Two Alpinist stories from 2017 are included on the Notables List for The Best American Sports Writing 2018: Claire Carter's feature story "To Abandon" appeared in Alpinist 57 and "The Accidental Mountaineer" by Ana Beatriz Cholo appeared in The Climbing Life section of Alpinist 59.

The Best American Sports Writing is an annual anthology that has been published by Houghton Mifflin since 1991 as part of The Best American Series. In the foreword to the 2018 edition, Series Editor Glenn Stout explains that the book "contains a total of 25 stories, a combination of selections chosen from among 80 stories that were put forward by me as well as the guest editor's own choices." Each edition also includes a Notables List of stories that appears in the back of the book.

"To Abandon" is about Carter's effort as a young poet to retrace some of the travels of Gwen Moffat, a legendary climber and writer who had become Britain's first female mountain guide in 1953. As Carter follows Moffat's itinerary through the American West, she tries to understand what it really means to give up everything for the mountains. "How often do we, as climbers, reach out for abandonment?" Carter asks. "Leave the ground to find a swinging freedom; bitter-cold, bittersweet."

[Illustration] Tessa Lyons

In "The Accidental Mountaineer" Cholo writes of how she found herself in Alaska as part of a team of female military veterans practicing glacier travel as they prepared for a future attempt on Denali (20,310'). Cholo's story is one of overcoming numerous hardships, including surviving rape and losing her mother to cancer. Amid the vast snow and ice, she discovers a sense of expanded possibilities. "I am the most accidental of all mountaineers," Cholo writes. And later: "My voice rings out, strong and clear as crystal, soaring across the glacier and into the coming night." Her story can be found here on Alpinist.com.

Ana Beatriz Cholo [Photo] Eliza Earle

Several other Alpinist stories have been included or mentioned in various The Best American Series anthologies over the years. David Stevenson's essay "A Late and Uninvited Correspondent Responds to Maggie Nelson's Bluets," which first appeared in Alpinist 56, made the "Notables List" for The Best American Essays 2017. "Going Home" by Chris Van Leuven (Alpinist 51) was republished in the 2016 edition of Best American Sports Writing. That same year, Katie Ives's Sharp End column from Alpinist 49 also made the Notable List for Best American Sports Writing. In 2015 Lizzy Scully made the same Notable List for her story "Birth, Sickness, Old Age, Death" in Alpinist 46. In 2014 Helen Mort was noted for her poems on Alison Hargreaves in Alpinist 44. In 2012, Barry Blanchard was noted for his story "Sanctum," Alpinist 35, and Michael S. Reidy was included in the Notable List for The Best American Science and Nature Writing for "The Rucksack of Joseph Dalton Hooker," Alpinist 33.

Did you know--only a small fraction of our many long-form stories from the print edition are ever uploaded to Alpinist.com. Be sure to subscribe or pick up the latest issue, Alpinist 63, for all the goodness!

The northeast face of Cerro Kishtwar (6173m) with All Izz Well (VI WI5 M6, 1500m) marked in red with the team's first bivy site. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

Going light and fast during a short weather window, Japanese climbers Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto squeaked in a new route on the northeast face of Cerro Kishtwar (6173m) in India, between September 20-25. They named their route All Izz Well (VI WI5 M6, 1500m).

Narumi told Alpinist that they ascended 1000 meters via an easy snow gully that was followed by a section of ice on Day 1.

He wrote in an email:

Then we went for a 500-meter summit push on Day 2 without a tent or sleeping bags because we knew the weather window would be almost closed. Day 2 started with a skinny ice pillar and then tricky mixed pitches that led to the upper wall, which consisted of rocks and thin ice and made for some serious pitches. We kept on going into the dark, then finally summited around 11 p.m. We immediately started rappelling, stopping after a while for a two-hour brew session. About 10 rappels brought us to the first camp around noon.

Yusuke Sato on Day 1. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

The first bivy site. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

Sato jumaring before the upper headwall. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

Sato leading to the summit in the dark. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

The team on the summit. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

Stopping for a brew on the descent. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

[At this point] snow started to fall and avalanches came down from everywhere on the wall. We kept on rappelling down for another 20 pitches in the terrible situation and finally found a safer place to sleep around midnight.

On Day 4 we made another three rappels and finally stood on the glacier, only to crawl through 60 inches of snow and find our advance base camp tent completely collapsed underneath [the accumulated snow].

We rebuilt our ABC tent and rested there but realized it wasn't safe enough--an avalanche blast shook the tent quite strongly, so we decided to move down in the night. Another swim in the snow took us almost four hours to move only 200 meters. But here we found small cave under the rock.

Digging out the flattened tent at their advanced base camp. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection

On the next day we stayed [under the rock], enjoyed some sun and waited for the snow to [stabilize].

On Day 6 [Sept. 25] the sky finally cleared, the snow [firmed] up and we could walk back easily to the base camp.

Only Sato--an original member of the famous Giri Giri Boys--had been to India before, on an expedition to Kalanka (6931) about 10 years ago.

Narumi said they were inspired to go to Cerro Kishtwar after seeing a photo of the peak taken by Marko Prezelj, who climbed a new route on the mountain's east face with Hayden Kennedy, Urban Novak and Manu Pellissier in 2015.

"[Prezelj] kindly gave us images and also beta to the area. That motivated us a lot," Narumi said.

Last year Stephan Siegrist, Thomas Huber and Julian Zanker completed a steep aid line up the middle of Cerro Kishtwar's northwest face.

Anna Smith at the belay on Cyber Pasty Memorial (WI5+ M7+), Icefields Parkway, Alberta. Smith's life was featured in Alison Criscitiello's Alpinist 59 story "Contraindications," which recently received a Banff Mountain Book Competition award. [Photo] John Price

For the second year in a row, an Alpinist story has been selected for the Best Mountaineering Article Award in the Banff Mountain Book Competition.

Alison Criscitiello's story from Alpinist 59, titled "Contraindications," was chosen for the top prize in this category out of four finalists, which included James Edward Mills' story from Alpinist 60, "The Force of the Soul: Hugues Beauzile."

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.

Of the news of the award, Criscitiello wrote in an email:

It is a bittersweet, heart-torn feeling. October 1, two years ago, is the first day I sat alone high in the Miyar, part of Anna with me, part of her gone; this time of year I think will forever hold that suspended space. To be recognized by such an incredible jury and festival, and to be judged among stunning writers, is beyond meaningful and gratifying. Concurrently, it's for a story that was almost impossible to write, that is hard to read and that I never thought would be mine. I wrote and edited this story quite isolated, in a cabin in Atlin, BC, during the season of darkness and ice fog. Everything around me reflected my internal landscape, and I didn't know then why I was writing it when I've never written a non-science piece before, but I certainly do now. I am so glad and so proud to have gone through the process of writing this story and editing its many iterations with the help of the talented Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives, because I've seen how important it has been to many [people] to read its details. Knowing it has resonated, added to someone's understanding or healing, is the prize.

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

Last year, Nick Bullock's story "Threshold Shift" from Alpinist 57 received the award for Best Mountaineering Article.

The Banff Mountain Book Competition has seven categories: Mountain Literature - Nonfiction, Mountain Fiction & Poetry, Guidebooks, Mountain Image, Mountain Environment & Natural History, Mountaineering Article and Adventure Travel. Each winner receives a $2,000 prize. A grand prize among all the categories will be announced November 1 and represents an additional $4,000 for the chosen author.

Joanna Croston, programming director for the Banff Mountain Festival, explained the rigorous selection process for the competition in an email:

There are several steps to the competition process. First, our long list of category finalists is selected by the programming team with consideration taken into account for reviews and feedback from a volunteer group of readers. There are approximately 30-40 readers each year who collectively read upwards of 150 books. Once the top books are determined in each category (usually top three to five) we give them to our jury for review and they determine the award winners. They also decide on a Mountaineering History award, which can be drawn from any category, [and] they...decide the grand prize. Any of the category winners and the Mountaineering History prizewinner is eligible for the grand prize. We will announce the grand prize on Thursday, November 1, at the festival here in Banff. This year's jury is Paula Wright (USA)*, Ian Welsted (UK/CAN) and Larry Stanier (CAN).

[*Wright is the associate editor for Alpinist and she recused herself from participating in any selections where Alpinist stories were involved.]

Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei, by Junko Tabei and Helen Y. Rolfe, was chosen as the winner for Mountaineering History. A feature about that book by Katherine Indermaur can be found here on Alpinist.com.

The winners of the other categories can be found on the Banff Centre's website here.

Alan Rousseau, pictured here on the first ascent of Rungofarka's north ridge, India, in 2017, was a 2018 recipient of the American Alpine Club's Cutting Edge Grant. Applications for the 2019 Cutting Edge Grant are due by November 30. [Photo] Tino Villanueva

The American Alpine Club is now accepting applications for its Cutting Edge Grant, the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant and the Jones Live Like Liz Award. All applications are due by November 30 and all applicants must be AAC members.

A press release summarizes the Cutting Edge Grant:

The American Alpine Club's Cutting Edge Grant supports ambitious climbers in pursuit of world-class climbing and mountaineering objectives. Awards typically fall in the $5,000 to $15,000 range with final allocations based on project and budget. Proposals for the Cutting Edge Grants are evaluated upon originality of the objective, low-impact style, climbers' experience, and eligibility.

The grant is limited to American Alpine Club members who are US citizens but the team can include non-US citizens.

To apply for this year's Cutting Edge Grant, visit the AAC webpage here. A list of last year's recipients can be seen here.

According to the AAC press release, this is the second year that the Club has partnered with Jones Snowboards for the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant and the Jones Live Like Liz Award. These grants are exclusive to amateur backcountry snowboarders looking to explore locations in North America.

The press release reads:

Applications for the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant are considered based on objective remoteness, exploratory nature, carbon footprint, creativity, and must be American Alpine Club members. Project locations must be in North America and be completed in 2019.

Open exclusively to female applicants, Jones Live Like Liz Award operates under the same criteria as Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant. The Live Like Liz Award is named in honor of aspiring mountain guide Liz Daley, a Jones ambassador who was killed in an avalanche accident in Argentina in September 2014. This award is dedicated to Liz and the radiant passion for splitboard exploration for which she was known. Objectives may be a single line/peak or a tour/traverse of a wider region.

Both Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant and the Jones Live Like Liz Award provide $1,500 in financial assistance and gear including a new Jones splitboard, skins and backpack.

To apply for either of these Jones grants, visit the AAC webpage here.

Anchor Replacement Funds Awarded

A volunteer with the Boulder Climbing Community replaces bolts on North Table Mountain above Golden, Colorado. [Photo] Jason Haas

In other Club-related news, the American Alpine Club and Access Fund recently awarded $10,000 in grants to replace aging bolts at nine areas:

Rocky Pass/Gallatin Canyon, Montana (Southwest Montana Climbers Coalition)
Red River Gorge, Kentucky (Red River Gorge Fixed Gear Initiative)
Slab Camp, Kentucky (Morehead Tourism Commission)
Shawangunk Mountains, New York (Mohonk Preserve)
Obed, Tennessee (East Tennessee Climbers' Coalition)
Smith Rock, Oregon (High Desert Climbers Alliance)
Boulder Canyon, Colorado (Boulder Climbing Community)
Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota (Black Hills Climbers Coalition)
Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming (Bighorn Climbers Coalition)

This is the third year of the Anchor Replacement Fund grant awards. A press release details the work planned for each area:

Rocky Pass/Gallatin Canyon, Montana (Southwest Montana Climbers Coalition): Southwest Montana Climbers Coalition (SMCC) was awarded funding to replace plated 3/8" wedge anchors with 1/2" stainless steel sleeve and glue-in anchors using sustainable replacement techniques (hole re-use) to preserve the character of the routes and the rock. SMCC will engage local volunteers to expand their ability to tackle aging bolts at the gneiss and limestone crags in the region.

Red River Gorge, Kentucky (Red River Gorge Fixed Gear Initiative): Red River Gorge Fixed Gear Initiative (RRGFGI) was awarded funding to replace rusting and aging hardware on the steep sandstone cliffs throughout the region with 1/2" stainless glue-in anchors. RRGFGI is planning to replace over 300 bad bolts in 2019 and is striving to keep bad bolts in the region to fewer than 50 at any given time. RRGFGI works to replace aging bolts throughout the Red River Gorge region.

Slab Camp, Kentucky (Morehead Tourism Commission): Morehead Tourism Commission was awarded funding to tackle rebolting efforts at Slab Camp, a half-mile section of cliff line featuring approximately 60 routes that were originally bolted in the early 1990s with hardware store bolts and anchors. The routes include a mix of both sport and traditional, with all sport routes requiring new bolts and anchors and all traditional routes in need of new anchors. All bolts will be replaced with 1/2" stainless steel glue-ins. The Morehead Tourism Commission has enlisted the help of local climbers and rebolting experts from the Red River Gorge Fixed Gear Initiative to assist them with the effort through training and consultation on rebolting practices.

Shawangunk Mountains, New York (Mohonk Preserve): The Mohonk Preserve was awarded funding to replace eight tree and piton anchors in the Gunks with 1/2" stainless steel sleeve anchors. New bolted anchors placed below the cliff top will reduce climber impacts to the top of the cliff on routes like Gelsa in the Near Trapps. They will also replace aging piton anchors on popular routes such as Son of Easy O in the Trapps.

Obed, Tennessee (East Tennessee Climbers' Coalition): East Tennessee Climbers' Coalition (ETCC) was awarded funding to support their goal of rebolting the entire Obed in five years. ETCC is tackling replacement of approximately 4,000 aging bolts, which are all approaching 30 years of age, throughout the popular northeast Tennessee climbing area. ETCC has already undertaken this massive challenge, enlisting the help of volunteers and replacing 730 bolts with 1/2" stainless steel anchors this year alone.

Smith Rock, Oregon (High Desert Climbers Alliance): High Desert Climbers Alliance (HDCA) was awarded funding to replace aging hardware at Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. HDCA will engage local volunteer bolt replacers to replace aging plated hardware that has been in the rock for over 40 years with long-lasting 1/2" stainless steel hardware.

Boulder Canyon, Colorado (Boulder Climbing Community): Boulder Climbing Community (BCC) was awarded funding for rebolting efforts in Boulder Canyon and other Front Range climbing areas. The BCC will purchase 100 1/2" stainless steel sleeve bolts and hangers, as well as 40 anchor set-ups. Their annual rebolting events will take place at North Table Mountain, Boulder Canyon and Clear Creek Canyon.

Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota (Black Hills Climbers Coalition): The Black Hills Climbers Coalition (BHCC) was awarded funding to replace aging anchors at popular crags throughout Spearfish Canyon. The BHCC is tackling replacement of 300+ routes, which were equipped 25 years ago with plated and mixed metals. The BHCC will replace these aging anchors using high-quality stainless steel glue-ins to meet the highest standards for fixed anchors at limestone sport climbing areas.

Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming (Bighorn Climbers Coalition): The Bighorn Climbers Coalition (BCC) was awarded funding to address aging anchors in Ten Sleep Canyon. The BCC will focus on replacing wedge bolts, cold shuts, and worn lower-off anchors throughout the canyon. These will be replaced with 1/2" stainless steel bolts and high-quality ring anchors and lower-off hooks specifically manufactured for climbing.

Madaleine Sorkin climbs by headlamp on Scenic Cruise in the Black Canyon on October 29. [Photo] Henna Taylor

Last May, Madaleine Sorkin and Mary Harlan were preparing to do a 24-hour linkup of three routes in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park to raise awareness for the Climbing Grief Fund, a new program launched by the American Alpine Club to provide support for anyone affected by loss or trauma related to climbing. One of the routes they'd initially hoped to do, Astrodog (V 5.11+), was on a section of South Chasm View Wall that the Park Service closed in mid-May right before their attempt.

South Chasm has been closed indefinitely since other climbers had reported a huge flake that appeared to be dangerously loose on the lower-left section of the wall. The Park Service is currently studying the flake to determine how much it may be moving and will re-evaluate the closure when the scientific data is available (more about that situation is in the second half of this story).

Sorkin and Harlan originally envisioned a linkup of Astrodog, Scenic Cruise (V 5.10+) and Russian Arete (IV 5.9+). The latter two routes are on the north side of the canyon. When it was clear that the closure on South Chasm View wouldn't change anytime soon, the duo returned to the canyon on October 29 with some revised plans.

They ultimately completed a linkup of the Scenic Cruise on North Chasm View Wall and Russian Arete on the Aretes. The climbing took place between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m., including approach/descent times as well as a lunch break. The spent about three and a half hours on Scenic Cruise and three and a half hours on Russian Arete--the latter route was an onsight climb for both of them. They were thwarted by rain, however, on their third route, Southern Arete (V 5.10+), which is on the Painted Wall and entails one of the longest approaches in the canyon. In total they completed approximately 3,000 feet of climbing in a place that requires climbers to navigate steep, poison-ivy-choked descents from the rim and then climb back out (Harlan ended up with bad rashes afterward). It didn't make the challenge easier when Sorkin sprained her ankle about a week before the linkup.

Mary Harlan (foreground) and Sorkin in the Black Canyon. [Photo] Mary Harlan

Sorkin wrote in an email:

I think it was a fine effort climbing the Scenic Cruise and Russian Arete quickly with Mary. I'm disappointed that we didn't complete some version of [the linkup we'd envisioned] but a good effort was given in the circumstances and everything went well. For now, I feel a sense of completion with raising awareness about the CGF. I really appreciate the community of friends who were able to gather in the Black.... We had planned to descend to the bottom of the Black Canyon together and hold a council there. After the weather turned, we ended our first day with a campfire gathering for us all to share from our hearts about grief and longing. I am very grateful for this experience. Personally, I'm still feeling incomplete with what this vision was, and I will keep exploring that through climbing.

The American Alpine Club plans to launch the fund soon and fundraising efforts are still underway at Chuffed.org. If you are a grief or trauma counselor and would like to be part of the network created by the Grief Fund, please email Vickie Hormuth at the AAC (vhormuth@americanalpineclub.org). If you have a personal story about grief or loss that you would like to share with the community, contact Madaleine Sorkin (madaleines@gmail.com), who is collecting these stories with plans to archive them online through the AAC's forthcoming grief resource webpage.

Geologic Hazard on South Chasm View Wall

Topher Donahue and Jared Ogden were working on a new route on South Chasm View Wall in mid-May when they found evidence that a massive flake--which their route followed for hundreds of feet--was moving.

Eric Bilderback, a geomorphologist for the National Park Service, estimates the flake to be about 88 meters (289 feet) tall and to have a volume of around 1,250 cubic meters.

"Using average densities for metamorphic rocks, the weight estimate is in the neighborhood of 3,800 tons," Bilderback said, noting that the "estimate is still subject to change."

For comparison, the first seven rockfalls on El Capitan's Waterfall Route on September 27, 2017, had a combined total of about 1,300 tons. (A second rockfall that happened on the following day was "much bigger.")

Donahue posted a warning to other climbers on Mountain Project on May 17:

[I] was just working on a project that starts on a 65-meter [offwidth] that forms the opposite (left) edge of the Flakes Route.... [Three] weeks ago I left [five] Big Bros* in there planning to fix them for me and for future parties to climb it without having to carry quite as huge of an OW rack. The last [two] days Jared Ogden and I went in for the send. We approached from above and on the pitch above the OW, while placing directional cams to get down an angling pitch, I noticed the cams didn't seem to fit the same as they had [three] weeks earlier and a section that had been [a] rattily finger-size now seemed to be solid hand jams. I thought it must just be in my head. Then I started down the OW, and all [five] Big Bros I'd placed had expanded 1 inch in the last [three] weeks! The collars were where I'd left them, but now there was an inch of thread showing between the collars and the tube--[presumably] the springs pushed the 'Bros open more as the crack widened, with the collars left in place as quite accurate indicators of how much the crack had widened. We bailed upwards, terrified because we had to climb a full pitch on the feature to get off it. The feature that moved (or is moving) is 250-300 feet tall and probably 40 feet wide on average. Craziest thing I've witnessed in 40 years of climbing. Reported to the [National Park Service]. Climbs that are threatened are The Flakes and Night is Dark and Full of Terrors. The thing is probably going to sit there for 10,000 years, but it may be good to give it a winter or two of freeze thaw to settle into it's new position or fall.

[*A Big Bro is a spring-loaded tube that expands to protect wide cracks and is secured by a collar that screws down to lock the tube in place.]

Donahue told Alpinist in an email:

We first climbed that section about 10 years ago and returned several times since then and the crack was always the same until this spring. The flake is heavily weighted in the middle, with thinner rock at the bottom and the top, and also leaning significantly to the left, so architecturally it is not a strong formation. This always kind of bothered me but until this experience I figured I didn't need to worry about rocks of that size.... When climbing the OW, we could see light coming through from the other side, where the Flakes route is, so it is separated from the wall by 10 inches or so for at least 70 meters. There was no significant freeze/thaw cycle between when I placed the Big Bros in late April and when we returned to see them expanded in mid-May. It was a dry winter in the area with the area...and the wall was bone dry both times I was in there.

Bilderback's team has been studying the flake with a "Trimble SX10 robotic total station/3D Laser Scanner" since mid-summer, when the first scan was conducted. A follow-up scan was completed November 6 to determine how much the flake may be moving. Results won't be available until December at the earliest.

"Since the climbing and boating season is winding down there may not be a huge rush [to process the results]," Bilderback said.

The Park Service will re-evaluate the closure on South Chasm View Wall after the scientists can provide them with this data.

"The Black is an insane gash in the planet...." Bilderback said. "I'm in an advisory role. It's not my job to determine closures. I will do a risk estimate and try to put numbers on how many people are likely to be in that area [if/when the flake does fall down]."

The closure has frustrated some climbers because the rock in question is near the bottom of a wall that is approached by rappelling in from above, meaning that climbers could avoid the flake by not descending all the way down the wall.

Donahue observed the irony that "the best routes in a canyon known for loose rock are closed because of a loose rock."

Still, the Park Service doesn't want to take any chances.

"We're waiting to make an informed decision," said Black Canyon Chief Ranger Chris Mengel.

Alpinist will follow up on the closure when more details become available.

[On October 18, Kevin Cooper and Kelly Cordes completed a new three-pitch mixed route on the lower east face of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, which they named Cannonball (M5 R WI5+/6 X, 3 pitches). Cordes wrote the following story about their experience on the rarely seen ice formation.--Ed.]

Kelly Cordes leading the first pitch of Cannonball (M5 R WI5+/6 X) during the first ascent. [Photo] Kevin Cooper

On a beautiful autumn day, standing waist-deep in snow with freezer-burn ice plastered to the wall towering overhead, I vaguely remembered that I really don't do this anymore.

"Man, check out that view," Kevin Cooper said. His voice snapped me from my thoughts. Chasm Lake shimmered below, and the snow faded into the foothills of the Front Range. It would have been a fine day to climb sunny rock down in the valleys. At 12,000 feet, though, on the lower east face of Longs Peak, the wonders of aspect and elevation can cause ice to form remarkably early--if the ice forms at all. October tends to be best, and by mid-November it's usually gone. Years pass between the return of even the most reliable routes. Potential lines often appear for a day or two and then sublimate away under high winds. Climbers chase the smears with maniacal fervor, in part because of the area's deep history and wild location, but also for reasons of utility: the underlying granite is compact and often devoid of crack systems. The search for passage requires an old-school reliance on the presence of ice, even millimeters thick. The climbing tends toward heady.

I continued racking up in silence, pausing to enjoy the natural beauty and hoping to draft off Coop's perpetual stoke. For me, it had been a while. Internal questions swirled, and I reminded myself to hold zero expectations. But when Coop blurted out that he had the song "Danger Zone"--the soundtrack from the movie Top Gun--playing through his head, I knew it was on.

THE LONGS CIRQUE, with the Diamond dominating overhead, is a special place for climbers. On the edges of the lower east face, prominent gullies form classic mixed routes: Alexander's Chimney (M4 WI4) on the left, and the steeper Field's Chimney (M6 WI5) on the right. Before I get too far, though, it's worth noting that the always-tricky game of rating such a changeable medium is particularly absurd here, and the numbers represent little more than educated guesses that can, and do, vary wildly, especially in the vast swath between Alexander's and Field's, which holds much of Longs' mixed mystique. Home to 5.12 summertime rock routes, the face seeps and sometimes freezes. In the 1980s (probably 1986, though they can't remember exactly), legendary climbers Malcolm Daly, Duncan Ferguson, and Jeff Lowe established the route that started it all: the Smear of Fear (generally considered M6 WI5 R).

An overview of the ice/mixed routes on the east face of Longs Peak in October 2018: Smear of Fear is labeled on the lower left; the Crazy Train area is at the bottom center (see detailed photo below); Field's Chimney is on the right; Window Pain is top center. [Photo] Brian McMahon

Crazy Train area, October 2018. Circles indicate belays. Routes are numbered chronologically: 1) Crazy Train (Cordes-Donahue, 2000; extension to Wrecking Ball anchor by Cooper-Donahue, 2000); 2) Wrecking Ball (Cordes-Stock, 2000); 3) Morning Dew (unformed in photo; Cooper-Donahue, 2000); 4) Conditional Love (Fowler-Kempney, 2018; connected to Cannonball finish by Huey-McMahon, 2018); 5) Cannonball (Cooper-Cordes, 2018; this was the first season the pitches above Wrecking Ball were known to have formed). [Photo] Kelly Cordes

As a young climber in Montana in the '90s, I had been inspired by an old photo of the Smear. The ice was so thin that it appeared to be little more than a translucent veneer frozen over the rock; climbing it looked like magic.

When I moved to Estes Park, Colorado, in early autumn 2000, I lived in a $65-a-month shack and was completely in love with ice, mixed and alpine climbing. I could hardly believe it when, that October, I climbed the Smear and then lucked into some new routes in a concentrated zone to the right, where drips that had long teased climbers had finally formed. Just barely. That year, three challenging routes went up: Crazy Train (WI5), Wrecking Ball (M6 R WI5+), and Morning Dew (M6 WI5+/6 R). In the ensuing 18 years, these routes, which became loosely known as the "Crazy Train smears," only formed a couple of times and occasionally saw repeat ascents. But nobody had seen the area ice up like it did this October.

"I'M TALKING SHIT because we haven't left the ground," I said, suddenly excited, "but if this goes, a good name could be Cannonball. It's like a direct shot to where it joins Wrecking Ball for a bit, and then the pillars above look like a cannon." Crazy Train came from the Ozzy Osbourne song, Wrecking Ball from an Emmylou Harris song that fit nicely with its unprotected traverse, and Morning Dew from a Grateful Dead song that certainly matched the quality of its ice.

"Love it!" Coop said. "And it fits the song thing, too, you know that awesome Van Halen song, 'Cannonball! Cannon ball-all-aaaah-ahh-ahhh-all, Cannonball!' Love that song. David Lee Roth swinging around on ropes and everything in the video."

I thought for a second and cracked a smile.

COOP SEEMS AGELESS. His 2013 send of Window Pain (WI6+), up high on the Diamond, surely ranks among the most awesome ice lines in the Lower 48, and he gets after it every season. But for me, climbing things like the Crazy Train smears seemed like a lifetime ago.

Back in 2010, in a moment of inattentiveness while ice climbing, I shattered my lower leg. In the following six years, I had eight major surgeries, including an ankle fusion, a shoulder reconstruction and another spinal fusion (my second). Chronic pain dominated my life, but I tried to be stoic and strong, hiding it from the world as I walked around a little more sad and a little less brave.

These days I mainly rock climb and mostly do shorter approaches. But as the heaviness fades since my last surgery, sometimes I've begun to feel--barely, timidly, fearfully--something like a spark emerging from a place I'd long forgotten.

Coop and I don't know each other well enough for him to know much of this--somehow, over all of these years, we had never climbed together--so when he asked if I wanted to go, I said sure. After all, I'd seen a picture of the ice on the Internet, and from the comfort of home I'd started to dream.

The previous weekend, the first new route since 2000 was added to the zone when two young crushers, Tyler Kempney and Wesley Fowler--who are literally half the combined age of Coop and me--scored an elegant smear of glistening ice near the middle of the wall. They called it Conditional Love (M5 WI5+/6 R). To its right, though, remained a series of unclimbed freezer-burn splotches. And Coop is obsessed with new routes. "Firsties," as he calls them. He wanted to have a look, but the line didn't look likely.

Kevin Cooper leading Pitch 2 of Cannonball during the first ascent. [Photo] Kelly Cordes

"CANNON BALL-ALL-AAAAH-AHH-AHHH-ALL!" he kept singing. The rhythm stuck in my head, if not the song, so I started climbing, inelegantly. To start, I humped my way onto a snow mushroom, thrashed through snow-ice (sn'ice), and found nothing to climb. A seam in the corner was mostly closed, and my crampons skated as I tried to remember how to do this shit. Eventually, I thunked a tool into frozen moss, made my front points hold on a sliver of rock, and got my first pro--a Pecker equalized with a nut wedged between rock and ice. Welcome back, I thought. Twenty feet up, I'd have bailed if there had been enough to bail from. I remember thinking that at least there's deep snow at the base. Which, I guess, was a sign that my old mindset was returning. Coop remained patient, sending up encouraging words as I nudged higher, fluttering between hesitation and something like forgotten confidence until, finally, after I'd built a nest of tiny gear where the wall steepened, I set aside my fear and climbed like I used to do. Somehow.

Cordes starts Pitch 3. [Photo] Kevin Cooper

Coop had stopped singing once he started Pitch 2, the money pitch. Straight off the belay he balanced across verglassed rock with sparse gear, then climbed into a mixed corner, placing bomber pro before tiptoeing up sn'ice too thin to protect for the final 60 feet, equalizing all points of contact as he moved because the ice was too fragile for anything more. Delusional or not (and who doesn't delude themselves for pure joy) I knew he wouldn't fall. And I knew that the pillars on the next pitch, spilling from those roofs above Wrecking Ball, those pillars that everyone had always wondered if they might form--I knew they would go. I was cheering, singing, drafting off Coop, and it was working.

Cordes near the top of Pitch 3. [Photo] Kevin Cooper

Partway up Pitch 3, a piece of metal poked out of the ice: an old buttonhead bolt, surely from the 5.11 rock route Slippery People. I clipped it and climbed higher, through the pillars, until pumped out of my mind at the top, soaking wet and beaming with absolute elation.

"Coop" finishing Pitch 3. [Photo] Kelly Cordes

It was only a climb. But I can't remember the last time I felt so good.

Back at the base we jabbered and giggled like school kids. The sun had set when we stopped at the foot of Chasm Lake to have a snack, finish our water and sit beneath the shadow of the towering east face, while the stars and moon rose over Mt. Meeker. We were thirsty and needed to rehydrate, especially Coop. He'd be back at work in the morning, siding a house. Beast.

"We'll hit the Pagan Stream in about a half-hour and fill up there," he said. Pagan Stream? It's a subtle spot I'd passed countless times but never seen, where water bubbles straight from rocks in the ground, filtered by the earth.

"Nice," I said, "should tie us over until the trailhead--I brought beers."

"So did I," Coop said. Veterans.

I stood and shouldered my pack, following Coop down the boulders below the lake. Suddenly I was struck with a revelation.

"Dude, it's Panama!"

"Huh?" Coop said.

"Not Cannonball. Man. The Van Halen song, it's Panama - Panaaaama. Pan-a-ma-ah-ah-ah-ha-ha, Panama!"

Coop paused and then burst into laughter. "Yeah, you're right," he said, with a tone that resembled lighthearted resignation, before he noted that surely, somewhere, exists a song called Cannonball. Yeah, he's right.

Soon we traversed the narrow path along the flanks of Mt. Lady Washington. Below us, alpine tundra dropped away for a thousand feet into a marshy valley. Moonbeams reflected off of frozen ponds below, treating us to a lightshow in the swamp: the rays of light 240,000 miles away shifted whenever we changed the angle of our vantage with a single step forward or backward.

Forward, back. Back, forward--the strange lights would appear then vanish. We both shrugged, laughed, and continued our elated march, all 102 combined years of us, climbing together for the first time, just two old guys tiptoeing up smears as magical and fleeting as rays of light dancing in the sky.

Jesse Huey climbs the pillar on the last pitch of Cannonball shortly after its first ascent by Kelly Cordes and Kevin Cooper. Huey linked into that pitch after climbing Conditional Love (M5 WI5+/6 R), another new route that was climbed recently by Tyler Kempney and Wesley Fowler. Cordes wrote that the pillar was steeper and more strenuous than expected: "Looking at it head-on, and being super psyched, I'd deluded myself into thinking it'd be a cruise. I was pumped out of my...mind." [Photo] Brian McMahon

[Chip Chace was one of the most well-rounded climbers of his generation and was known to keep many of his exploits quietly to himself. He was also a highly respected practitioner of Chinese medicine. Born on September 17, 1958, he died of pancreatic cancer on November 3 at age 60. A memorial service was held November 17 in Boulder, Colorado. He is survived by his wife and climbing partner of 30 years, Monika. Mike Schlauch wrote the following letter in remembrance of his friend.--Ed.]

Chip Chace on Invisible Wall (IV 5.12a, 500'), Longs Peak. [Photo] Roger Briggs

Chip,

I knew of you years before we met via guidebook descriptions ranging from Harlin's North American guide to Bjornstad's guide to the desert. Your beautiful desert routes included Fine Jade, Pale Fire, Sacred Space, Ziji, and of course Liquid Sky on North Six Shooter in Indian Creek, Utah.

In some tangential way, you were a climbing mentor to me before I even met you. The lines of your routes, route names and descriptions in the guidebook made this connection for me that I felt drawn to. You were an unintentional guide, something that I'm sure many others would say about their connections to you. Thank you.

In the mid '90s while I was living in Telluride I met "Platinum" Rob Miller. We planned our first desert trip while bouldering in the afternoon sun at Society Turn and were surprised and excited that we both wanted to climb Liquid Sky. Finally, a partner for Liquid Sky! I looked up at it (or more accurately "into it"), and I was simultaneously scared and drawn to it. I had to climb it.

Coincidentally, when we rolled into the Superbowl Campground that next weekend, Craig Luebben and Topher Donahue were there. They had attempted Liquid Sky the day before and exclaimed that they couldn't fit into the squeeze chimney that tunneled through the massive roof at the top. I remember thinking, those guys are really fuckin' good climbers and don't exactly look "big," but Rob and I are definitely more skinny so maybe we actually have a shot at this....

With a brand new 5-inch cam that we borrowed from a friend, Rob launched up into the offwidth roof crack, and he soon realized that the No. 5 wasn't going to help at all. He squirmed, out of sight, for a long friggin' time. At one point, he got his head stuck in the wrong position, had a bit of a melt down, and I think he actually cried. Finally, he "birthed" upside down on his back from the top of offwidth and placed the big cam. When I followed it, I recall being in a full "superman" position in the roof, perpendicular to the tower, looking straight down thru the lip of the overhang to the ground. I almost puked.

Liquid Sky is still one of the most memorable routes I've ever done. I have you and Jeff Achey to thank for the inspiration.

Chip Chace. [Photo] Monika Chace/StillwaterHealthBoulder.com

When I moved back to Boulder in 1996, I reached out to you at the clinic to treat some tendonitis. Of course, we struck up a conversation about Liquid Sky and in your mind that probably gave me some sort of pedigree to warrant a climbing plan together. We made plans to climb the Diamond on Longs Peak (14,255') and you chose The Joker (V 5.12c, 6 pitches). The Joker had recently been freed by Roger and Pat Adams. It was and probably still is out of my pay grade, but I was willing to give it a shot and watch you have at it. Fortunately for me, The Joker was wet that morning and we settled on Ariana (V- 5.12a, 6 pitches).

On the approach in the dark, I remember talking about how it would be nice to have headphones for the long walk. I said something about Pink Floyd; you said you would prefer Wagner. [Chace posted a "Soundtrack to My Life & Final Passage" on his website that can be found here.--Ed.]

We soloed up the North Chimney to reach the start of the route at 13,000 feet. I had probably never soloed it before. At the top section right before Broadway Ledge, I was probably looking a little nervous on the wet rock and with a heavy pack on; I definitely was. You kindly offered to throw the rope down to me, which I accepted. Thank you.

As I paid out rope on the crux pitch, I thought I would give you a little verbal encouragement just as I would to any of my other climbing partners. "C'mon Chip, you got this!" I called up to you. Then it happened. You looked down at me, put your finger up to your lips, and gave me a "shush" gesture. Your silencing simultaneously gave me a feeling of being really stupid and really inspired at the same time. What was I thinking!? Why would Chip Chace need verbal encouragement from me on a 12a finger crack? You were in your element. No verbal encouragement needed. You floated through the crux. I scratched my way up it.

You could have said nothing, thinking to yourself, "I wish this kid would shut up. Doesn't he know that I have inner strength that serves me beyond what 'normal' encouragement can provide?" But I'm glad you turned around and gestured toward me. You made me aware that there is a way to climb...and a way not to. Climb quietly with confidence. I still aspire to look inward for strength and motivation, instead of outward for other methods that have become the norm, those of Facebook, Instagram...shit like that.

Thank you for that day on the Diamond. And thank you for the beautiful Lower East Face routes that you established with Roger--Endless Summer, Diagonal Super Direct and Invisible Wall.

Chace on the Original Route, Rainbow Wall (V 5.12a, 14 pitches), Red Rock, Nevada. [Photo] Roger Briggs

How else could someone rope-solo at the levels you did if you had to rely on someone else to get you motivated? Your rope-solo trips are legendary. I hope they stay as discreet and personal as they were to you on the day you climbed them.

In the late '90s we also worked together on the Eldorado Fixed Hardware Review Committee along with Steve Levin, Roger Briggs, Beth Bennett, Malcolm Daly and Chris Archer. I learned to listen to my Eldorado heroes before speaking up. I learned about how important it is to preserve climbing tradition. Decades later I still sit on the Action Committee for Eldorado board, carrying on and trying to share that wisdom, especially with the younger climbers as I introduce them to Eldo.

I learned not to just "take" from our climbing areas, but to also give back. Get involved in my local climbing community. Thank you for the guidance.

More recently, we would still run into each other and I was always warmed by your gracious attitude and sincere interest in what I'd been up to. A few months ago I shared a story of climbing Half Dome in Yosemite this summer and you asked what the bolt-ladder pitch was like after the huge flake fell off. You said you had rope soloed the route a week or two before the rockfall incident and had bivied (or more likely, just chilled out) on the ledge that fell off with the flake. That image of you on Half Dome, on a ledge that no longer exists, will stick with me.

When I first heard of your illness, I like many others was immediately shocked. Naomi Guy (my wife) summed it up well--how can someone who has saved so many people now become the patient himself? Who is going to help Chip Chace?

Then I remembered that day on the Diamond in 1997 when you looked down at me, gestured for me to be quiet, and I knew that you would find your own way to handle this--just as you always did.

Take care Chip. Thank you for the guidance.

Mike Schlauch
Boulder, Colorado

[An obituary by Chace's longtime friend Jamie Logan can be found here, and another article by Chris Weidner can be found here.--Ed.]

Keita Kurakami (left) and Connor Herson after their respective free ascents of the Nose (VI 5.14a, 2,900') of El Capitan. [Photos] Keita Kurakami collection/Jim Herson

Two historic free ascents happened within the last several days on the Nose (VI 5.14a, 2,900') of El Capitan: Keita Kurakami free climbed the route as a rope-solo in a single push from the ground on November 14-18, and 15-year-old Connor Herson free climbed it in a three-day push with his dad belaying and cleaning every pitch; they topped out on November 19 after three days on the wall.

Kurakami redpointed every individual pitch on the Nose last year but decided that he wasn't satisfied with his style because he didn't free the route from the ground in a single push.

"I will come back again to climb it in better style," he said at the time. "I've been told my ascent can be accepted as a free ascent, but even so, if I myself have doubts about [its validity], I can't accept it. Being honest with myself is the most important thing for me."

This year he returned and completed his rope-solo free ascent in a five-day push using a Grigri+ and two lengths of 8.1mm rope (70m and 42m). He said this was his first time rope-soloing a big wall.

Kurakami on the Changing Corners (5.14a) during his 2017 ascent of the Nose. [Photo] Keita Kurakami collection

Rope-soloing can be notoriously difficult, and it involves ascending each pitch twice: after leading a pitch, the climber must rappel and re-ascend to clean the gear. Free climbing on a rope-solo system becomes even more difficult, as the climber must feed out slack from a belay device on his harness as he climbs, all while carrying the extra weight of the remaining rope that is dangling from his harness. The only other person known to have free climbed an El Cap route as a rope-solo is Pete Whittaker, who climbed Freerider (VI 5.12d/13a, 3,000') in a day in 2016 using a Silent Partner. (Whittaker recently rope-soloed the Nose and Half Dome in a day, on November 9, but not as free climbs.)

Of his Nose ascent, Kurakami said, "I sent almost all the pitches on the first try. But I took a fall on the Great Roof and Changing Corners [the crux pitches]. In total, I fell about 10 times [before redpointing the pitches cleanly].... But I knew the route well because I took three years, maybe more than 100 days [to project it]."

When asked about the most challenging moment of the climb, he said: "To decide to do it and tell my wife about the plan! After that, I just got into a flow and just had to believe in myself."

Kurakami at the top of the Great Roof pitch during his rope-solo ascent. [Photo] Keita Kurakami collection

The rope-solo was not his original strategy. He'd intended to climb the route with a partner, but his friend injured his ankle and couldn't climb.

"But, there is not only that reason, there is another story why I was motivated to climb solo," Kurakami said. He wrote in an email that has been edited for clarity:

One month before my departure to Yosemite I lost a climbing mentor who died in the mountains*. He was the best, most modest climber and alpinist I knew. He was a co-worker of mine and often climbed solo but he never bragged about his accomplishments and did not accept compromises in style. I learned many things from him: ethics, mind and humility. He was a really warm human and a well-loved friend. We promised to climb together someday when I grew up to be a climber like him. I feel sad about his death and even lost motivation to climb. But then I thought, I have to climb. Because I'm a climber. I thought that it was karma for me. I thought, I have to do this as a solo, whether it would lead to success or failure, so that I can be satisfied. It was a way to offer a cup of wine to the memory of my friend.

[*Kurakami asked that his friend's name not be made public at this time.]

With this ascent, Kurakami reclaimed his place in the record books as the fifth or sixth* free ascent of the Nose after Lynn Hill, Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden and Jorg Verhoeven. (*A 1998 ascent by Scott Burke has been debated as to where it fits into the record books because he toproped the Great Roof pitch in order to finish the climb before a storm hit.)

Kurakami is known for bold trad climbing, and he wrote a story for Alpinist 56 titled "A Thousand Days of Lapis Lazuli" about the first ascent of Senjitsu no Ruri (5.14a R/X, 250m, 7 pitches, Kurakami-Sato). In April 2017 he completed the first free ascent of another heady trad line that he named Votive Light (5.13d/14a R).

Conner Herson becomes the youngest to free the Nose

Herson celebrated by climbing to the top of the tree that marks the very end of the roped climbing on the Nose. [Photo] Jim Herson

The story of 15-year-old Connor Herson's connection to free climbing on El Capitan begins back in 2003, when his dad, Jim, became the eighth person to free the Salathe: Jim topped out at about the same time that his wife, Anne Smith (also an elite climber), was going into labor with Connor, their second child after their daughter Kara, who is 20. (Jim wrote a humorous story about his Salathe ascent on his blog.) All four family members are climbers, though Kara currently spends more time playing rugby while studying physics at Stanford. ("All the abuse of a good Yosemite thrashing without the inefficient commute," Jim said of his daughter's rugby playing.)

Connor did a jumarless ascent of Half Dome with Jim at age 11 and a jumarless ascent of the Nose in a day at 13. He also has a solid sport climbing and competition background, having redpointed routes up to 5.14c. Anne posted on Facebook:

"When on a couple weekend days late last spring they checked out the Changing Corners pitch, it was to investigate long-term project potential. But everything Connor has done his whole climbing life has helped prepare him for this, so the multi-year schedule, also, was cut short."

Herson leading the Great Roof. [Photo] Jim Herson

Jim wrote in an email:

While his young age has understandably caught lots of attention, it was actually his weekender style that was the most historically significant. [He didn't use any fixed ropes to rehearse the crux] and it was...certainly the first time it was done as a [weekend climber]. He spent 16 days total on the route, spread between this spring and fall. All were one- or two-day weekend trips with a nine-hour round-trip drive. Most of the time was just spent on logistics hiking up to the top of the Nose to work the Changing Corners or climbing up to the Great Roof. The Changing Corners was worked using one 60-meter rope to rap in. Actually climbing time working the crux pitches was maybe an hour per trip and once just 15 minutes after climbing up to the roof. Most importantly, no days of school were missed in the sending of this route!

Conner came very close to succeeding on his first real attempt to lead the route from the ground on the previous weekend.

Jim's November 13 Facebook post reads:

He came within a foot of freeing the Nose! He also got to take his first 25-foot whipper. His piece held!

It was his first time leading the Great Roof and Changing Corners. Although he's worked them on [toprope], I spent the entire drive preparing him for how it's a whole new ballgame on the sharp end of these seriously dicey leads. This trip was to get used to wall life and figure out gear placements. He, of course, ignored me and came within a finger lock of hiking the Great Roof and Changing Corners first go! He sent the Roof [second try] and gave four excruciatingly close burns on the Changing Corners. It was the most try-hard I've ever had the pleasure of watching. He dumped his heart into it. The tank was bone dry after his fourth go. Although apparently not that bone dry as he then sent the way spooky exit 12c in the dark!

Jim described more details of his son's second, successful ascent in an email:

It was a three-day ascent.... He was no falls to the Changing Corners on the second day. He might have been able to top out that day but there were fixed ropes left by [a]...free climber in the middle of the Changing Corners. By the time I moved them there was only time for one burn. He came within inches of nailing the Changing Corners on the first go! [After] a small rest...I think he could have redpointed it but it was too dark. The next morning he sent.

The quote of the day was from last week. He hadn't climbed much this fall [because of] running cross country. So after he redpointed 30 out of 31 pitches, including two hard goes on the Great Roof and four all-out burns on the Changing Corners, [he said]: "You know dad, I don't have my endurance. I need to start climbing again." He then went to the bouldering gym the next day to "build endurance."

He has no idea of the historical significance of his ascent. It's kind of funny. He has no social media and only a small group of his climbing buddies even know what climbing El Cap, by any style, entails. My social media blew up but he only got three texts from his buddies commenting on his poop tube decoration.

Herson on the Nose. [Photo] Jim Herson

Upon topping out, Connor placed a locking carabiner that once belonged to Tim Klein, who died with Jason Wells while they were speed climbing the Salathe on June 2. Both men were friends with the Herson family.

There have been several other impressive ascents in Yosemite over the past few months as well.

On November 8, Carlo Traversi became the second person to climb Meltdown (5.14c), a desperately thin tips crack that had thwarted all would-be second ascensionists since Beth Rodden's first ascent in February 2008.

Then, on November 14, Lonnie Kauk became the first to climb his dad's (Ron Kauk) famous testpiece Magic Line (originally 5.14b) by placing all protection on lead, which Lonnie said upped the grade to 5.14c. Magic line had previously only been climbed with at least some of the gear preplaced, which Lonnie had done prior to his latest ascent.

More details about those and other recent ascents can be found here.

[This story has been updated to correct the ages at which Connor Herson first climbed Half Dome and the Nose.--Ed.]

[Jess Roskelley wrote the following story about a new route he climbed with Scott Coldiron on A Peak in Montana's Cabinet Mountains on November 18-21. They named their route Canmore Wedding Party (AI5 M7, 2,625'). Coldiron, a veteran of the Gulf War, wrote an On Belay story for Alpinist 64 about returning to the Cabinet Range after a long hiatus to pursue his dreams of finding new ice and alpine routes; Alpinist 64 is now available on newsstands and in our online store.--Ed.]

Jess Roskelley leads through loose blocks on Day 2 during the first ascent of Canmore Wedding Party (AI5 M7, 2,625') on A Peak in Montana's Cabinet Mountains. [Photo] Scott Coldiron

Some of the better things I've climbed have been on the fly. Someone calls, and I shuffle commitments around and make it work. Maybe it's better that way. When the opportunity presents itself, I simply drop whatever I'm doing to head into the mountains. I had just stepped off the plane after giving a couple slide shows on the East Coast when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was my friend and frequent climbing partner, Scott Coldiron. As usual, he had a "project" in the Cabinet Mountains of Montana. While it's not a well-known area outside of the Pacific Northwest, there are excellent summer routes on many of the peaks, such as Ojibway, St. Paul, Ibex and Rock Peak. Ice climbing, however, is in its infancy in the range. Winter conditions in the Cabinets can be brutal this far north in Montana. There are times I feel as though I'm in Patagonia instead of three hours from my house--and the routes are world-class.

The previous week, Scott and his partner, Matt Cornell, had hiked into the Cabinets to try an unclimbed line on the north face of A Peak (8,634'). When William Echo and Dan Doody had made the first ascent sometime around the early 1960s, the north face had been a climb ahead of its time. They had attempted the same couloir Scott and Matt would try in 2018 but the Doody-Echo team traversed out onto some ledges relatively low because of the difficulties.

A Peak's north face with the prominent couloir of Canmore Wedding Party visible in the center. [Photo] Jess Roskelley

The north face is six miles from the trailhead. Despite the well-used trail to Granite Lake below the face, it's still another couple of hours from the lake to get to "Thunder Dome," a glacial cirque with 500- to 1,000-foot frozen drips as numerous as the pillars holding up the Colosseum in Rome. The mileage isn't the reason the face is difficult to reach, though. I have always been skittish of the cirque because of the approach. On the way there last year, I was almost hit by a tree that was blown down by a microburst of wind; then I nearly drowned in a torrential flood along the creek that drains A Peak's basin. We'd even lost our entire camp to an avalanche that would have buried a small town.

A Peak's north face towers 4,000 feet above Granite Lake and contains a lineup of alpine ice routes, most named by Scott as references to one of his favorite movies, Mad Max. Scott and Matt had made a valiant 22-hour effort up the unknown couloir, but fell short because of relentless storm-induced spindrift that left them shivering and chilled. At last, they'd had enough and rappelled the route. Scott's motivation skyrocketed to return in better conditions and to climb this classic gully. Matt had other commitments, so Scott, a fireman who had returned home to work two 24-hour shifts between his attempts on the climb, called me. "Jess, the weather is improving and the conditions are perfect," he said. I knew of the couloir he was talking about and immediately agreed to give it a try.

Scott Coldiron and Jess Roskelley on the summit. [Photo] Jess Roskelley

We left Spokane, Washington, around 3 p.m., had burgers and fries in Libby, Montana, and arrived at the trailhead around 7:30. After turning on our headlamps, we shouldered more-than-heavy alpine loads and started up the trail for the lake. I was surprised by the lack of snow on the ground this late in November. Our three-hour hike was easy compared to the nine-hour struggle through deep snow the last time I made the approach. We reached camp around 10:30 p.m., cooked a good meal, and sorted through the gear, much of which we left behind the next morning to lighten our loads for the climb.

Our group gear included a lightweight bivouac tent. According to Scott, he and Matt had watched wave after wave of spindrift roar past them as they sat frozen on what Scott described as the best bivy site he'd ever seen. They had not brought a tent or a sleeping bag. This time we had both.

We were up and brewing coffee at 5 a.m. Flushed with caffeine, we left the tent within an hour, fighting through thick bramble bushes along the edge of the lake, and finally climbing up 1,500 feet of brush, broken and layered sedimentary talus fields, and scraggly trees to where the technical climbing and the deep cut of the couloir began.

Roskelley donning crampons to start the technical climbing. [Photo] Scott Coldiron

We were roped up by 10:30. Scott took the first lead and disappeared in between the large walls that would enclose us for the next couple of days. We climbed moderate mixed ice and rock, occasionally plunging waist deep in pockets of soft snow. Our gear fit nicely in the shallow pockets of the quartzite rock framing the couloir and the ice reminded me of the last pitch of Cerro Torre--a neve ice that grips your tools, but means that placing ice screws is a waste of time. By noon, we had climbed close to four pitches, one was a nasty AI5 that Scott, who had led it previously with Matt, made quick work of on his second time around.

As we were climbing into the late morning, unusual fatigue slowed me down and my throat was on fire, sure signs of an oncoming cold. I had exhausted myself while traveling for the North Face team for the better part of a month and, now, right at the start of this climb, I was going to pay for it.

Acutely aware of the time, Scott and I swapped leads as fast as we could. I took the next pitch, wading through deep snow deposits and across a large rock step that spanned the width of the couloir. I placed a cam behind some loose blocks that were frozen into the back of a wide chimney and cut my feet to mantel up and over a ledge. I waded through more snow and found a lone tree perched at the top of the couloir. I grabbed the trunk and pulled on it a few times, wondering how it had lived through years of avalanches sweeping the face. It was solid. I slung the small pine and belayed Scott up.

Coldiron making quick work of a hard AI5 pitch on Day 1. [Photo] Jess Roskelley

After simulclimbing for several more pitches, we left the first couloir and started up a new one that would eventually take us to the summit. We swapped leads as fast as we could while the tunnel-like couloir faded further into darkness and all light disappeared from the western sky. I was surprised with the difficulty of some of the ice-covered rock steps. I reached a chair-sized belay out of the rockfall zone with a steep chimney above. Scott came up and grabbed the gear. His eyes looked tired but he showed an intensity I had not seen all day. He placed his tools, one on top of the other, in a vertical crack that would widen and choke down every few inches. The moves looked like fun: he found perfect hooks for his tools aided by his thoughtful frontpoint placements. "Off belay," Scott called down to me through the darkness. I shouldered my pack and turned up the high beam on my headlamp, pleased at the quality of the vertical pitches on this entertaining route.

Weary and hungry enough to eat the moss off the rock, Scott and I finally reached his much-anticipated "bivy" site after 15 strenuous pitches that had difficulties up to AI5 and M5. Through the years I've spent the night on some really bad bivy sites, some chopped out of thin ice on a slant or by wedging myself in-between rocks. This platform, however, was as flat as a pool table and the size of a sheet of plywood. Above our site and looming over us was a house-sized chockstone that would protect us from any spindrift, rockfall or the cornices lining the summit wall. Scott and I set up our small tent, boiled some water and chowed down on some instant mashed potatoes, cheese and sausage. We had brought one sleeping bag. This was a typical setup that we had tried several times. We both put our feet in the foot of the bag and draped the rest over us.

We slept all night and waited until well after first light to get out of the tent. We guessed from some photos of the face on my phone that we had maybe five difficult pitches left to reach the summit. We packed up and Scott led out of the bivouac around 10 a.m. after another breakfast of oatmeal and coffee.

Coldiron on the sustained M7 pitch on Day 2. [Photo] Jess Roskelley

Scott had the first pitch wired from his previous attempt and it went quickly, protected by scattered gear placements in cracks that ran along the walls of the couloir. I took the rack and led out on some more mixed ground. I still felt congested and ill, but better after a long night's sleep. At the end of the second full pitch of the morning, we reached the high point that Scott and Matt had climbed to several days before. A red carabiner attached to a nut marked their turn-around spot. I could see why. The couloir was jam-packed with car-sized boulders forming a tier of sizeable roofs, big enough to get in our way, but too small to stop the flow of spindrift they had encountered.

With the weather and conditions on our side, Scott felt bold that morning. He danced about from sidewall to gully to sidewall with delicate placements of his picks and frontpoints to overcome the rock and ice overhangs that had turned him and Matt around just a few days before. With a final acrobatic, leg-spitting move, he pulled himself over the lip of the last protruding rock and finished the sustained M7 pitch. At 51, Scott appeared as athletic and flexible as a yoga instructor. After two more pitches of moderate M5/6, the couloir opened up onto strata that formed the upper face. From left to right, we had our pick of several climbable lines. I moved left to take advantage of what looked like many horizontal cracks and an obvious exit up high.

Roskelley leads M5 terrain on Day 2. [Photo] Scott Coldiron

The Cabinets have a variety of metamorphic rock; some of it layered and lifted like the quartzite on A Peak; some of it solid gneiss with crack systems that fan out in near vertical angles. The A Peak quartzite was too loose to climb in the warmer weather, but in November it was frozen in place and reasonably solid. Even so, my lead rope was pulling a few blocks loose. Scott took the hint and quickly moved his belay to a safer stance out of harm's way. Eager to get off the face before dark, I weaved up a full pitch of M5 climbing and then brought Scott up. The summit was within one pitch. Scott grabbed a few cams and took off, jamming the few cracks and pulling down on the small holds and blocks to a small overhang. With an effort-induced grunt, he manteled up and over the thin block to the summit.

The last five pitches had taken us over seven hours. Exhausted, we sat down and enjoyed the last rays of the sun before packing up for the long and complicated descent along the north ridge. Little did we suspect that our journey's end was not that near. There were places where what appeared to be easy ground ended up being the most treacherous. We bivouacked once again, this time on the north ridge, after skirting and climbing around multiple gendarmes and ice-covered boulderfields in the dark. Early the next morning, we dropped another 2,000 feet through alpine forest to Granite Lake and the trail out. We reached the car 11 hours after leaving out bivouac.

A view of A Peak during the long descent that was more complicated than anticipated. [Photo] Jess Roskelley

We sank into the seats of the car, dreading the final push for home. While driving out, we spotted a large five-point elk. I've been hunting my whole life and wondered why this big bull was just sitting there so close to the road during hunting season. I rolled down the window and yelled at him. He wouldn't budge. We flashed our headlights and yelled for the better part of ten minutes. It didn't move.

"Wait a minute, Jess," Scott said. "That's not an elk; it's a decoy set up for poachers!" We looked at each other before bursting out laughing. On the three-hour drive home we discussed what we wanted to name the route. We were close to naming it after the elk decoy that we had yelled at for ten minutes. In the end, we named it Canmore Wedding Party in homage to another last-minute ice climbing trip to Canada a couple years ago. But that's another story.

Whitney Clark (pictured), Josie McKee and Caro North received a 2018 Grit & Rock Award to attempt a first ascent on Arjuna (6230m) in India's Kishtwar Province. Look for Clark's report in an upcoming edition of the American Alpine Journal. [Photo] Josie McKee

The Grit & Rock First Ascent Expedition Award for female alpinists is now accepting applications until January 15, 2019.

The program launched in October 2016 and is now in its third cycle. The website reads:

In September 2016 GRIT & ROCK announced a launch of an annual international First Ascent Expedition Prize to enable female first ascents. The award, the largest of its kind globally, funds projects of female-led expedition teams up to the amount of $10,000. The aims of the annually awarded prize is to promote and encourage female participation in pioneering alpine ascents. The Award is open to individuals and climbing teams with majority female participation and is meant to provide funding for those who need it most.

The award is judged in three categories:

Performance: This category is reserved for ambitious high-altitude ascents where the degree of difficulty of the project is carefully matched by a well-demonstrated skill.

Exploration: This award category is reserved for beautifully crafted and [well-planned] projects on a smaller scale, such as exploration and mapping of new routes in remote areas of the world.

Apprenticeship/Special Prize: This category is reserved for projects aimed at advancement of alpine skills and independence of those who are making further steps in their climbing career. Past example of such projects include a route performed alpine-style by a Nepali female guide who has previously climbed only with the use of fixed ropes under supervision of another accomplished climber.

How to Apply

Applications should be submitted by email to award@gritandrock.com by January 15, 2019. The jury will announce its decision by mid-February 2019 at a ceremony in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. To learn more, please download the award document here or contact us at award@gritandrock.com

More information about the 2018 recipients can be found here.

Masha Gordon is the founder of The Grit & Rock First Ascent Expedition Award. [Photo] Masha Gordon collection

The American Alpine Club recently announced the award recipients who will be honored at the club's annual benefit dinner on March 9 in San Francisco, California.

The honorees are Kelly Cordes, Jim Donini, Brette Harrington, Tom Hornbein, Jeremy Jones, Michael Kennedy and Kate Rutherford. Dennis Urubko, Adam Bielecki, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotrek Tomala are also being recognized for their rescue of Elizabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat last January. Colin Haley is the keynote speaker for the dinner. He will address "the triumphs and tragedies of speed climbing," according to the AAC press release.

"The Annual Climbing Awards are unique in that they recognize both lifetime achievements and those who represent the future," said American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers. "Look at the list; from climbers who are changing the climbing landscape right now to icons from our history, we will hear some amazing stories."

Michael Kennedy on the upper slopes of Alaska's Sultana (Mt. Foraker) during the 1977 first ascent of the Infinite Spur with George Lowe. [Photo] George Lowe, courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Jim Donini [Photo] Courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Jim Donini and Michael Kennedy being inducted as honorary American Alpine Club members for their "lasting and highly significant impact on the advancement of the climbing craft," reads the press release. Donini and Kennedy were both members of the famous American team that nearly summited the North Ridge of Latok I (7145m) in 1978, achieving a highpoint that was only surpassed this year (by Alexander Gukov and Sergey Glazunov) despite 40 years of attempts by elite climbers, and it appears the complete line of the ridge still remains unclimbed all the way to the summit of the peak. Donini and Kennedy have many historic first ascents to their credit. For Donini, that list includes the first ascent of Cobra Pillar on the east face of Mt. Barrille, Ruth Gorge, Alaska Range, 1991; the first ascent of Viper Ridge on Sultana (Mt. Foraker), Alaska Range, 1991; and the first ascent of Lightning Spur on Thunder Mountain, Alaska Range, 2000. Kennedy is the former editor-in-chief of Alpinist and Climbing, and his resume includes the first ascent of the Infinite Spur on Sultana, 1977; the first ascent of the Northeast Face of Ama Dablam, Nepal, 1985, and the first ascent of Wall of Shadows on Begguya (Mt. Hunter), Alaska Range, 1994.

Dennis Urubko, Adam Bielecki, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotrek Tomala with Elizabeth Revol and the Askari Aviation pilots after the rescue on Nanga Parbat. [Photo] Piotrek Tomala, courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Dennis Urubko, Adam Bielecki, Jaroslaw Botor and Piotrek Tomala are being presented with the David A. Sowles Award, which recognizes "unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains." In January 2018, the four climbers took time away from their winter attempt of K2 to launch a daring rescue of Elizabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat after she completed that peak's second winter ascent with Tomek Mackiewicz, who became incapacitated and died during the descent. Since the first Sowles Award was bestowed in 1981, it has been conferred only occasionally to "mountaineers who have distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains," reads the AAC press release.

Kate Rutherford. [Photo] Courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Kate Rutherford is receiving the Robert and Miriam Underhill Award, which recognizes "the highest level of climbing skill, courage, and perseverance, with outstanding success.... Rutherford was singled out by the AAC selection committee due to her impressive list of climbing accomplishments worldwide and a number of notable first all-female free ascents, including Freerider (5.13a) on El Capitan, the Moonlight Buttress (5.12d) in Zion, and the North Pillar of Fitz Roy."

Brette Harrington. [Photo] Francois Lebeau, courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Brette Harrington is receiving the Robert Hicks Bates Award, given to young climbers who show outstanding promise. Margo Hayes was last year's recipient. The press release reads, "Harrington, a 26-year-old climber, is perhaps best known for the first free solo of 2,500-foot Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) in Patagonia, but is also an accomplished trad climber with several 5.13+ routes to her name [as well as difficult alpine-style ascents]. Past Bates Award winners have included Alex Honnold, Chris Sharma, Tommy Caldwell, Steph Davis, Hayden Kennedy, Colin Haley (the 2019 Keynote speaker), Sasha DiGiulian." Harrington wrote a feature story for Alpinist 64, titled "Life Compass," about losing her life partner Marc-Andre Leclerc and finding her way through the emotional turmoil as she made the first ascent of a route by the same name on Mt. Blane in Alberta, Canada, last April.

Jeremy Jones in Nepal. [Photo] Andrew Miller, courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Jeremy Jones is receiving the David R. Brower Award, which recognizes "leadership and commitment to preserving mountain regions worldwide." Jones is a prolific big mountain snowboarder who founded Protect Our Winters (POW), a nonprofit dedicated to addressing climate change. "Jones has become an unrelenting champion to fight climate change and share his experiences of receding glaciers and changing mountain landscapes using his podium as an athlete. In 2013 Jones was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and has been called a 'Champion of Change' by President Obama," reads the AAC press release.

Tom Horbein. [Photo] Courtesy of the American Alpine Club

Thomas Hornbein, MD, is receiving the Heilprin Citation for his work that has maintained and strengthened the American Alpine Club. Hornbein's CV includes service in the US Navy; the first ascent of the West Ridge of Chomolungma (Mt. Everest) in 1963; an expedition to the Karakoram that resulted in the first ascent of Masherbrum in 1960; work as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington, 1978 to 1993; and authorship of the classic book Everest: The West Ridge.

Kelly Cordes. [Photo] Sonja Bjornsen

Kelly Cordes has been selected for the H. Adams Carter Literary Award, which will be presented June 1 at the Excellence in Climbing event in Denver. Cordes edited the American Alpine Journal for 12 years and published his first book, The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre, in 2014. That book was selected as the winner of the Mountain and Wilderness Literature award at the 2015 Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival as well as a National Outdoor Book Award. Cordes also cowrote Tommy Caldwell's 2017 memoir, The Push. Cordes' writing has appeared in publications ranging from climbing magazines to the New York Times. (He reports that his "first-ever" long-form feature article, "Painted Blue," appeared in Alpinist 3, and he recently wrote a story for Alpinist.com about the first ascent of a new mixed route on Longs Peak.) Past recipients of the Carter Award include Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives, David Roberts, John Long, Bernadette McDonald and Alison Osius. A complete list can be found here.

More information about the awards can be found here.

The Benefit Dinner

To buy tickets or to learn more about the American Alpine Club's special events and benefit dinner that will take place March 8-10 in San Francisco, visit the club's webpage here.

About the 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, Rumney Rattlesnake Campground, Samuel F. Pryor Shawangunk Gateway Campground, and Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and annually gives $100,000+ toward climbing, conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at www.americanalpineclub.org.

Katie Ives. [Photo] David Swift

Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives has been selected as a judge for the 2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature. The other two judges are Roger Hubank and Tony Shaw. The award will be presented at the next Kendal Mountain Festival in the United Kingdom on November 14-17.

The literary prize commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, who disappeared while attempting the Northeast Ridge of Chomolungma (Everest) in 1982. The Boardman Tasker website reads:

Their deaths marked the end of a remarkable era in British mountaineering. Peter and Joe left two legacies. One was their great endeavour, their climbs on high peaks with bold, lightweight innovative methods, which included Dunagiri, Changabang, Kongur, Everest and Kangchenjunga. The second and more lasting achievement were the books they wrote and left behind. This literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature set up by family and friends in 1983....

The written work of Boardman and Tasker set such a high benchmark for excellence that the judges "somewhat bravely" decided not to recognize any of the submissions that they received during the first year of the award's existence, according to the website. The second year, in 1984, there were two winners of the inaugural award: Living High by Linda Gill and The Shishapangma Expedition by Doug Scott and the late Alex MacIntyre.

"Over the following years, the high standards were maintained and entries challenged our judges not least through the sheer variety of literary types--novels, poetry, expeditions, biography, history, reminiscences, and mountain travel and so on...." reads the website.

The prize comes with £3,000 ($3,839). Since 1984, the list of recipients has included a host of Alpinist contributors, most recently David Roberts (2018) and Bernadette MacDonald (2017 and 2011), among several others.

Ives ice climbing in Huntington Ravine, Agiocochook (Mt. Washington), New Hampshire. [Photo] Alan Cattabriga

"It's an honor to be involved in the judging panel this year, and I'm really looking forward to reading all the submissions," Ives said.

More information about the Boardman Tasker Award can be found here.

Kyle Dempster in his elements. [Photo] Andrew Burr

The application period is now open for the second annual Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award. Applications are due by March 15 for trips taking place between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020. The recipient(s) will be announced on March 27, 2019, Dempster's birthday.

A press release reads:

One of America's great young alpinists best known for first ascents of big remote peaks around the globe, Kyle Dempster was a passionate climber, adventurer and friend who fully lived his 33 years before he and his climbing partner Scott Adamson disappeared while attempting to climb the North Face of the Ogre II in Pakistan, in August of 2016.

Though Kyle loved climbing, traveling and going on adventures with friends, many of his most memorable and creative trips were done alone, traversing wild corners of the world by himself and under his own power. From kite skiing hundreds of miles across Baffin Island, to his biking and climbing trip across Kyrgyzstan that was made famous in the short film The Road from Karakol, Kyle found a deep sense of meaning and joy in exploring the world on his own.

Each year, the Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award will be given to an American solo adventurer embarking on a journey that embodies Kyle's passionate spirit and love of exploration, with an emphasis on storytelling and leave no trace ethics. The recipients are by no means limited to climbers, and the trips awarded by no means must involve the big mountains Kyle loved--on the contrary, we encourage applications for human-powered solo adventures of all kinds--big or small, remote or urban, cold and icy or hot and sunny.

Last year Anthony Marra, Jessica Kelley and Alex Gaber were selected for separate grants out of more than 50 applicants. Their trips took place in the Lower 48, Alaska and New Zealand. More about their planned trips can be found here.

"Last year's three recipients all completed safe, successful and inspired adventures this past year, from Alaska to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to New Zealand, thanks to your generous support," said Andy Anderson, a spokesperson for the KD Solo Adventure Award. "We'll be sharing their reports, photos and stories on the award website within the next few weeks." (Alpinist.com will also share them as they become available.)

Click here to download an application or learn more about the Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award. Applications must be submitted via email to KDsoloaward@gmail.com, subject line [Solo Adventure Award Application].

Sam Hennessey. [Photo] Seth Timpano

Sam Hennessey, Chantel Astorga and Chris Wright are all receiving American Alpine Club Cutting Edge Grants this year.

The AAC press release explains that the grant "seeks to fund individuals planning expeditions to remote areas featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first free ascents, or similar world-class pursuits. Objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality are looked upon with favor."

The press release describes each team's objective:

Sam Hennessey ($8,000) [will] attempt the north face of Chamlang (ca. 7300m) in the Eastern Himalaya of Nepal. Rob Smith, Seth Timpano, Michael Gardner and...Hennessey [intend to try] the unclimbed north face this coming autumn, in alpine style. The north face is an impressive feature, rising nearly 2000 meters directly to the summit ridge. The face has received attention almost yearly for the last decade, with no teams making serious progress due to poor climbing conditions, bad weather or both. Hennessey has climbed technical routes all over the world, from the Himalaya to Patagonia.

Chantel Astorga. [Photo] Anne Gilbert Chase

Chantel Astorga ($6,000) [will] attempt Pumari Chhish South (7350m) in Pakistan's Hispar Karakoram. Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase are aiming for the unclimbed 2700-meter south face, [where they anticipate] mixed climbing conditions...with an alpine style approach. In 2018, Astorga and Chase completed the first female ascent of Denali's Slovak Direct (5.9X M6 W16+, 9,000'). They also completed the first ascent of the unclimbed SW face of Nilkantha [aka Nilkanth] in India, with Jason Thompson [in 2017].

Chris Wright. [Photo] Graham Zimmerman

Chris Wright ($6,000) [will] attempt Link Sar (7041m) in the Eastern Karakoram, Pakistan, with Graham Zimmerman. [Mark Richey and Steve Swenson will also participate in the expedition, but the AAC grant funds will only cover Wright and Zimmerman's expenses.] The four will try for the first ascent of Link Sar in alpine style. They previously attempted the peak in 2017 but were unsuccessful due to uncooperative weather. Wright describes Link Sar as, "A stunning, oft-tried, yet unclimbed granite monster in a seldom-visited valley in the heart of the Karakoram...it is undoubtedly one of the most compelling undone peaks of the greater ranges." Wright has been climbing for 17 years, including 11 expeditions to technical routes in the Greater Ranges. He holds numerous first ascents in Alaska, India, Nepal, Norway, and elsewhere.

The American Alpine Club's website describes the criteria for the Cutting Edge Grant in further detail:

Goal: The Cutting Edge Grant seeks to fund individuals planning expeditions to remote areas featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first free ascents, or similar world-class pursuits. Objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality will be looked upon with favor.

Experience: Applicants should possess a strong resume of past climbing achievements and/or experiences that illustrate their ability to have a reasonable potential for success. He or she must demonstrate that they are an advanced and capable climber. Experience must be in keeping with the difficulty of the stated objective.

Eligibility: Individuals who are US citizens and members of the American Alpine Club are eligible to apply. The Cutting Edge Grant is open to all climbing athletes, including those receiving financial support or in-kind support from corporate sponsors, however the level of sponsorship must be disclosed. Other team members need not be US citizens.

More information about the Cutting Edge Grant can be found here. A story about year's recipients can be found here.

The AAC notes that the grant is partially supported by Global Rescue. Thus, each CEG recipient is also awarded a one-year, full Global Rescue membership that includes "$500,000 of rescue evacuation; repatriation back to the US; deployed Global Rescue Personnel; and more--a service intended to help AAC members climb hard and return home safely."

Last month, the Club announced the recipients of its 2019 Excellence in Climbing Awards, who will be recognized at the Club's annual benefit dinner in San Francisco on March 9.

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 Shawangunk Gateway Campground, and Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and annually gives $100,000+ toward climbing, conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at americanalpineclub.org.

[This story has been updated to clarify that only Wright and Zimmerman are receiving AAC grant funds for the Link Sar expedition.--Ed.]

Ari Novak on Snow Leopard (HWI 7), Spiti Valley, India. [Photo] Austin Schmitz

The first Piti-Dharr International Ice Climbing Festival took place in India's Spiti Valley on January 5-15. During the event, Indian climber Bharat Bhushan and Americans Ari Novak and Karsten Delap completed the first ascent of Frozen Diesel (HWI 6+), and Novak and Delap established Snow Leopard (HWI 7, 150m). "HWI" stands for "Himalayan water ice" and accounts for elements such as high altitude, in addition to technical difficulty.

Karn Kowshik wrote of the Spiti Valley's vast ice climbing potential for Alpinist 59 in an On Belay story titled "Shunyata." He reported on Facebook that the Piti-Dharr Festival was a great success and was "supported by Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), Allied Petzl India Distributor, Sakya Abode, local administration and the Kaza Monastery." His post continued:

We achieved something great this year, and we did it as a community of friends, from local Spitian novices to professional ice climbers from the USA.

1) At least 10 world class routes were put up, accessible to the beginner ice climber as well as the best in the world....

2) Created two risk-managed training crags at Lingti and Gypsy Glacier site.

3) Watched with joy as local climbers...went from being novices to confidently moving on ice and loving it!

4) We cemented the HWI (Himalayan Water Ice) grading, India's first indigenous climbing grading system. This grading is not only the history of ice climbing in India, but will allow local climbers to put up routes for years without comparing [them] with other climbs around the world. This grading system is the legacy of our little community.

Karsten Delap on Frozen Diesel (HWI 6+). [Photo] Austin Schmitz

Kowshik elaborated in an email to Alpinist:

The successful completion of our ice fest fills me with pride and with enthusiasm for the future. Pride because of what we achieved. As part of the fest, at least 10 significant, world-class routes were opened, with all but one of them having Indian climbers of the first ascent teams. These routes have already begun to gather international attention, showing not just the ice climbing world, but also the Indian climbing community the possibilities of Spiti (and of ice climbing in the Indian Himalaya). But that is only one facet of what happened in Spiti--simultaneously, we also put together a festival that brought together international professionals with Indian climbers and Spitian novices, many of whom had never climbed before.... In a few days, with Karsten's advice and Bharat's leadership, we had turned this around and managed to create a safe, productive teaching and learning space, where we saw local climbers thrive. Enthusiasm, in fact a hopeful excitement for the future, is what I feel when I realize what the union of these two achievements means for us.

Ice climbing in Spiti (and in fact, the Indian Himal) is all about first ascents. The 350 odd meters of Frozen Diesel or the 150 meters of Cowboys in the Mist is only the last (and most technical) few steps in the journey that was needed to climb these routes. It took years of exploration to identify these routes--in fact, Bharat, Prerna [Dangi] and I saw Stairway to Something (HWI 4, 380m) on our first trip to Spiti. Ari and Karsten, in a sense, shone a very bright torch on the way forward for us. They showed us what was necessary to be able to take those last few steps. Snow Leopard is more than a climb for us; it's a beacon, shining the way forward. We now know what skills we need (and if you'd seen how fearless our first-timers were, you'd believe we can develop those skills pretty quick). By Day 4 of the fest, Bharat was teaching on the lower pitch of Frozen Diesel!

Delap on Frozen Diesel. [Photo] Austin Schmitz

Climbers like Bharat, Prerna and I have spent many, many years exploring. This is only the beginning for us. We can be opening new climbs for the next 20 years (at least). We intend to take the lessons we learned, to keep sharing them, and to keep growing and to forge our own identity.

Snow Leopard and Frozen Diesel

Snow Leopard, located in the Spiti Valley outside the village of Morang, got its name from the cat tracks that Novak and Delap encountered at the base of the massive frozen waterfall, which is over 14,000 feet (4267m) in elevation at its top.

"This route was like nothing else we've climbed here in India," said Novak, who completed nine water-ice first ascents with Delap between December 27 and January 17. "It was like a glacier was put on its side, dead vertical and hit with a missile. There were massive overhanging features, multiple free standing pillars and we had to corkscrew around the back of the ice to avoid car-size hang fire. The topout was difficult, too, with no protection for the last 45 feet and the thinnest straw of ice that had water rushing through [it].... We barely had enough ice to get off the route but it was without a doubt one of the most amazing experiences of my life."

Frozen Diesel is named for its streaks of black ice, which are a result of mineral-rich stream flows that give the ice a unique look. The climb is outside the village of Pho and features 370 meters of continuous ice that is broken up into four pitches. The final pitch is a 40-meter freestanding pillar.

Bhushan said the day they climbed Frozen Diesel started out with frustration when their car didn't start. The delay led the team to pick a new destination to explore and that is how they ended up finding the frozen, black-streaked waterfalls of Frozen Diesel.

"Frozen diesel was completely hidden," he said. "I saw it for the first time that day. It was pure gold for me.... It was my first time climbing cauliflower ice on a longer route. The top was really sketchy in the final pitch because of the quality of the ice. It was very fragile.... It was a great experience to climb with Ari and Karsten. They were amazing people and always provided me with great tips and small things...to improve on. I am very fortunate to climb with them and see their climbing style."

Delap on Cowboys in the Mist. [Photo] Austin Schmitz

Bhushan and his partners continued the fervent pace of climbing after the Americans left.

"We're still finding new frozen waterfalls," he said. "We have put up five new lines in the last four days close to the Kaza area. We will continue for our journey until February 20 here in Kaza and climb as much as we can."

Novak wrote the following account about the events that enticed him to make the trip to India:

It was last February at the Michigan Ice Festival. I was sitting at a dive bar with Angela VanWiemeersch when an Indian man dressed in a leather biker jacket walked into the bar with a set of Trango Raptors over his shoulder. [Angela] looked at me and I looked at her with a big smile. I climb on Raptors [too].... I said, "Hey, you, come here, we're going to be friends." He turned to me and said "OK." The man was Karn Kowshik and we did quickly become friends. He explained that he was in Michigan to give a talk about ice climbing in India.

"There's ice climbing in India?" I said.

He pulled out his phone and showed me route after route of beautiful massive frozen waterfalls and then he said none of them had been climbed. "You should come to India," he said.

Novak on Cowboys in the Mist (HWI 5). [Photo] Austin Schmitz

I was instantly hooked. Within hours of meeting Karn, I had approached Karsten Delap and he agreed we should go to India to explore this valley of unclimbed ice that Karn had shown me.

We chose to visit the Spiti Valley and the village of Kaza during what would be the first ice fest in the region. Our goal was to contribute gear and our teaching experience and also to team up with local Indians to explore new ice lines.

We departed the United States on December 27 and returned on January 17. During our expedition, we bolted anchors at the main ice-climbing crag in the village of Lingti and worked with the locals to make the crag much safer.... During the span of our expedition we accomplished nine first ascents, including Snow Leopard, Frozen Diesel and Cowboys In the Mist (HWI 5). We plan on releasing a documentary about our India adventures for the winter of 2020. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment was not our first ascents but helping this emerging community with knowledge and badly needed equipment....

This photo shows some of the hazards that existed at the Lingti crag, which Novak and Delap helped clean up and improve during the ice festival. They jokingly dubbed this area "Indiana Jones and the Crag of Doom." [Photo] Ari Novak

A climber rappels in Utah's San Rafael Swell, one of many areas across the country that will soon have wilderness designations if President Donald Trump signs the Natural Resources Management Act, which was passed by Congress on February 26. [Photo] John Easterling

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a historic bipartisan bill titled the Natural Resources Management Act, 363-62. It cleared the Senate, 92-8, on February 12, and it is anticipated that President Donald Trump will soon sign it into law.

The legislation combines more than 100 previously existing bills that affect public lands all over the country, and it includes provisions that pertain directly to climbers and climbing areas. The Emery County Public Land Management Act is a centerpiece of the legislation that will create nearly 700,000 acres of wilderness in Utah's San Rafael Swell, an area that has hundreds of climbing routes. The legislation also codifies the use of fixed anchors for climbing in a wilderness area.

The Access Fund explained the significance of the fixed anchor provision in a press release: "Wilderness climbing protections are poised to be written into law for the first time, creating a legal precedent that will make it easier for Access Fund and its local affiliates to protect wilderness climbing activities across the country."

The Act also appears to have mostly good implications for Native Americans. "There's a number of positive provisions for tribes in the bill," said Len Necefer, a member of the Navajo Nation and an assistant professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. He observed that tribes and Alaska Native Corporations are mentioned more than 100 times in the bill, which has nine sections that have direct focus on tribal issues. "These often relate to affirming tribal consultation in the management of new and existing federal lands that are being changed or where there are direct interests that affect them," he said. "There's nothing that's overtly harmful, however, there's a couple provisions that limit certain tribes' abilities to influence natural resource management in the selection of lands to put into trust."

Gavin Noyes, executive director of Utah Dine Bikeyah, an organization representing Native American interests in Utah, also indicated support for the Natural Resources Management Act. "I have been watching and support that bill moving forward," he said.

While the bill does have some contentious aspects--more on that later--some other highlights include:

--The permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which had been allowed to expire in September 2018 for the second time since it was created in 1964. The LWCF is funded by offshore drilling and has generated billions of dollars that have been used for conservation and recreation projects across the country, from baseball diamonds to climbing areas;

--An addition of more than two million acres of protected lands, hundreds of miles of new scenic rivers and about 2,600 miles of new national trails, according to an early report by USA Today;

--Two 13,000-foot peaks in Colorado's Uncompahgre National Forest will be named after Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff, two influential climbers who were killed in an avalanche on Mt. Genyen (6204m) in China in 2006.

"[The bill is] historic, by any stretch of the word," Access Fund Policy Director Erik Murdock recently told Alpinist. "It's a super complicated package that was put together.... Access Fund has been working on some of these for years, taking a lot of rejection for some of these, and it took something like this to get them done."

It's also solid evidence that climbers have made an impact in Washington, DC.

"You can see the imprint of climbing on this giant bill," Murdock said. "It's neat that climbers have a presence on Capitol Hill and are able to pull off some things."

Climber representatives pose in front of the nation's capital in Washington, DC, last May during the Access Fund and American Alpine Club's third annual Climb the Hill event, which included more than 60 delegates. [Photo] Stephen Gosling

Tom Adams, director of the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation, emphasized the years of effort by many people that the Natural Resources Management Act represents.

"There's been so much work on all this," he said on the phone after the House vote. "Shout out to [Utah Reps.] John Curtis and Rob Bishop*...a lot of officials have been working on these for a long time--we have to acknowledge the people who paved the way for us." [*Utah legislators were instrumental in the development of the NRMA and many of the previously existing bills it contains.]

What you won't find in the nearly 700-page document is anything pertaining to the status of Bears Ears or Grand Staircase National Monuments in Utah, which Trump reduced from their original designations in December 2017. There were attempts to insert language into the NRMA, both to diminish the Antiquities Act--which presidents have used to bypass Congress and designate national monuments, including those mentioned previously--and to reinstate the original monument designations that were made by President Barack Obama in 2016 and President Bill Clinton in 1996, respectively.

"In order for this to pass, it couldn't include really controversial legislation," Murdock said.

Even then, the Natural Resource Management Act still presents some controversy.

A story by Joi O'Donoghue and Matthew Brow that was published in Desert News on February 25, reported:

...Several [Emery County] residents characterized the land bill as a defeat in a longstanding conflict with environmentalists. They contended that designating current wilderness study areas as formal wilderness or recreational areas doesn't provide certainty if federal land managers can still make the rules on how that land is used.

"I don't see recreation areas as the answer. I want to see wilderness come to an end. Why do we have to have a designation on every square inch of our ground. Why are we not at liberty to enjoy our American lands," said Wellington Mayor Joan Powell, as the crowd of about 60 residents applauded.

Meanwhile, Christopher Solomon wrote an opinion for The Washington Post that was published February 13, titled "The big Alaskan land giveaway tucked into a sweeping conservation bill." He wrote:

Many environmentalists are happy: Wins for public lands and wildlife have been scarce in recent years under an alternately hostile and sclerotic GOP-controlled Congress.... Slice open this giant haggis and peer inside, though: Something reeks. The act contains language that would hand over nearly a half-million acres of federal lands in Alaska--your land and mine--to private hands. That is an area roughly equal to half the size of Long Island, or 31 Manhattans....

"If this were public lands anywhere else in the Lower 48, there would be an absolute uproar. No one would accept that," a frustrated Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, told me. But, Kolton added, "Alaska's public lands often tend to be the political grease for land conservation initiatives in the Lower 48, and that's wrong. These are the last fully intact ecosystems in the United States. They shouldn't just be trade-bait to pass broader public lands bills."

Murdock acknowledged that the NRMA isn't perfect.

"Democracy is a messy business. Compromise is needed," he said. But, he added, the huge new bill accomplishes so much more than people had previously dared to hope--"in one stroke of a pen"--and we wouldn't have it without Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Republican who introduced it to Congress, and her colleague Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who cosponsored the bill. "Sometimes we can't let the 'perfect' get in the way of the 'good,'" he said.

Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Daniele Nardi's Facebook page

Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, are missing on Nanga Parbat (8126m) in Pakistan. According to updates on Nardi's Facebook page, helicopters are attempting to deliver a rescue team "as close as possible" to Camp 3 today, where a tent "invaded by snow" was spotted amid "traces of an avalanche" during a morning reconnaissance.

The climbers were last heard from on Sunday, February 24, while attempting a winter ascent via a new route up the Mummery Rib, which is prone to avalanches. Their last known position is somewhere around 6300 meters between Camp 3 and Camp 4. A story by Alan Arnette on Outside Online reports that Nardi had communicated with his wife via satellite phone on February 22, and shared the pair's location. Weather on 8000-meter peaks tends to be severe, and harsh conditions such as extreme cold, high winds and unstable snow, are only exacerbated during winter. The most recent period of harsh weather and heavy snow hit the mountain on February 22, obscuring visibility and making it difficult to look for the climbers. On Wednesday, February 27, base camp staff took advantage of clear skies used binoculars to look for any sign of the men. They found none.

Rescues in such big mountain ranges at extremely high elevations are never easy, especially in winter storms, and this rescue attempt has been even more complicated than usual because of a border conflict between India and Pakistan. Current tension between India and Pakistan has recently escalated over the long-disputed territory of Kashmir. On February 14 a suicide bombing of Indian Security Forces killed 40, which prompted India to retaliate, and the Pakistan military to shoot down two Indian fighter jets. This has caused air space in the area--including that above Nanga Parbat--to be closed. Special permissions have been organized by the Italian Ambassador to Pakistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, to allow a rescue helicopter to fly today, February 28, in order to search for the missing climbers.

The rescue team includes Muhammad Ali Sadpara, of Pakistan, and four climbers from an international Russian/Kazakh/Kyrgyz-team that is currently attempting nearby K2 (8611m). Sadpara was on the team that made the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2016 with Simone Moro, of Italy, and Alex Txikon, of Spain. Txikon is currently leading another team on K2.

Ballard and Nardi are both highly experienced and accomplished alpinists. Nardi previously attempted Nanga Parbat three times. He was climbing with Txikon and Sadpara when they made the first winter ascent in 2016, but chose to descend before the summit. He also attempted the peak once with Elisabeth Revol in 2013.

Ballard is the son of revered alpinist Alison Hargreaves, who was the first woman to summit Everest without bottled oxygen in 1995 (she died a few months later while descending from the summit of K2). Ballard, at 26-years-old, became the first person to solo all six of the Alps' major north faces--Cima Grande di Lavaredo, Piz Badile, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, Petit Dru, and Eiger--in a single winter. He was inspired by his mother, who was the first woman to solo the faces (she did so during the summer). In 2016, Ballard established one of the hardest dry tool routes ever done, a Line Above the Sky (D15), and completed the first ascent of Titanic (M5 5.10c A3 WI4, 1800m) with Marcin Tomaszewksi.

A video was posted to Nardi's YouTube account in early January that features Ballard doing some ice climbing near Camp 2. Ballard has also been posting photos on social media of their expedition. His images depict the pair breaking trail through knee-deep snow, and digging out tents buried beneath feet of snow. In one photo he writes: "Carrying skis because skins wouldn't stick due to the cold. Strong winds high up so we came back down, good job we did as a big avalanche swept over C2."

Nanga Parbat was the second-to-last 8000-meter peak to be climbed in winter. Only K2 has yet to see a winter ascent. This season the two teams previously mentioned are attempting K2--one led by Txikon, and another team led by Vassily Pivtsov, of Kazakhstan. The second winter ascent of Nanga Parbat was just last year, when Revol and Tomek Mackiewicz reached the summit on January 25 before descending into a storm that proved fatal for Mackiewicz. Revol was ultimately saved after an impressive rescue by Polish climbers Adam Bielecki and Denis Urubko, who left their own winter attempt of K2 to come to her aid. In that rescue, the helicopters were only able to fly as high as Camp 1, at about 4800 meters.

Alpinist will update this story as more details become available.

Elena Quispe and Ana Lia Gonzales at the summit. [Photo] Jaime Murciego

Ana Lia Gonzales Magueno and Elena Quispe Tincuta became the first Aymara women to summit Aconcagua (6962m) in late January with the help of a guide. The two climbers are part of a group of Indigenous women nicknamed the "Cholitas Escaladoras" from El Alto, Bolivia. Three other members of the group--Lidia Huayllas Estrada, Dora Magueno Machaca (Gonzales' mother) and Cecilia Ilusco Alana--had to stop just short of the summit because of time concerns.

"They told us we were the first Aymara women to climb it," said Gonzales, 30, in Spanish, to the author. "And we did it all while wearing the cholita outfit, because it is a source of pride."

The guided summit push was financed by Spanish filmmakers, who accompanied the group to the summit for a documentary.

The Cholitas Escaladoras began to coalesce as an informal group in 2015, when around a dozen women who either worked as cooks and low-altitude porters for tourists in Bolivia's mountains or whose husbands worked as low-altitude support staff decided to start climbing themselves. After sumitting Huayna Potosi (6088m) in 2015, the group began attracting increasingly more national press attention. The group climbed other iconic Bolivian mountains --Illimani (6438m) in 2017 and Sajama (6542m) in 2018--before deciding to tackle the tallest mountain on the continent.

"It didn't start out as a project," said Gonzales. "I just wanted to climb with my mom and my dad, and I was happy. We have such beautiful mountains."

The cholitas escaladoras in action. [Photo] Cristian Painemal

Her mom, Dora Magueno Machaca, was one of the climbers who nearly summited Aconcagua but had to turn around because it was becoming too late in the day to proceed safely.

The group chooses to climb in the traditional dress of many women of El Alto: thick skirts called a pollera; shawls; and a colorful cloth to carry things on their back called an aguayo. Women in La Paz and El Alto developed the fashion, complete with bowler hats, in the early 20th century. It marks the "cholita" identity. The term "chola" long held derogatory connotations, but that has changed in recent decades to reflect mounting Indigenous empowerment. The country elected President Evo Morales, also Aymara, in 2005 and his policies have elevated Indigenous rights and traditions. Morales tweeted his congratulations to the women after their summit.

"It gives me strength and courage," said Gonzales about wearing the traditional skirts. "It represents love, and my grandmother, and my city. It's a symbol of the fight because for us to arrive at where we are now, many things had to happen."

The images of the women wearing the skirts in the mountains have inspired more Bolivians to take up alpinism, a sport long reserved for foreign tourists. Gear, guides and entrance fees can cost hundreds of dollars--an oft-insurmountable barrier for Bolivians who live in the poorest country in South America. The "cholitas escaladoras" make do with mostly rented gear that they said is sometimes subpar.

The five climbers left Bolivia on January 7 for Argentina. After ten days of gradual acclimatization and hiking, poor weather stopped them at Plaza de Mulas, the large base camp. Every day climbers returned dejected and frostbitten from their summit pushes. The group played soccer with porters at base camp and got to know the other climbers. Unaccustomed to the wind, which reached 120 km/hr, Gonzales said she started to get discouraged.

At the entrance to the Aconcagua Park: Dora Magueno, Ana Lia Gonzales, Pamela [last name unknown (bystander who joined the photo)], Lidia Huayllas, Elena Quispe and Cecilia Llusco. [Photo] Courtesy of Ana Lia Gonzales

"We buried an offering of coca leaves and alcohol to ask for permission to climb," said Gonzales. "It's what my grandmother taught me to do a blessing for the spirits of the mountains."

The weather finally broke and the group launched on their summit bid on a clear, sunny day. They took the normal route, a non-technical route that follows the mountain's northwest ridge to the summit. An Argentinian guide helped them reach the peak.

On January 24, Gonzales and Quispe held up Bolivia's national flags, including the Wiphala, a banner full of color blocks representing native nations in the Andes, at the summit.

A few days later, Bolivians welcomed them home to the La Paz airport with applause.

"Reaching the peak was very taxing, but I had a lot of will," she added. "I'm happy I accomplished the dream, and sad we didn't all get there together."

Colera camp, from left to right: Cristian Painemal, Dora Magueno, Ana Lia Gonzales, Elena Quispe, Cecilia Llusco, Lidia Huayllas. [Photo] Courtesy of Ana Lia Gonzales

Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Ballard, Nardi collections

The bodies of Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, were spotted through a telescope above Camp III on Nanga Parbat’s Mummery Rib at around 5900 meters on March 9. A BBC.com story posted today, March 11, quoted Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo as saying there might be a possibility of recovering the bodies by a helicopter long-line operation.

The climbers hadn't been heard from since February 24. They were attempting to complete a new route up the Mummery Rib, which goes up the center of the Diamir Face and is prone to falling seracs and avalanches. Their last known location was above 6000 meters. Winter storms, avalanches and a border conflict between India and Pakistan hampered the search efforts since then.

A team of Pakistani climbers that included Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Imtiaz Hussain and Dilawar Hussain were helicoptered to Nanga Parbat's base camp on February 28, according to a report that day by Michael Levy on RockandIce.com. More climbers from two teams attempting a winter ascent of K2 (8611m)--including Alex Txikon, of Spain--were flown in on March 4 after an aborted landing on March 3, when the helicopters had been unable to land in foggy weather and had to return to Skardu.

Sadpara and Txikon already knew the mountain well, as they completed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with Simone Moro, of Italy, in 2016. But they were not able to climb higher than Camp II as they searched for traces of Ballard and Nardi because of the high avalanche danger, and Txikon reported a near miss on their first day of searching on his Facebook page. From their high point, they used drones to scout higher on the mountain but weren't able to find any trace of the missing climbers until March 9.

A story by Vinicio Stefanello on PlanetMountain.com reports on Nardi's extensive experience on 8000-meter peaks and indicates that this was fifth attempt to climb Nanga Parbat in winter. Stefanello wrote:

Finding the strength and constancy to try again every year...knowing exactly what lay in store, is not normal. It is certainly a sign of an incredible passion that perhaps goes beyond the "normal" parameters of mountaineering. Nanga Parbat in winter, but also the legendary Mummery Rib, was something that Nardi could not, evidently, do without.... The immense efforts spent during those long days on the mountain will remain fever etched.

A story by Gaia Pianigiani in the New York Times reads:

Mr. Nardi's relatives, who have expressed their pain on social media, thanked the search-and-rescue team, the Italian and Pakistani authorities and anyone who had collaborated on the search for their tireless efforts in the past weeks.

In a Facebook post, they repeated Mr. Nardi's words: "I'd like to be remembered as a man who tried to do something incredible, impossible, but didn't give up and if I won't return I'd like to give a message to my son: Don't stop, don't give up, do your thing because the world needs better people to make peace a reality and not just an idea."

Ballard is the son of revered alpinist Alison Hargreaves, who was the first woman to summit Everest without bottled oxygen in 1995 (she died a few months later while attempting K2). Ballard, at 26-years-old, became the first person to solo all six of the Alps' major north faces--Cima Grande di Lavaredo, Piz Badile, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, Petit Dru, and Eiger--in a single winter. He was inspired by his mother, who was the first woman to solo the faces (she did so during the summer). In 2016, Ballard established one of the hardest dry tool routes ever done, a Line Above the Sky (D15), and completed the first ascent of Titanic (M5 5.10c A3 WI4, 1800m) with Marcin Tomaszewksi.

In a story posted February 28 on RockandIce.com, titled "Memories of Alison Hargreaves," Alison Osius wrote:

Over the years I was perhaps a bit concerned but largely gratified to read that her son Tom, only 6 years old when she died at 33, was a climber and alpinist (his sister Kate, who was 4 at the time, is a climber and snowboarder, and both grew up skiing)--and in time became a very accomplished and highly regarded one.

His father, Jim Ballard, said in a 2015 documentary, "TOM," "Tom never wanted to be anything else, for as long as he can remember, but a climber. That's what he is."

Our previous coverage of the search efforts can be found here.

2019 Grit and Rock grant recipients. [Image] Derek Franz

Grit & Rock recently announced six teams as recipients of its 2019 First Ascent Award. The grant, which distributes $10,000 a year for women-led expeditions, aims to level the playing field in alpinism by encouraging first ascents by women. This year's award will support climbs in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Canada and Kyrgyzstan.

Mountaineer and businesswoman Masha Gordon founded the UK-based nonprofit in 2016. She told Outside magazine that 99 percent of high-altitude first ascents are done by men. Gordon created this award to address that disparity. It is a cause she's so invested in that she has committed to personally endowing the award for 10 years.

The teams must be at least 50 percent female, and awards are given out in three categories: performance, exploration and apprenticeship. The jury for this year's award included Gordon, Lydia Bradey, Christian Trommsdorff and Victor Saunders.

2019 Grit and Rock grant recipients. [Image] Derek Franz

The Performance Award is for ambitious high-altitude ascents. This year two teams were selected to receive support in this category.

Chantel Astorga, Anne Gilbert Chase and Jason Thompson of the US received $1,000 to attempt a new route on Pumari Chhish South (7350m) in Pakistan's Karakoram. The first ascent of the peak was made in 2007 by Trommsdorff and his partner Yannick Graziani. The pair spent five days ascending the remote peak in the Hispar Muztagh region, and Trommsdorff called it "the most beautiful unclimbed peak I know of." In 2018, Astorga and Chase made the first female ascent of Denali's Slovak Direct (5.9X M6 WI6+, 9,000'). And together Astorga, Chase and Thompson made the first ascent of the SW face of India's Nilkantha [aka Nilkanth] in 2017. Astorga also received a $6,000 Cutting Edge grant for this climb from the American Alpine Club. The team plans to attempt the 2700-meter south face where they anticipate mixed climbing conditions.

Lise Billon and Maud Vanpoulle (both of France) and Caro North (Switzerland) were awarded $2,000 to try a new route on Mt. Arjuna (6230m) in the Kishtwar region of India. Billon became the second woman to receive a Piolet d'or in 2016 for her first ascent of Hasta Las Webas (ED- WI5 M5 90 degrees), a 1,000-meter route on Cerro Riso Patron in Patagonia. North made the first female ascent, along with Christina Huber, of the Ragni Route (M4 90 degrees, 600m) on Cerro Torre in 2015.

The Exploration Award is for well-thought out projects, such as exploration and mapping of remote new routes. Three teams have been selected.

Szu-ting Yi and David Anderson (both of the US) are receiving $2,000 to attempt the unclimbed Starikatchan (5904m) in the Zanskar Valley of India. The husband and wife duo have previously established a new route together, Secret Moon Cake (5.10 R, 760m) on China's Eagle Peak East (5300m), and made the first ascent of Mt. Dayantianwo (17,126 feet), also in China. Yi wrote a feature story for Alpinist 63, titled "Ride the Wind," about a project to enchain 43 summits in Wyoming's Wind River Range.

Sonia Casas Torcida and Mikel Zabalza Akona (both of Spain) received $2,000 and will try a new route on the west ridge of Chobutse (6685m) in Nepal's Rolwaling Valley. In 2015, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa of Nepal put up a new route during a solo ascent of the peak, which is also known as Khang Tagri.

Beth Goralski and Mary Harlan (both of the US) will attempt a new route on Mt. Marcus in British Columbia's Waddington Range. They received $1,000. Harlan is an AMGA-trained rock, ice, snow and ski guide, and Goralski is a professional climber.

The Apprenticeship Award is for advancing alpine skills and independence. Two thousand dollars was awarded to a team of young Swiss alpinists: Florence Nikles, Anne Flechsig, Rahel Schonauer, Lisa Pfalzgraf and Ramona Volken. They'll head to Kyrgyzstan's Peak Granitnyj (5278m).

Past expeditions supported by the grant since it started in October 2016 have resulted in the first ascents of three peaks and two new routes. According to the Grit & Rock press release, the judges hope these journeys will inspire applicants for next year's awards.

For more information about the First Ascent Award, visit the Grit & Rock Facebook page, www.gritandrock.com/award or contact the organization by emailing award@gritandrock.com.