Yosemite Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds speaks at the memorial service for Jim Bridwell on May 19. [Photo] Ed Hartouni

On Saturday, May 19, climbers from around the country gathered at the Lower River Amphitheater in Yosemite Valley to share their remembrances of Jim Bridwell.

Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds welcomed the crowd, and the audience heard from a list of accomplished climbers who had been mentored by Bridwell. The speakers expressed different facets of Bridwell's life in climbing, his reputation as a "hardman" and his love of family. Dave Diegelman, Dale Bard, Dick Dorworth, Ron Kauk, Mike Graham, Lynn Hill, Jim Donini, Randy Leavitt and Doug Robinson, among many others, told stories of their time with Jim.

"Bridwell brought so many people together from so many generations," Ron Gomez, one of the key organizers, told Alpinist afterward. Gomez first met Bridwell in Yosemite during the 1970s and developed a closer friendship with him after they reconnected and started spending more time together in 2005. "It was a great weekend--people were smiling; they weren't crying like you often see at a memorial. Jim would've been happy about that. Peggy [Bridwell's wife] was thrilled to see everyone who came out."

Lynn Hill (far right) stands next to Mike Graham and Ron Kauk (both leaning against the tree), and Dave Diegelman is second from the left, among other attendees. [Photo] Ed Hartouni

Mike Graham. [Photo] Ed Hartouni

The gathering to honor the life of Jim Bridwell in Yosemite's Lower River Amphitheater. [Photo] Ed Hartouni

Mike Graham, a member of the Stonemasters and the early Yosemite Search and Rescue team (YOSAR), which was founded by Bridwell, reminded the audience that "a man dies twice: once with his last breath, and then when his name is last spoken," prophesizing that as long as there are climbers in Yosemite Valley, Jim Bridwell will not die.

"The Park Service really busted their butts for this event," said Gomez, who helped arrange campsites for attendees, and who noted in a May 16 SuperTopo.com post that the Yellow Pine Campground had been flooded, but the Park Service worked hard to prepare the sites and have the space ready in time.

The Yosemite Climbing Association was also instrumental in the event while Gomez, Bard and Diegelman provided crucial support to pull off the huge gathering. A traditional Ahwahneechee blessing was given by Julia and Lucy Parker. The mother and daughter are members of the Coast Miwok and Kashaya Pomo tribes. They are known for basket weaving and for their work to preserve Indigenous cultural history.

[Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz contributed to this story. Franz wrote a memorial to Bridwell for Alpinist 62, which is now available in our online store and will soon be available on newsstands. Alpinist 62 also contains a feature by Joe Whittle that discusses the history of Indigenous people and public lands.--Ed.]

Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold on the summit of the Nose, El Capitan. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Sam Crossley

Alex Honnold confirmed with Alpinist earlier today that he and Tommy Caldwell set a new speed record on the Nose of El Capitan this morning, May 30, climbing the approximately 3,000-foot route in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 15 seconds.

"Hiking down.... Psyched," he texted. The previous record of 2:19:44 was set last October by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds, who bested a record of 2:23:46 set by Honnold and Hans Florine that had held since June 2012.

In a phone interview that followed shortly after the ascent, Honnold said he and Caldwell are hoping eventually to break two hours.

"We've only climbed the route eight times together, and we haven't plateaued yet, so it makes sense to do a few more burns," he said. "We're going to rest a couple days, and Tommy is going to spend time with his family, but hopefully we'll be able to try again soon."

Gobright and a host of others observed the record dash up the Captain from the meadow below.

"Jim and I both are psyched they took the record. 2:10 is mind-blowing," Gobright said. "I was watching from the meadow for the whole climb. I was blown away by how little aid climbing they did. They climbed very smooth and consistent but I think they could have gotten certain sections a little more wired. Regardless, it was clear from the start that they would get the record today. Well rested, good temps and not many people on the climb."

Honnold said that Caldwell placed gear while leading to the top of the Boot Flake. "That's partly why we slowed down there. We're still figuring it out," he said.

Caldwell leads the bolt ladder to Boot Flake above Texas Flake. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Austin Siadak

On speed ascents of the Nose, it is common for the leader to back clean or eschew protection along the 5.10 hand crack to the top of the Boot Flake so that the follower can immediately initiate the long leftward pendulum known as the King Swing, instead of having to clean the gear and then lower down to begin the swing. Last year, Quinn Brett fell 100 feet onto the ledge below when she slipped while leading the Boot Flake on a speed ascent; she survived but is now a paraplegic.

Honnold said that he does "more of a tension traverse" instead of a swing, which allows him to move left higher up into the next crack.

The top half of the route, which Honnold led, has been a little "mungy," which made that section the scariest part for him.

"The top [lead] block has been kind of wet and we had to be very conservative there," he said. "It just got dry and warm, so it's about the best it's been all year. Hopefully it will continue to get better."

When asked if he noticed any differences (besides time) between the first Nose speed record he set with Florine in 2012 and this new record with Caldwell, Honnold pointed to the gear.

"The gear has gotten lighter," he said. "But the strategy is the same, with a couple of refinements.... It's all about saving 30 seconds here, 30 seconds there."

Honnold leads the Changing Corners pitch of the Nose while Caldwell belays. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Sam Crossley

He didn't bring jumars for ascending the rope, but he pointed out that the top half, which he led, is the section that "makes more sense [for the follower] to jug," which Caldwell did.

Reel Rock Film Tour is documenting the story for a future film.

Honnold famously became the first person to free solo El Cap via Freerider (VI 5.12d/13a, 3,000') last year. A documentary about that ascent titled "Free Solo" is expected to be released this autumn.

Yosemite's El Capitan with the profile of the Nose visible along the sun-shadow line. [Photo] Murray Foubister, Wikimedia

Alpinist will follow up with any more details as they become available.

[This story has been updated with photos from the June 6 ascent.--Ed]

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell on top of El Capitan after climbing the Nose in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 7 seconds, on June 6. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Sam Crossley

After steadily improving their time on each speed ascent over the past several weeks, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold have achieved their goal of climbing El Capitan's Nose in under two hours--1 hour, 58 minutes, 7 seconds, to be exact.

Official sources have been mostly silent so far, except for a few posts on Instagram and Twitter by Reel Rock Film Tour, BigUp Productions and Patagonia.

Brad Gobright, who set a speed record on the approximately 3,000-foot route with Jim Reynolds last October at 2:19:44, posted a hint on MountainProject.com earlier this morning that the record had been broken: "In honor of this morning's events," he wrote below a link to a YouTube video of the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive."

He confirmed the new record later for Alpinist. "Pretty inspiring and relieving," he said. After breaking the old record of 2:23:46 set by Honnold and Hans Florine in June 2012 last year, Brad told Climbing that it was the most dangerous thing he's ever done--serious words from a guy who has free soloed multipitch 5.12s and regularly climbs ropeless laps on the Rostrum's North Face Route (5.11c, 8 pitches) in Yosemite.

This is the third record Caldwell and Honnold have set on the Nose since May 30 when they posted a time of 2:10:15, and Honnold confirmed that breaking 2 hours was their goal. They nearly achieved it June 4 with a time of 2:01:55, which was still a new record. On that attempt a rope got stuck and cost them a few extra minutes.

Yosemite's El Capitan with the profile of the Nose visible along the sun-shadow line. [Photo] Murray Foubister, Wikimedia

It was also just two days after Tim Klein and Jason Wells fell to their deaths on the Freeblast section (5.11b, 10 pitches) of El Cap's Salathe Wall on June 2. The two men were climbing with Kevin Prince and were very experienced El Cap speed climbers. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Honnold detailed the strategy he and Caldwell used on the climb for Alpinist after their May 30 ascent. Caldwell has been placing gear in the 5.10 crack going to the top of the Boot Flake, a measure of safety that has commonly been eschewed in previous record ascents to expedite the King Swing--a long pendulum to gain a crack system to the left about halfway up the wall. Quinn Brett slipped while leading that pitch last year and fell 100 feet onto a ledge; she survived but is now paraplegic. Honnold also said that the top section of the Nose had been wet and was just starting to dry out on their May 30 ascent.

"We've only climbed the route eight times together, and we haven't plateaued yet, so it makes sense to do a few more burns," Honnold said at the time.

Caldwell and Honnold on their record-setting ascent of the Nose this morning, June 6. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Ted Hesser

Honnold on the final pitch of the Nose on his record-setting ascent with Caldwell, June 6. [Photo] REEL ROCK Film Tour, Corey Rich

For now, we can't help wondering--are Caldwell and Honnold finally satisfied with their sub-2-hour record?

Reel Rock Film Tour has been documenting the story for a future film.

Alpinist will update this story with more details as they become available.

Jason Wells, left, and Tim Klein on the Nose of El Capitan, 2017. [Photo] Courtesy of Stefan Griebel

It is still uncertain what caused Tim Klein, 42, of Leona Valley, California, and Jason Wells, 45, of Boulder, Colorado, to fall to their deaths while climbing fast and light on El Capitan's Salathe Wall with Kevin Prince on June 2, and the accident remains under investigation by the National Park Service.

Klein's wife, J.J. Klein, told ABC7 News that her husband and Wells had climbed El Cap at least 70 times together. They had been climbing partners since college and were very experienced speed climbers who were known to lap the Big Stone multiple times in the same weekend, and on an annual basis.

The day of the accident was a typical busy Saturday, with several different teams of climbers on various routes in the vicinity of where the accident occurred--on 5.7 terrain just below Mammoth Terrace, about a third of the way up the wall on a section of the Salathe known as the Freeblast (5.11b, 10 pitches). What exactly precipitated the catastrophic fall has not been determined and the Park Service has yet to release its report, so officials have not been at liberty to comment for the record.

A June 4 article by James Lucas for Climbing.com includes an eyewitness account from Jordan Cannon, who was climbing on Freeblast that morning. Cannon said that Wells, Klein and Prince passed Cannon's team on the third pitch; Wells was leading and they were moving quickly, short-fixing and not placing much protection. According to Cannon, Prince was ascending a rope that Klein had fixed to bolt anchors above the Half Dollar, and Klein and Wells were apparently simulclimbing the easier terrain above, when Cannon "heard a thud" and saw Wells fall 60 meters and Klein fall with him.

Lucas' article states:

Their rope momentarily caught behind a block and the fall was arrested. Then their cord severed and both Wells and Klein fell approximately 1,000 feet to the ground. Cannon says it was impossible to determine if they had gear between them due to the rope being severed a few feet above Klein's knot.

Now stranded, Prince joined Cannon's team to finish the climb to Mammoth Terrace and access the Heart Ledge rappels.

Klein is survived by his wife and two children, and a GoFundMe page has been started to aid the family.

Wells is survived by his wife and a daughter from a previous marriage.

Remembering Tim Klein

Jim Herson--a friend and climbing partner of Klein who has done a few El Capitan ascents with him each year for the last eight years, and who has known him for even longer--said he's struggled to describe the beloved and admired high school teacher.

Stefan Griebel, left, and Klein after climbing El Cap, 2017. [Photo] Courtesy of Stefan Griebel

"Tim can't be captured in a few words. Or a few volumes for that matter," Herson said. "I don't know a person, no less a climber, whose life mission was so completely focused on helping others. I just got off the phone with his co-director of the Health Careers Academy they run within their high school. Story after story of the profound life-changing impact Tim had on students. As little as the climbing world knows about Tim's amazing climbing, we know even less about his real passion, teaching and helping kids. He was one of a kind!"

Testaments to his involvement with his students and community abound. One photo posted to his Facebook page shows a chalkboard filled with notes that frequently stated, "You were the best teacher I ever had."

Klein set a Guinness World Record on December 30, 2016, to raise funds for a student who had been shot in the head as a bystander during a drive-by shooting. She survived but was reluctant to return to school in a wheelchair. Klein decided he would attempt to beat the Guinness record for scaling the height of Mt. Everest / Chomolungma (8848m) on an indoor climbing wall in fewer than 13 hours--he finished in 9:26:15.

Herson said that Klein "ruthlessly trained for it" with all-night self-belay sessions before going to work at 7 a.m. Herson wrote in an email:

Tim won all sorts of awards and recognition [for it]. But what Tim really did, which was his plan all along, was [to give the student]...the confidence to return to school. Last week she went through graduation with her class. She still has work to do for her diploma. But it was important to her to walk through graduation with her friends and classmates..... The part of this story that I love is that Jason flew out to be by Tim's side and support him the entire day. I had so much fun that day just texting Jason and telling jokes between the three of us to keep Tim climbing. It was my most fun day of gym climbing and I wasn't even in the gym.... Tim and Jason's friendship was the real gift to the climbing community.

Wells and Klein with Brady Robinson (center) on the summit of El Capitan. [Photo] Courtesy of Stefan Griebel

Remembering Jason Wells

Wells was an investment manager who was known for the pure happiness he emanated whenever he was climbing.

"When Jason was climbing a 5.10 hand crack, he would let out these whoops of joy," said his friend Brady Robinson. "You could tell they were sincere and deeply felt. His unbridled enthusiasm is what made him such a joy to climb with."

Those WHOOPS were known among friends as the "Wellsian Whoop," said Stefan Griebel, who set a speed record of 24 minutes, 29 seconds, on the Naked Edge (5.11b, 460') in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, with Wells in 2015. For that challenge, the clock starts and stops at a bridge over South Boulder Creek, meaning the approach and (exposed fourth-class) descent is part of the race.

"It was so fun! One of the funnest climbs I ever did," Griebel said of their Naked Edge record.

Wells and Robinson on the Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. [Photo] Courtesy of Stefan Griebel

Griebel and Wells met each other through their mutual friendship with Robinson around 2010 and quickly became good friends.

"He was a math guy and I'm an engineer," Griebel said. "It wasn't all climbing--we became best friends really easily. He is the only climber I know who never hesitated to invite a third person along. He was so confident in his ability to move quickly, having another along just made it more fun.... And for as much climbing as he did, he had so much love for his daughter and his new wife."

Jason and Becky were married in 2016; Klein was the officiant.

Wells with his wife Becky (center) and Klein on the summit of El Capitan. [Photo] Courtesy of Stefan Griebel

Alpinist will update this story as more details are verified.

Anne Gilbert Chase, left, and Chantel Astorga on the summit of Denali, June 5, after climbing the Slovak Direct. [Photo] Ian McEleney

Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase made what is likely the first female ascent, and only the ninth ascent overall, of the Slovak Direct (5.9 X M6 WI6+, 9,000') on Denali (20,310'). They summited June 5 after starting the climb June 2.

Chase commented on an Instagram post that the route "took everything we had and challenged our mental and physical strength many times over."

Astorga is well versed in the fortitude required for the hard routes on Denali's southern aspect. In 2015 she made the first all-female ascent of the Denali Diamond (5.9 A3/M6 A1 WI5+, 7,800') with Jewell Lund in 2015 (Lund wrote a feature story titled "Ashes and Air" for Alpinist 52 that can be found here). On that trip, the pair went the last two days without food. Astorga connected with Chase the following year, she told Alpinist in an email:

Summer of 2016 I reached out to Gilbert and asked if she had any interest in climbing something like the Infinite Spur. She suggested the Slovak Direct. Last year (spring 2017) we went to Denali and acclimated, and experienced consistent temps of -20F to -30F and strong winds. In early June we finally got a short break in the weather and decided to climb the Slovak. The weather window was by no means perfect and it had the potential to improve or totally fall apart. We climbed for one and a half days and made it almost 3,000 feet (from 11,200 to 14,000 feet) up the route when the weather fully shut down and we got pummeled by snow, strong spindrifts and wind. With nowhere safe to protect ourselves from the elements, we retreated back down to approximately 13,400 feet where we had a protected bivy. The weather continued to deteriorate and therefore we bailed.

The two had much better luck this year. Astorga wrote:

Overall we had really good weather conditions while on route. However, we did experience drier than normal climbing conditions than past parties have reported (i.e. the WI6 pitches were overhanging rotten ice and rock and/or overhanging snice and probably more mixed climbing than normal) The route is very steep, much steeper than it appears and with the right conditions, the slightest bit of wind up high causes the dihedral system that you climb to turn into spindrift alley. Day 2 we accessed the dihedral system and while we couldn't see the summit it was capped with a lenticular producing winds. We had a continuous flow of spindrift coming down and initially we were able to ascend right on the edge of it. Fortunately, the winds subsided and we spent the day climbing technical pitch after technical pitch. That evening at approximately 2 a.m. (I think) we exited the dihedral system and again the spindrift turned back on. We were unable to find anywhere at the base of the rock crux pitch to set up a tent so we chopped out a small bench at approximately 15,200 feet, got in the sleeping bag and sat there until the sun hit us in the early morning. The sun immediately warmed us up, we brewed up some water and set off on yet another few pitches of difficult climbing. At approximately 15,600 feet, you hit a big snowfield that parallels the Big Bertha hanging glacier; this requires trail-breaking followed by a lot of easy but tiring mixed ground, eventually leading to the last technical pitch of the route at 16,500 feet. At this point a small storm had moved in and while the winds were only 10-15mph it was snowing quite hard and the winds were blowing the new snow in every direction. We had now been on the go for almost 36 hours without much rest, our gloves were soaked and we were having a hard time staying warm. In the end we made it to the Cassin Ridge in the middle of the night and found a less-than-desirable place to pitch our little tent and get some rest and awoke to perfect weather conditions for the final summit push. It was an amazing, sustained, and difficult climb that literally keeps you on your toes (ha!) the whole time.

Astorga on the Slovak Direct. [Photo] Anne Gilbert Chase

Astorga on the sharp end. [Photo] Anne Gilbert Chase

Chase in the lead. [Photo] Chantel Astorga

When asked how they complement each other as partners, Astorga replied:

Gilbert is awesome! We seem to complement each other well and be interested in similar styles and share our approach to climbing. We met when we were both guiding on Denali back in 2010. Gilbert has reached out and kept in touch over the years, and we finally managed to make a plan together. Our first time climbing together was when we attempted the Slovak Direct in the spring of 2017. After that trip Gilbert, Jason Thompson and I established a difficult new route on the unclimbed southwest face of Mt. Nilkanth, India [a route they called Obscured Perception (VI WI5 M6 A0 70-degree snow, 1,400m)].

Also on June 5, Colin Haley climbed Denali's Cassin Ridge in 8 hours, 7 minutes, nearly halving the previous speed record of 14:40 set in 2011 by Jon Griffith and Will Sim.

David Allfrey tops out Zodiac on El Capitan at the end of his solo, record-setting ascent June 2, when he finished the route in 10 hours, 52 minutes, 50 seconds. The previous solo record of 11:18 was set by Nick Fowler in 2002. [Photo] Skiy Detray

While many people were watching Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold chase their sub-2-hour record on the Nose of El Capitan, which they accomplished June 6, at least four other speed records were set on Yosemite's Big Stone since May 5-- Brandon Adams and Roger Putnam climbed the Shield in 8 hours, 55 minutes; Josie McKee and Diana Wendt established a female record on the Salathe, climbing the route in 16:24 on June 1; David Allfrey set the solo record of 10:52:50 on Zodiac on June 2; and and Alexa Flower, Jane Jackson and Gena Wood completed the fastest all-female ascent of Zodiac in 16:20 on June 15.

June 2 was the same day that Tim Klein and Jason Wells fell to their deaths while doing a fast ascent of the Salathe with Kevin Prince. Allfrey was unaware of the accident until after he topped out, and he told Alpinist that he was grateful not to have known about it while he was still climbing. He wrote on Instagram:

My ability to process the loss of these great, talented, and kind men feels dulled with tragedy upon tragedy weighing upon our shoulders. We don't want to die in the mountains. We don't want to die on the rock. So please, go carefully, go safely, and follow your heart.

May 5, the Shield (VI 5.8 A3, 30 pitches) in 8:55

This is the third El Cap speed record Adams and Putnam have achieved as a team, after Flight of the Albatross (9:32 in 2017) and Waterfall Route (6:28 in 2016). They each have El Cap records with other partners as well.

"Roger and I sure had a lot of fun on that one," Adams said. "It's always great climbing with someone so capable and confident.... Moving efficiently and consistently can get you up these big faces in short order with modern gear and a good partner."

"We usually only climb quickly together," Putnam said.

The previous record of 10:58 on the Shield was set by Chris McNamara and Cedar Wright in 1999. Putnam said he and Adams used a very similar strategy, but probably with less simulclimbing.

"We only did a little simulclimbing at the end of the Freeblast and in the middle of the Shield itself on the bolt ladders," he said. "Otherwise we short fixed the whole climb. I led to where the Shield branches off from the Muir Wall (after the Silverfish Corner) and then Brandon led to the top.... We did use a hammer. A hammerless speed climb of the Shield sounds kinda sketchy."

Adams and Putnam had not been up the route recently, either--"more than five years ago, we each did the Shield...as an overnight climb," Putnam said.

When asked about the most challenging, scariest or most time-consuming part about a fast ascent of such a route, Putnam said:

The scariest and most time-consuming part of it for me is driving from SoCal to Yosemite and back again in time to work on Monday morning. Seriously. I don't get stressed about the climbing with El Cap speed ascents. It is the commute that gets me the most. The rhythm of speed climbing kinda keeps me focused, confident, and relaxed. Perhaps something is broken in my brain, though....

Adams replied:

Roger and I usually end up in Type 1 fun territory the whole day when climbing together. Efficiency, consistent movement, climbing confidently. We can remain within a reasonable safety margin and have a shitload of fun.

"We've only roped up together five times, too," Putnam added. "Three of those times were speed records and one was a Grade VI first ascent. Pretty funny."

Brandon Adams, left, and Roger Putnam in Zion after the first ascent of Pangea (VI 5.10 A4) on Abraham (visible in the background), March 2018. [Photo] Roger Putnam collection

June 1, Salathe Wall (VI 5.9 C2, 35 pitches) in 16:24

In 2015, Alix Morris and Libby Sauter set a female record of 18.5 hours on the Salathe. Although Sauter was ill and had never done the route before, she still managed to lead the crux aid pitches near the top of the route. The overall record of 4:55 was set by Honnold and Sean Leary in 2009 during an attempt to climb the Salathe, the Nose and Half Dome in a day, but they had canceled the final climb because of their exhaustion in the heat; they completed a linkup of three El Cap routes in 2010.

Sauter recently told Jeff Chapman in a story on Climbing.com titled "In Depth: The Evolution of the Nose Speed Record," that she has stepped away from the pursuit after Quinn Brett's fall and the deaths of other friends.

"Watching someone go from able-bodied and capable to watching them adapting to paralysis--I don't think you can really appreciate the gravity of it until you are that close to somebody," she told Chapman. "It sure makes speed climbing a whole lot less cool.... It is everyone's personal choice. I'm not telling people not to speed climb, but I'm very much aware that that kind of speed climbing isn't for me anymore."

Diana Wendt leads through the roof on the Salathe headwall during her record-setting ascent with Josie McKee on June 1. [Photo] Josie McKee

Like Morris and Sauter, McKee and Wendt weren't necessarily focused on setting a record, and they were just climbing with the aim of moving efficiently. McKee told Alpinist:

We weren't specifically trying to break the record, but it was a bonus to go up...as a female team, thinking we could probably climb it faster than the only other female team that had done it. I showed up in the valley on a quick break from work with two goals: one was to climb with one of my favorite partners, Diana, before she left to Africa for six months. The second was to convince someone to go up the on the SIAD [Salathe-in-a-day], so I could get more mileage on it, working towards a different goal (if I can climb it faster, I can climb more). It didn't take much arm-twisting to get the always enthusiastic Diana to go up a route that she loves, thus accomplishing both objectives! And now I know we can go much faster....

Diana is a super strong climber who happens to know the Salathe wall fairly well, but she doesn't really "speed" climb for the sake of it. She has only climbed El Cap once in a day before this: a NIAD [Nose-in-a-day] we did together four years ago. And this was the first time I had climbed El Cap again since Quinn's accident [Quinn Brett fell while leading the Boot Flake on the Nose last year and is now paralyzed from the waist down]. My mentality wasn't really in "speed mode." I believe that if it was climbed by a team of two women that routinely climb El Cap in a day and have the route streamlined, the time would fall significantly. I do still think it would be a slower time than the Nose, due to a fair bit of wide climbing, the cruxes being at the top when you're tired and the harder mandatory free climbing. I've heard a number of people say that their SIAD time is roughly twice as long as their NIAD time.

Both women are quite familiar with the route. They worked on Freerider together last year, a 5.12d free climb that shares many pitches of the Salathe, and they did "one run up between Heart Ledges and the Alcove (pitches 11-19) several days before, mostly to work on our simulclimbing system (which we had never done together)," McKee said.

When asked about the most challenging or time-consuming part during a rapid ascent of the Salathe, McKee responded:

Two pitches stand out to me as being challenging: the second pitch of the headwall has some trickery--I did three hand-placed beak moves (back-cleaning the first because I only brought 2 beaks), then a tiny (the smallest offset) nut, into some mandatory free moves, which aren't that hard but always feel scary with that [small] gear below you [when you're] at the top of the headwall at the end of the day. Then there is the pitch off Long Ledge. On previous ascents, I have done the original pitch (to the right), which now has a pin missing and turns the "5.8 C2" pitch into a slippery 5.10+ R/X pitch. I led that last September, without knowing the pin was missing and decided I never needed to do it again--unless someone replaces the pin! So, I opted for the free variation instead (5.11+, but, for efficiency, I think it was 5.11 AO and steep!), which felt hard and intimidating to lead for the first time at Hour 15!

Wendt, left, and McKee. [Photo] Diana Wendt

June 2, Zodiac (VI 5.7 A2, 15 pitches), solo in 10:52:50

The previous solo record of 11:18 was set by Nick Fowler in 2002. The overall speed record of 1:51:34 was set by Alexander and Thomas Huber in 2004.

Allfrey posted on Instagram:

On Saturday I soloed the Zodiac on the Southeast Face of El Capitan. I set out with the goal of climbing quickly, going fast. I had spent months, years really, thinking about how to accomplish this. I am not a soloist, more of social butterfly. Alone on the wall doesn't really work for me. Regardless, I had put this off far too long.

My goal was to be safe, but I would be lying if it wasn't to try and go as fast as I could. I love climbing walls in this way, it has been a driving force in my life for nearly 10 years. I planned to use rope systems, technical skills and efficiencies, and good fitness to make this fast.

I climbed with a 100-meter rope allowing me to retreat at any time, a hearty rack, and plenty of rope tricks. I had visualized these systems over and over, thinking through every detail I could come up with, I spent hours, years, contemplating every last detail of how I would do this so I could execute perfectly.

In the end it was a whirlwind of motion. I was as nervous and anxious going into it as I have ever been about El Capitan. It became a fluid rhythm of up and down, clipping, pulling, climbing, rapping. I pushed to keep my heart rate up, to keep my hands moving. I found an incredible focus. Things worked, systems went smoothly and I had the day I had hoped for finishing the route in 10 hours 52 minutes.

Returning to the ground was bitter sweet however. The pride I felt in my accomplishment faded when I heard two fellow big wall climbers, speed climbers, had died in a terrible accident on the other side of El Capitan. A slip, a mistake, a broken hold, we will never know exactly, but in the end two great men, fathers, givers, happy, joyous guys who I had seen many times in the vertical world of El Capitan were gone....

Allfrey, who is associated with quite a few El Cap records listed on YosemiteBigwall.com, elaborated for Alpinist:

I had done the route five times since 2009, but I haven't been on the route in two years or so. I never went up to it before soloing it, sort of beside the point in my opinion. I love trying to climb things fast, but for most 'speed climbing' is not like those guys on the Nose dialing in every little moment of the climb. I like to climb big routes quickly but it's not about making it rehearsed in most situations, though.

As for hammerless, I have never nailed on the route, it always takes a few hand-placed beaks. Most of the pitches seemed about as I remembered them but the Flying Buttress, the pitch before the Nipple, was a little more difficult than I had remembered it being because of a few variations to the fixed gear; that'll happen. But what made it possible was a double and triple set of Totem Cams. Those things just work like no other in pin scars. I felt like that was key.

[The scariest part was] probably just zipping back down the rappel line at the Nipple and Mark of Zorro pitches, you are so far off the ground and the pitches are so steep that you end up...almost 40 feet [out] from the wall [when you are level with the belay]. It's a bit unnerving but I was so focused I didn't spend too much time contemplating it; it was work, work, work....

I barely stopped to eat; mostly I smashed bars into my mouth and then rappelled or chewed while cleaning an anchor and jugging. I felt like I was moving really constantly, not frantically fast, just consistent and sustained, trying to not slow down at all, go fast when able but just make every move count. I really didn't want any falls up there.

June 15, first all-female Zodiac-in-a-day

As this article was nearing completion, Alexa Flower, Jane Jackson and Gena Wood completed the first all-female ascent of Zodiac in a day on June 15, finishing in 16:20. All three are members of Yosemite Search and Rescue. Jackson said that she and Flower climbed the route once before, and Wood has soloed it and done it in a day as part of a mixed-gender team.

"[It's] low-hanging fruit as far as speed records go," Jackson said. "As far as I know it's the fifth El Cap route to have a women's record."

According to YosemiteBigwall.com, the other routes that have all-female records are Lurking Fear, the Nose, Salathe and Triple Direct. There are also at least two other El Cap routes that have a woman associated with a record--Mr. Midwest and the East Buttress.

Considering the risks

Meanwhile, the accident on June 2 has opened a larger conversation within climbing communities about speed-climbing techniques.

Referencing Caldwell and Honnold's record on the Nose, Sauter told Alpinist:

While I am aware that skill mitigates risk to an extent, I find it highly disingenuous and foolhardy to argue that 16 pitches on eight cams plus fixed gear is safe. I am in no way advocating that people not go after these pursuits. I know how fun they are. But doing so without being able to use truthful language that verbalizes the in-our-face, back-breaking, life-ending risks to the idolizing (and often young) community comes off as irresponsible. Or maybe just...naive. I was indeed naive when I was at my peak of speed climbing on the Nose. I would do 15 pitches on 10 cams for the first block of the Nose and while it 'felt safe' it sure as shit wasn't. There is a difference between my anecdotal experience and the reality of what has happened.

Efficiency on the Big Stone doesn't always equate to extreme risk. The tactics that Dave Allfrey used for his ascent are very, very different than what gets used on the Nose or the Salathe in their fastest ascents....

We say as a community that there is a lot of reflection going on after these repeated and similar-ish accidents, but it sure doesn't seem like all those thoughts are leading to much behavior change. It's like our own version of "thoughts and prayers"....

Sauter also acknowledges the appeal to speed climbing on El Cap. In Chapman's story, she said, "It's something I dedicated five years of my life to. I understand its allure and attraction. It is 3,000 feet of the best rock climbing in the world."

In a June 13 OutsideOnline.com article by Kelly Cordes titled, "Even Tommy Caldwell Questioned the Nose Speed Record," Caldwell noted the presence of serious risk no matter how in control someone may feel or how experienced they might be.

"Man, I think of the wingsuit community," Caldwell told Cordes, "how at first people were like, 'If you're super precise in packing your chute, and only fly in these conditions, only fly in this terrain, it's actually safe.' And now, everybody knows that it's just dangerous, no matter what. I wonder if speed climbing is the same. Am I fooling myself?"

An image from a 2018 UIAA World Cup ice climbing competition. [Photo] UIAA/Kirov/Lena Tem

The American Alpine Club is hosting the UIAA (International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation) World Cup ice climbing competition at Colorado's Denver Civic Center Park on February 23-24. This will be the first time the competition has come to Denver. The event will be free to the public.

The UIAA website reports that "the 2019 calendar is the biggest to date and includes six World Cup events, four European Cups, a World Championships, a World Combined Championships and a World Youth Championships. The World Tour will visit 10 different countries on three continents and features two events taking place in major cities--Moscow and Denver."

Denver is the final stop for the World Cup series.

Qualifying rounds will be held on the first day, and semi-finals and overall finals will take place on Day 2. US athletes who wish to compete at the 2019 Denver World Cup will be able to earn entry at qualifying competitions.

An image from a 2018 UIAA World Cup ice climbing competition. [Photo] UIAA/Kirov/Lena Tem

"We are proud to support our US ice climbing athletes and to bring this impressive event to downtown Denver," American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers said in a press release. "The stamina, skill, and seeming impossibility of it all makes for an outstanding spectator experience. They're up there doing crazy moves, wielding sharp tools, and they hang on forever."

There will be two categories: lead climbing and speed climbing. The AAC press release notes that competitive ice climbing debuted as an exhibition sport at the Sochi Winter Olympics and that the sport is currently being considered for full-scale Olympic inclusion in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Vickie Hormuth, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the AAC told Alpinist that the American Alpine Club has been a "Member Federation" to the UIAA since 1932 and that the Club has sanctioned three other ice world cup events in the US: in 2014 and 2015 in Bozeman, Montana, and in 2016 in Durango, Colorado.

"This will be the first time that AAC is hosting the event ourselves," she said.

An image from a 2018 UIAA World Cup ice climbing competition. [Photo] UIAA/Kirov/Lena Tem

About American Alpine Club

The American Alpine Club is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose vision is a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes. Together with our members, the AAC advocates for American climbers domestically and around the world; provides grants and volunteer opportunities to protect and conserve the places we climb; hosts local and national climbing festivals and events; publishes two of the world's most sought-after climbing annuals, the American Alpine Journal and Accidents in North American Climbing; cares for the world's leading climbing library and country's leading mountaineering museum; manages the Hueco Rock Ranch, New River Gorge Campground, Samuel F. Pryor III Shawangunk Gateway Campground and Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and gives $100,000+ annually toward climbing and conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at www.americanalpineclub.org.

K2 (8611m). [Photo] Piotr Pawlus / Red Bull Content Pool

[A version of this story originally appeared on BackcountryMagazine.com. Backcountry is a sister publication to Alpinist.--Ed.]

On Sunday, July 22, Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel became the first person in history to climb and ski the behemoth K2 (8611m), located on the China/Pakistan border in the Karakoram Range.

Red Bull reports that Bargiel's ascent to K2's second base camp commenced on July 19. From there, Bargiel and his team--brother Bartlomiej, Janusz Golab, Piotr Pawlus, Marek Ogien and a group of experienced Sherpa climbers whose names were not included--gathered themselves to support his climb to the third base camp at 7242 meters the following day. And on Sunday, the final push started at 4 a.m. in favorable weather conditions.

Andrzej Bargiel. [Photo] Marek Ogien / Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull report describes the descent:

When Bargiel finally reached the summit, he simply put on his skis and started skiing down. He was able to link snowy sections throughout his entire descent. From the summit, he descended along the shoulder towards the Cesen Route, passing below huge seracs, then via the extremely difficult Messner traverse, and via the arete on the Kukuczka-Piotrowski route. Next, he had to face some snowfields full of crevasses. He managed to overcome all the difficulties and achieved his dream, achieving the impossible in the process....

Bargiel, who was stymied in a 2017 attempt to climb K2, is now the 13th Pole to have climbed the second highest peak in the world.

PlanetMountain.com reported that Bargiel made one 50-meter rappel above the Bottleneck and noted some history about previous attempts to ski the peak:

A ski descent of K2 is a feat that many considered the final frontier in extreme skiing and the 8611 mountain had obviously been attempted in the past. As early as 1998 Italy's Edmund Joyeusaz skied from [about] 7000 meters, while in 2001 Hans Kammerlander skied [about] 400 meters off the summit before abandoning his attempt after witnessing a Korean fall to his death. In 2009 Italy's Michele Fait fell to his death while skiing from Camp 2 with Fredrik Ericsson, while in 2010 the Swede fell to his death from the Bottleneck attempting to realize his dream of the first ski descent.

Red Bull quoted Bargiel: "I'm very happy that I've managed to ski down the summit of K2 and get back to the base safely!... The weather was good. Some problems appeared when I reached the peak and started to ski down. It was very cloudy and I had to wait for it to clear up at Base IV because the next phase of my downhill was going to be very difficult and technical on an extremely steep wall. I feel huge happiness and, to be honest, it was my second attempt, so I'm glad that I won't be coming here again."

Alpinist will update this story when the identities of the Sherpa climbers become available.

Latok I (7145m). The North Ridge is the prominent line right of center. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

Alexander Gukov, 42, of Russia, is stranded at 6200 meters on the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) in Pakistan after his partner Sergey Glazunov, 26, fell to his death while rappelling on July 25.

Yesterday a rescue team that includes Andrzej Bargiel, David Gottler and Herve Barmasse was assembled, but so far the mission has been grounded because of unfavorable weather. Plan A is to extract Gukov via an "external helicopter suspension," according to a Mountain.RU report translated by Karen Freund for Alpinist. If that doesn't work, rescuers "will be taken by helicopter to the point nearest to [Gukov] and begin moving towards him." Bargiel is fresh off his successful ski descent from the summit of K2 (8611m) on July 22. Gottler and Barmasse are coming from an expedition on Gasherbrum II (8034).

Mountain.RU Editor Anna Piunova is helping to coordinate the rescue. She told Alpinist that Gukov and Glazunov had started their climb 14 days ago and were already running low on rations when the accident happened.

Earlier today, Piunova told Alpinist, "Alex [Gukov] sounds depressed; he ran out of food, and the forecast is bad until July 29. Helicopters are ready. We need a little bit of luck."

This photo shows one of the climbers descending the North Ridge of Latok I on July 25, the same day that Sergey Glazunov fell to his death, stranding his partner Alexander Gukov. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

The North Ridge of Latok I is legendary among alpinists because it has remained unclimbed since Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy, George Lowe and Jeff Lowe nearly succeeded on the long, committing ridge in 1978; they came within a few hundred meters of the summit but they retreated after Jeff Lowe nearly died from a sudden onset of altitude sickness.

"It took us four days to rappel the ridge from our high point," Kennedy told Alpinist. "There was rockfall coming down all the time on either side of the ridge, so we planned to descend the way we came up (instead of going up and over the summit to get off)--we had a fair amount of hardware with us and cached some of it on the way up, and used flagging tape to mark caches and any anchors we left in place."

They also cached food, which they entirely devoured in about 10 minutes when they reached it on their way down--"we were starving," Kennedy said. "It is a super serious place."

Many more elite alpinists have tried to complete the line over the years, but so far no one has matched the original high point from 1978. The American Alpine Journal reports that there have been "more than two dozen attempts" on the ridge and Gukov was part of a team last year that reached the highest point reached since 1978. He received a Piolet d'Or in 2015 for completing the first ascent of the direct southwest face of Thamserku (6618m) in Nepal with Alexey Lonchinsky in 2014.

Alexander Gukov. [Photo] Anna Piunova / Mountain.RU

According to the translated Mountain.RU report, Gukov and Glazunov were at 5512 meters on July 15, when they discarded gear that was "too heavy." They continued toward the summit with five days of food. Periods of snow punctuated brief patches of clear weather as they pressed on. Meanwhile, their teammates Viktor Koval, Konstantin Markevich and Aleksandr Parfyonov were trying another route on the mountain, but were encountering problems with avalanches and rockfall; they stayed in radio contact with Gukov and Glazunov, and kept an eye on their position when the weather was clear enough.

Gukov and Glazunov "headed out to storm the summit" without bivy equipment on July 22, according to Mountain.RU. Gukov reported later that day: "We couldn't reach the summit. Aid climbed two pitches. Will try tomorrow." By that evening, Koval reported that the weather worsened and that the summit was no longer visible.

On July 24, Koval noted: "Rain, snow above. Went to [the] wall at [the] descent point, visibility 6500-6600 [meters]. Saw no one. Will try to arrange flyover." The next day he saw a tent and one person, and later in the day, at 9:45 p.m., he reported: "Military helicopter flew over. The guys are Dulfersitz* rappelling at around 6700 [meters]. Dropped food and gas to them." [*A Dulfersitz rappel involves wrapping the rope around your body and does not utilize a belay/rappel device.]

About three hours later, Piunova noted on Mountain.RU that she received an SOS signal:

Had an agreement with Sanya Gukov that if the battery ran out and things were bad, he'd send SOS and altitude, but next message said "I NEED HELP," and then "I NEED TO BE EVACUATED." Via Iridium: "Seryoga fell. I'm hanging on the wall without equipment."

At 8:20 a.m. July 26, a pilot confirmed that Glazunov was dead after seeing the body "in foothills near base camp." At 10:05 a.m. Koval reported, "There are stones flying everywhere, every 5 minutes. Impossible to go to the ridge."

By noon, the rescue team was prepared to fly to base camp, but it was determined that a helicopter would not be able to deliver a rescuer to Latok that day. At 5:25 p.m. they'd lost contact with Gukov, assuming that his radio battery had died.

Kennedy said the conditions on the mountain during their attempt on the North Ridge 40 years ago were probably much different from what most climbers have encountered since then.

"When we were there it was dry and hot, probably drier than many of the subsequent years," he said. "The cornices weren't as bad, and we had decent snow and neve."

For descending, "rock anchors were key," Kennedy said, "but we didn't know about V-thread anchors back then, and instead we left ice screws."

Nowadays, there are probably old anchors to be found along the ridge, "but finding them on such big terrain after recent snowfall would be hard," Kennedy said.

A bright spot for Gukov is that his position appears to be below a long, horizontal knife-edge that presented a memorable obstacle for Kennedy and his friends on the upper half of the route.

"We had six ropes and were moving capsule style," Kennedy said. "We left two ropes on that horizontal section to get across it safely on the descent."

Sergey Glazunov was known to climb with his brother, Eugeny, and the two completed a climb on Chon-tor in 2016 that is noted in the 2018 AAJ. Eugeny was originally planning to join the Latok expedition as well but he had to cancel one week before his departure, which led to a change in the team's tactics, Piunova said.

Alpinist will update this story as more details become available.

Brittany Goris plugs small gear on the 5.13c/d pitch of City Park, Index, Washington. [Photo] Truc Allen

It's just a 5-minute walk from one of Washington's most popular crags, but City Park--a striking seam that divides Index's Lower Town Wall--has only had a handful of ascents. On July 10, Brittany Goris became the first woman and sixth person to free climb the storied first pitch, which has a reputation as one of the hardest trad lines in the state at 5.13c/d. Goris, 25, was also just the third person to place all gear on lead.

Technically the route is four pitches long with difficulties not exceeding 5.10 on the upper three pitches. Climbers usually access the second and third pitches--the 5.9 fourth pitch is rarely climbed and has been "lost to the moss," Goris said--by climbing an easier pitch or by aiding through the difficulties of the first pitch at C1.

Established as an aid route in 1966 by Roger Johnson and Richard Mathies, City Park was first freed by Todd Skinner in 1986, when its requirement of continuous pinky locks on the crux pitch made it the most difficult crack climb in the US. According to Paul Piana in a 2012 story for Rock and Ice, one climber was apparently so put off by Skinner's prominent reputation, outsider status, or the hang-dogging he did to practice the moves, that they poured grease into the crack in an attempt to thwart him--Skinner blowtorched the grease out and finished the route anyway. The second ascent was made by double-amputee Hugh Herr, who had tailored his prosthetic legs for climbing.

According to the Index guidebook by Chris Kalman and Matty Van Biene, Chris Schlotfeldt made a third ascent with all the gear preplaced (a "pinkpoint"), while Skinner and Herr had only used some preplaced gear. Mikey Schafer made the first true redpoint ascent in 2005, placing all the gear on lead, followed by Blake Herrington in 2016.

Goris described the crux pitch on her blog: "It consists of 35 meters of 5.10 bolt ladder, 5.11 splitter fingers, 5.12 tech, and 5.13 pinky lock after pinky lock above nuts and size 00 cams. The smallest trad gear on the market."

An accomplished sport climber, Goris is one of the few Washington women who have climbed 5.14 (Audrey Sniezek and Jasna Hodzic are two others from the area known to have climbed the grade). But Goris said she only really started trad climbing last fall, after she burned out on a sport project at Little Si, Washington.

"It felt like I had just pushed myself so hard for so long. To continue to level-up, I couldn't even fathom what it would take," she told Alpinist. "I felt really lost."

And so, she came to Index. Goris said that initially her intentions at Index were simply to have fun and rediscover her passion for climbing. However, the first pitch of City Park conveniently shares anchors with one of the most fun climbs at the crag, a 5.9 called Godzilla. It didn't take long for Goris to swing the rope around the corner and set up a City Park toprope. Translation: it didn't take long for Goris to find her new project.

City Park quickly became a lesson in placing tiny cams, enduring runout cruxes and bleeding knuckles, and confronting the fussiness of climbing on granite in Pacific Northwest weather.

"I knew I was going to give it everything I had," Goris said. "But I didn't know if it was something that would take the rest of my life to do, or if it was close to happening."

As it turned out, it only took a matter of months. Goris started up the pitch for her second attempt of the day around 9 p.m. on July 10. She fought through the final pinky locks and clipped the chains just as it was getting dark.

Five days later, Goris returned with Chris Schlotfeldt, who had just heard about her climb. Goris racked up and Schlotfeldt belayed her as she climbed the two 5.10 pitches above the 5.13 crack that are also technically part of City Park (although they are usually accessed by Godzilla, as Goris did that day).

"Getting to do it with one of the few other people who has finished the route was pretty cool," Goris said. "I'm still shocked that I had the opportunity."

The North Ridge of Latok I with Alexander Gukov's position marked in red, where helicopters reached him July 31. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

Alexander Gukov, 42, is safe after spending nearly a full seven days at 6200 meters stuck on the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) in Pakistan. He was stranded since July 25 when his partner Sergey Glazunov, 26, fell to his death while rappelling with most of the gear.

A rescue team was assembled by July 26 but the helicopters were unable to fly until July 31 (Pakistan Standard Time is approximately 12 hours ahead of US Mountain Time). When the weather finally cleared, Askari Aviation pilots were able to hover and get a longline to Gukov.

Gukov shortly after being rescued. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

Gukov shortly after being rescued. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

Pakistani climber Shamyl Sharafat Ali helped Mountain.RU editor Anna Piunova, Gukov's expedition teammates and others coordinate the rescue, and he sent reports, which Piunova shared with Alpinist. Of the rescue, he wrote:

After persevering and putting their lives in danger for two consecutive days, the pilots of 5th Army Aviation High Altitude Squadron proved once again that they are amongst the best by rescuing Alex Gukov through [a] sling operation at 6300 meters...[where] they had to fight strong winds....

The formation [of two Ecureuil B3 helicopters] took off from Skardu...at 0455hours and arrived at Latok BC around 0530hours. They passed by Jhola Camp to lighten...the helis. At Latok BC, the pilots decided to first run a search mission to identify the exact location of Alex. The fixed line was connected to the B3s at the BC (but the sling was kept inside the heli) and the helis took off for the mission at around 0545hours. Fuel was taken off at BC to lighten the helis and make a fuel depot at the BC to be used later for rescue attempts during this operation.

The Ecureuils went up the mountain and flew for around 45 minutes at 6300 meters before spotting Alex on a narrow ridge. Due to heavy snowing, the orange tent was under snow.

The plan for the first attempt was to spot Alex and [recon] the terrain before coming down to BC and then going back up again for the extraction mission with the right fuel load. However, once Alex was spotted, the B3s had enough fuel left to attempt one sling operation. The pilots decided to go for it.

The pilots of Pakistan's 5th Army Aviation High Altitude Squadron who completed the rescue. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

The weather was good but the strong winds were constantly creating turbulence for the B3s. It was difficult free-air hovering with these strong winds at that altitude. However, for once Nature was helping them out. The outside temperature was -8 degrees and this helped them free-air hover at 6300 meters (according to their calculations, ideally they needed -10 degrees). In the last couple of days, the temperature was much higher.

One heli threw the sling [while] hovering close to the ridge. The other B3 was hovering right behind him giving adjustment instructions about [the] sling end with D ring to the lead heli. Thus the two B3s worked in tandem. After trying for 15 minutes, Alex finally managed to get hold of the sling and connected the D ring to his harness. The heli flying back confirmed the safe engagement and instructed the lead heli to pull off with Alex attached. The fuel level was getting critically low by then. However, it was touch and go as Alex had forgotten to remove his anchor to the mountain. Thus he found himself connected to the sling of the B3 on one end and Latok to the other as the mountain refused to let him go. The pilots were extremely lucky as Alex's Latok anchor finally gave away releasing him. The B3s pulled out and brought Alex to safety at the BC from where he was taken directly to CMH Skardu.

He is in a good strong shape and doctors at CMH are taking good care of him....

"All these efforts over seven days...were not in vain!" Piunova told Alpinist.

Gukov and Glazunov had set off for a summit push from 5512 meters on July 15 with only five days of food. After getting pinned down by snowy weather and making a failed summit attempt on July 22, they started descending the ridge. A helicopter dropped them additional supplies on July 25, the same day that Glazunov fell. The battery on Gukov's Iridium device, which he'd used to send an SOS signal after the accident, failed on July 26, cutting off communication.

Vitya Koval, a member of Gukov's expedition who was attempting a different route on the mountain when the accident happened, told Piunova that Gukov said he was on the verge of hallucinating on the third day without food, and that his legs were frozen, buried in snow because he didn't have the strength to dig them out.

Piunova wrote on Mountain.RU that Gukov was "very weak and talking with difficulty" in the Skardu hospital but was doing well overall.

Anna Piunova and Gukov. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

Sergey Glazunov was known to climb with his brother, Eugeny, and the two completed a climb on Chon-tor in 2016 that is noted in the 2018 American Alpine Journal. Eugeny was originally planning to join the Latok expedition as well but he had to cancel one week before his departure, which led to a change in the team's tactics, Piunova said.

More background about this story and the history of Latok's North Ridge can be found here.

Helias Millerioux, Benjamin Guigonnet and Frederic Degoulet on the summit ridge of Nuptse, en route to completing the first ascent of the South Face (WI6 M5+, 2200m). The climb was selected for a Piolet d'Or.

Out of 58 climbs on the list of "significant ascents" in 2017, the Piolets d'Or committee has announced three climbs and two special mentions to be recognized at the upcoming 2018 award ceremony, which will be held outside of France--at the Ladek Film Festival in Poland--for the first time in the ceremony's history. The event is scheduled for September 20-23.

The Piolet d'Or website reads:

The purpose of the Piolets d'Or awards is to raise awareness about the year's greatest ascents across the world. They aim to celebrate the taste for adventure, the bravery and sense of exploration that lie behind the art of climbing in the world's great mountain ranges....

In modern mountaineering, questions of style and means of ascent take precedence over reaching the objective itself. It is no longer a matter of employing huge financial and technical resources... The Piolets d'Or throw the spotlight on imaginative and innovative new routes, using a minimum amount of equipment, and building on experience.

The three routes being recognized this year, with descriptions from the press release quoted in italics, are:

Satisfaction! (ED+ WI5+ M7, 2600m) on Gasherbrum I (8068m)
Marek Holecek, Zdenek Hak (Czech Republic)

Zdenek Hak during the successful ascent of Satisfaction! (ED+ WI5+ M7, 2600m) on Gasherbrum I (8068m). [Photo] Marek Holecek

Satisfaction...is probably the last logical line on the huge west face of Gasherbrum I. It is the first full ascent of the face, and completes a direct line to the summit first attempted back in 1983 by Jerzy Kukuczka and Voytek Kurtyka. Holecek had made four previous attempts on this line, in the process losing one climbing partner and parts of several toes. The successful ascent, beginning on July 25, took six days, with the last bivouac at 8000 meters. The final rockband above 7800 meters had presented such a high order of technical climbing that it took a full 12 hours to complete just 80 meters. The descent from the summit, via the Normal Route along the Japanese Couloir, was first through a white inferno, then down avalanche-prone slopes. They returned to base camp eight days after leaving.

Shukriya Road (WI5 M6, 2700m) and summit traverse of Shispare (7611m)
Kazuya Hiraide, Kenro Nakajima (Japan)

The beauty of this coveted line, the full commitment of a difficult alpine-style ascent followed by a traverse of the mountain, and the fact that it was the first ascent of the face, makes Shukriya on the northeast face of Shispare a masterpiece of modern high-altitude climbing. Beginning in 2007, Kazuya Hiraide (Japan) attempted Shispare three times before 2017, once by the northeast face. For his fourth attempt he teamed with fellow countryman Kenro Nakajima. Conditions were poor in the Hunza Valley last August, and the pair battled unstable weather throughout the five-day ascent, experiencing much snowfall and spindrift avalanches. In reaching the summit they had made only the third overall ascent of this elegant, sharp pyramidal peak in the Western Karakoram. The descent of the original 1974 Polish-German route on the northeast ridge and north spur, with complex route finding in bad weather, was certainly no pushover, and two more days were required before the Japanese could regain base camp.

South Face (WI6 M5+, 2200m) of Nuptse, northwest summit (7742m)
Frederic Degoulet, Benjamin Guigonnet, Helias Millerioux (France)

The immense south face of Nuptse will always provide a difficult, high-altitude challenge. Even the unrepeated route of the 1961 first ascent is widely regarded as one of the first, if not the first, technical big faces climbed in the Himalaya. Benjamin Guigonnet and Helias Millerioux tried a new line on the left side of the face in 2015 and '16. On their second attempt they were accompanied by Frederic Degoulet, reaching 7400 meters before bailing. Tenacity paid off in 2017, when all three Frenchmen completed the line and reached the summit of Nuptse Northwest (climbed several times previously from the opposite side). Their route was a bold outing with much steep and difficult terrain. It was committing, not without objective hazards, and required highly technical ice climbing, with at least a dozen pitches of WI5 and above. The climbers bivouacked five times on the ascent and once during the descent (largely by rappel) of their route. This ascent may be destined to gain iconic status in the realm of modern technical Himalayan climbing.

Honorable mentions:
Obscured Perception (WI5 M6 A0, 70-degree snow, 1400m) Nilkanth (6596m)
Chantel Astorga, Anne Gilbert Chase, Jason Thompson (USA)

The southwest face of shapely Nilkanth (aka Nilkantha, 6596m) in India's Garhwal Himalaya was described in 2000, by the party that made the first ascent of the west ridge, as a "technical super-alpine challenge." Reaching the foot of this face is not straightforward and involves exposure to objective danger. Continuous tricky mixed ground and beautiful steep ice then lead all the way to the summit, 1400 meters above. It was climbed for the first time last autumn with four bivouacs by a three-member American team, which found difficulties up to WI5, M6, A0, and 70-degree snow, the crux high on the wall in an area dubbed the Castle. They named the route Obscured Perception and it hasn't escaped our notice that women formed the majority of this party.

The southwest face had been the objective for a couple of expeditions before 2015, when it was the goal of Anne Gilbert Chase and Jason Thompson, [who invited] Caro North [to join them]. As a preamble to their attempt (which subsequent bad weather did not allow) these three climbed to 6400 meters on the west ridge, which they planned to use for descent. The knowledge gained would prove useful in 2017, when Chase and Thompson decided to return to the mountain. This time Chantel Astorga was recruited as the third member. The three made their final attempt on the southwest face on September 28, reaching the summit on the morning of October 2 and descending the west ridge the same day. While it was a team effort, with shared decision-making and everyone working hard to achieve the objective, the majority of the climbing, including the crux pitches, was led by either Astorga or Chase.

Anne Gilbert Chase, left, and Chantel Astorga on the summit of Denali, June 5, after climbing the Slovak Direct. [Photo] Ian McEleney

This ascent, and Astorga and Chase's recent landmark four-day ascent of the Slovak Direct on the south face of Denali (Alaskan 6, 5.9X M6 WI6+, 2750m), one of the most difficult and direct routes on the mountain, are representative of the increasing rise in the levels of female alpinism. We hope that their ascents will continue to inspire and encourage women alpinists, as they inspire us all.

Alex Honnold

In the mountains he made two short new rock routes in Alaska's Ruth Gorge, and a remarkable series of climbs in Antarctica, where in the famous Fenris Kjeften Range of Queen Maud Land, Honnold reached the summits of 14 peaks by routes of varying difficulty. Notable was the east pillar (dubbed Dark Tower) of Stetind (2588m), climbed with Cedar Wright. Historians of Antarctic mountaineering feel this is probably the hardest on-sight, all free rock route on the continent. Climbed in cold, windy conditions, and with runout pitches on poor rock, it gave Honnold "the scariest lead of my life." That has to say something!

Of course, all this was very much overshadowed by the astonishing free solo of Free Rider on El Capitan. On this sensibly well-choreographed ascent, Honnold exhibited complete mastery at a level probably unequalled in the history of rock climbing. Regular climbing partner Tommy Caldwell was convinced that in terms of mind control, it was "one of the pinnacle sporting moments of all time."

But we shouldn't forget Alex Honnold's other commitment, on-going through 2017. The Honnold Foundation, founded in 2012, has the simple vision to improve lives and reduce environmental impact by working with partners to promote solar-powered energy worldwide. Last year, work continued with the Solar Energy Foundation (SEF) to carry out much needed installations in Ethiopian villages.

Lifetime achievement award

This year, Andrej Stremfelj of Slovenia is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Piolet d'Or. The award acknowledges "a career where the spirit has inspired the following generations, in the sense of criteria set down by the convention," according to the Piolets d'Or website. Stremfelj and his partner Marko Prezelj received the first Piolet d'Or in 1992 for their 1991 alpine-style ascent of the south ridge to Kangchenjunga's south summit (8476m). This is the tenth Lifetime Piolet since the first was awarded to Walter Bonatti in 2009. Prezelj wrote a profile on Stremfelj that appears on the Piolets' webpage.

A July 4 editorial on Gripped.com observed that a woman has yet to receive the recognition. Editor-in-Chief Brandon Pullan wrote:

...There are countless women who have made hugely important and amazing climbs that have shaped alpinism and the world of climbing as we know it.

[Alison Hargreaves, Catherine Destivelle, Lynn Hill, Sharon Wood and Wanda Rutkiewicz] are five women who should be considered for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Others include Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, Cathy O'Dowd, Lydia Bradey, Gertrude Bell, Annie Peck and Fanny Workman, just to name a few.

Lindsay Griffin, another member of the Piolets d'Or Organizing Committee, told Alpinist:

The objective of the Piolets is always to celebrate what is great and good about alpinism in its purest form. The career award is presented to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to alpine climbing but is now past that stage of contribution (actually, we have a rough rule of thumb on age that a possible awardee needs to have reached in order to be considered). We bring them "to the stage" with their friends and contemporary climbers to celebrate their climbing career and inspire future generations. The Piolets have never made awards posthumously.

To date, only two women have been associated with a climb that received a Piolet d'Or--Lise Billon and Kei Taniguchi, in 2016 and 2009, respectively.

This year, in addition to the honorable mentions awarded to Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase, of the 58 climbs included on the Piolets d'Or long list, there are at least five other female climbers who took part in different ascents: Maria Cardell, Galina Chibitok, Marina Kopteva, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa and Silvia Vidal.

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, her older brother Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, Pasang Kidar Sherpa and Nima Tenji Sherpa are pictured here (not in order of appearance) on top of Langdung (6357m) in Nepal after completing the mountain's first ascent on December 20, 2017. The ascent is included with 57 other climbs from 2017 that were considered for the Piolets d'Or Awards in Ladek, Poland this September. [Photo] Pasang Kidar Sherpa

The new host venue outside of France

Christian Trommsdorff, a member of the Piolets d'Or Organizing Committee, said that moving the event to a new venue outside of France is the result of a few things, including general feedback from "several big names" and a proposal from Piotr Drozdz, who has been involved with the Piolets for several years and is the editor-in-chief of Poland's Gory Magazine.

"In parallel, another reason is that public money is getting more and more scarce in France, and we want the [Piolets] to be a public, independent cultural event," Trommsdorff told Alpinist in an email. "Other locations around the world are also interested to host the [Piolets], so let's see what the future brings! In any case we are looking forward to a great festival and party in September in Ladek!"

The Ladek festival includes films, presentations, clinics and discussion panels, including "a conversation on equality and the role of women in mountaineering and alpinism," according to a press release sent to Alpinist in an email.

A full list of the 2017 ascents and links to stories about the climbs can be found here.

The parameters that merit a climb for consideration are outlined on the Piolets d'Or website as follows:

Style of ascent.
Spirit of exploration: original (previously unclimbed) route and/or mountain, creative and innovative approach.
Level of commitment and self-sufficiency.
High level of technical ability required.
Suitability of route in light of objective dangers.
Efficient and sparing use of resources.
Transparency regarding the use of these resources.
Respect for people, climbing partners, members of other teams, porters and local agents.
Respect for the environment.
Respect for future generations of mountaineers by leaving them the possibility of enjoying the same kind of experiences and adventures.

Latok I (7145m). The North Ridge is the prominent line right of center. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountain.RU

[Correction: Alpinist has received a clarifying statement from Ales Cesen through Mountain.RU Editor Anna Piunova that Cesen and his teammates summited a variation of the North Ridge:"We took the North Ridge for two-thirds of the way, then turned right to reach a col between Latok I and Latok II, and continued on the south side. For us this was a logical (safe) line. It took us 7 full days round trip."--Ed.]

After 40 years of thwarted attempts, the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) has been climbed by a variation that finished on the south side of the mountain by Slovenian climbers Ales Cesen and Luka Strazar, and British climber Tom Livingstone.

An August 12 post on the CAMP-CASSIN Facebook page reads:

Amazing news from Karakoram! After dozens of attempts since 1978, the "impossible" Latok I (7145m) was finally climbed from north by our Luka Strazar together with Ales Cesen and Tom Livingstone! We congratulate Luka and mates for this huge, astonishing achievement about which we still have little information. Alpinists will come back in Slovenia the next week: stay tuned for details and images!

UKClimbing.com reports that the trio returned to base camp on August 11.

Livingstone has been having a successful year in the mountains. In April, he and Uisdean Hawthorn completed a new route they called Fun or Fear (AI 6 R M6+, 90 degrees, ca. 1200m) on the east face of Jezebel in Alaska; and in January Livingstone teamed up with the late Marc-Andre Leclerc in Canada for the first winter ascent of Mt. Slesse's Navigator Wall (M7+ R).

Latok's North Ridge has had a mythic appeal since the American team of Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy, George Lowe and Jeff Lowe nearly succeeded on the long, committing ridge in 1978. They came within a few hundred meters of the summit, but they retreated after Jeff Lowe nearly died from a sudden onset of altitude sickness. Until this last month, no one has surpassed their high point, despite many attempts by elite alpinists over the years.

In the aftermath of his dramatic helicopter rescue from 6200 meters on the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) on July 31, Alexander Gukov recently told Mountain.RU Editor Anna Piunova that he and Sergey Glazunov had reached a new all-time high point, which included summiting a tower that caps the North Ridge.

"Weather and seracs stopped them from continuing," Piunova told Alpinist of Gukov's recent attempt. During the retreat in storms, Glazunov fell to his death.

Last year, Gukov reached the highest point since the 1978 expedition--about 6700 meters according to his report in the American Alpine Journal.

"It took us four days to rappel the ridge from our high point," Kennedy recently told Alpinist of their 1978 attempt."There was rockfall coming down all the time on either side of the ridge, so we planned to descend the way we came up (instead of going up and over the summit to get off)--we had a fair amount of hardware with us and cached some of it on the way up, and used flagging tape to mark caches and any anchors we left in place."

The 1978 team also cached food, which they entirely devoured in about 10 minutes when they reached it on their way down--"we were starving," Kennedy said."It is a super serious place."

Thomas Huber recently arrived in the area with Simon Gietl, Rainer Treppte and Yannick Boissenot to attempt a line on the north face or the North Ridge, depending on conditions. Huber is quoted in an Adventure Sports blog with Stefan Nestler saying that he believes the ideal season for climbing Latok has changed from mid-summer to end-of-summer because of global warming.

Kennedy told Alpinist that the conditions on the mountain during their attempt on the North Ridge 40 years ago were probably much different from what most climbers have encountered since then.

"When we were there it was dry and hot, probably drier than many of the subsequent years," he said."The cornices weren't as bad, and we had decent snow and neve."

Leading on unexplored terrain on the east face of Caliban in Alaska's Arrigetch Range. Gus Barber, Lang Van Dommelen and Chris Williams' new route, which they have yet to name, is a 2,500-foot Grade IV+ 5.11. [Photo] Lang Van Dommelen

Gus Barber, Lang Van Dommelen and Chris Williams recently established a 2,500-foot first ascent of a Grade IV+ 5.11 on the east face of Caliban (ca. 6,400') in the Arrigetch Peaks in Gates of the Arctic National Park. They haven't settled on a name for the route yet, and Dommelen told Alpinist they've been referring to it as the East Face for now.

Near the northern tip of Alaska, the Arrigetch Peaks encompass approximately 40 square miles within the Brooks Range. This cluster of sharp, granite peaks has seen sporadic activity by climbers since the 1960s. The trio of Anchorage locals took a different approach from most other parties, opting to drive to Cold Foot instead of flying from Fairbanks to Bettles. A bush plane flew them from Cold Foot to a remote gravel bar on the Alatna River on July 23. From there, a two-day, 12-mile bushwhack to their Arrigetch Creek base camp tested their wills and legs, as they carried 110- to 120-pound packs loaded with aid gear and double racks (including large cams up to 7.5 inches), bear spray and handguns.

Aside from overall good rock quality, the Arrigetch Peaks are synonymous with atrocious weather, grizzly bear encounters and mosquitoes that yellow the sky.

"Bugs were moderate at worst," Van Dommelen said. "We hiked in at the tail end of a stretch of days and days of splitter weather."

From left to right: Chris Williams, Lang Van Dommelen and Gus Barber. [Photo] Lang Van Dommelen collection

The team immediately got to work after establishing base camp on July 25. First, they climbed a 1,500-foot, 5.8+ variation to the first gendarme on the Pillar Arete (V 5.10b), a route established by Alaska locals Samuel Johnson and Ryan Hokanson in 2008.

Sporadic squalls pinned them in camp for several days until they made a brief attempt on a new route on Albatross Peak. After hiking up valley to scope Xanadu, the group spied a line on the far left side of Caliban's east face. In a 25-hour round trip, they navigated up "three roped pitches and a fair amount of fourth- and easy fifth-class soloing," followed by another 14 pitches of roped climbing with difficulties up to "hard, solid 5.11." Barber led the technical crux of the route, a thin tips crack protected by micro-nuts and small cams. "It required him to cut his feet on a tips lock to swing his feet over to a foot hold," Van Dommelen said. "It looked so hard." A traversing 5.10 R pitch just below felt scary for everyone, as they balanced over sharp flakes between sparse gear.

They reached the upper parts of Caliban as Alaska's midnight twilight waned, but they had difficulty establishing which of the peak's many highpoints was the summit.

"It can be hard when you're stumbling around at 1 a.m. to know where you are," Van Dommelen said. "It turns out the first summit we stood on was the true summit. It's complicated up high and the rock quality had decreased."

The team's yet-to-be-named route on the east face of Caliban. [Image] Lang Van Dommelen

The team believes they descended the 1993 route with a mixture of rappelling and technical down climbing. Of the route, Van Dommelen says "it was surprisingly straightforward and the rock quality was just impeccable--finger crack after finger crack after finger crack."

"I'm scheming [about returning] already," Van Dommelen said. "That's what's so unique about the Arrigetch: you could climb there your whole life and establish new routes each week...if the weather was good."

The usual whiteout conditions, dense fog, heavy winds and rain settled in by the end of the trip. Satisfied with their experiences, the team donned their backbreaking loads and hiked to the Alatna River bar, where they noticed continual signs of wolves, bear, coyote and moose while waiting for their pilot.

"We'd walk to a spot that we'd been to several hours ago and there would be giant, fresh bear tracks," Van Dommelen said. "One night, I woke up to a bear outside my tent."

Gus Barber received an $800 American Alpine Club Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant for this trip.

[Clint Helander authored a story titled "Mountain of Shadows" for Alpinist 59 about the first ascent of Mt. Huntington's South Ridge, which he completed with Jess Roskelley in April 2017.--Ed.]

Hanifa Yousoufi holds the Afghan flag on top of Noshaq (7492m) after she became the first Afghan woman and only the fourth Afghan national to stand on top of her country's highest peak August 10. [Photo] Courtesy of the Ascend: Leadership through Athletics Program

On August 10, Hanifa Yousoufi, 24, became the first Afghan woman to stand on top of Noshaq (7492m), the country's highest mountain and the second highest in the Hindu Kush.

Yousoufi took on great risk during her three years of training and attempts to climb Noshaq. As Eileen Guo observed in Alpinist 61, the Taliban still exerts influence in Afghanistan, and women have been known to receive extrajudicial punishment through strict, local interpretations of Shari'a law.

In the days leading up to the expedition, fighting in the next district shut down the airstrip and the climb was nearly called off.

"I did this for every single girl," Yousoufi said in an Ascend press release. "The girls of Afghanistan are strong and will continue to be strong."

Yousoufi's teammates accompanied her to base camp and two guides were with her on her final push to the top with Norway's Vibeke Sefland summiting alongside her.

Yousoufi's ascent was made possible by the Ascend: Leadership through Athletics program, which aims to develop "young women's self-confidence and skills through service and the sport of mountain climbing to promote leadership and civic-mindedness in post-conflict countries," according to the organization's website.

Ascend's co-founder Marina LeGree recently told Alpinist, "I've done so many happy dances, I've lost count.... For security reasons we had to keep it all super secret and now that everyone is safely out of the mountains I can tell you...."

Guo's Alpinist article, "Dreaming of Afghan Mountains," only identified Yousoufi by her first name. Revealing her full name still presents risks, but LeGree said that Yousoufi "has expressed her desire to have her full name used. We worried about this a lot but she and her teammates all feel strongly that they want to own their achievements...."

Yousoufi on top of Noshaq. [Photo] Courtesy of the Ascend: Leadership through Athletics Program

"Not only is it an incredible athletic achievement for our team...it's a symbolic victory of Afghan women conquering challenges in their own country; of overcoming stigma and security barriers to achieve big things; of climbing mountains and moving mountains," LeGree told Alpinist.

The press release notes:

Ascend has been running its program in Afghanistan since 2015. Ascend team members train hard to not only climb mountains, but to change the society they live in. They strive to reach new heights and inspire others by going where no Afghan women have gone before.... [The] program is holistic and each team member commits to many months of intensive physical training but also classroom work, learning what it means to be leaders and role models and to work as a team. In monthly training sessions, the team has developed confidence by articulating their own stories and supporting one another.

Only three other Afghans have summited the peak--Afiat Khan and Malang Darya in 2009, and Aziz Beg in 2011.

Tom Livingstone leading on Latok I during his successful ascent from the north side in which he and Ales Cesen and Luka Strazar climbed three-quarters of the North Ridge before traversing right to reach the south face where they continued to the top. [Photo] Ales Cesen/Luka Strazar

The complete North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) in Pakistan remains unclimbed as far as anyone is able to confirm.

Upon returning from the summit in early August, Tom Livingstone (Britain) and Ales Cesen and Luka Strazar (Slovenia) were quick to correct the initial media reports that they had completed the North Ridge: after climbing about three quarters of the way up the North Ridge, they traversed right to reach a col that deposited them on the south side of the mountain, and they summited from there. Still, it marks the first successful ascent of the peak from the north side. (The mountain was first climbed from the south side by a Japanese team in 1979.)

Livingstone recently described the nature of the route for Alpinist in an email:

In terms of numbers, the route was about 2400 meters of vertical height gain from glacier to summit, and about ED+ (whatever that means!) over seven days.

But in reality is was a long and sustained climb up to a relatively high altitude. Bivies weren't excellent. We could move together over some ground, always aiming for the fastest, smartest and logical line. Where we pitched, we tried to be quick. Inevitably we encountered some pitches of hard/steep/rotten ice and mixed.

We had to be sensible with when to climb, and when to rest, particularly as the sun came round onto the various faces. Early starts were useful.

Although it's a ridge, there are many cornices and mushrooms so we tended to be climbing on the steep walls [to] either side. There are also horizontal sections that you can bypass by taking long diagonal lines from below. It's quite complex and much more interesting than it looks from the ground!

The red line shows the route taken by Cesen, Livingstone and Strazar. [Image] Tom Livingstone

As to how he connected with the Slovenians, Livingstone wrote:

I knew Luka through climbing at a [British Mountaineering Council] International Winter Meet some years ago, and he got in contact with me. He visited Scotland and seemed to like it. We climbed together...in Slovenia this winter and spring to develop a partnership. We all get along well.

Strazar leads a traverse below snow mushrooms about halfway up the North Ridge. [Photo] Tom Livingstone

Cesen on Latok. [Photo] Tom Livingstone

Their ascent took place shortly after the helicopter rescue of Alexander Gukov (Russia) on July 31. Gukov had been stranded at 6200 meters since July 25, after his partner Sergey Glazunov fell to his death while rappelling, taking most of the gear with him. The two had originally left a camp at 5512 meters with five days of food on July 15, intent on pushing for the summit, and they had reached the high point of their attempt on July 22. In the aftermath of the rescue, Gukov told Mountain.RU Editor Anna Piunova that he'd filmed from below as Glazunov climbed on top of an apex, which Glazunov said that he believed to be the summit of Latok. They had turned around in low-visibility, not seeing anywhere to climb higher. Gukov later came to the conclusion that they had only reached the summit of a tower at the top of the North Ridge--which would still be an all-time high point on the North Ridge proper--but not the true summit of Latok.

Latok's North Ridge has become legendary since the American team of Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy, George Lowe and Jeff Lowe nearly succeeded on the long, committing ridge in 1978. They came within a few hundred meters of the summit, but they retreated after Jeff Lowe nearly died from a sudden onset of altitude sickness. Until last month when the Russians reached either the peak of the tower on the ridge or perhaps the true summit of Latok, no one had matched or even surpassed the high mark of the 1978 expedition despite many attempts by elite alpinists over the years. In 2017 Gukov was part of a team that reached 6700 meters, which was thought to be the closest anyone had come since 1978.

Livingstone told Rock and Ice that he had arrived in base camp with Cesen and Strazar on July 13, less than a day after Gukov and Glazunov had begun their ill-fated attempt. Livingstone described how they'd been a captive audience, watching the epic unfold on the very route they planned to climb:

The death of Sergey, and subsequent rescue of Alexander reinforced the dangers of pushing too far on such a route.... They were in bad weather, at high altitude, and very fatigued after many days without much food.... [We] thought they were pushing too far, at too high an altitude, for too long.... Of course, it was impossible not to be affected by the Russian drama. But when we discussed our motivations once the entire epic was over, we agreed to continue with our plan: to climb Latok I via our line, which was the route we always envisioned.

Yesterday, August 24, was a fateful day for the climbing world, as two of America's greatest climbing legends and icons passed away--Tom Frost and Jeff Lowe.

Frost died of cancer at a hospice center in Oakdale, California, and Lowe died several hours later in Colorado after suffering from a prolonged illness that has been described as an "unknown neurodegenerative process" similar to MS and ALS. Frost was 81 and Lowe was 67.

Both men were visionaries and innovators who impacted the philosophy, techniques and standards of climbing during their respective generations.

Tom Frost leads Pitch 29 during the first ascent of the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in 1961. Frost, Chuck Pratt and Royal Robbins completed the climb over nine and a half days. [Photo] Royal Robbins, Tom Frost collection

Lowe during a September 1973 trip to the High Sierra where he and John Weiland climbed the Northeast Corner (V 5.10-) of Keeler Needle. During the ascent they carried 25 nuts and 25 pins. Lowe wrote in the 1975 American Alpine Journal, "We could have used more nuts." [Photo] Jeff Lowe collection/jeffloweclimber.com

Frost frequently shared a rope with the greatest climbers of the Yosemite's Golden Age, including Royal Robbins, Yvon Chouinard and Chuck Pratt, and together they completed some of the most notable ascents of the era, such as the second ascent of the Nose on El Capitan in 1960, the first ascent of the Salathe Wall in 1961 and the North America Wall in 1964. The "NA Wall" was the first route to explore El Capitan's steepest and most imposing aspect and set a new standard of difficulty for hard nailing routes.

In Camp 4, Steve Roper recounted a time when Frost saved a climbing partner's life. In May 1964, Frost and Eric Beck were climbing the direct north buttress of Middle Cathedral, when Beck--in the lead--"began nailing an expanding flake, five pitches up and about forty feet above Frost," Roper recalled. "A pin popped and Beck plummeted, ripping out his only other piton." Their belay anchor was merely a thin knifeblade. "Thinking both of them were headed for the talus, Beck figured he was dead--but then he suddenly stopped. Frost, bracing himself with his feet, had somehow managed to hold the huge fall. Beck's arm was shattered, but with the help of Frost he made it to the ground a few hours later."

Elsewhere in the same book, Roper noted:

Tom Frost was the quietest and most modest person to inhabit Camp 4 during these early years. Only much later did I learn that he had been a champion sailboat racer in his early 20s. Bright and super clean both in looks and language, he preferred to stay out of the limelight, rarely arguing, rarely writing about his exploits. Robbins later described Frost "as one of those spirits I cite to illustrate that the quality of people in climbing is one of the reasons I love the sport. Tom, besides being an outstanding climber, is a walking emanation of good will."

As a mechanical engineer, Frost was instrumental in creating the Realized Ultimate Reality Piton (RURP), with Yvon Chouinard in 1960. A wafer of metal made for shallow, thin seams, this equipment remains standard for aid climbers today. Frost later helped Robbins promote the clean climbing revolution by crafting the some of the first passive protection, such as chocks and hexes, which were not yet available or widely used in the United States (Robbins was first introduced to passive protection in Europe).

In a 2009 essay for Climbing, Frost wrote, "Designing was as much fun as the climbing. Yvon was the idea man, and I was the engineer."

Both on the rock and off, Frost believed in approaching all actions with care and integrity. In 2008, as Tommy Caldwell and Alpinist staff were working on background research for the Alpinist 25 profile of El Capitan, Frost told then-senior editor Katie Ives: "How you do anything is how you do everything. We were defining who we were to ourselves. How you climb is who you are. El Cap was the best of the rocks, so we tried to be the best we could for it."

Jeff Lowe received a Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Lowe had started climbing with his father at 6 years old in the 1950s and hit his stride as a climber in the 1970s. He embodied a similar ethic as Frost did, completing difficult first ascents with boldness, innovation and impeccable style. He was one of the early climbers to realize the potential of Zion National Park's sandstone big walls, where he established an untold number of first ascents. He went on to pioneer groundbreaking routes around the world that were ahead of their time, such as the near success and subsequent epic on the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) in 1978 with Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy and George Lowe (their high point on the North Ridge was only recently surpassed after 40 years of attempts by the best alpinists, and the complete line appears to remain unclimbed); and Lowe's solo first ascent of Metanoia (VII 5.10 M6 A4, 1800m) on the Eiger North Face in 1991, which waited 25 years for a second ascent this last December. Lowe was also an innovator of equipment and techniques. He is credited for sparking the age of modern mixed climbing with his first ascent of Octopussy (M8) in Vail, Colorado, in 1994. Lowe's vision continued with the first ascent of Deep Throat (WI6 M7, 600') in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, in 1997 with Will Gadd--another testpiece that has only seen a few ascents in the last 20 years.

During his fabled ascent of Metanoia, as he waited out a vicious storm in a snow cave, Lowe said he realized how badly he wanted to return to his young daughter, Sonja. He wrote a Mountain Profile essay for Alpinist 41 titled "Metanoia," which concluded:

Thinking of Sonja, I climbed through the pain--every move solid and fast--to a saddle near the Japanese route. Tatters of old ropes emerged on bare rock and disappeared under ice, showing the way for the last four or five pitches. It was already afternoon. Wisps of clouds swirled. David Roberts radioed to tell me about the avalanche conditions on the descent route. He suggested a helicopter pickup from the summit ridge. My initial reaction was "No way." But my cosmic journey in the Hermit Cave, and the image of my daughter's angelic face, outweighed any other consideration. With little time left, I hung my pack from an ice screw and ran out the rope to its end at a band of loose blocks. I found nothing solid enough for protection. I untied and scrambled the short distance to meet the helicopter on top.

I named the route "Metanoia." For thousands of years, shamans and spiritual seekers have starved themselves, endured long days of toil, and meditated for weeks in hopes of receiving some sort of vision or nirvana. On the Eiger, I'd felt a fundamental change of thinking and a subtle transformation of heart.

Shortly after her father's death, Sonja posted on Lowe's Facebook page: "My father...to put it in his words, 'moved on from this material plane to the next' this evening in a peaceful transition."

Lowe's longtime partner Connie Self also posted on Facebook:

Jeff was the love of my life, my best friend, my business partner and the most amazing human being I have ever known, with all the flaws and foibles that beset those with extreme talent and brilliance. Jeff always made the best of any situation by living in the present moment. He had an incredible sense of humor, was a visionary climber and inspiring writer. I was blessed to know Jeff for 37 years, to live with and care for him for 8 years, and to share with him "the greatest love I have ever known" as he said in his own words. I will miss him beyond measure and yet I am glad that he is free of his physical body and all the pain and suffering he has endured for many years. RIP, dear Jeff.

Alpinist will follow up with full obituaries of these men at a later date.

Jess Roskelley on Chhota Bhai (6321m). [Photo] Nelson Nierinck

In what proved to be a month of strikingly optimal weather, Americans Jess Roskelley and Kurt Ross teamed with Belgian Nelson Neirinck to explore climbs in the Kondus Valley of northeast Pakistan from July 15 to August 15. They completed new routes on a 5800-meter tower and two 6000-meter peaks, which were all previously unclimbed.

The region surrounding the Kondus Valley had only recently reopened to non-military activities, according to the American Alpine Journal. Inspired by Steve Swenson, who has been instrumental in numerous Pakistan expeditions for decades (most recently in 2015), Roskelley, Ross and Neirinck now intended to explore a group of unclimbed 6000-meter peaks.

When they arrived in Islamabad on July 15, they were supposed to fly to Skardu but they ended up approaching via the Karakoram Highway instead because of bad weather.

"This was sort of a mistake. It's a two-day drive to Skardu and it could be potentially dangerous," Roskelley said. "We got stuck in a mudslide for six hours in 110 degrees Fahrenheit without air-conditioning."

During numerous military checkpoints, their piles of permits and paperwork were thoroughly inspected.

"I always wondered if we were going to get turned around," Roskelley said. "Our liaison officer was extremely helpful, but without the local tour operator, the entire ordeal would've been a struggle."

"In our country, it seems like we're supposed to feel nervous about that side of the world," Roskelley said. "Pakistani locals are acutely aware of that. Everyone went out of their way to be super warm and inviting. People constantly waved us down and wanted pictures with us."

Another long jeep drive from Skardu deposited them at a remote village. With 30 porters, they hiked two days to their base camp at 4400 meters. "It was a green oasis with large boulders and a big creek," Roskelley said. "It was the best place I could ever imagine camping."

The climbers spent several days hauling loads to an advanced base camp at 5000 meters, occasionally in the rain.

"Nelson can carry a big load, which is always nice in a partnership," Roskelley said. "Plus, he's tough, funny and speaks several languages."

At the end of July, they acclimatized on a previously unclimbed 5800-meter tower, which they named after their cook, Baba Hussein.

Nelson Neirinck, left, and Roskelley on a tower they named after their camp cook, Baba Hussein. [Photo] Kurt Ross

Jess Roskelley leads to the high point of Baba Hussein (5800m). [Photo] Nelson Nierinck

Their next objective was the unclimbed Chhota Bhai, a 6321-meter, ice-encrusted peak a few hours' hike up the valley. They ended up making a hasty camp on a broken glacier to escape the intense heat. Rising early the next morning, they embarked up a "huge ice face that eventually dropped off into nothing," Roskelley said. They backtracked and traversed until the afternoon heat forced them into the tent again. "It was boiling hot with lots of rock fall," said Roskelley. "Once temperatures dropped, several WI4 pitches deposited us on the summit ridge."

A rappel off a fixed rope into a notch led to an easy hike to the summit. They descended their route, Naps and Noms (AI4), and spent three days lounging in base camp while intermittent rain fell.

Chhota Bhai (6321m) with Naps and Noms (AI4) illustrated in yellow. [Photo] Kurt Ross, Jess Roskelley and Nelson Neirinck collection

On August 9, they once again hiked to advanced base camp, repacked and quickly crossed a wildly broken, icy glacier.

"We didn't have to poke and prod the whole way," Roskelley said. "If there'd been snow, it would have taken hours."

Early the next morning, they set off on Changi Tower II, a craggy, unclimbed 6250-meter peak. They labored up a couloir that had run with water only hours before. They soloed to a narrow col where they climbed many mixed pitches to M6/7 difficulty toward a left-facing diagonal band on the peak's headwall. They settled in for the night at a col beneath the headwall.

Kurt Ross on Changi Tower II. [Photo] Nelson Nierinck

"A huge thunderstorm bombarded toward us, suddenly parting at the mountain like it was doing us a favor," Roskelley said. They watched in their light bivy sacks, feeling fortunate to not be drenched as the night grew cold.

Navigating complex terrain the next morning, they rappelled into a couloir at approximately 5800 meters. Many hours of calf-destroying ice and snow through deceptive terrain, another col and more mixed climbing eventually gave them a view of the headwall and summit, which was guarded by time-consuming traverses on WI3 ground. The reward was a tiptoe along a narrow plank of rock at the top of the peak, having established Hard Tellin' Not Knowin' (AI4 M6/7).

Changi Tower II (6250m) with Hard Tellin' Not Knowin' (AI4 M6/7) drawn in yellow. [Photo] Kurt Ross, Jess Roskelley and Nelson Neirinck collection

"Anybody braver than me with a wingsuit could do a front flip [off the top] and be back on the glacier in no time," Roskelley said.

They rappelled into the night on V-threads, eventually peering into a dark couloir with loose blocks guarding the entrance. While tugging a stuck rope, a sharp boulder crashed around them and left their ropes with multiple core shots. They found it prudent to wait out the night and find a better rappel route in the morning. Utilizing their remaining length of rope, they eventually located a steep snowfield that led to base camp.

Roskelley's father, John, had climbed in Pakistan many times.

"I've been hearing stories of Pakistan since I was a kid," said Jess Roskelley. "I've lived my whole life with photos of Great Trango Tower and Uli Biaho hanging on my family's wall. My dad made the first ascent of those peaks. I wasn't prepared for how amazing Pakistan would be. There were towers and incredible mountains as far as the eye could see. I could climb there for years and not even scratch the surface."

Jess Roskelley on Changi Tower II. [Photo] Nelson Nierinck

The expedition was supported by a $6,000 American Alpine Club Cutting Edge Grant.

Stories from Alpinist 59 and 60 are on the long-list for consideration for Best Mountaineering Article at the 2018 Banff Mountain Book Competition.

The annual Banff Mountain Book Competition recently announced the nominees long-listed for recognition in several categories--out of the four articles under consideration for Best Mountaineering Article, two are from Alpinist: Alison Criscitiello's story from Alpinist 59, titled "Contraindications," and James Edward Mills' story from Alpinist 60, "The Force of the Soul: Hugues Beauzile."

The author of the winning article will receive a $2,000 reward.

In "Contraindications," Criscitiello writes of several trips and memories leading up to the final days she spent with her close friend Anna Smith, who died at age 31 during an expedition in the Indian Himalaya. Criscitiello wrote of Smith:

She found it endlessly entertaining that two petite climbers couldn't fit into the allegedly two-person tent she brought. "When we get off that summit and back down here, two girls one tent!" I hollered. The echo of her thunderous laugh seemed to magnify in the cirque above and reverberate back to me. I saw the flash of her mischievous grin as she settled into the tent. I blew her a fist-bump, and crunched over to my bivy spot. My down booties gripped onto the hoar frost that had begun to form. As I turned out my headlamp, the illuminated circumference of my world vanished into vacuity. It was probably around 10 p.m. when I fell asleep listening to her almost comforting little snores. Farther away, the low locomotive rumble of an avalanche rose and fell. The last thing that passed between us wasn't words, but wonder and laughter.

Alison Criscitiello and Anna Smith in the Miyar Valley. [Photo] Alison Criscitiello

Mills' story details the life of French alpinist Hugues Beauzile, a climbing prodigy who was the son of a Haitian immigrant. Within the span of a few years, Beauzile established more than 130 sport routes and made two major solo ascents in the Alps before he died on the South Face of Aconcagua in 1995 at age 28. Mills wrote:

To many journalists and established French mountaineers, Hugues was a mysterious figure who had emerged, quietly and unexpected, against the background of vast alpine faces. Caught on camera by accident as media helicopters flew after other, more famous climbing stars, he'd appeared in a remarkable flash of talent and skill only to vanish in what seemed like an instant. Nonetheless, traces of his presence remain embedded in the memories and imaginations of those who knew him best, and his legacy has continued to inspire alpinists of a new generation who might never know his name.

Hugues Beauzile (right) and Lucien "Lulu" Berardini climbing at the crag they helped develop in Claret, France. [Photo] Pascal Tournaire

James Edward Mills. [Photo] Courtesy James Edward Mills

To see the rest of the nominees in all categories, visit the Banff Mountain Book Competition webpage here.

A story from Alpinist 57 by Nick Bullock titled "Threshold Shift" won last year's Banff prize for Best Mountaineering Article.

While only a small fraction of stories from the print editions are ever uploaded to our website, the three stories mentioned here can be found on Alpinist.com (see hyperlinks above). Click here to visit the Alpinist subscription page.

Andres Marin on Pitch 4 of Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower. [Photo] Anna Pfaff

Andres Marin recently capped a successful trip to Pakistan with teammates Anna Pfaff and David Allfrey by soloing the American Route on Great Trango Tower (6286m)--base camp (ca. 4100m) to base camp in less than 12 hours--on August 22 after he had climbed that route and Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower (6239m) with his partners between August 12 and 18. In short, Marin tagged three summits over 6000 meters in the span of 10 days.

"I had three days' rest [after the first two climbs], but my legs still felt to be on the heavy side...a storm was forecasted, so if I was going to try the solo it had to be then," said the 35-year-old guide who was born in Colombia and is now based in Ouray, Colorado. He has been training with Steve House in recent years. "I'm not a gifted athlete, so I have to keep up with training," Marin said.

While Marin has ventured up to altitudes of around 6000 meters at least once a year since he first guided Denali in 2006, Allfrey, who is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, had never been above 14,500 feet (4400m) until this trip.

"I found that it all felt OK until [we got] above 16,000 feet [4900m] and then it got tough until [we were] fully acclimated," Allfrey said. "Getting acclimated is a fairly slow process. I don't think I did poorly at altitude but I didn't feel exceptional by any means. When we finally came down, after doing both routes, I think that was when we all finally felt truly acclimated."

Pfaff, who also has a fair amount of high-altitude experience and is based in Oakland, California, originally intended on climbing as part of an all-female team, but plans with partners failed to align.

"The team came together due to our experience in our own specialties," Pfaff said. "Climbing-wise we were a really good team."

Summit happiness on Nameless Tower, from left to right: Marin, David Allfrey and Anna Pfaff. [Photo] Andres Marin

Marin said the three of them did some climbing in Yosemite to get acquainted before the trip.

They arrived in Islamabad on July 26 and the next day flew to Skardu, where they met Abdul Ghafoor, the owner of Higher Ground Expeditions. He became a central figure in their expedition, as he'd been on countless trips with Kyle Dempster, Scott Adamson and Hayden Kennedy. All three of those climbers had died in recent years and all were friends with Ghafoor, Allfrey, Marin and Pfaff. "Spending time with [Ghafoor] was a way of remembering them," said Marin. "He had so many cool stories."

Ghafoor, Allfrey, Marin and Pfaff spent three days hiking from Askole into base camp at 4100 meters with 17 porters and a train of donkeys. From camp, they had full views of the Trango Towers, Uli Biaho and countless other fascinating spires.

Pfaff climbs one of many excellent golden splitter cracks near base camp. [Photo] Andres Marin

They immediately set to the task of acclimatizing on Great Trango Tower, making numerous rounds up a 1000-meter gully choked with cumbersome scree and boulders held tight by ice. Red Star Camp, at 5330 meters near the top of the gully, served as their advanced base camp for many nights throughout their trip. They spent one night there and dropped a cache before returning to base camp. Soon, they returned, intent on acclimating on the American Route on the northwest ridge of Great Trango Tower, which was established by Scott Woolums and Andy Selters in 1984, almost a decade after the heavily glaciated peak was first climbed by John Roskelley, Kim Schmitz, Galen Rowell, Dennis Hennek and Jim Morrissey in 1977.

Allfrey and Pfaff sort gear to carry to their high camp (5330m) below Nameless Tower and Great Trango Tower. [Photo] Andres Marin

When Allfrey, Marin and Pfaff made their second trip up to Red Star Camp, Allfrey came down with stomach issues and descended to base camp. Pfaff and Marin moved another cache toward Nameless Tower on the opposite side of the col from the top of the gully and returned to base camp. All three returned to Red Star Camp on August 11, and awoke at 3 a.m. on August 12 to climb the American Route. They found rocky buttresses strewn with old fixed lines and often utilized them for the sake of speed. Eventually, the ridge joined a glacier that angled up to 60 degrees "with a lot of air behind [their] heels," said Marin. "[The summit] looks like the icing on top of a cake." They climbed as close to the summit cornices as they dared and descended back to Red Star Camp, reaching it nine and a half hours after leaving.

Allfrey and Pfaff at the start of the ice difficulties on the American Route on the north side of Great Trango Tower. [Photo] Andres Marin

Rockfall near the tent at Red Star Camp tested their nerves on August 13, as it would on several occasions throughout the trip. A snowstorm on August 14 forced a second rest day. On August 15, they launched on Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower. This spectacular route was established in 1989 by Kurt Albert, Wolfgang Gullich, Milan Sykora and Christoph Stiegler. Of the 35 difficult pitches on the route, 13 pitches contain climbing over 5.11. Albert gave the route a difficulty rating of 5.12c. Thomas and Alex Huber finally free climbed it in 2009 at 5.13a.

From Red Star Camp, Marin lead a block of approximately nine pitches with difficulties up to 5.11 on the Slovakian route, which linked into the start of the Eternal Flame route.

"[Allfrey and Pfaff] did a lot of work, jugging with huge packs," said Marin. By day's end, they joined Eternal Flame on a ledge called Sunny Terrace. "It was crazy, at times I was ice climbing while wearing rock shoes in an iced-up chimney, avoiding the ice with my feet by using rocks and the side of the walls," said Marin.

Allfrey around 6100 meters on the Eternal Flame. [Photo] Andres Marin

At one point a dislodged block fell onto Pfaff; Marin swears his ice tool attached to her pack took the brunt of the force and almost certainly saved her life. "All of the sudden, I heard a rock flying down the wall. I dove behind the pack as best as I could and felt the impact from the other side," said Pfaff. "Andres's ice tool was bent. I had a good adrenaline rush after that!"

On Sunny Terrace, they watched their lengthy forecast of stellar weather shrink significantly. With the headwall of Eternal Flame looming above, the team had a long discussion.

"I'm not sure if we bailed from there if we'd have the psyche to do it all over again," Marin said. "After not summiting anything for several years, I was extremely hungry." With the decision made to continue, Pfaff and Marin unleashed Allfrey, a Yosemite big wall climber with many El Capitan speed records to his credit. On the vertical and overhanging cracks, he utilized many special aid techniques including short fixing. "He was climbing as fast as he could," Marin said. "It was one of the coolest things I've witnessed in the mountains. He just charged uphill."

Allfrey took the lead again on August 17, finally relinquishing it to Marin when the terrain changed from vertical granite to mixed ice, rock and snow. As weather approached from the southwest, Marin (with the team's only set of crampons and tools) linked several pitches and took the team to the summit of Nameless Tower.

"For the longest time it seemed so huge and out of reach for me," said Pfaff, "but when we were on the summit, it was incredible. I've thought about climbing the Nameless Tower for 15 years."

At least 30 rappels landed them back at Red Star Camp at dark. The next day, they descended to base camp.

Marin wasn't through yet. On August 22 at 4 a.m., he strolled away from camp and made one final excursion up the imposing gully. "Sometimes I was listening to the mountain," he said. "Other times I was listening to Pantera or Rancid."

As the sun rose in the east, Marin navigated up the Selters-Woolums route on Great Trango Tower.

"That route is actually harder than you'd think," he said. Despite climbing it as part of a team earlier on the trip, he was unable to capitalize on old footprints. In fact, he found it icier than before, and the snow had frozen hard enough that he had to frontpoint in places where he'd previously been able to side-hill. Eleven hours and 28 minutes after leaving base camp, he returned, having stood alone on the summit. Numerous stuck rappels cost him at least an hour. "I remember being back before tea time, which is at 4 p.m.," Marin said.

In a way, the speediness of his ascent echoed his start as a professional climber. Marin's climbing career began in 1999 when he was a teenager in Columbia. A friend suggested they climb the 5100-meter volcano that overlooked their hometown and the two got into rock climbing soon after. Marin moved to Colorado to be closer to family in the early 2000s, which also placed him in close proximity to the crack climbing of Indian Creek, Utah, and the high-end sport climbing of Rifle Mountain Park, Colorado. In 2006 he went to the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival where he tried ice climbing for the first time. Swinging tools came naturally to him--he won the amateur speed competition and earned his first sponsorship. He went on to represent the US in six ice climbing World Cups. He is now one of the route setters for the Ouray Ice Fest, and has stood on the podium three more times for speed and difficulty events in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

He said this Pakistan trip was his first expedition geared toward big-wall rock climbing and he credited Pfaff as the "mastermind" for getting them there.

"The people here are amazing and non-judgmental, friendly and open," Pfaff said. "[They] want to get to know you. For me, Pakistan is about the mountains, the people and the experience of going way out there. It's a powerful place."