malbec in El Chalten with Mike Lukens, Barlerin's vision for a line up the south side of Fitz Roy (3405m) edged to the top of the next-climb list.

Quinn Brett climbing a traverse on Pitch 4 on golden granite. [Photo] Max Barlerin

Southern Patagonia is famous for its turbulent and heinous weather. While this is only my third season in Patagonia, every year the mountain conditions have varied from great to desperate. Warm weather spells and melting snow this year have made crack climbing on the south faces more feasible than previously since they were free of ice. So with great weather, we were excited and made a plan to attempt a new route on Fitz Roy's South Face.

The approach across Glacier Peidras Blancas Superior to Fitz Roy is complicated and dangerous, with several large crevasses past Paso Guillaumet. The glacier crossing was difficult. On Day 1, Wednesday, January 20, we delicately crossed two narrow snow bridges, and then climbed to a bivouac site below the intimidating 4,000-foot-high East Face, which towered above our heads.

We simul-soloed up a 60-degree snow slope left of The Brecha (The Gap). Above we rested, ate and worked on our tans while watching the light change as it moved across the monolithic South Face. The light gradually revealed a line that went directly up the wall. We could see the route except for a giant roof and dihedral at the top. We couldn't believe that a line so beautiful and clean was still untouched.

Mike Lukens leads pitch 6: steep, wide hands for 50 meters over a bulge. [Photo] Quinn Brett

On Thursday morning, we woke at 2:30 a.m. and started the approach a couple hours later. Near the base of the South Face, we waited for more light, then climbed snow to the base of the wall. Starting at 6:30 a.m, we jammed a beautiful finger crack to reach a short offwidth section. Then we began climbing the first of many splitter cracks. The fantastic jamming up a thousand feet of splitters offered everything from finger jams and ring-locks to fist jams and occasional wide sections. We climbed thirteen pitches, mostly on 5.10 and 5.11 cracks, on solid golden rock for twelve hours to the top of a headwall.

We simulclimbed the last section to the summit of Fitz Roy. That night, beneath a pastel-colored sunset, we bivouacked on the summit, spooning beneath the summit block to fend off the cold. The next morning dawned clear, with the descent cruxes still below us.

We rappelled down the Franco-Argentine Route, which is a time-consuming, rope-snagging mess. Our ropes got stuck three times, and each of us took a turn to retrieve them. At one point, I climbed sideways through a waterfall to retrieve the rope that hung up. It was challenging to free the stuck lines but our morale was high. After reaching snow at La Silla in the early afternoon, we brewed up, and then made the final rappels down to The Brecha followed by a slushy hike across Piedras Blancas glacier. Our final bivouac was on the shore of electric-blue Laguna de los Tres below the glacier.

We named our new line The Colorado Route (5.11c, 500m). It's an amazing climb. I'm trying to convince Max to go climb it again.

FA: Max Barlerin, Quinn Brett, and Mike Lukens

Sources: Quinn Brett, pataclimb.com

Article updated on February 12, 2016 at 2:51 p.m. EST.

Marc-Andre Leclerc stems up a steep chimney on Darth Vader (VII,8) on Ben Nevis. [Photo] Paul McSorley

"Miserable, wild and amazing," said Calgary climber Jon Walsh as he described this season of Scottish mixed climbing. "The local code of ethics doesn't allow bolting in the mountains so there's a lot of really bold climbs, which a visitor like myself can really learn a lot from." Insecure pick placements and poor protection are common on hard winter routes--something that local climber Dave MacLeod knows all about.

In mid-January, MacLeod--who has climbed up to E11 7a (similar to poorly protected 5.14 trad) and Scottish grade XI,11--completed the first winter ascent of Southern Freeze (IX,9; rated E2 5b in summer) on The Cobbler (850m; less commonly known as Ben Arthur) in the Arrochar Alps. Alpinist caught up with him to find out more.

[For an explanation of the Scottish winter grading system, check out this chart, courtesy of the American Alpine Club --Ed.]

Dave MacLeod's First Winter Ascent on The Cobbler

The peak is named after its distinctive craggy skyline, which when viewed from the correct angle is said to resemble a cobbler leaning over his workbench. "It was an obvious winter line, being festooned with luminous lumps of moss and turf," MacLeod wrote on his blog of Southern Freeze.

MacLeod's first attempt on Southern Freeze was in 2007. "It took me around two hours...to climb the first 25 meters...I just didn't have any more juice in the tank. I scraped about uselessly...then lowered off," he said.

This season, when he arrived back at his highpoint on Southern Freeze, MacLeod climbed through the crux bulge without incident. He found hook placements more easily than he had on the previous attempt, and he soon reached the route's first anchor. Leading the second pitch, he wrote, "I swung around an easy bulge and cruised up the much easier corner above, taking in the spectacular afternoon light looking down the Clyde and across to Ben Lomond."

Ian Welsted looking for tool placements on the huge corner that makes up the first pitch of Unicorn (VIII,8) at Stob Coire Nan Lochan (800m) in Glen Coe. Soaked and frozen, Welsted and McSorley retreated after two pitches. [Photo] Paul McSorley

The day after Southern Freeze, MacLeod attempted the second winter ascent of Mammoth (IX,9, four pitches, Boswell-Robertson 2010) on the front face of The Brack, also in Arrochar.

MacLeod said he didn't look close enough at the route's line before he began. He soon learned that he'd skipped the first 30 feet of the route's first pitch, which was left of his start. He continued on anyway, climbing a corner to a steep crack plastered with rime, which offered difficult pick placements. He successfully completed the remainder of the four-pitch route. "Mammoth is a fantastic pumpy line and quite low stress since its well protected. Southern Freeze [however,] was a good bit harder," he said.

Dave MacLeod recounts struggling to place gear in the iced up cracks of the crux pitch of Mammoth (IX,9, four pitches, Boswell-Robertson 2010) on the Brack (780m).

Marc-Andre Leclerc starts up the first pitch of the Sioux Wall (VIII,8) on Ben Nevis. [Photo] Paul McSorley

Canadians Repeat Hard Routes at Ben Nevis and Glen Coe

Jon Walsh's recent visit was a return trip. "I came back to Scotland because the spirit of climbing here is strong," he said. Walsh joined a group of Canadian climbers--including Paul McSorley, Marc-Andre Leclerc, Paul Bride, Ian Welsted and Michelle Kadatz--to sink ice tools into frozen turf, ice-rimed rock and frosted cracks in Scotland. The Canadians repeated several hard routes up to X,10, despite experiencing slab avalanches, hundred mile-per-hour winds and driving rain.

During his visit, Walsh successfully repeated Knuckleduster (VIII,9, 120m, 4 pitches, Ashworth-Fyffe, 2007), on Ben Nevis (1343m), the highest mountain in Britain.

[Read about the first winter ascent of Knuckleduster--Ed.]

Knuckleduster's crux second pitch follows a traverse and includes corner, face and arete climbing. The pitch was white with rime and coated in verglas, which made for difficult route finding and gear placements. "I was never quite sure whether or not I could trust my gear, although judging by how hard it was for Michelle (Kadatz) to clean, it must've of been adequate," Walsh wrote on his blog.

Midway through the crux on Knuckleduster, Kadatz thought he would fall and zipper out all his gear, and potentially slam onto the belay. "I thought he was going to rip the belay out," Kadatz said. "So I slung a horn to back up the pitons and hexes," she wrote in an email to Alpinist.

For Paul McSorley, finding solid gear placements in the icy cracks proved difficult. "Cams came in handy the odd time, but if the cracks were verglassed or rimed up, they would rip out with a test pull. Almost every passive piece of pro I placed needed a bit of 'encouragement' from the hammer," he said. McSorley took two sizable falls during his trip, both onto hammered-in nuts, which caught him.

Leclerc attempting a variation start to the 100 year-old-route Green Gully (IV, 3 180m, Raeburn-Phildius 1906). [Photo] Paul McSorley

Challenging Conditions Cut Climbs Short

"I've spent nearly two years of my life in Patagonia and the two weeks in Scotland offered conditions comparable to the worst I've ever seen," McSorley said about his visit. "[The Scottish] weather shut us down several times, with high winds up to 120 miles per hour. The joke was they would 'taper' in the afternoon to 90 miles per hour. The wind, wet snow and heavy snow or a combination of all three [stopped us] before or during climbing on several outings."

Warm, wet weather forced the climbers to wait for several days for the right conditions. "It was often too mild," McSorley said. "When this happens, the ice and rime go, the turf thaws and the cliffs are considered out of condition [for winter climbing]. Frozen turf needs to be just that--frozen. When your pick rips out of the turf, the route is not [ready]. When it's in 'good nick,' frozen turf can be that Thank God Jug you need to make the next move."

Snow on the higher elevations of the cliffs also posed a threat to the climbers. While rappelling off after climbing the Sioux Wall (VIII,8) with Marc-Andre Leclerc, McSorley triggered a slab avalanche that knocked him off his feet while still roped. McSorley's prusik back-up prevented him from being dragged down by the slide.

Leclerc leads in full conditions on the Sioux Wall (VIII,8) on Ben Nevis. While rappelling the route, McSorley triggered a slab avalanche that knocked him off his feet. [Video] Paul McSorley

McSorley also attempted the imposing corner route The Unicorn (VIII,8) at Stob Coire Nan Lochan (800m) in Glen Coe with Ian Welsted. The pair climbed two pitches before retreating because of heavy falling snow and windy conditions. "One's ability to get up climbs in the windy weather is directly proportionate to one's own desire to do so," Welsted said.

"Overall we've had a challenging winter season here in Scotland," Simon Richardson, editor of scottishwinter.com, wrote in an email. "The Canadians' visit was one of the highlights. The most outstanding new routes have been climbed by Iain Small-- Shadhavar (VIII,9; E3 6a in summer, Fryer-Tess, 2013) and Gates of Paradise (VIII,8)--both in Glen Coe."

On December 14 Iain Small and Uisdean Hawthorn ascended Shadhavar. The line follows a thin crack, described by Small on scottishwinter.com as "perfect pick width." Small and Murdoch Jamieson climbed the steep Gates of Paradise on February 10. The route goes up ice-coated slabs to a steep mixed section and a roof, finishing on icicles.

Sources: Michelle Kadatz, Dave MacLeod, Paul McSorley, Jon Walsh, Ian Welsted, Simon Richardson, alpinestyle.ca, davemacleod.blogspot.com, scottishwinter.com, ukclimbing.com

Scott Cosgrove during the first ascent of Wild Wild West, on the Northwest Arete of the Central Tower of Paine (2460m) in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. The climb was established from November 17, 1989 to January 12, 1990 and required 40 hours to complete, wrote Cosgrove's partner Jay Smith in the 1991 American Alpine Journal. [Photo] Greg Epperson

Late last night we got word that world-class climber and Alpinist contributor Scott Cosgrove died near his home in Santa Monica, California. A representative at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office Investigations Department told us that 52-year-old Cosgrove was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m. on February 23, in the city of Calabasas. The cause of death is still unknown.

Our condolences go out to Cosgrove's friends and family.

During the past 16 months, Cosgrove had made an impressive recovery from a near-fatal accident. On October 2, 2014, while performing rigging work, he had fallen 30 feet from a crane onto concrete. The impact had caused open fractures above his wrist and below his knee. He had broken ribs, damaged the bones in his face and fractured his skull. Soon after, his sister Lori (Cosgrove) Elbert started a fund on the crowd-source site giveforward.com to help raise money for his recovery. Slowly, Cosgrove returned to the outdoors and began hiking.

Of his death on February 23, 2016, his sister says: "All I know is that he was hiking in the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve in the Santa Monica Mountains. He was hiking and doing really great with his recovery. Apparently a hiker found him face down. It's hard to say what [happened.]"

She continues: "He could only hike about a mile a day because he was still recovering from his injuries." She also said he still had problems with his short-term memory.

Cosgrove began climbing 38 years ago at age 13. He first climbed El Cap at 18. Over the years, he free-soloed up to 5.12; authored four first ascents of aid climbs rated A5, climbed up to 5.14 and guided more than 6,400 client-days, his resume states on camountainguides.com:

As an accomplished wall climber having established big walls in Yosemite, the Yukon and South America's Patagonia as well as conducting guided trips to Jordan, the Himalayas, Alaska, Canada, Thailand and Australia, Scott has over 400 first ascents worldwide, including a first free ascent of the Grand Wall in Squamish Chief, British Columbia. Scott has well over 28 ascents of El Capitan, and has guided El Cap 10 times. He is also well known for doing the first free ascent of...Southern Belle [on the South Face of Half Dome]...in 1987...perhaps the most feared rock climb in the world today.

The recipient of two Presidential Civilian Bravery Commendations during his service on the Yosemite Search and Rescue Team for eight seasons, Scott, as part of a team, earned an Academy Award in 2005 when he received an Oscar for Technical Achievement for aerial camera rigging by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Scott is also an accredited member of the Wilderness Guides Association and a professional member of the American Mountain Guides Association as well as a PADI certified Rescue Diver.

In Alpinist 28 Cosgrove reflected on his early climbing days in Yosemite, where Stonemasters Werner Braun, Ron Kauk and others mentored him:

Eyes scare people, and my city friends call me Crazy Eyes. After you've watched the moon rise on a Patagonian glacier, its light beaconing through a storm as you struggle to survive; after you've glimpsed the red patterns on the blood-spattered ledge where a friend lies; after you've picked out holds to move with grace a hundred feet above gear; after all the lines jump out at you, in all shapes, on what looks like a blank face of rock--your gaze changes.... I wanted eyes like those that came from hard, bold climbs and heavy living, that looked straight through bullshit and death toward something else I didn't know.

After improving his mental edge by methodically climbing tall boulder problems in the Valley floor, Cosgrove set his sights on the big walls. "He applied the highball mentality he practiced in Camp 4 to routes," 1980s Valley climber Bruce Morris said over the phone from California.

Cosgrove recalled one of his most pivotal experiences from his youth, a 1986 free variation called Powerpoint with Werner Braun on Higher Cathedral Rock:

A golden arete like a peregrine's wing spread above the Valley....

The corner pinched off and turned blank. Below my feet, the air swept down to where the arete became like a ship's prow, then over the crest of a stone wave, another three thousand feet to the Valley floor....

There was nothing left to do except try the unknowable, equipped with two years of training and a collection of madmen's parables. I worked out a no-hands rest, pulled up the bolt kit, but in my hurry and inexperience, I drilled too shallow, leaving a quarter-inch button head, overdriven and hanging halfway out of the hole. I leaned back off the holds, reaching up, praying for some secret passage unseen from below...

Pure happiness: I found a flat edge, matched hands, cranked hard. Like magic, another series of handholds came into perfect position, spaced to fit my body. Now I was in danger of hitting the corner if I fell--and unsure of whether my bolt would hold. Kauk's words rang in my ears, Focus on your power-point. Put all your energy to the single move, clear every thought...

Four hours after we started, [Werner and I] sat side by side on the summit.... Below us an ocean of rainbow air flowed high above the Valley. I felt the presence of those who'd sat on this ledge before us and long since vanished. No one who has been there would ever doubt that something more powerful surrounds us...

I'd climb for another twenty years and establish other hard routes, but I owed it all to a man who had enough time to argue with some kid. It took me twenty years to understand that the true heroes are those who do something greater than themselves, who find our true potentiality.

And now I have the eyes, too, the crazy eyes that look right through bullshit, that have stared down death hundreds of times, but they are kind, not crazy; they took a lifetime to earn and a moment to make.

Southern Belle, Half Dome

One of the most important routes of Cosgrove's career was Southern Belle. John Bachar and Rick Cashner started the 1,500-foot project in the mid-1980s but abandoned it partway. Walt Shipley and Dave Schultz then took it to the top of Half Dome but were unable to free it in its entirety. Schultz returned to it with Cosgrove in 1987, and, the pair climbed it at 5.12d R. "This is probably the most feared and difficult multi-pitch free climb in Yosemite," states SuperTopo.com. The legendary climb became a right of passage for some of the world's top climbers--the late Dean Potter, Leo Houlding, Alex Honnold and Will Stanhope. "It's a featured, knobby face [and the] runouts are epic," Alex Honnold said over the phone. "Some of the pitches have a single piece of protection. It's a definite testpiece that has lived on. Hank Caylor broke both his ankles on it and Peter Croft backed off of it."

Cosgrove himself remembered Southern Belle as: "...so hard, we thought we had no prayer, but we pulled it off by a whisper. I often think about the Belle, the long runout that pushed me over the edge sitting on a rock below the massive face with Dave, lost in our dreams...."

Below are some remembrances from Cosgrove's friends and family.

Perry Beckham Recalls a Climbing Partner and Kindred Spirit

"[Cosgrove and I] met in Camp 4 but didn't initiate a friendship until I met up with him and Kurt Smith in Joshua Tree in 1982. As a function of the sport and our age, we all courted peril; we stuck our necks out whether that was free soloing or long runouts or being places we shouldn't be. We were the best of friends.

"I gave him one of his first film jobs in the early '90s, called Bushwhacked. We also worked on Tron: Legacy. His bearing on the job wasn't much different than in his climbing. He had a really strong work ethic, very creative thinking.

"What can't be understated is that Scott earned a place in the southern California climbing community, which was very closely knit. He became a leader in his own right and left his own mark.

"Scott really earned a place in the pantheon of climbers of all times.

"We repeated the University Wall on the Squamish Chief, with Scott just going for it with full max effort. We climbed the three great free routes on the Chief--The University Wall, The Daily Planet and Freeway--all in one week. We were utterly in sync as climbers and human beings.

"Climbing was just a focal point for who we are and why we're here and how we make our lives more meaningful. Our friendship was much deeper than [that of] climbing partners; we became very close friends. He was a kindred spirit. The loss is horrendous."

Cory Dudley Remembers 46 Years of Friendship

"We've been friends since elementary school. The high school mountaineering program, called Carlmont Mountaineering, gave us an opportunity to get outdoors. Ron Kauk went through it.

"Kauk came back and visited [Cosgrove and me] at Carlmont High School with Jim Bridwell and told us stories about the [Yosemite] Valley. I moved there the day after high school. Scott did the same thing, where he rekindled with Kauk, who turned him onto the cast of regulars like Werner [Braun].

"We did four El Cap routes together. We were friends for 46 years, dude. We were there for each other [like when] his dad died. Once Scott almost lost his middle finger on his right hand when a rock fell over it.

"We regularly texted and talked. He loved being outdoors. Since his injury, he wanted to go hiking and camping. We were planning to go to Rocky Mountain National Park and camp overnight.

"I'm just gonna miss the hell out of him. I'm bummed we won't be having any adventures. He loved my little daughter. He was one-of-a-kind you know. He's definitely part of that early tribe that is getting smaller and smaller from the old schoolers. He'll be missed."

Lori Elbert (Cosgrove) Talks About Her Younger Brother

"It's shocking to say the least after everything he went through during the last year and a half.

"I am his only remaining sibling. I'm three years older than him. We had a sister. She passed away about 30 years ago. My mother is still alive.

"He was always very adventurous and he loved climbing. One thing I was always envious of is that he did what he loved for a living. He was the most patient, amazing rock-climbing teacher that I met. He had an amazing ability to get anyone up any cliff. He was always, always very safe. He required people to do things right in the business.

"I remember when I was climbing with Scott one day. I was hysterically crying that I couldn't get down. He gave me the courage and the ability to get down. He was incredible in that way.

"We grew up in Belmont, south of San Francisco. Scott got started in rock climbing in the high school rock-climbing program. I was a leader in the mountaineering class he [joined] as a freshman in high school. The moment he started climbing, boy, he was climbing everything. He would climb up the wall in our house up the banister. He was an amazing climber. He did stuff no one else could ever do.

"One of the things he did was train the Navy SEALs in his 20s or 30s. He had a climbing school called California Mountain Guides.

"One of the things he loved more than anything is my daughter. [I want to have] a celebration of his life. I'm not sure when, but it will be in Joshua Tree. I call his home Joshua Tree because that's where his guide service is. He lived in Calabasas and the LA area for the past 10 years."

Sources: Lori Elbert (Cosgrove), Perry Beckham, Cory Dudley, Alex Honnold, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, Bruce Morris, Alpinist Magazine, camountainguides.com, Facebook.com, giveforward.com, rockandice.com, supertopo.com, unalayee-summer-camp.com, web.stanford.edu

Nanga Parbat (8125m) with the peak's south face shown. [Photo] Martinez de la Varga/Shutterstock.com

3:37 p.m., February 26, Pakistan--Simone Moro (Italy), Muhammad Ali Sadpara (Pakistan) and Alex Txikon (Spain) reached the summit of Nanga Parbat, the thirteenth 8000-meter peak to get a winter ascent. The successful climb leaves K2 as the only 8000-meter peak that has not been climbed in winter.

Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world, is located in the western Himalaya, in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. German climber Hermann Buhl completed the first ascent of the peak, by the East Ridge--reaching the summit alone and without the use of supplemental oxygen--in 1953.

[Read about previous winter attempts on Nanga Parbat here Climbing Nanga Parbat in the Cold Winter Months and here Avalanche Ends Season of Winter Attempts on Nanga Parbat and here Winter Thwarts Poles on Nanga Parbat--Ed.]

International Teams Unite

Members of two separate teams came together to form the final summit team. A total of three teams started up the peak, but one had retreated after fixing lines and hauling loads between camps. Txikon and Sadpara, along with Daniele Nardi of Italy, arrived at Base Camp (4000m) on Nanga Parbat's Diamir (west) Face on December 31. With a second team of climbers--Adam Bielecki and Jacek Czech of Poland--they spent nearly a month fixing ropes and hauling gear to Camps 2 and 3 on the Kinshofer Route (ca. 3500m, Kinshofer-Low-Manhardt, 1962), which follows a buttress left of the Diamir Face.

While hauling gear between Camp 1 (4800m) and Camp 2 (6100m), at about 5800 meters, Bielecki fell about 80 meters, wrote Valentina D' Angella on danielenardi.org. While not seriously injured, Bielecki and Czech opted to abandon the climb. After several rotations on the route from Base Camp to Camp 3, Nardi also chose to descend.

Raheel Adnan's website Altitude Pakistan followed the progress of a third team--composed of Moro and fellow Italian Tamara Lunger--that began on the Messner-Eisendle route. After encountering unsafe conditions, they descended to join Txikon and Sadpara on the Kinshofer Route.

Before Moro and Lunger joined their group, Txikon and Sadpara had several false starts from Base Camp in January, and they had turned back because of avalanche conditions, including one slide that partially buried the climbers on January 29, wrote Igone Mariezkurrena on the website alextxikon.com. Throughout February, the four climbers took turns climbing the start of the Kinshofer Route to maintain the track, but were unable to continue beyond Camp 1 because of high winds.

On February 22, they took advantage of a weather window, climbing the fixed route to Camp 2 the first day. Three days later, on February 25, they made it to Camp 4 (7200m), Mariezkurrena said. Lunger, who became ill, started with the team the next morning, but abandoned her bid a few hundred meters below the summit, Adnan said.

A timeline on Altitude Pakistan's History of Winter Climbing Nanga Parbat details thirty-one known winter attempts on the peak, from the 1988-89 winter season through the 2014-15 season. Six teams attempted Nanga Parbat during the 2015-16 season, including the Polish-Pakistani team on the Schell Route (ca. 4500m, Gimpel-Schauer-Schell-Sturm, 1976) on the Rupal (south) Face; and the "Nanga Light Expedition" on the northeast side, between the Diamir (west) and Rakhiot (north) flanks."

Winter Ascent Guidelines

Back in the 1970s, winter Himalayan ascents were often defined as those that took place during the original Nepali winter permit season from December 1 through the end of February. During the twenty-first century, the definition has shifted to calendar winter between December 21 and March 20, the winter solstice and spring equinox, respectively.

The winter season adds extreme cold temperatures, high winds and unstable terrain, beyond the usual severe conditions encountered on 8000-meter peaks. Winter attempts on Nanga Parbat and K2 have been especially difficult. Adding to the challenge, the two peaks have 4608 and 4020 meters of prominence, respectively, more than any other mountains in the western Himalaya.

"Six teams attempted Nanga Parbat this winter," Adnan told us in an email. "Two on Rupal side and four on Diamir. Apart from the three mentioned teams, [the] summit push of Tomek Mackiewicz and Elisabeth Revol ended at 7500m due to extreme cold in January. They were on Messner-Eisendle route."

Records

This climb marks Moro's fourth time reaching the summit of an 8000-meter peak in winter, states Altitude Pakistan. Simone Moro now has twelve successful summits on nine 8000-meter peaks, including four ascents of Mt. Everest (8848m). Alex Txikon has completed thirteen summits on eleven 8000-meter peaks. Muhammad Ali Sadpara, a mountaineer from the Skardu village of Sadpara, in Pakistan, has completed six ascents of four 8000-meter peaks, including three summits of Nanga Parbat (8125m).

"Climbing any giant in the winter, especially that one shows incredible respect, discipline and courage," Vince Anderson said, who established a 4100-meter route on Nanga Parbat's Rupal Face in September 2005, with Steve House. "They definitely deserve all the accolades they receive for this. It's a huge feat: Out there in the winter, in a true wilderness, on a massive mountain in difficult and dangerous conditions."

This story was updated on March 1 at 9:23 a.m.--Ed.

Sources: Vince Anderson, Raheel Adnan, adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com, alextxikon.com, alpinist.com, altitudepakistan.com, danielenardi.org, simonemoro.com, thenorthfacejournal.com

Matt Burderkin leading new ground on The Siren, with Fitz Roy in the background. [Photo] Tom Ripley

A combination of great weather and strong climbers have made the 2015-16 summer season in Argentine Patagonia one of the most impressive to date. Alpinist already reported a 20-hour traverse of the Torre group, a solo ascent of Torre Egger, and a repeat of Psycho Vertical, also on Torre Egger, and a new route on the South Face of Fitz Roy.

Here are other notable ascents this season in Patagonia.

Cerro Torre

On January 30 to 31, Matteo Della Bordella and Silvan Schupbach did the third ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Cerro Torre (Filo Sureste; 7a [5.11d] A2 WI5 70 degrees, 800m, Kennedy-Kruk, 2012). They completed the route in two days, finishing up the Lama-Ortner variation. On the first day, the pair climbed to the Ice Towers and bivouacked. The next day, they summited Cerro Torre at 3:00 p.m., and then rappelled for eight hours.

Cerro Torre's Southeast Ridge. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

During February 5 and 6, American climbers Andrew Rothner, Mikey Schaefer and Josh Wharton made the second free ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Cerro Torre (8a [5.13b]). Rothner led the crux thirteenth pitch on his second attempt, and Wharton and Schaefer followed it free. Austrian climbers David Lama and Peter Ortner did the first free ascent in January 2012.

"It was a fun climb, and cool to revisit after experiencing some drama with the bolt removal," Wharton told Alpinist. "The coolest thing about this climb for me personally was sharing it with Andrew Rothner. It was his first alpine climb."

[Read more about the 2012 bolt removal on Cerro Torre's Compressor route in Kennedy, Kruk Release Statement and Lama Frees Compressor, Bolts Surrendered--Ed.]

Cerro Fitz Roy

The biggest peak in the area, Cerro Fitz Roy, saw a lot of action this season.

On January 20, Americans Pete Fasoldt and Jonathan Schaffer climbed a new route on Fitz Roy's North Face. Pretty Bird (7a+ [5.12a] A0, 1000m) climbs the face left of the Supercanaleta (5+ 80 degrees, 1600m, Comesana-Fonrouge, 1965), sharing several pitches with Filo Noroeste (6a+ 30 degrees, 1550m, Afanassieff-Afanassieff-Abert-Fabre, 1979), to reach the Gran Hotel, a ledge halfway up. From the Hotel, the climbers jammed a wide crack system up the headwall above. The 1800-meter route also shared three pitches with Clinica de Aventura (6c [5.11b], 30 degrees, 750m; Ackermann-Fiorenza-Villavicencio, 2010).

The east sides of Aguja Poincenot (left) and Fitz Roy with the East Pillar (left) and El Corazon marked. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

The first ascent of Pretty Bird required two bivouacs at the Gran Hotel on both the ascent and descent. The route was named for a hummingbird that fluttered by while Fasoldt belayed. Fasoldt said, "The bird stayed for only a few seconds and flew off the way hummingbirds do. Clearly it was lost."

"The offwidth pitches were the most technically demanding aspects of the climb," Fasoldt said. "Johnny [Schaffer] led a steep squeeze section high up with no gear and that for him was likely the most challenging aspect. For me, I got nailed by a cantaloupe-sized rock on my left thigh low down on the route and had to continue climbing with a compromised leg. [Schaffer] led the whole 12-pitch offwidth block, with difficulties up to 7a [5.11d] R/X. He's a true boss in the wide cracks."

On January 21, American climbers Max Barlerin, Quinn Brett and Michael Lukens made the first ascent of the Colorado Route, a 7a [5.11c/d], 500-meter climb right of the Washington Route on the South Face of Fitz Roy. Americans Mark Westman and Ben Erdmann made the second ascent of the Colorado Route, confirming the route's quality.

While they were in the area, Westman and Erdmann also made the second ascent of Circus Pets (6b [5.10d], A0, 500m, Fasoldt-Simon, 2011) on Aguja Desmochada.

On January 30 and 31, Slovaks Michal Sabovcik and Jan Smolen climbed a new route on Fitz Roy's South Face, Asado (7a+ [5.12a] C2 M8, 700m). It ascends new terrain left of The Canadian Route for 13 pitches before joining the latter and finishing up the Boris Simoncic Route (6a C2, 45 degrees, 500m 45). The pair dry-tooled up the first four iced pitches before aiding and free climbing the rest of the route. They bivouacked on a ledge atop Pitch 8 and then again on Fitz Roy's summit.

On February 6, Colin Haley and Alex Honnold speed climbed an impressive link-up--a traverse of the Fitz Roy massif that includes several spires on the southwestern side of the mountain. In a 17-hour effort, the pair climbed a variation of the Wave Effect Direct (6c+ 5.11b] 40 degrees, 1900m): Golden Eagle and Sound and the Fury on Aguja Desmochada, El Bastardo on Aguja de la Silla and the famed Californiana ("Fun Hogs") route up Fitz Roy. The climb was the first one-day ascent of the Wave Effect and the first free ascent of El Bastardo. "I'll add that El Bastardo was by far the most physical and tiring climbing that I've done in the mountains," Honnold told Alpinist. "Offwidth is tough!"

In early February, Jorge Ackermann and Tony McLean made the first one-day and fourth overall ascent of El Corazon (6c [5.11b] A4, 45 degrees, 1250m, Ochsner-Pitelka, 1992) on the East Face of Fitz Roy. The pair started at 5 a.m. and reached the summit 20-and-a-half hours later. The crux of the route, hooking around a prominent heart-shaped rock scar, was avoided with a pendulum. As referenced above, David Bacci and Matteo Della Bordella also made a three-day, second ascent of the East Pillar of Fitz Roy (Pilar Este; 6a [5.10b] A3 65 degrees, 1200m, Ferrari-Meles, 1976).

Aguja Desmochada east face with Circus Pets marked. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Americans Scott Coldiron, Jess Roskelley and Ben Erdmann also made an ascent of California Roulette (6c+ [5.11c] WI5, ca. 2133m), a variation of Californiana (6a+ [5.10c], 400m, 40 degrees, Chouinard-Dorworth-Tejada Flores-Tompkins-Jones, 1968) on Fitz Roy's southwest face. The climb required negotiating a massive serac in the Poincenot Gully on the west side of Aguja Poincenot.

"We basically did Roulette [on January 4], with a summit of Aguja De la Silla (ca. 2900m; January 5) in the middle for a cool link-up," Coldiron told Alpinist. "Our route choice in the Roulette section (Poincenot Gully) may not have been the best because we added a full day of roped climbing--a couple pitches of 6b [5.10d], an M5-ish pitch and two very tough WI 5+ serac pitches. The day we did California Roulette was full-on Patagonia conditions with a fast-moving Wall of Hate descending on us and making for the real Chalten experience." They finished up Californiana on January 6.

Jay Smith and Robert Finlay wander past the North Pillar of Cerro Fitz Roy with El Corazon marked. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Other Patagonian Areas

The aesthetic but remote Cerro Piergiorgio, a massive granite peak roughly three kilometers or so north of Cerro Torre, was also climbed this season. Japanese alpinists Katsutaka "Jumbo" Yokoyama and Takaaki Nagato made the first ascent of Pilar Canino (7b [5.12b], 600m) on the right side of the West Face of Piergiorgio, an impressive 800-meter wall. Joel Kauffman and Jonathan Schaffer almost did the first ascent several weeks before the successful Japanese attempt, but retreated because of water and ice in the cracks.

Also in January, a British team climbed a new route, The Siren (5+ [5.10b], 500m), on the east face of Aguja Bifida Sur, the lower south peak of a twin-summited tower in the Torre group. Matt Burdekin and Tom Ripley's ascent is thought to be the third of this seldom-climbed peak. On January 18 they climbed 15 new pitches and then joined the route Cogan (6a [5.10b] 40 degrees, 700m, Bruckner-Shoerghofer, 1993). After a bivy, they climbed another nine pitches up Cogan and finished up the South Ridge. The last four pitches on Cogan represented the climbing crux with wet moves on good rock.

"Matt Burdekin in our cozy bivy, situated where The Siren joins the existing route Cogan," Ripley said. [Photo] Tom Ripley

On January 20, Yokoyama and Nagato did another new route, this time on Aguja el Trident, a small peak in the Cerro Pollone cluster north of Cerro Torre. The free route Knob-mania (7c, 400m) follows an elegant line up the west side of the spire.

In late January two Bulgarian climbers, Martin Marovski and Victor Varoshkin, established a new route on El Mocho (1953m) they named The Approach Team Line (6c [5.11b] A2+, 450m). The climb took five days scattered over a month. Before completing the route, they fixed 280 meters of rope. The climb's name refers to their first month in Patagonia, which they spent hiking and exploring in bad weather. The mixed aid and free route offered dirty climbing up flared cracks at the start, then a superb crack system on the upper wall. They believe the route will go free.

The upper part of Fitz Roy from the Italian Col with the Colorado Route (left) and Asado (right) marked. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Two Solo Climbers Report on Their Ascents

American climber Brette Harrington free soloed Austriaca (6a [5.10b] 50 degrees, 350m, Barnthaler-Lidl, 1987) on the northeast face of Aguja de L'S on January 30. "My original plan was to try a link-up that I had envisioned last year of De L'S, Saint-Exupery, and Rafael-Juarez, which is why I climbed De L'S at 3 a.m.," Harrington told Alpinist. "This was my first time on Aguja De L'S. I chose Austriaca, [because it's] the most logical line for a linkup." After completing her solo climb, Harrington discovered other teams on the routes she wanted to climb next and decided against continuing on with her goal. She chose not to solo De L'S, Saint-Exupery, and Rafael-Juarez.

On February 10, Scott Coldiron rope-soloed the Comesana-Fonrouge (6b+ [5.11a], 13 pitches, Comesana-Fonrouge, 1965) on Aguja Guillaumet (ca. 2580m) in the Fitz Roy massif. "I pulled out a rope for the crux pitch and free soloed the rest," he said. Coldiron did the route in a 19-hour car-to-car push. "The Guillaumet town-to-town solo mission was a fun multi-sport endurance day," Coldiron told Alpinist. "I got bit by the bad wind forecasting that's been a factor this season, and endured quite a howler of a windstorm on the climb to add a bit of flavor."

[Special thanks to Rolando Garibotti for carefully documenting Patagonia's new route activity on his website-Ed.]

Sources: Quinn Brett, Scott Colidron, Pete Fasoldt, Colin Haley, Alex Honnold, Josh Wharton, Tom Ripley, climbingguidebg.com, pataclimb.com, planetmoutain.com, ukclimbing.com, wspinanie.pl. With additional reporting by Holly Blanchard, Stewart M. Green and Chris Van Leuven

On November 7, 2015, Alpinist Magazine and Imaginary Mountain Surveyors co-hosted a panel on women's mountaineering writing as part of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. We called it "A Summit of One's Own." Writers in attendance were Angie Abdou, Bernadette McDonald, Margo Talbot, Jan Redford and Majka Burhardt.

In 1929 the British author Virginia Woolf--daughter of the great mountaineer Leslie Stephen--had famously declared that to become a writer, a woman needed a "room of her own," a space away from the expectations and conventions of her society. During this panel, we talked about the various ways that women have created rooms for themselves as adventurers and as mountain writers in a genre largely occupied by men. Our panelists and audience members asked many questions, including these: How much has changed in women's mountain writing since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century? What can be done to encourage greater female participation? What are examples of great female authors who have redefined what it means to roam and to write in the wild? And finally: What are some of the ways in which transcending masculine and feminine stereotypes can free people of all genders to experiment with new writing styles and subjects and to help foster richer, more diverse mountain stories in the future?

I was deeply moved by the stories the participants had to share that day--and by the sense of how urgent they felt these issues are to our community, to our mountain pursuits, our literature and our lives.

What began playing when you loaded this page is a recording of that discussion. Because of a lack of a microphone in the audience section, we weren't able to record the audience stories. But I encourage readers to share their stories, now, in the comments section below. Or to email me if you have questions, queries or even pitches. We've love to add more diverse stories to our magazine from women and other under-represented groups.--Katie Ives, Editor-In-Chief, Alpinist Magazine

The National Historic Landmark previously known as The Ahwahnee, a name that has been in use since 1927. Soon after midnight on March 1, 2016--when the Park's concession holder changed from DNCY to Aramark--this location was renamed The Majestic Yosemite Hotel. [Photo] Julia Reardin

The recent renaming of many of the facilities at Yosemite National Park is drawing considerable criticism from current and former Valley climbers, residents and visitors.

"It's a shame when financial interests are able to trump the importance of cultural heritage in our own national parks," Colby Brokvist, general manager of Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, wrote in an email.

"I think that it's terrible that DNCY [the Buffalo, New York-based concessionaire Delaware North Corporation Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc.] feels that they own the name of something that is part of our history," added Jacob Schmitz, a former long-time resident of the Valley. "I don't understand how a corporation that ran the park for 23 years can copyright a name that the public and the NPS has been using for over 100."

Schmitz was speaking in a generic sense, not singling out one name in particular. Some of the names for man-made facilities and sites in the park have been used even longer. Camp Curry was started, for example, in 1899. That name was later changed to Curry Village. The park's natural features, like Half Dome, are not affected by the concessionaire change; although their names were changed earlier in the history of the Valley by some of the first European visitors to the Valley. (For example, "Tis-sa-ack" is the original Ahwahneechee name for Half Dome.)

The recent name changes are a result of the March 1 concessionaire change.

In mid-2015, the outgoing concessionaire, DNCY, was unable to win a new contract with the Park Service to run hotels and retail outlets in the park. Yosemite Hospitality, LLC, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Aramark, a food-services company, bid successfully for the job.

According to NBC during the competition for the concession, DNCY sent letters to the Park Service letting the agency know it owned trademarks for many of the names that have been tied to famous facilities for decades--properties such as The Ahwahnee Hotel and Curry Village. And, according to court records, "...before, during and after the solicitation process, DNCY repeatedly sought assurances from NPS that it would comply with its obligation under the Contract to require a successor concessioner, as a condition to being granted the New Contract, to purchase and pay for DNCY's Other Property at fair value."

The National Park Service and Aramark subsequently learned that DNCY valued these names at $51 million. However in the lawsuit, filed September 17 with the US Court of Federal Claims, DNCY, "Prays for judgment in its favor against the Government for damages in an amount to be determined at trial, together with costs, reasonable attorneys' fees and other relief that Court deems just"--in other words, no specified amount.

"Because the [previous] concessioner, DNCY, claimed ownership and the right to payment for trade names, trademarks, and other intellectual property that it argues is worth over $50 million, the National Park Service included the option to change the names of these sites...." noted a January statement from the Park Service.

"While it is unfortunate that we must take this action, changing the names of these facilities will help us provide seamless service to the American public during the transition to the new concessioner," said Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher in that statement. "Yosemite National Park belongs to the American people. This action will not affect the historic status of the facilities, as they are still important cultural icons to the National Park Service and the public. Our stewardship of these properties is unwavering."

The statement went on to note the renaming was "to eliminate potential trademark infringement issues."

While DNCY suggested its names are worth $51 million, the Park Service has suggested the value of the names is worth $3.5 million, according to CBS News.

So, to avoid possible costs for the trademarked names, just after midnight on March 1, once DNCY's contract had expired, park workers began mounting new names onto road signs and placing black tape over plaques that carried the old names.

"I know we need to go with the flow, accept change and all that, but it sure seems like this whole business is indicative of the corporate greed so prevalent in our society," said longtime Yosemite climber Steve Bosque.

Signs covering the previous names of two locations in Yosemite: The Majestic Yosemite Hotel (The Ahwahnee) and Yosemite Valley Lodge (Yosemite Lodge at the Falls). [Photo] Julia Reardin

A reservationist who books visitors into The Majestic Yosemite Hotel (The Ahwahnee) told Alpinist there was considerable push back from people looking to stay there.

For its part, DNCY issued a statement regarding the name changes, stating that "DNCY has offered to license these trademarks, free of any charge, to allow NPS or the new concessionaire at Yosemite to use the trademarks and avoid any name changes or impact on the park visitor experience while this dispute is being settled by the courts." Additionally, the press release states: "DNCY has not 'grossly overvalued' the trademarks. DNCY had two independent appraisals of the intellectual property--which includes trademarked names, websites and customer databases--performed by reputable third-party experts.... Months prior to the bid submission deadline, DNCY shared its appraisals with NPS. After NPS disputed DNCY's appraisals and failed to share its own appraisal, DNCY offered to enter binding arbitration to set a fair value for the intellectual property.... It is common practice for concessionaires to use trademarks at federal locations. This is done to safeguard the treasured names, words and symbols from improper use by entities not under contract with the government.

"DNCY hopes NPS and the new concessionaire will not change the names of historic places or venues at Yosemite National Park. We purchased these trademarks when we commenced our work in 1993, as required by our contract with NPS, and our only interest is selling them on to the new concessionaire for fair value, a requirement NPS is obligated to enforce."

Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman responded to DNCY's statement in an interview with Alpinist on March 15.

"First of all DNCY made that offer to both us and Aramark," he said. "We did not accept the offer for two reasons. One--if we accepted the offer we would acknowledge that they owned them. We contest this in both the lawsuit and the petition. And the second reason is that there is no guarantee that DNCY will either rescind the offer in the future or instigate further legal action. We just don't know. That's been the narrative even before March 1."

DNYC also trademarked the expression "Go Climb A Rock," according to DNCY spokesman Glen White, as well as the park's name, "Yosemite National Park."

Gediman contests: "[The name] Yosemite National Park is in public domain so they couldn't get the trademark but they can use it for T-shirts and hats--that's what they own it for. We're contesting that in the trademark office and the court of federal claims. At the end of February, the National Park Service filed a petition to ask the trademark office to cancel these trademarks because we don't think they're legitimate and DNCY is no longer the concessionaire as of March 1."

For the moment, The Ahwahnee Hotel now is the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, the Wawona Hotel is the Big Trees Lodge, Curry Village is Half Dome Village, Yosemite Lodge at the Falls is Yosemite Valley Lodge, and Badger Pass Ski Area is the Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area.

(Top) Curry Village before the concessionaire change. (Bottom) Half Dome Village after the concessionaire change. [Photos] Julia Reardin

In a March 15 email to Alpinist, Aramark spokesman David Freireich wrote, "As you know, the NPS previously announced the names will be changed and that's how we are proceeding. We would have liked for this matter to have been resolved prior to March 1, however, when it became apparent that was not going to happen, the NPS was left with no choice but to change the names to ensure a smooth transition for visitors. Although the names are changing, the historical status of these properties will not change."

On February 26, the National Park Service filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the disputed trademarks so that the old names could still be used by the Park Service and Aramark.

"DNCY paid for those trademarks 23 years ago, so it's reasonable that they resell them to the next guy," said longtime Valley climber Doug Robinson. "So this is just about price, and their asking price is outrageous.... DNCY made millions and millions a year off us for 23 years."

Prior to Delaware North taking over in 1993, the Yosemite Park and Curry Company ran the concessions for 94 years, noted Frank Clifford in a 1993 LA Times article. "The brainchild of schoolteachers David and Jennie Curry, the Curry Co. started out doing business from a few tents in 1899 and eventually grew into an $80-million-a-year enterprise."

Meanwhile, there are community-oriented moves afoot to restore Yosemite's names and to halt similar debacles in regard to historic names.

Name-change opponent Marya Gomez has created an online petition titled Don't Let Corporations Rename Yosemite Icons! which already has more than 105,000 signatures.

Three additional online campaigns against the name changes--"Delaware North: Release the name Yosemite National Park, "Yosemite National Park names should not be changed," and "Stop a corporation from stealing Yosemite's identity"--have been launched via MoveOn.org.

In the California state legislature, three representatives recently introduced legislation to "protect California's state parks from similar exploitation--and to, by the way, ban the state from contracting later with concessionaires who try to trademark park place names," according to the Sacramento Bee.

Big-wall climber Sean Plunkett says the name changes of facilities appear less significant when you look at the larger historical background. The designations of some natural features have already been changed several times from the names the original indigenous inhabitants gave them several times--first by Spanish explorers and then by Anglo visitors, acts that obscured some of the rich cultural heritage of the region's first people.

Nineteen sixties and seventies climbing pioneer Ken Boche noted, "In daily practice, the [most recent] name change doesn't seem to be that big a deal. Yes, it is outrageous, yet in keeping with the current pro-corporation political system, that the Trademark office allowed traditional names like 'Ahwahnee,' 'Yosemite National Park' and the others to be taken out of the public domain and given to a temporary concessionaire. But people will continue to use the traditional names as long as they convey best the localities to their audiences. When I climbed here in the '60s and '70s, it was always called 'The Lodge.' It's still being called that, and I've only referred to it as, 'The Lodge At the Falls' to distinguish it from 'Yosemite View Lodge,' located near the park boundary at El Portal."

Yosemite local Anna Horn told Alpinist: "The dispute to me can only be compared to a bunch of toddlers fighting over a shiny toy. Worse, because this is a fight amongst adults who should have intelligence that is developed beyond a toddler's. However, at the end of the day, I have not chosen to spend my life in this amazing place because of the names men gave to the buildings. Will I sling drinks at The Half Dome Village bar with the same smile and heart I did at The Curry Bar for so many years? Of course. I love this place and that is because of what Mother Nature created. It is home."

The good news for climbers is that one facility--the scene of many long tales and the place where thousands of mad plans have been hatched--is keeping its old name: Camp 4.

Sources: Ken Boche, Steve Bosque, Colby Brokvist, David Freireich (Aramark), Glen White (DNCY), Sean Plunkett, Doug Robinson, Jacob Schmitz, with additional reporting by Chris Van Leuven, The (Bend, Ore.) Bulletin, buffalonews.com, cbsnews.com, fresnobee.com, nytimes.com, nationalparkstraveler.com, npr.org, National Park Service, thepetitionsite.com, prnewswire.com, sacbee.com, US Court of Federal Claims, yosemitepark.com