The East Face of Jannu/Kumbhakarna. The actual route is shown in red, while the intended route is shown in orange. [Photo] Courtesy of Marcin Tomaszewski

Two Russian alpinists, Sergey Nilov and Dmitry Golovchenko, spent nearly three weeks attempting a new route in alpine-style up the unclimbed main east face of Nepal's Jannu/Kumbhakarna (7710m). After heavy snowfall and in anticipation of incoming bad weather, the climbers made the decision to retreat just below the final summit block, roughly 400 meters from the top. Though they did not reach the summit, Nilov and Golovchenko have set a new high point for a route up the direct east face of 7310 meters.

Jannu lies in eastern Nepal in the Kanchenjunga Himal along the Indian border. When asked what he thought about the mountain, Chomolungma (Everest) first ascensionist Tenzing Norgay replied, "That is not a mountain, it is a ferocious giant."

The steep, serac-littered east face overlooks the Yalung Glacier and has seen a number attempts. All previous attempts on the east face, according to Rodolphe Popier of the Himalayan Database, have been by the right, east side. No parties had yet attempted a route up the main east face. Slovenian expeditions attempted the right side of the face in 1991 and 1993, but bailed higher up the mountain, citing that it seemed possible under better weather conditions. On a solo attempt in 2004, Slovenian alpinist Tomaz Humar reached 7000 meters on the same portion of the route, but found the ice too delicate to continue.

The east face of Jannu/Kumbhakarna. [Photo] Courtesy of The Wall of Shadows Film Facebook Page

Nilov and Golovchenko aimed to climb a direct route up the main east face to the summit. Marcin Tomaszewski of Poland had originally intended to join the climbers on the mountain and accompanied them base camp, but when Nilov and Golovchenko decided to begin their ascent without a formal acclimatization period of climbing high and sleeping low, Tomaszewski elected to stay in camp. Nilov and Golovchenko left base camp on March 16 and spent their first night at 5520 meters. On March 18 heavy snow fell, and strong wind was forecasted for the coming days, but the men were able to continue up in decent weather the next day according to Mountain.RU. Due to the conditions the men chose to deviate from their planned line directly up the summit tower to an approach on the left, along the south ridge. On March 19 through March 24 they moved at a pace of about 100 to 200 meters per day. A foot and a half of snow fell on Jannu on March 26, but the following day the men were able to move a few rope lengths up to the south ridge.

Anna Piunova, editor of Mountain.RU, received a message from the climbers that they'd climbed the east face, and connected with the Southeast Ridge (Desmaison-Keller-Gyalzen-Mitchung-Paragot, 1962) on the peak's south shoulder, but decided not to attempt the summit due to bad weather. The men started descending on March 28 from 7310 meters, not via their route due to concern over the serac hazard, but by the original 1962 route. Piunova received another message on March 29 that said, "It's hard," from a location at 6995 meters. The next day she got a message from 6409 meters, a point at Buffer Peak, saying that "everything is ok." The climbers made it to base camp on April 2 after spending some 18 days on the mountain.

Nilov and Golovchenko are experienced alpinists who have made many first ascents together. In 2012, along with Alexander Lange, they spent seventeen days opening up a new route on Pakistan's Muztagh Tower (7284m) via the north-east spur called Think Twice (ED: 6a A2 M6, 3400m). They were awarded a Russian Golden Axe and a Piolet d'Or for the ascent. In 2016, along with Dmitry Grigoriev, Nilov and Golovchenko put up a first ascent of a route they named Moveable Feast (ED2: M7 WI5 5c A3, 1400m) on the north buttress of Thalay Sagar (6904m) in the Indian Himalaya. That route also received both a Golden Axe and a Piolet d'Or.

Sergey Nilov, filmmaker Eliza Kubarska, and Dmitry Golovchenko by Marcin Tomaszewski. [Photo] Courtesy of The Wall of Shadows Film Facebook Page

Since the first ascent of Jannu/Kumbhakarna in 1962, according to the Himalayan Database, there have been fifty-two expeditions to the peak, seventeen of which were successful and yielded sixty-five summits. For years the north face was "arguably amongst the hardest unclimbed, unattempted walls worldwide," says Popier. In 2004, a Russian expedition made the first ascent of the North Face using established portaledge camps. The North Face still has yet to be done in alpine style.

[For more about Jannu, see Alpinist 57 for a Mountain Profile on the peak or read a selection here. --Ed.]

Kyle Dempster. [Photo] Andrew Burr

Four recipients have been selected for the second annual Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award.

Cassady Bindrup, Gabe Dirksen, Talley Kayser and Max Neale are each receiving $1,000 for solo trips, respectively, to the Scottish Highlands, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Sierra Nevada Range, California, and Baranof Island, Alaska. Last year, a total of $4,000 was distributed among three recipients.

Dempster's family, friends and sponsors created the grant to honor his legacy after he disappeared on the north face of Ogre II (6980m) in Pakistan with Scott Adamson in August 2016. Each year, the KD Award recipients are announced around Dempster's birthday on March 27; this year would have been his 36th birthday.

A press release on the KD Solo Award's website reads:

This year's recipients proposed exciting and challenging trips that embody Kyle's creative spirit and his desire to explore wild places, and they demonstrated both a willingness to push their personal limits and a passion for storytelling that will inspire future adventurers. We are excited to support the following adventures in 2019 and to hear the stories that come from them.

Max Neale, Anchorage, Alaska
Max will make his third attempt at a complete ridge traverse of Baranof Island, a remote island of rugged mountains, glaciers, temperate rainforest, and pristine salmon streams on the outer coast of southeast Alaska. Max's route traces 120 miles of off-trail ridges and technical mountain terrain from north to south, with over 120,000 feet of vertical gain.

Cassady Bindrup, Ogden, Utah
Cassady will travel to the Scottish Highlands, where he plans to make a coast-to-coast kayak journey from Inverness along the famous Great Caledonian Canal Crossing to Fort William. From Fort William at sea level, he'll backpack through Glen Nevis before climbing the famous Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK.

Talley Kayser, State College, Pennsylvania
Talley will attempt to backpack the nearly 200-mile Sierra High Route solo. Most of the route covers off-trail terrain above treeline.... This rugged and remote route features around 62,000 feet of elevation gain and goes over 33 high passes.

Gabe Dirksen, Deadwood, South Dakota
Gabe will attempt a roughly 300-mile backpacking and biking loop in the Black Hills of South Dakota that links two existing north-to-south routes. Gabe hopes to highlight the value of close-to-home adventures that lessen our impact on the environment, as well as raise funds for Smile Train, a non-profit foundation that helps children with cleft lip/palates.

More information about Dempster and the Award can be found here.

Hansjorg Auer, David Lama and Jess Roskelley are presumed to have been killed in an avalanche while attempting M-16 (VI WI7+ A2) on Howse Peak, located on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, Canada.

Parks Canada officials confirmed in a press conference today, April 18, that a helicopter search was conducted after the climbers were reported overdue on Wednesday morning, April 17. According to Parks Canada Visitor Safety Specialist Stephen Holeczi, the search crews observed signs of multiple avalanches in the area. In one particular "Size 3" avalanche "there was strong evidence that the climbing party was involved and that the victims were deceased," Holeczi said.

David Lama during acclimatizing on Fox Peak, October 2018. [Photo] David Lama/Red Bull Content Pool

Hansjorg Auer during an attempt of Annapurna III's Southeast Ridge, Nepal, April 2016. [Photo] Alexander Bluumel/Red Bull Content Pool

Jess Roskelley during the first ascent of Canmore Wedding Party (AI5 M7, 2,625') in Montana's Cabinet Mountains, November 2018. [Photo] Scott Coldiron

Canada uses a different rating system for avalanches. On the Canadian scale, a Size 3 is powerful enough to "bury a car, destroy a small building, or break trees" and is around 1,000 tons and about 1,000 meters long.

Holeczi said that there is currently a rising avalanche danger in the area and attempts to recover the bodies will have to wait until conditions stabilize.

All three men were highly accomplished, well-rounded alpinists.

Auer, 35, of Austria, was especially known for his solo climbing. He completed one of the boldest free solos ever done in 2007 when he climbed Via Attraverso il Pesce (The Fish Route: 7b+/5.12c, 37 pitches, 850m) on the south face of the Marmolada, Dolomites, Italy. In 2017 he soloed three huge climbs in the Dolomites, enchaining them together by paragliding. He also completed first ascents on several 7000-meter peaks.

Lama, 28, of Austria, started his career as a competitive sport climber and branched out into expedition climbing around 2009. That was when he started his bid to free climb the Compressor Route, a notorious bolt-ladder up a sheer headwall on Cerro Torre in Patagonia. He was met with skepticism and criticism over his tactics but he ultimately achieved that goal in 2012 even though Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk had removed many of the bolts that he would have used for protection on what ended up being runout pitches of 5.13 climbing. Last October he completed the first ascent of Lunag Ri (6895m) in Nepal as a solo.

Roskelley, 36, of Spokane, Washington, grew up under the tutelage of his father John Roskelley, who himself was a legendary climber. The pair climbed Chomolungma (Everest) together in 2003 when Jess was 20. At the time, Jess was the youngest person to summit the world's highest mountain, but he was more interested in pursuing alpine-style climbs that were more technical. In 2016, with Clint Helander in Alaska, he achieved the first complete ascent of Mt. Huntington's South Ridge, which they dubbed Gauntlet Ridge (Alaska Grade 6 M6 A0 95-degrees, ca. 8,500') because of the hazards they faced knowing that retreat was next to impossible past a certain point. Last summer Roskelley completed first ascents on two 6000-meter peaks in Pakistan with Kurt Ross and Nelson Neirinck.

Roskelley wrote a story in December for Alpinist.com titled "No bull: Too tired to see right after a first ascent in Montana's Cabinet Range," which began:

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.

Prior to the avalanche on Howse Peak, Auer, Lama and Roskelley had been steadily ticking off several of Canada's classic testpiece climbs together, including a fast ascent of Andromeda Strain (V M5 WI5) on Mt. Andromeda and Nemesis (WI6) on the Stanley Headwall.

M-16 was first climbed by Scott Backes, Barry Blanchard and Steve House in March 2000. Blanchard's knee was injured on the descent when he was caught in a deluge of spindrift and he was ultimately evacuated by helicopter. In the 2000 American Alpine Journal, House wrote:

[The line] follows the exciting-looking ice formations on the east face of Howse Peak in Alberta, Canada. The route consisted of about 15 pitches and we ended at the top of a striking couloir, some distance below and to the south of the summit....

We named the route M-16 in reference to its difficulty and seriousness and in allusion to Barry's experience of being "under the gun," and also partially in objection to the "new" sport of mixed climbing on bolted crag routes, which alpinists have been doing for centuries, just not at the crags and without the bolts.

"It's just one of those routes where you have to have the right conditions or it turns into a nightmare. This is one of those trips where it turned into a nightmare," John Roskelley recently told The Spokesman-Review.

The east face of Howse Peak, Icefields Parkway, Alberta, Canada. [Photo] Courtesy of Parks Canada

Parks Canada reported in a press conference today, April 22, that Jess Roskelley, David Lama and Hansjorg Auer started climbing M-16 (VI WI7+ A2) on Howse Peak early Tuesday morning, April 16, summited around 12:30 p.m. and were likely killed in an avalanche while descending the east face of the mountain that day.

The bodies were found in a field of avalanche debris on Sunday, April 21. Roskelley's phone was also recovered and contained a photo of the three climbers on top of the peak. They were reported overdue on Wednesday, April 17, but weather and increasing avalanche danger slowed search efforts.

Parks Canada Visitor Safety Manager Brian Webster said that when the men started the climb, the avalanche safety bulletin rated the potential hazards as "spring conditions," which means "the danger is variable and can range from low to high." By Wednesday, when the search began, the avalanche danger had increased dramatically. Helicopters flown by Alpine Helicopters found evidence of the climbers' location and dropped a beacon to mark the spot. On Saturday, April 20, a searcher was deposited on the ground with a long-line and he remained attached to the helicopter the entire time to enable a fast evacuation if another avalanche were to occur. A search dog and handler were deposited via long-line the next day and found the bodies.

A press release from the Roskelley family reads:

All three men were considered to be some of the best alpinists in the world. Jess felt incredibly honored to be an athlete on The North Face global team.... We would like to send our utmost gratitude to the first responders and assisting agencies of Parks Canada including their Visitor Safety Specialist and the entire Incident Command Team, Lake Louise RCMP, Lake Louise Fire Department, Bow Valley Victim Services, the skilled pilots of Alpine Helicopters, and Brooke, the avalanche dog who located the climbers, and her handler. Additionally, we would like share our appreciation for the climbing community and the myriad of friends, family and acquaintances who have offered their sincere love and assistance to our family during this time. We would also like to send our deepest condolences to the families of David Lama and Hansjorg Auer of Austria. Jess was ecstatic to climb with these two men, who he looked up to and highly respected.

Search team. [Photo] Courtesy of Parks Canada

The search dog with handlers. [Photo] Courtesy of Parks Canada

Steve House, who first climbed M-16 with Scott Backes and Barry Blanchard in 2000, posted on Instagram:

This mountain, Howse Peak is among the most powerful mountains I've ever known. She changed many lives this week; in tragic ways. I lost three friends, three brothers. That is the least of it, I'm sure. I knew all three, but I knew [Auer] best of all. He was a both a friend and a God to me.

The greatest confusion for me personally in this moment is the role of the route M-16. A route I climbed over five days, now so vividly remembered, over 20 years ago. That climb took myself and Scott Backes and Barry Blanchard to the limits of skill, power, judgment, and yes--luck. It challenged our very life force and we nearly lost. I climbed one of the most difficult and dangerous pitches of my life. Barry was very nearly killed by collapsing snow. Scott held us together as a team far more powerful than it's parts, then, and forever after. And now that power we knew, has killed.

I wish I had words to help the mournful understand who this mountain is. What climbing Howse Peak's precipitous East Face means. It is simply this: The truest testing place of the most powerful men on their very best days.... These were great men. The true .01 percent. This is something each of them proved with actions over and over again. These men were immeasurable....

David Lama's parents, Claudia and Rinzi Lama, posted on his Instagram page:

David dedicated his life to the mountains and his passion for climbing and alpinism shaped and accompanied our family. He always followed his own path and lived his dream. We will accept what now happened as a part of that.

We appreciate the numerous positive words and thoughts from near and far. Please understand that there will be no further comments from our side. We ask you to remember David for his zest for life, his enthusiasm and with a view towards his beloved mountains.

Our thoughts are with Hansjorg's and Jess' family.

A post from Auer's "family and friends" on his Instagram page begins with a quote from his website:

"Climbing and mountaineering on the borderline of possible is a game--a risky game...but one that I cannot live without. The game is simple, the rules always the same. The present moment counts for everything. I want to do things that push me. With all my heart or not at all. The more intense it is, the more enriching it is, and the stronger the feeling that I am heading in the right direction. I do however begin to ponder. Especially when I am injured or after a close call. I think about my friends. I think about what it would be like if one day I didn't return, if I had to pay the price for the mountains. And yet I cannot resist to take on the challenge time after time. I will never stop searching because what I find fascinates me every time I head out."

Thank you to all for your kind words. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of David and Jess.--Family and Friends of Hansjorg

An earlier report with more details about the climbers and the route they were climbing can be found here.

Cole Lawrence sends Pitch 6 (5.13a) on the first free ascent of Super Ultra Mega, an eight-pitch route on an unnamed buttress in Montana's Bitterroot Range. Lawrence first envisioned the route about 10 years ago and began exploring the line ground-up on aid. He eventually completed the line to the top, with difficulties up to A3, and then placed some bolts on rappel for free climbing. He redpointed the route in September 2018 after working on the route with several partners. [Photo] Winter Ramos

A group of climbers based in Missoula, Montana--birthplace of legendary climber Alex Lowe--have been working on establishing some long, difficult free routes in the Bitterroot Range over the last several years. If Lowe hadn't died in an avalanche on Shishapangma in 1999 at age 40, Cole Lawrence believes he would have continued exploring more climbs in the range.

"If you top out the Lowe Extension [5.10] on No Sweat Arete [5.7, 4 pitches], there's a plaque up there dedicated to [Lowe] on top of a spire," Lawrence said. It was in this spot about 10 years ago where he looked across the valley at an unclimbed, unnamed buttress and became enchanted with part of the headwall that formed a prominent skyline, where he eventually would establish a route named Super Ultra Mega (5.13a, 8 pitches), which he redpointed in September 2018 after a series of joint efforts over the last decade with Conor Dysinger, Peter Caracciolo and Damian Mast.

Lawrence and Winter Ramos, who took the photos featured in this article, agree that Super Ultra Mega is indicative of what the region has to offer.

"I believe that the story of the Bitterroots could be part of something much bigger," Ramos said. To back up his point, he showed some of his photos of another seven-pitch route that is estimated at 5.13b and has yet to be redpointed.

Winter Ramos jumaring. [Photo] Cole Lawrence

Lawrence is currently a general manager at a coffee roastery. He moved to Montana for college in 2007. When he picked up the guidebook for the western part of the state there were only about 20 climbs in it.

"There's some twenty canyons in the Bitterroot Valley, and each one is probably 10 miles deep. Within the first 5 miles all of them have granite towers," he said. Once he climbed all the established routes in the book, he and Dysinger, who works as a nurse in Missoula, started looking for other unclimbed lines, going out every weekend with a rack and a drill. Together they've put up about 20 routes in the Mill Creek drainage, all alpine routes, with Super Ultra Mega being the best one yet in their opinion. Lawrence and Dysinger have both written guidebooks, and are working on another one about the alpine routes they've put up in the area.

"Sometimes names are the reasons why people climb things, and we really want people to climb this thing," Lawrence said of the Super Ultra Mega's name. "It's a wall that's never been climbed because of how imposing it is--it was basically the biggest, baddest wall we could climb. The name is a bit of a joke on gear companies who are always naming things the 'ultimate elite' this or the 'super light elite' that."

The red line shows the route of Super Ultra Mega (5.13a, 8 pitches). [Photo] Cole Lawrence

The 1,000-foot granite face is stacked on top of another 600- to 800-foot cliff. "It's very exposed," Ramos said.

"The wall has no distinguishable crack systems and I think that's why it hadn't gotten done," said Dysinger, who's freed every pitch but the 5.13a crux pitch; he plans to attempt a complete free ascent this spring.

Conor Dysinger starts Pitch 5 (5.12). [Photo] Winter Ramos

According to Lawrence and Dysinger, the Montana climbing seasons are finicky and the aspect of their route is south facing so they take the hot summers off. Winter is too snowy and spring is often wet, so autumn ends up being the primary window for sending. They spent the first two seasons aiding to the top, one more season when they got close, and then a fourth season where Lawrence was able to free the route.

"Some pitches on the first ascent were for sure A3," Lawrence said. "Not deadly, but getting four or five beak placements from anything that would hold a fall. Once we had the route equipped we started bolting and putting it up free."

The pair put in bolts where necessary and not next to cracks, only bolting if there wasn't a good gear placement or if it was going to hinder the climbing or aesthetic having to go off route to get a piece in. Overall, about half the route is protected by gear and the other half by bolts.

Dysinger follows the top of Pitch 2 with Mill Creek below. [Photo] Winter Ramos

The first pitch is a runout 5.10+ R that heads into a 12c seam--"60 or 70 feet of purple master cams"--then a pitch of 10+, one at 5.9, and then a 12c that approaches the headwall and the crux pitch. The crux, at 5.13a, is overhanging and exposed and has five gear placements.

"It starts out mellow and then climbs through a chossy layer. You pull around a roof onto a desperate slab with one crimper and do a weird overhanging stand-up move onto a slab. Then there's a dyno to a good hold and you slap up this refrigerator block to a stance where you can shake out," said Dysinger.

The headwall, which kicks back about 15 degrees is the steepest and most exposed part of the wall. "It makes the climbing ridiculous," Lawrence said. The seventh pitch is around 12a and the final pitch is 5.11.

Lawrence arrives at the belay having finally redpointed the crux pitch after many tries over the last few years. [Photo] Winter Ramos

Lawrence is on the board of the Western Montana Climbers Coalition and is well aware of the cultural and bureaucratic challenges surrounding the area when it comes to climbing. The cultural challenge in this case is that there has been a long tradition of not reporting routes, though there is some debate if that is because the climbers of yore simply didn't bother recording their climbs or if they deliberately wanted to maintain the adventure. Climbers are also a minority user group of the Mill Creek Valley, and the activity has not always been smiled upon by the other user groups and property owners.

The Bitterroot National Forest Service instituted a widespread bolting ban in 2016 after local residents voiced their displeasure with a particular sport climbing area known as the Tick Farm. The Access Fund, a special interest group for climbing, got involved and in March 2017 the Forest Service ended up reducing the bolting ban to just a few specific cliffs. Meanwhile, the area is also currently designated as a "recommended wilderness area." If legislation were to designate the valley as a full-blown wilderness area, Lawrence and his partners want to make sure climbers make their presence known and have their voices heard along with all the other stakeholders before any laws are drafted.

"This place feels like a hidden gem...but we need awareness and we want people to come out and show support," he said.

Of course climbers are just one of the many groups with ties to the land. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service webpage, "these intermountain areas of western Montana were the last areas of the United States to be settled by whites," with the Salish and Kutenai people stewarding the land for at least 8,000 years. The webpage reads:

The respect and love for the Bitterroot can be summed up in the words of Louise Vanderburg, a Salish elder: "When we go home I think about our old people. I walk lightly when I walk around. The bones of my Grandparents and their Grandparents are all around here. We return to the Bitterroot each year on a Pilgrimage to honor our connection with our homeland. Also to ensure the preservation of our ancestors' graves and sacred sites. In doing so we acknowledge the gifts left here by those who have gone on before us, gifts of language, songs, dance, spirituality. This way of life has been sustained for generations by our ancestors' prayers."

The Access Fund posted an article on April 24 titled, "Climbing and Respect for Indigenous Lands." The article states:

Nearly every climbing area in America is still connected to an indigenous community today-- whether as a homeland, a sacred site, or both--and it is important for climbers to think about how we interact with these lands. Though plenty of indigenous people are also climbers, the climbing community has had a mixed relationship with tribes over the years. Climbing on certain formations has been, and continues to be, in opposition to the wishes of some tribal governments (climbing is banned within the Navajo Nation in the four corners region, for example).

Alpinist recently contacted the office for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to invite their opinions about climbing in the Bitterroots but no messages have been returned at the time of this posting.

[Alan Rousseau wrote the following story about a new route he completed on the east face of Mt. Dickey in Alaska with Jackson Marvell on April 3-5. Their new line follows a prominent corner system between Blood from the Stone and the Wine Bottle; they named it Ruth Gorge Grinder (AI6+ M7, 5,000').--Ed.]

The two red stars indicate the bivy locations and the smaller red dots mark the approximate line of Ruth Gorge Grinder (AI6+ M7, 5,000') on the east face of Mt. Dickey. [Photo] Alan Rousseau

"What's your plan for Alaska this year?" is a question I get more times than I'd like to recall. This year, Jackson Marvell, and I had hoped to repeat Blood from the Stone (A1 M7+ WI6+ X, 5,000'), a route put up by Sean Easton and Ueli Steck in March 2002 on Mt. Dickey. However, this route rarely forms and has the reputation as being one of the hardest routes in the range. I felt like I might as well have been saying I was going to slay the Loch Ness Monster. Even if it's there, do I stand a chance?

I first visited the Ruth Gorge in 2012, it was my first experience with mixed climbing on truly large faces, and I did not have the skillset to manage the terrain and conditions that surrounded me. We landed under the east face of Dickey. I was enchanted by the unrelenting nature of the face that soared a mile overhead. It became clear to me that I was not ready to step into that kind of ride, but man, someday I wanted to be....

This past autumn, when Jackson asked me if I wanted to do a 2019 Alaska trip, "east face of Dickey" reflexively came out of my mouth. "Dickey, April 1," Jackson replied, extending his hand. As I shook it, I could see in his eye a contract had just been signed. Having never roped up together before, we had some climbing to do, and we made a point to climb together once a week before we left. Our days ranged from bolting new lines to big linkups. Our confidence in one another grew quickly.

"Which one should we do man? The chimney system left of The Wine Bottle? or Blood from Stone?"

"I don't know, can't see much ice in Blood from Stone."

"The top of it looks so good, though!"

"Yeah, we gotta try it, it looks insane, and that's what we came here for."

The author approaches the east face of Mt. Dickey on the morning of April 3. [Photo] Jackson Marvell

After skinning up and down the Ruth to get a few angles on the face with our scope we decided the next morning we would head up Blood from Stone. Even though there appeared to be a large gap in the ice. We figured a wall rack would still allow for safe passage. With that decision we packed up two backpacks with three days of food, cooked dinner, and tried to calm down enough to get some sleep.

April 3: our approach was dreamy, and an hour after we left camp we were debating which iced-up corner system to climb. Jackson made the mistake of following my advice and ended up a bit higher than planned after a runout M5 pitch. But a pendulum and two steep pitches of M6+ and M7 gave us passage to the hanging snowfield where we planned to bivy.

Alan Rousseau traverses over to Blood from the Stone on the first snowfield where they bivied on their first night. [Photo] Jackson Marvell

We chopped out our ledge on a snow arete just left of Blood from Stone. Leaving packs there, I took the rack with hopes of fixing a few hundred feet higher on Blood from Stone. The first pitch was excellent AI4+ M5 climbing and landed us below a huge water groove with a thin drip of ice in the back of it. I made it maybe 80 feet higher shuffling a chicken wing, heel-toe cam and an ice tool in the drip. I had placed a Spectre, a tied-off stubby screw, and both my ice tools--not a recommended tactic. Without confidence in anything I had clipped, and no protectable cracks or ice visible for at least a ropelength, I hit the eject button by drilling a shallow 10mm bolt and lowering off.

As we rappelled back into our bivy there was a raven going to town on Jackson's food. When I got 10 feet from it, the raven hucked the sack of food off the ledge into the bergschrund below, where the ravens of the Ruth could feast on the ProBar and Gu bounty. This was not a high point of the adventure.

We sat on the ledge in the fading light and discussed our options. We came back to a pact of sorts that we had made before leaving base camp: "We will not return to base camp unless we are out of high pressure or food." With some quick math we figured we had enough for two more days at 1,500 calories per person per day. That afternoon we had traversed past a corner system that appeared to lead us into an unclimbed ice hose left of the Wine Bottle (Bonapace-Orgler, 1988). We melted snow that evening and crafted a new plan, for a new route.

We had a slow morning of drying out in the sun. Around 9:30 we started simulclimbing back across the snowfield to the corner system. The corner began as an amenable shoulder-width chimney at AI4 M4. Then got into some fairly serious M6+ AI5 terrain for a couple rope lengths. We passed through a bit of the "cracker jack" granite for which the Ruth is infamous. After around 250 meters of mixed climbing, we reached a pendulum point to reach the deep chimney system we were gunning for.

Rousseau leads a pitch of AI5 M6+. [Photo] Jackson Marvell

We now stood below the real business, the section of wall that truly overhangs when viewed from the glacier. At the base of the chimney we clipped into a couple cams, sorted the rack, and Jackson got psyched for his block. A big snow release came down as he was about to leave and we were "pitted" in the white wave for a full 30 seconds, hardly able to stand in the forceful energy surging around us. A bit shaken, but forever the optimist, Jackson expressed how he was happy it didn't hit him on lead, he then clapped his tools together and headed up into the white ribbon. Each time I heard the sharp crack of steel piercing neve it was hard to not let out an audible cheer. Jackson calmly led a most impressive 240-meter block of steep ice that afternoon in four pitches of AI6+, AI6, AI5+, AI5.

Jackson Marvell leading through the meat of the first 240-meter ice hose. [Photo] Alan Rousseau

That evening clouds spilled into the gorge and twilight soon followed, we were glad to have gained the next snowfield. Our forecast called for 4 inches of snow that night. We knew there was still close to 2,000 feet of steep terrain above us. We anchored into the most protected spot we could find and chopped another ledge. Proud of what was below us and prepared for what lay ahead, we anchored down the tarp and got ready for a memorable night.

Around midnight it became obvious our tarp fortress was no match for the spindrift attacks. I spent most of the night trying to keep snow off my face. Jackson spent most of the night sitting up clapping his hands, and trying to keep his sleeping bag from completely filling with snow. Around 4 a.m. we sat side-by-side and brewed up water, followed by some coffee. Eventually the sun started a new day. Its heat kicked off a 30-minute avalanche cycle. For a half-hour we were enveloped in snow and air blast from the walls shedding around us. Watching the river of white funnel into the meter wide hose we had climbed up was good motivation to continue up and over Mt. Dickey.

The second bivy. Rousseau writes: "We gave up sleeping; this is a photo I took of Jackson while we were waiting for the sun." [Photo] Alan Rousseau

Starting up from the second bivy, the ice above looked surreal. I kept telling myself "It can't be as steep as it looks." It was. The first pitch of the upper tube was maybe a couple degrees overhung in the mid section. But the second pitch was the steepest ice I have ever encountered. It was planar and overhung at least 10 degrees. I felt like I didn't know how to swing into ice that steep. Every stick took numerous swings to shell out a divot and then I could get a stick into the depression. With a pack on, third day on route, it felt like work. I climbed another two pitches of AI5. Then Jackson took over and completed the upper 340-meter ice hose, which was surprisingly consistent and sustained at AI5.

Marvell follows a pitch on the second ice hose that was even longer than the first, which the author estimated at 340 meters long. [Photo] Alan Rousseau

After climbing 600 meters of ice hose, 350 meters of engaging mixed climbing, and a couple of snow patches that happened to be in just the right places. We were on top of the headwall, and it was time to switch gears from steep ice and granite to 60+ degree faceted snow and shale bands. We simuled up and right to the wine bottle ridge, did a short rappel on the other side then excavated our way up through another long simul-block to the moderate glacial summit slopes of Dickey. The upper portion of the route was time consuming, and mentally draining with long stretches between gear, deep unconsolidated snow and suspect rock up to M4. We hit the summit of Dickey at 6 p.m. and were beyond relieved to arrive back in our base camp below the east face three and a half hours later, just as the day's last rays of light were fading.

Simulclimbing about 500 feet vertical below the summit. [Photo] Jackson Marvell

Rousseau cruising to Dickey's summit. [Photo] Jackson Marvell

Topo of Ruth Gorge Grinder (AI6+ M7, 5,000'). [Photo] Alan Rousseau

[On April 15, the author was 3,000 feet up a new route on Mt. Bradley when a falling piece of ice hit him in the face and injured his left eye, ending his trip early. He is now recovering at home and is unsure if there will be permanent damage to his vision. Rousseau wrote a story for Alpinist.com last year about the first ascent of The T&A Show on the north face of Rungofarka in India's Zanskar Range.--Ed.]

Getulio Felipe reaches the end of the via ferrata, which is buried in snow, on Punta Penia's Normal Route, Marmolada, Dolomites, Italy. He is belayed by guide Alessio Nardelotto with his friend Pedro McCardell offering support from behind. [Photo] Stefano Fabris

Doctors predicted Getulio Felipe would never walk after a complication at birth left him with cerebral palsy. But the 14-year-old Brazilian learned to walk at age 7, and on Sunday, April 21, he summited the Punta Penia (3343m) on the Marmolada, the highest point of the Dolomites in Italy.

"For every problem, there is a solution," he says in Portuguese on a video with subtitles that is on a GoFundMe page for a documentary film titled, "Driven--A story about (Im)possible." The video shows him walking, running and playing soccer.

Felipe summited the Normal Route on Punta Penia, which ascends a glacier to a via ferrata on a rocky ridge and then up a final snowfield to the summit. He was accompanied by his good friend Pedro McCardell, who organized the expedition, and a guide, Alessio Nardelotto. A backup team was also nearby.

Felipe took nearly nine hours after leaving the Pian Dei Fiacconi refuge (2626m) at 6:15 a.m., according to a press release.

Before the climb, a storm cycle deposited a fresh layer of snow. Katrina Rast, Lyfx's community coordinator, was along to document the events and wrote a blog for the Lyfx website:

To try and help with walking in the deep snow, they wore snowshoes...which turned out to be impossible to use for someone who can't lift their feet. In one hour, Getulio made it 50 meters. If he were to make the summit, he would have to walk at this pace for 40 hours, and the climb only got more difficult. We all thought it was impossible....

Felipe labors up fresh snow on the Marmolada with Nardelotto and McCardell. [Photo] Stefano Fabris

That night we saw a somber Getulio. I think the reality of what he was trying to achieve weighed hard on him. Many discussions were had for escape routes and helicopter pick-ups. We wanted so much for him to succeed, but how could this ever happen? He had taken one hour to walk 50 meters on low-angle snow and here we were faced with much steeper terrain and a 700-meter elevation gain....

One step at a time, Getulio pushed on. Four times the guides suggested going back and they could call for the helicopter, but Getulio demanded that they continue....

The press release reads, "From the top of the steep climbing it took another two hours to reach the summit where Getulio sat down looking at the view and declared, 'what a good life.'" A helicopter took him down.

Felipe with his team of guides, supporters and friends on the summit of the Punta Penia (3343m). [Photo] Stefano Fabris

After the climb, Rast wrote:

As a gift, he gave a signed flag from his favorite soccer team to the guides, getting all involved to write on it, a gift that meant everything to Getulio. As if this wasn't enough, the boots that he had been given to climb the mountain, he gave to the guides so that other people may have the opportunity that he had. Getulio had only an old pair of shoes himself, and these boots could have lasted him a lifetime, but he thought it more important to share and give the opportunity to others. He said, it's not about him; it's about giving to others, to inspire and to create opportunity.

The American Alpine Club is hosting its annual Excellence in Climbing Celebration on June 1 at its headquarters in Golden, Colorado. This year features a block party format instead of a gala. Tickets start at $20.

The day starts off with the party from 3 to 7 p.m. A VIP Patron reception is from 6 to 7 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m. Laura Waterman and Ken Yager will be inducted into the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence. Kelly Cordes--this year's recipient of the H. Adams Carter Literary Award--will deliver the keynote address.

"We completely revamped the event!" said AAC Senior Events Manager Heidi McDowell, referring to the outdoor festivities, which will feature carnival games and an open-air vendor village with food trucks and beer. There will also be opportunities to attend climbing workshops hosted by the AAC's education team and tours of the Mountaineering Museum.

As with past events, there will be a raffle and silent auction to benefit the Henry S. Hall American Alpine Library and the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum. A press release for the event reads:

Established in 1916, the AAC Library has long been a launchpad for expeditions, a place to share stories, and a resource to inspire the future and protect the past. With the addition of the American Mountaineering Museum in 2009, these artifacts found a home where anyone--from the most seasoned Everest climber to the third-grader with her first harness--can soak in the stories of the past.

The AAC webpage for the event explains the significance of the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence:

Inductees come from all disciplines; mountaineering, rock, ice and mixed. Inductees have had a significant impact on climbing history, but have also made contributions of meaning in other areas relating to the mountains and their vibrant communities. The multi-dimensional inductees have made lasting contributions in the areas of culture, environmental responsibility, community, the arts and sciences--ultimately making the world a better place. And now we celebrate the 2019 inductees and their legacies!

Laura Waterman climbing at Whitehorse Ledge, New Hampshire. [Photo] Ken Hopper

Laura Waterman--As a climber, conservationist and author, Laura Waterman climbs and writes about the mountains. Together with her late husband, Guy, the Watermans' authored books covering climbing, hiking, environmental ethics, and mountain history. In 2002, Laura founded The Waterman Fund grants program to support trail work, stewardship, education, and research.

Ken Yager--Ken Yager, a climbing guide and founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association, loves Yosemite. In 2004, he started the [Yosemite] Facelift, a nonprofit responsible for removing over 1 million pounds of garbage from the park. The event continues to be the largest volunteer cleanup in park history.

Ken Yager on Freestone in Yosemite. [Photo] Kevin Worral

Waterman is quoted in the press release: "The conservation work Guy and I did in the mountains came naturally, like climbing. It was just something we felt strongly about and it was important, more than that, essential, to spread the word. Frankly, I think--I hope--all climbers feel this way about their favorite places, the [places] that keep us sane."

Waterman wrote an essay for Alpinist 61 (Spring 2018) titled "On Becoming a Mountain Steward," which can be found here.

Yager is also quoted in the press release: "As a young climber I read about the adventures of Tom Frost, Royal Robbins, Arlene Blum, Fred Beckey, Yvon Chouinard, Richard Leonard, and many of the others that have received this award. To be included with my climbing heroes is an honor that is hard for me to fathom."

Keynote speaker Kelly Cordes was selected for the H. Adams Carter Literary Award last December. The award will be presented to him at Saturday's celebration. 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 co-wrote 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.) 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.

To buy tickets or get more information about the American Alpine Club's Celebration of Excellence on June 1, visit the AAC's webpage here.

Kelly Cordes climbing Fitz Roy in Patagonia. [Photo] Craig Scariot

Pete Takeda is pictured here on a 2005 expedition to Nanda Kot with the east face of Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi in the background. The latter is just in front of the main peak of Nanda Devi. Takeda authored a two-part Mountain Profile about the area in Alpinist issues 62 and 63 (Summer and Autumn 2018). [Photo] Pete Takeda collection

Eight climbers are presumed to have been killed in a large avalanche on the flanks of Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi in the Indian Himalaya while attempting an unclimbed satellite peak referred to by its elevation as Peak 6477, which is to the south and connected by a ridge to Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi (7434m).

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation reported that photos from a helicopter search conducted by the Indian military on June 3 showed evidence of five bodies in the avalanche debris, which was near their last known camp at around 5400 meters. The other three members of the group are presumed dead. Rock and Ice reported the names of the eight climbers: Martin Moran (UK), Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel (US), John McLaren, Richard Payne and Rupert Whewell (UK), Ruth McCance (Australia), and Chetan Pandey (India). The Times of India reports that "plans are now being made to retrieve the bodies." [The spelling of some of these names has been corrected from the inital report mentioned above.--Ed.]

Four other climbers from the expedition were also evacuated by helicopter from a lower, advanced base camp because of avalanche risk.

A June 3 story by the New York Times reports:

According to the British Association of Mountain Guides, the original team of 12 split into two groups after reaching their base camp on May 18. One group of eight, led by Martin Moran, left for an acclimatization climb on an unnamed, unclimbed summit known as Peak 6477m. The other four climbers, led by Mark Thomas, went to prepare the route to Nanda Devi East, the lower of two adjacent peaks on the mountain. They were rescued on Sunday by Indian forces.

This photo shows a view of Peak 6477 from the South Ridge of Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi. [Photo] Pete Takeda

Moran's family posted an official statement on the Moran Mountain Facebook page on June 2:

We are deeply saddened by the tragic events unfolding in the Nanda Devi region of the Indian Himalaya.

As a family, we share the same emotions that all next of kin are experiencing in not knowing the whereabouts or wellbeing of those closest to us.

We are grateful to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation who is coordinating search and rescue efforts on the ground and in the air under extremely difficult conditions in a very remote area of the Himalaya.

The climbing group had set out to attempt an unclimbed, unnamed summit, Peak 6477m, and the last contact intimated that all was well and a summit bid would be made from a camp at around 5400m.

It is not entirely clear what happened from this point onwards or indeed the timeline of events. We do know that a British Mountain Guide who was in the area leading a trekking group, as part of the same expedition, was informed that the climbing group had not returned to basecamp as expected. He immediately went on the mountain to search for the missing climbers. There was clear evidence that a sizeable avalanche had occurred on the mountain and it seemed to be on or very near the route that would be taken by the climbing group. The Mountain Guide gave instructions to base camp to alert rescue authorities. The alarm was raised early on Friday morning 31st May....

We are grateful for all the support that has been offered to us and we will be sure to release any information as and when we receive it. In the meantime please respect the privacy that the next of kin of the climbers need as they seek solace at this harrowing time.

Moran is well known for leading many exploratory expeditions in the Himalaya and other Indian ranges since 1992, and Thomas was with him on an attempt to climb a new route on Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi in September 2015, via the northeast ridge. They reached a high point of 6865 meters on a ridge where they were stopped by dangerous snow conditions. Moran's report in the 2016 American Alpine Journal reads:

Our hopes were high, but 100 meters higher the ridge narrowed into a sensational knife-edge of unconsolidated snow. Faced with a 500-meter horizontal section with 65-degree powder-snow flutes to the north and overhanging mushrooms on the south, the decision to retreat was obvious and immediate. Our high point was at 6865 meters. Through the night we descended 1300 meters to the bottom of the ridge, with 14 abseils from ice threads and much down climbing. With more stable snow conditions and careful assessment of the state of the summit seracs, the alternative line up a broad couloir to bypass the fluted section of ridge could be feasible.

The east face of Nanda Devi East / Sunanda Devi (right) and Peak 6477. [Photo] Pete Takeda

Moran wrote an essay titled "That Subtle Thrill" for Part II of the Nanda Devi Mountain Profile in Alpinist 63 (Autumn 2018), in which he recalled his time in the Sanctuary:

Away from pilgrim trails and honeypot peaks, the solitude of the Indian Himalaya draws me back every year, and I find genuine adventure in guiding groups to these places....

Seventy-five years after the Polish team climbed the South Ridge, no other team had established a new route on Nanda Devi East.... In September 2015, Mark Thomas and I found an easy way from the Lawan Valley to the starting col at 5334 meters. We spent a week unraveling the mysteries of that ridge in alpine style, sitting out blizzards each afternoon. At 6600 meters, we had to choose between a long ridge traverse or a direct couloir to gain the summit pyramid. With nearly a meter of fresh snow underfoot, we dared not risk the couloir, so we took to the crest with bivy gear and two days' worth of supplies. Nowhere could I spot the sliver of a ledge or the chink of a crack-line. This must be one of the greatest untouched walls in the world, I thought, and we're the first to see it close up....

We modern explorers are aware that we follow in the footsteps of others. Yet my experiences in the ranges of Nanda Devi East and Nanda Kot have made me think of Eric Shipton's words upon reaching the Inner Sanctuary in 1934: "At each step I experienced that subtle thrill which anyone of imagination must feel when treading hitherto unexplored country...."

Ten-year-old Selah Schneiter leads the bolt ladder to Boot Flake on the Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

Ten-year-old Selah Schneiter of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, climbed the Nose (VI 5.8 C2, 2,900') of El Capitan (also known to Indigenous people as Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) on June 13 after a casual five-day ascent with her dad Mike Schneiter and their close family friend Mark Regier.

Selah appears to have the youngest documented ascent of the Big Stone--Scott Cory climbed the route twice in 2001 at age 11; more on that later--but the age record wasn't part of Selah or her parents' incentives.

"We did this climb for us; it was her energy and her idea," said Mike, who has done the Nose in a day twice before and is an AMGA guide who has owned and operated Glenwood Climbing Guides since 2011. "If anything, I'd been trying to talk her out of it. I think El Cap has been so much a part of our story as a family that she's wanted to do it for a long time."

Mike and Joy Schneiter met on a climbing trip 15 years ago and roped up together for their first time when they did Lurking Fear (VI 5.7 C2, ca. 2,000') on El Capitan as a group of four that included Regier. "[Mike and I] stopped using the divider on the portaledge by the third night," Joy said. They were married eight months later in a ceremony officiated by Regier, and in 2009 they took Selah to the base of El Capitan when she was two months old.

Mike Schneiter holds 2-month-old Selah below El Capitan in 2009. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

Selah--who has three younger siblings: Zeke, 7; Sunny, 5; and Salome, 17 months--started climbing on toprope in a body harness at 18 months old, and began ice climbing at age 5 with small custom tools crafted by her dad. "She only truly got into ice climbing this year because it takes some strength to swing the tools," Mike said. She climbed her first desert tower, Otto's Route (5.8+, 400') in Colorado National Monument when she was 7, something that had been her birthday wish as a 6-year-old.

Up until recently, if you asked her about her favorite activities, she would have likely told you, "climbing, skiing and miniature golf." After El Cap, she told her dad that she's decided to focus less on golf and more on climbing and skiing.

To prepare for the Nose, Selah practiced leading trad and aid pitches, lowering out on pendulums and jumaring. She spent a night in a portaledge and got a feel for hauling a bag up the cliff. "They climbed all over Colorado and Utah, and also practiced in the garage," Joy said.

Even though Selah still hadn't really climbed anything taller than Otto's Route before she launched up the Nose, her practice paid off.

"She showed Mark [Regier, who hadn't practiced those skills in a while] how to lower out," Mike said. "Another climber above us said, 'She's schooling me!'"

Ultimately, Selah led the start of the route (Pine Line, a 5.7 variation to the original start); the bolt ladder from Texas Flake to Boot Flake halfway up; and the final pitch of fourth class to the tree on top.

Selah casts off on Pine Line (5.7) to start the Nose. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

She wanted to lead more, but Mike said he was concerned about her being able to reach the widely spaced bolts on the final bolt ladder--she had to use two stoppers hitched together as a mini cheat-stick to reach the bolts going to Boot Flake--and in general he just wanted to err on the side of being cautious. "I feel like we've been really conservative," he said.

That doesn't mean Selah didn't do her share of the work. Mike estimates that she cleaned 80 percent of the route.

"She weighs about 60 pounds, and a kid's harness only has two gear loops, which isn't enough to carry all the gear, so she wore a sling to clip gear to as well--that's a lot of weight for anyone to carry, especially her," he said.

Selah jumaring on the Nose. Her dad estimates that she cleaned 80 percent of the pitches on the route, which freed up the two adults to haul the bag. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

With Selah often jumaring as the second, the adults were freed up to rig and haul the bag. Sometimes she helped with hauling, too, and a couple times she arrived at a short-fixed belay and put the leader on belay. They were actually moving faster than the party ahead of them.

"We were originally intending to do a four-day ascent," Mike said. Instead they embraced the slower pace and enjoyed casual mornings and long lunch breaks. "It was a relaxing time," Mike said.

Joy Schneiter posted this photo on Facebook with the caption, "When you're 10 and 25 pitches off the deck, you're still 10." [Photo] Schneiter family collection

When asked if there were any moments of adversity, Mike said, "Early on the bags were heavy and the pace was slow, which made it feel overwhelming, but then our motto became, 'How do you eat an elephant?' We had plenty of food, water and clothing, so we just broke it down to the individual steps and took our time. There were a couple moments where she was exhausted, sore and sunburned, but she was never really scared. She was comfortable sleeping up there. She said the hardest part was the hike up and the hike down because of all the gear we had to carry."

Mike and Selah FaceTimed with Joy a few times during the climb.

"I wanted to be there so bad; I hope I get to go back eventually," said Joy, who climbed the Nose in 2008. "Zeke is climbing on the woody in our garage everyday, and he really wants to climb El Cap now, but I'm not sure if he understands what that means."

Selah near the top of the Nose. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

When Mike started sending Joy photos from the climb, she couldn't resist posting them on Facebook, which tipped off the media and subverted Mike's plan for an undercover mission.

"My friend Chris Van Leuven lives in Mariposa [just outside the Valley] and I didn't even tell him what our plan was when we arrived," Mike said. (Van Leuven ended up writing the breaking story for Outside Online.)

After summiting the afternoon of June 13, Mike, Selah and Regier spent the night on top. They made a beeline down the next day to get pizza and swim in the river.

Selah takes a selfie in front of the famous tree on top of the Nose. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

"My favorite part was the whole experience, and I don't think it's even over yet," Selah told Alpinist during their drive home. I asked her if any other El Cap routes caught her fancy: "Zodiac might be fun," she said. "I'd also like to do Lurking Fear because of the family history." She agreed that the odds are good that she will eventually climb both routes.

"Having a climbing guide for a dad helps," Joy said.

It's worth noting that Mike wears many hats that pertain to teaching and guiding. He's been a high school teacher for 20 years; he coached track for quite a while; and in addition to his guiding company he is also an adjunct professor at Colorado Mountain College, where he teaches climbing-related skills, and he certifies single-pitch instructors for the AMGA. During that time he has completed first ascents of quite a few single and multipitch routes, especially near his home in Glenwood Canyon.

Young Climbers on the Big Stone

Scott Cory is the previous official record holder as the youngest to climb the Nose. He first climbed it with Hans Florine, Beth Rodden, Tommy Caldwell and Steve Schneider over three days, topping out September 9, 2001. Two days later, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened, and Cory, Caldwell, Rodden and Florine decided to climb the route in a day on October 2 to raise money for the victims and first responders of the attacks. A 2002 interview with Cory can be found here.

According to YosemiteSpeedClimb.com, Tori Allen ascended the Nose in 2001 at age 13, which made her the youngest girl previously to have done the route. The youngest team to complete it was Bill Price, 14, and Kurt Reider, 15, in 1977.

Last November, Connor Herson free climbed the Nose (5.14a) at age 15 and had climbed the route without using jumars at age 13.

Chris McNamara climbed Zodiac with his younger brother at ages 16 and 13, respectively. There are rumors that a foreign guide brought his 9- or 10-year-old son up the Nose in the 1960s, but no one has been able to verify this and it seems unlikely because the route did not see many ascents during that time, so there's a good chance that a father-son team would have been noticed.

Regardless, it's clear that today's generation of climbers has a lot to look forward to.

"I hope [Selah's ascent] inspires other girls!" Joy said.

A Miwok creation story about Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La (El Capitan) can be found here.

The northwest face of Chamlang (7321m) with UFO Line (ABO: M6, WI5, 2500m) marked in red. [Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

After completing Satisfaction on Gasherbrum I in 2017, Czech climbers Marek Holecek and Zdenek Hak teamed up for another huge, demanding route this last May, this time on the northwest face of Chamlang (7321m) in Nepal.

They climbed UFO Line (ABO: M6, WI5, 2500m) from May 16 to 23. Holecek initially declined to give a technical rating. "We have agreed on the difficulty of the climb as the hardest we have done together in the mountains, ABO in other words," is all he wrote in his initial press release. He suggested the grade included here after Alpinist pressed him for more details. "I have kept this goal in my mind for nearly 20 years," he said.

Satisfaction (ED+: M7 WI5+ 70 degrees, 3000m) had also been a longtime obsession for Holecek. The route had nearly cost him his life as he made multiple attempts before he finished it with Hak in 2017. Gasherbrum I was Hak's first 8000-meter peak and they received a Piolet d'Or in 2018.

Zdenek Hak, left, and Marek Holecek. [Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

UFO Line appears to be one of the only routes to be established on the northern aspect of Chamlang, despite years of interest and attempts by top climbers. In 2018, the French team of Laurent Bibollet, Lise Billon, Emmanuel Chance, Aymeric Clouet, and Sebastien Corret attempted the North Spur, and in 2016 Italian climbers Marco Farina and Francois Cazzanelli tried a line on the north face.

Doug Scott described the topography of the mountain in the 1982 American Alpine Journal after he completed a route on the north face to one of the central summits (7010m) the previous year with Reinhold Messner, Pasang and Ang Dorje Sherpa: "Chamlang is really a 5-mile-long, level ridgetop, with the main summit...to the west and P 7290 to the east. On all its length it drops only about 1,000 feet."

During their climb they saw a strange object in the sky, of which Scott wrote, "We reached the top of the face at 1 p.m. after being puzzled by a UFO [that] hovered over us, a box-like object, shining magnificently in the midday sun." The account provided Holecek and Hak with inspiration for the name of their route.

[Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

[Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

Holecek wrote:

[An] objective danger was the lack of natural shelter spots up in the wall that could be used during adverse weather conditions. Similarly, the outlook for good bivy spots seemed also very rare. This made a clear message--we have to be fast enough with the help of God Almighty. The last unanswered question to think about was the descent, how to get down from the summit. No prospective descent route offered an easy retreat.... We packed a small bivy tent, one 80-meter rope 7mm in diameter, six ice screws, five pitons and five [cams]. We also added food supplies for five days plus three gas cartridges....

[Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

On May 16 we crossed the glacier and spent a night right at the foot of the climb. The next morning found us climbing the first meters up the route.... The following days turned out to be the true picture of our imagination. Loose rock at the lower part followed by hard mixed climbing and concrete-like ice. Bivouacs were gradually getting worse higher up, providing space for about half a body size while we needed to seat our two butts there. On May 20 we reached the top of the face and traversed the whole summit ridge including the main summit on May 21. The last two and a half days of descent were a hard fight to return among the living. The dangerous ridge and a steep icefall cost us a lot of energy and nerves. We ran out of food, and both our bodies and minds felt really used and fatigued. Finally, on May 23, we arrived below the face again with a great climbing feat behind us. A fulfilled childhood dream. We returned back to the base camp with no one waiting for us besides one package of dehydrated food in a single tent, no celebrating crowds. The next day we loaded up the whole base camp on our sore backs and crossed the Mera La Pass in the direction of civilization....

We devoted the climb to the memory of the 1981 route when Reinhold Messner and Doug Scott supposedly saw a UFO during their ascent of Chamlang. Who knows what it was, but I have seen the alien beside me all the time, and he is named "Hook" (Zdenek Hak, my climbing partner).

[Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

[Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

A blog with more details from the ascent can be found here.

[On April 2-3, Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington completed a new route on the east face of Mt. Fay (3234m) in Alberta, Canada, which they named The Sound of Silence (M8 WI5, 1100m). The moniker is a tribute to their friend Marc-Andre Leclerc, who had expressed a desire to name a route after the Simon and Garfunkel song before he died in 2018. Lindic wrote the following story of their ascent.--Ed.]

The east face of Mt. Fay with the line of The Sound of Silence (M8 WI5, 1100m) marked in red. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

The steep headwall above us became covered in clouds. It started snowing harder and harder. Ines and I joined Brette at the belay, and I took the remaining rack from Brette's harness and started climbing without anyone saying a word. Silence was enough to communicate in those critical moments of our climb. I think that's how it usually works in a good team.

I first stood below the mighty east face of Mt. Fay in early April 2016. I'd come to the Canadian Rockies to team up with Marc-Andre Leclerc. After warming up on the north face of Mt. Temple, he suggested we check out Mt. Fay. We approached the Consolation Lakes the day before we planned to start climbing, but we didn't bring a tent. At night we were amazed by how comfortable we were. The next morning, we realized why: the snow around us didn't freeze that night. It was a sign that it was way too warm for such a big east face. Before we ate our breakfast, the first avalanche came down the face, directly down the line that Barry Blanchard, Dave Cheesmond and Carl Tobin climbed in 1984. On that ascent, Barry was struck in the shoulder by falling debris during an avalanche, which left him in pain, and the trio ultimately spent three nights on the face--although they'd planned on only one night. They used up all their food and fuel before they were able to top out and descend without going to the summit. In 2016, Marc and I walked away without touching that wall, but the idea stayed in our heads. So did the picture of an avalanche running down the face.

When Ines and I packed for this year's trip to the Canadian Rockies, we definitely had the east face of Mt. Fay in mind. But I knew well enough how tricky it is to have the right conditions align for such a climb. Last winter it was extremely cold in these mountains for a very long time. That usually doesn't promise anything good on the big faces. But two weeks before flying to Canada, we got a very friendly message from Maarten Van Haeren saying that there might be some ice growing on Mt. Fay. The photos he sent shortly afterward confirmed it.

Brette Harrington and Luka Lindic enjoy the first morning sun at the belay while Ines Papert leads a pitch in the middle of the wall. [Photo] Luka Lindic

We arrived at the end of March and immediately approached the Valley of the Ten Peaks to check the conditions on some various north-facing walls. We thought there was still too much unconsolidated snow on Mt. Fay. On our second trip into the Valley we tried two of the north faces and got shut down for the same reason. There was simply too much useless and dangerous snow everywhere. We decided that we might explore some other areas, and we carried all our equipment out.

Back in Canmore we had good times with friends. It seemed that the Canadian Rockies were the hot spot this spring. The atmosphere was great, with everyone sharing stories and ideas as well as thoughts of what might be possible to climb during what seemed to be a very tricky season. After a few days of rest--which we spent mostly observing different weather models and looking at the guidebooks--we saw some good weather with a stable window arriving. Our friends Jon Walsh, Tom Livingstone, Quentin Lindfield Roberts and Peter Hoang climbed Gimme Shelter on Mt. Quadra during the last window and shared photos of Mt. Fay and how the conditions were developing. Those photos, and our previous two excursions into the area, encouraged us to try the east face in the coming days.

Papert and Lindic at the bivy. [Photo] Brette Harrington

Just a day before packing, Brette Harrington showed up in Canmore as well. We knew she was going to come at some point in the spring, and we wanted to do something together. We were not sure if such a face would be a good idea for a first climb together, but after a couple hours of catching up we all felt that it was worth a try.

We moved quite fast on the approach to Consolation Lakes thanks to the track established by our friends a few days earlier. We continued from the Consolation Lakes to the point where we could see the face and set up a camp. We spent the rest of the evening cooking and preparing for the next day while keeping an eye on the face. There were no spindrifts coming down, and it was quite cold. This was a very good sign, but we knew the situation could be different once the sun hit the face in the morning. Having this in mind we decided for a very early start in the dark hours of the night.

We were moving again after a few hours of sleep. Thanks to mostly good conditions, we quickly reached the snow ramp at the base of the wall where the original 1984 route starts, and we climbed to the end of the ramp unroped. At this point we entered into a main fall line of the avalanches and spindrifts, so we tied in and simulclimbed. A spindrift could have knocked us off balance, and we didn't want to risk climbing unroped.

We soon reached the first steep section of ice, which we also climbed quickly. Then the rising sun hit the upper headwall and brought spindrifts as expected. Luckily I was already over the steep ice when it hit us--I built a belay at a sheltered place below a rock and belayed Ines and Brette as they climbed through the heavy spindrift. They showed up at the belay covered in snow but with smiles on their faces.

It turned out that we reached that point just in time. Leading through that section would've been impossible under the pouring snow. This gave us additional energy to continue.

The terrain became less steep and we started simulclimbing again. We were actually gaining speed until Ines slipped. Fortunately that didn't happen too far from an ice screw, but it reminded us to take care.

At the big snow bowl in the middle of the wall, where the 1984 route traversed right, we needed to deal with some very deep snow for the first time on the route. Fighting my way up, I realized I would run out of rope before reaching any rocks to place protection. I didn't want the three of us to simulclimb in such terrain. I was tied into both ropes, so I untied from one rope and shouted down to Ines and Brette to tie the ropes together so that I could continue higher. After a long struggle to find some features, I was able to build a belay below a very steep step.

Lindic attempts to climb a column of snow in search of access to the headwall. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

The stripe of ice and snow that looked so promising from the valley turned out to be horrible. When Ines and Brette joined me, I decided to try to climb it anyway because it looked like the only way to reach the headwall. However, it didn't take long to realize that I had no chance to make it up the vertical to slightly overhanging snow, which just wouldn't hold anything. After traversing left and right, searching for a route, I spotted a very steep crack system that appeared to be our only option. It looked very hard and it was impossible to say if it would work out, especially with our light alpine rack that consisted of one set of cams, nuts and a few pitons.

We all agreed to give it a try before bailing. I started climbing through the roof with a mix of free and aid, cleaning loose rock and snow on the way. Once over the roof I had the feeling that we were on the right way. As I built a belay I started thinking how incredible it would be to free climb the pitch. Ines knows me well and she sensed what I was thinking before I said anything.

I spent a few minutes alone at the belay deciding what to do. Seeing the whole headwall that was still above us made me feel small, and I wanted to escape as soon as possible. On the other hand, I knew I might regret not trying to free climb the roof below me. Ines hollered encouraging words from below that made up my mind. "Fuck it! It's now or never!" I said.

They lowered me down, I pulled the ropes, and after a moment of rest I freed the pitch at M8.

Lindic free climbing the crux roof. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

Another hard pitch brought us to terrain that was a bit easier, following dihedrals and snow ramps. The snow eventually became horrible and scary. After a very long pitch of digging and climbing, we reached a spot that seemed like the only reasonable place to spend the night. We ate a Spartan dinner and went to sleep with the hope of waking up with the warm rays of the morning sun. Unfortunately we woke up to a cold and cloudy day.

Lindic, Harrington and Papert having breakfast on the wall. [Photo] Ines Papert

The exposed place and the feeling of it made us pack quickly. We made our way towards the edge of the wall. This seemed only a few pitches away when Brette started leading from our bivy spot. She led two pitches and then Ines led another two. The terrain got steeper again, the rock very loose, and it was really difficult to find a promising route.

We didn't talk much in the next hours. We worked well as a team, everyone did what he or she could do best to get us out of our situation. Soon a snowstorm hit us and made everything even more intense.

After what felt like forever, we finally found ourselves about 30 meters from the top of the face. We could see that we needed to climb only one more pitch. We were so close but at the same time still so far away: hanging cornices guarded the way onto the other side of the mountain.

Harrington leads off the bivy. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

Harrington on lead. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

The last 10 meters proved to be a lot steeper than we expected, but we were presented with superb drytooling on overhanging rock. There were just enough features on the wall next to the cornice that we were able to avoid digging through it. I pulled the last moves and rolled over the edge onto a very windy ridge and started screaming from happiness. Ines and Brette joined me in the fading light and we screamed together. It was a short but very intense time at the top.

The trio on top of the wall in fading daylight. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

We downclimbed to the big plateau on the other side of the mountain and started navigating towards Neil Colgan Hut through intense snowfall and fog. We never would have found the hut without a GPS. We were so tired that it felt like an eternity before we finally reached the shelter.

As relief and fatigue set in, I felt very proud of our climb and our style; and as I fell asleep I felt happy that Brette, Marc's girlfriend, had joined us. During the ascent I could almost hear him talking to me. In the moments when we were totally silent because it was so serious, I could hear him saying, "Hey dude, thanks for taking Little B on this climb."

Lindic and Papert using a GPS to find the hut. [Photo] Brette Harrington

We named the route The Sound of Silence in his memory. Brette told us he wanted to name a route after the Simon and Garfunkel song, but unfortunately he passed away too soon.

Gear: Set of cams up to 3 inches, set of nuts, set of micro nuts, six pitons, nine ice screws

Beta: The first part follows the 1984 route, climbing three steeper ice steps with lower-angle snow in between. We continued straight up where the 1984 team escaped to the right. The headwall offered very steep and demanding mixed climbing on very loose and hard-to-protect rock. One bivy is probably mandatory. A cloudy day or starting at night is recommended to avoid getting in trouble with huge spindrifts and avalanches.

Chashkin I (6035m), Pakistan. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

On June 20, in a round-trip from his advanced base camp that took approximately 11 hours, Tico Gangulee free soloed the first ascent--and first ski descent--of Chashkin I (6035m) in Pakistan. He named his route Steeze Matters (ED: 5.11c M4+, 85 degrees, 900m).

"The ski descent was steeper than 60 degrees and involved mandatory airs over icefalls and crevasses," he told Alpinist. He wasn't able to get a precise reading on the angle of his descent because his inclinometer doesn't go past 60 degrees.

As for the free solo ascent, he'd brought gear to rope solo the hardest sections, but he didn't find good options for building anchors. He also explained that the cruxes were more like "boulder problems" above "non-fatal landings," so he felt comfortable enough to free solo them. He wrote in an email:

"The climbing was mostly moderate mixed with some quite hard, but short, sections interspersed [with] occasional ice and steep snow. [One of the cruxes] felt straight-up desperate in ski boots at 19,000 feet but was probably only 11b or c, and 7 or 8 meters of climbing, so I call it V2 [a bouldering grade], since it had a non-fatal landing.... I was climbing for about nine hours and took another two hours to descend.

The blue line on the left shows Tico Gangulee's approximate line of ascent on Chashkin I and the red line to the right shows the lower section of his ski descent. He named his route--which he completed as an onsight free solo--Steeze Matters (ED: 5.11c M4+, 85-degrees, 900m). [Photo] Tico Gangulee

Gangulee below one of the "boulder problem" pitches. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

His rack included 30 meters of 6mm rope, two ice screws, three nuts, a hook and a Beal Escaper.

The somewhat obscure Chashkin peaks attracted Gangulee's attention for a few reasons.

"I was interested in Shimshal because it has some ski history, it was Shipton's 'blank on the map,' it's close to the Wakhan Corridor, and hard to get to," he said.

He was also intrigued by the mountains after Samina Baig, of nearby Shimshal Village, climbed Chashkin III (PD/AD: ca. 5900m) in 2010 at age 18. A report in the 2011 American Alpine Journal states that Baig made "what is reported to be the first ascent" of the peak, but Gangulee was able to confirm more details about the area's climbing history after conferring with Lindsay Griffin (the author of the aforementioned AAJ report), Steve Swenson and Qudrat Ali within the last year.

There are three Chashkin peaks: I, II and III. Chashkin II is now the only remaining summit of the three that has yet to be reached. Chashkin III was first climbed in the winter of 1997 by Qudrat Ali and Shaheen Baig, and it is the lowest of the three mountains; it is also known as "Chashkin Sur" and "Samina Peak." The latter name was bestowed after Samina Baig completed the first female ascent of the peak, and after she went on to become the first Pakistani woman to climb Chomolungma (Everest) in 2013.

Meanwhile, Chashkin II has been attempted but still awaits an ascent. Ali told Gangulee that "C1 and C2 had no ascents [and] one attempt in winter that didn't get far," Gangulee said. "He said C3/Sar/Samina has three ascents, no ski descent, and is under 6000 meters." (The peak was once thought to be as high as 6400 meters.) Ali, who is one of Pakistan's top mountaineers, also told Gangulee that he'd tried Chashkin II several years ago, and that Chashkin I looked very hard. This further enticed Gangulee to have a look for himself.

From left to right: Chashkin III, II and I. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

He did not have ideal conditions for his June 20 ascent. He wrote:

It snowed nearly every day (12 days) from Shimshal, round trip. Local residents said it was the snowiest year they can remember (just like the San Juans [in Colorado] where I work in winter). Nearly a meter of snow fell during my four days at ABC (avalanche hazard precluded any attempts at Chashkin II or III, my other objectives). I had a six-hour window of decent weather; the sun was strong enough to dry some faces, but anything in the shade was icy.... My weather check at 1 a.m. on June 20 showed relatively clear skis and under a full-ish moon, so I went. Didn't see the storm building until dawn.... My strategy was to be very prepared to fail, until about 18,500 feet when strategy changed to "shit, I'm surrounded by storm slab, just stay on rock until you can figure out how to get down."

A "full-ish" moon was visible in the blue sky (upper left corner of the photo) before the storm arrived. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

Luckily the mixed climbing was mostly thin cracks and never that sustained.... There were regular ledges. I hauled a pack and skis whenever it got steep.... I summited in the storm. Skiing down was fully sketchy for the first 350 meters: quite steep, crevasses, storm and wind slab, poor visibility. Then I got a window, took my shirt off--it's sort of my thing for the last eight years: sky-clad summits and descents--and got the fuck down....

Shirtless selfie: "It's sort of my thing for the last eight years: sky-clad summits and descents," Gangulee said. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

When I got down to ABC it was snowing pretty hard. It didn't stop for a day and a half [and] I spent 40 hours in my single-wall tent....

Meanwhile, Gangulee's base camp manager and cook Abdul Ghafoor and an assistant were waiting for Gangulee to return.

"They were both quite worried the whole time, and horrified at how little I ate.... I'm 130 pounds...[and] I lost about 10 pounds from BC to BC," Gangulee said. "There's lots of tragedy in [Ghafoor's] history [which added to his worry]."

Ghafoor was friends with Kyle Demptser and Scott Adamson, and he was supporting them from base camp when they disappeared on the Ogre II in 2016. He has known other climbers who died in the mountains as well.

Gangulee concluded:

It was full-on, up and down, which I thought I wanted.... l tried to find a partner [for this climb] for a couple years, but I'm a guide, all my friends are guides, and schedules never match up, so I just went. I wanted something hard to climb with a separate ski line. I think it's good style to onsight both up and down, and my failing body makes descending without skis painful.

Gangulee is originally from New York's Hudson Valley. His wife and son are based in Houston, Texas, where his wife works. But he guides in southwest Colorado all winter and bounces around the globe between other climbing destinations for much of the year. "I really live in my car," he said.

His writing has appeared in Alpinist under the pen name of "Tico Allulee," which is a "portmanteau" of his surname and his wife's surname, Allen, he explained.

In 2016 Gangulee and Chris Wright received a Lyman Spitzer Award from the American Alpine Club in 2016 to explore the Kullu Himalaya in India. This year, Gangulee received an AAC Live Your Dream Grant for the Chashkin expedition.

Gangulee poses with an American Alpine Club patch; he received an AAC Live Your Dream Grant for the expedition. [Photo] Tico Gangulee

The west faces of Gasherbrum IV, V, VI, and VII. The peak of Gasherbrum II is just barely visible behind the southern ridge of Gasherbrum IV. Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) is hidden behind Gasherbrum V. [Photo] Florian Ederer/Wikimedia

On July 20, Cala Cimenti, of Italy, became the first person to stand on top of 6955-meter Gasherbrum VII. (In spite of some very famous sister peaks--including Gasherbrum I, II, III, IV and V, which were climbed in 1958, '56, '75, '58, and 2014, respectively--not all of the summits in this group have seen footprints or been well documented. Gasherbrum VII was among the last unclimbed peaks in the group, and Mountain.ru recently reported that Polish team is en route to attempt the unclimbed Gasherbrum VI.)

Cimenti's elation, however, was soon cut short. His partner Francesco Cassardo--who had decided not to continue to the top in order to save strength for their ski descent--was injured in a massive fall shortly after putting his skis on to follow Cimenti down.

Cala Cimenti (left) and Francesco Cassardo. [Photo] Cala Cimenti/Facebook

Cimenti's wife, Erika Siffredi, helped relay the ensuing SOS message, and she has been posting updates in Italian on his Facebook page. A post on July 23 explained the sequence of events: a translated version of Cimenti's narrative, lightly edited by Alpinist for clarity, reads:

When I met Francesco during the ski descent, the steepest part hadn't been done yet. When I got to the bottom, I messaged him with the inReach to tell him that the descent was not simple, and I suggested that he try skiing a section that was slightly less steep first, and that if he didn't feel comfortable there, to remove skis for the second part.

The mountain is very steep, especially in the lower part, and the snow was very hard.... He made a mistake right at the beginning of the super steep part and started to plummet head-feet, head-feet, for 450 [meters].... In the fall he lost everything: backpack and clothes, remaining only with a shirt that was ripped.

The hardest moment was definitely in the evening when I realized that the helicopter wouldn't arrive, and so I had to leave Francesco by himself for about two hours...to go get the sleeping bags and the stove. I seriously feared finding him dead on my return, but he was still breathing. For the second time that day, he amazed me. He showed great strength.

Cassardo was ultimately rescued by helicopter at 5900 meters near Camp I on July 22 after a dramatic effort that included the Polish alpinist team of Denis Urubko, Janusz Adamski and Jaroslaw Zdanowicz, Canadian climber Don Bowie and Italian mountaineer Marco Confortola; all of whom had just climbed Gasherbrum II (8034m), except for Bowie, who abandoned his attempt to help Cassardo. (Alpinist will later update with information about the helicopter crew, when available.)

The complete details of Cimenti and Cassardo's ascent are not clear at this time. According to a series of reports by Stefan Nestler on his Adventure Mountain blog, Cimenti had summited Nanga Parbat (8126m) and skied down the Kinshofer Route on July 3.

It was initially feared that Cassardo had a serious neck injury as well as a broken leg. After he arrived at the hospital in Skardu, however, doctors determined that he had a broken wrist and maybe a broken elbow and some fingers, and he also had frostbite on his nose and fingers, Nestler reported.

On the mountain, the rescuers could not assume that Cassardo was able to move safely without causing more harm to himself. Urubko, Adamski, Zdanowicz and Bowie reached Cimenti and Cassardo on the afternoon of July 21, and the team was able to bring Cassardo down to Camp I, where they spent the night. Meanwhile, Confortola remained in base camp to help with logistics.

Siffredi thanked everyone involved with the rescue, including the pilots, the Italian embassy, journalists "and all those who participated in the recovery of Francesco.... It was nice to feel surrounded by so much affection."

Urubko is one of several climbers who are becoming legendary for recent high-altitude rescues, in addition to an already impressive list of ascents on big mountains. In a story for Alpinist 37, titled "Fifty-Fifty: Tales of A Climber's Life," he recalls escorting Anna Chervinska down from 8100 meters on Lhotse after her oxygen tank ran out, and how he, Ueli Steck, Bowie and others tried to save the Spanish climber Inaki Ochoa from the East Ridge of Annapurna in 2008. Urubko recalled how Bowie "plowed a route through deep snow from 3800 meters to 6800 meters in fewer than 24 hours." These days, Urubko is perhaps most famous for his winter exploits on K2 and his rescue of Elisabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat in January 2018, in which he and Adam Bielecki climbed 1100 meters through the night and saved her from a likely death.

"It is difficult to single out something important from the flow of time, because it is the flow of time that makes it important," he wrote in "Fifty-Fifty."

[This past winter, from February 9 through March 3, Benjamin Billet, of France, and John Kelley, of Alaska, completed the first ascent of Chhopa Bamare (6109m) in Nepal. They summited on February 28 and named their route Seto Hi'um (TD: M4 WI4 1150m), which translates as "white snow" in Nepali. Kelley had made two previous attempts to climb the peak solo, from the eastern side, after the Nepalese government opened it for permits in 2014. "The first attempt was in December of 2017. I tried to get up the East Ridge; made it up and over the east summit before turning back," he told Alpinist. "The second attempt was in March of 2018. Didn't get any farther than high camp due to snow and poor unsettled weather." Billet told Montagnes Magazine that he met Kelley on the Internet a few months before the expedition, and that this was their first time climbing together. Billet wrote the following account for Alpinist.--Ed.]

Seto Hi'um (TD: M4 WI4 1150m) on the south face of Chhopa Bamare (6109m) as seen from base camp. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

The unusual snow conditions this year completely changed our expedition's strategy. Local residents said that this was one of the snowiest winters in 25 years.

From Kathmandu, it took us seven days to reach base camp instead of three. The bus got stuck on the way to the last village of Lamabagar, and two of our three porters turned back when there was snow on the trail; thus, we had to make multiple trips to shuttle the food and gear for a 30-day expedition. From base camp, we only took the minimum amount of gear, but we still had to spend three more days getting to high camp.

Base camp. There is normally a shelter where the flags are, but the building is covered by 2 meters of snow. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

Looking up the south face. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

John Kelley leading during the first day of climbing. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

We started the climb at 2 a.m. February 22. The weather forecast was good with a few days of clear weather and no snowfall, but we would soon find out that it was completely wrong. We started by climbing a spur, following a snow gully and doing a bit of mixed climbing (M4) before a glacier traverse. We reached the bottom of the south face at 6:30 a.m., just before sunrise. We simulclimbed hundreds of meters of WI3 on the face. Some light snow started to fall around 4 p.m. We kept climbing until 5:30 p.m. when the snowfall became too intense to continue. There was no place to bivy and small avalanches began to slide down the face. We were only able to cut a very small ledge that was just big enough to stand on; we attached ourselves to an anchor and arranged the tent as a bivy bag over our head. Standing up in the cold, with spindrift rolling overhead, made for a long and sleepless night.

Quite exhausted the next morning, we could only do a few pitches before the snow began to fall. We bivied once again on the face, but on a bigger ledge this time.

On the third day, John did a very long lead of M3/M3+ over rocks covered by 50cm [nearly 20 inches] of unconsolidated snow. It led us to the top of the south face and we could finally see the summit of Chhopa Bamare. We went down the ridge and set up the tent around 150 meters below the summit, thinking that we could make an attempt the following day. But the weather turned bad, with strong winds. We stayed stuck on the ridge for three nights at 6000 meters, unable to leave the tent.

The last morning, almost out of gas and food, we were readying to descend when the sun started to shine, so we rushed up to the summit. We reached it after a few hours of climbing on February 28 (what some people consider to be the last day of winter). [More information about what constitutes a "winter ascent" can be found here on Explorers Web.--Ed.]

Looking east toward Gaurishankar (7135m). [Photo] Benjamin Billet

Kelley starting the last pitch before the summit. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

Benjamin Billet, left, and Kelley on the summit. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

Kelley melts some snow for water while Billet sets up a rappel down the face. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

The following day was a long one, rappelling down all the south face (around 18 rappels) and the spur to reach our high camp after seven days on the mountain. We dug through 1.5 meters of snow to find the backpack that we left behind with some gas and food.

On our way down to base camp we noticed that avalanches had covered the entire valley. There was no trace of our base camp, and we lost everything that was there (tent, climbing gear, sleeping bags, pads, etc.). If we had been there, we would probably would be under a few meters of snow at this very moment. The next day, we ran down to the closest village of yak herders. They welcomed us and fed us with huge plates of dal bhat.

Kelley shows some pictures on his phone to some yak herders on the way down to Kathmandu. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

We named the route Seto Hi'um, which means "white snow" in Nepali, as a reminder of the incredible snowfall. We graded it TD: M4 WI4 (1150m). It's a really good climb with a lot of pitches of WI3/3+ and a few harder ones. There are still a lot of amazing lines that could be opened on the south face as long as the conditions are conducive.

The Epaulette (West) Ridge of Mt. Waddington follows the right skyline. The bergschrund that the climbers jumped down at the end of the ridge below the summit is visible as a shadowed line near the horizon. [Photo] Courtesy of John Scurlock

The Scottish alpinist Simon Richardson and Canadian alpinist Ian Welsted recently made what is likely the first complete ascent of the West Ridge of Mt. Waddington in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and possibly the first traverse of the mountain (from Fury Gap to Rainy Knob) as well.

The team flew into Fury Gap (the westernmost point of Waddington) on August 3 in the morning, and began their climb the same day. They took the first two days easy, climbing for only six hours both days, in order to let the snow on the south side of the ridge crest to consolidate, and for the summit tower to clear up as well. On day three, they cast off into unknown terrain, continuing up the unclimbed upper part of the West Ridge (which they dubbed the Epaulette Ridge) where previous climbers had descended south to the Angel Glacier. They climbed through the Epaulette Glacier, which Richardson supposes may have been previously unvisited, and made an unexpectedly difficult exit from this feature "as the west ridge narrowed to knife edge soft snow with large wafer thin cornices," Richardson told Alpinist in a brief interview. "We traversed under the crest for two scary pitches on very steep snow on the north side until a blind jump into a 'schrund."

Welsted described this blind jump in a colorful blog post he wrote about his and Richardson's climb--"I have never down-dynoed alpine climbing before... I hear that dynoing is all the rage in comp climbing, so logically it is the future as climbing moves into the Olympics. So, is down-dynoing maybe the future of alpinism, and Simon is just way ahead of the curve?"

Looking up the Epaulette Ridge. [Photo] Simon Richardson

Ian Welsted on the traverse at the end of the Epaulette Ridge. The sloping shelf of Angel Glacier is below with Waddington's northwest summit in background. [Photo] Simon Richardson

After the down-dyno, the team continued up the Angel Glacier to a flat area called the Terrace at 3900 meters. "We then climbed the False and NW summits (both around 4000m)" Richardson said, "before making an awkward descent and camping at 3700 meters under the main summit."

In the morning on the fourth day, Richardson and Welsted climbed the relatively well-travelled Southeast Chimneys up the summit tower, braving bad icefall from collapsing rime. They continued east along the spine of the mountain, made a camp, and, on the fifth day, descended through the Bravo Glacier--which was in nightmarish condition and proved to be unexpectedly difficult--to Rainy Knob, where they were picked up by their helicopter pilot and returned to civilization. All in all, the team had covered around 12 kilometers of terrain, with more than 2000 meters of ups and downs. The new terrain the team covered ran from the top of the Dais Couloir (3350m) to high on the Angel Glacier (3850m) over 1.5 kilometers of horizontal distance.

Welsted approaching the northwest summit. [Photo] Simon Richardson

The 200-meter-high summit tower of Mt. Waddington. [Photo] Simon Richardson

Simon Richardson climbing. [Photo] Ian Welsted

Richardson on the summit. [Photo] Ian Welsted

"I must admit I was very nervous about the trip," Richardson said. "Ian is far stronger, fitter and faster than I, and I wondered what on earth I was doing teaming up with a Piolets d'Or winner 12 years younger than myself."

Welsted, who was making his first trip to the Waddington since he climbed Skywalk and Kshatrya about 20 years ago, was excited to climb with Richardson. He knew Richardson was solid after a climb they did together on Storm Mountain in the Canadian Rockies back in 2017. "I went to place a nut and dislodged a microwave sized chunk of rock," he said, recounting that climb. "To my horror I heard an uggh from ten meters below where the rock had hit Simon. My first thought was, I've killed Simon Richardson, but you don't climb that many huge first ascents without being tough, so after a five-minute recovery we continued to the top of the gully."

The partners alternated leads on most of the technical pitches, while Welsted did most of the trail breaking. "I broke trail for the first two days to a spot that it took Greg Foweraker, Peter Croft, and Don Serl four hours to reach," he said. "As a professional treeplanter, I bring leg endurance and an ability to suffer, and as a guide I bring a healthy respect for the risks of such an ascent." Richardson, according to Welsted, "isn't nearly as off-put by risk as I am after two years of guides' training. I was drilling v-threads on the traverse to keep the distances reasonable. Simon, when he took over, clearly embraced the age old British strategy (as I believe Leo Houlding once put it) of running it out."

A different view of Waddington's upper west ridge. The lower part of Epaulette Ridge is out of the frame. [Photo] Courtesy of John Scurlock

Richardson, who has established over a dozen new routes in the range over the years, said that this was one of his best. He also noted that, at the time of this interview, their ascent of Waddington appears to be the only successful one thus far this season.

"Global warming is making the standard route up the Bravo Glacier very difficult nowadays, and there are far fewer ascents than 20 years ago," he said.

Waddington of course has a long and storied history, from Don and Phyllis Munday's first ascent of the slightly lower northwest summit in 1928, to Bill House and Fritz Weissner's ascent of the southwest face in 1936, which at the time was considered the hardest climb in North America, according to the American Alpine Insititue's Coley Gentzel. And Fred Beckey's epic slog over 20 miles from sea level to summit at the age of 19 with his brother in 1942 is one of the most celebrated climbs of his illustrious career. And in more recent years, there was the famous team up of Greg Foweraker, Don Serl, and Peter Croft to make the first traverse of the entire range in 1985; and Colin Haley's massive 2012 linkup which included the first solo ascents of Mt. Combatant, Mt. Tiedemann, Mt. Asperity, and probably Waddington itself.

"The crenellated upper west ridge... is such a major structural feature," Richardson said, "it is difficult for the 21st Century alpinist to believe it was unclimbed, especially on a mountain with the stature of Mt. Waddington. But in today's world, where technical difficulty is often paramount, there are still major lines that have been overlooked. Quite simply, the complete West Ridge of Waddington should have been climbed decades ago!"

Mt. Hooker with Gambling in the Winds (V 5.12+, 2,000') drawn in red. [Photo] Austin Siadak

In 2015, Hayden Kennedy and Whit Magro spent a week in Wyoming's Wind River Range establishing a route over new terrain over halfway up the northeast face of Mt. Hooker. On the last day of their trip, they free climbed to Der Minor Ledge, 800 feet from the top of the wall, where they traversed right and finished on the Boissonneault-Larson. They dubbed their route Gambling in the Winds (5.12).

"A direct finish would be a spectacular way to end the route and would probably add at least one more 5.12 pitch," Kennedy wrote in the 2016 American Alpine Journal.

In the aftermath of Kennedy's death in October 2017, his friends Jesse Huey and Maury Birdwell, along with Jason Thompson and Magro, have carried Kennedy's vision forward by returning to Mt. Hooker over the last two seasons. Huey and Birdwell completed Gambling in the Winds early this August.

"Hayden always expressed to me how badly he wanted to continue up the steep blank wall above their high point and to one day finish Gambling in the Winds," Huey wrote in an August 13 Instagram post. "Despite our best efforts in August 2018, Maury, Jason Thompson, Whit and I spent 12 days collectively trying to push the route to the top. Utterly defeated by terrible wet and cold weather, we made it only two-and-a-half pitches higher than Whit and Hayden's high point in 2015."

This year Huey and Birdwell managed to free the new route all the way to the top, spending two days on the wall, August 9-10.

"We wanted to take in the experience and give ourselves plenty of time to free the route," Huey told Alpinist in an email.

[Photo] Courtesy Maury Birdwell and Jesse Huey

Magro announced on Instagram on August 28 that he and Harrison Teuber "made a blitz mission into the Winds for Mt. Hooker last weekend [August 24-25]. The result was the first one-day, team free ascent.... More importantly it marked the end of a four-year project that #HK and I started back in [2015]. Due to timeline and commitments I could not join [Huey and Birdwell] for the push to the top. Thanks for leaving me the one day, gents. It's all I needed. The line is a true gem. Everyone should do it."

Magro later clarified some details for Alpinist. He said they climbed the route in about 10 hours on August 24. He and Teuber swung leads, with both leader and follower freeing each pitch, and they pulled the rope to repoint a pitch in two places.

Huey described the climbing to Alpinist in an email:

The lower half of the route features wild, unlikely face climbing through many seemingly blank features and incipient crack systems, showcasing the bold and visionary style of Kennedy and Magro. The top half features boulder problems, steep corners, and splitter crack climbing through multiple horizontal roofs. According to the area's tradition, the route was completed entirely ground up, involving approximately 25 to 30 days of effort split between Hayden, Whit, Jason Thompson, Maury and myself over three years.

"Gambling" features many 5.12 pitches and is very sustained at adventurous 5.11. Both Maury and I agreed that Gambling in the Winds has some of the most beautiful rock that the climbers have experienced on Mt. Hooker and hope that routes like this gain attention over Mt. Hooker's standard route the Jaded Lady.

[Photo] Courtesy Maury Birdwell and Jesse Huey

Topo of Gambling in the Winds. [Photo] Courtesy Maury Birdwell and Jesse Huey

Mt. Hooker was featured in Alpinist 55 (2016) as part of a Mountain Profile on the Wind River Range by Paula Wright. Kennedy described his experiences to Wright in a May 2016 email interview:

For me the Wind River Range is a very special place and has somewhat of a mysterious [aura]....

In May of 2015 I went to a very unknown and unspoken granite gorge somewhere in WY or Montana, I forget:) I met my good buddy Whit Magro to get the locals tour. We discussed our summer plans and ended up committing to a trip into Mt. Hooker in August. I went back to Colorado and worked for the rest of the summer with Hooker on my mind. We invited our good friends Jesse Huey and the "Iron" Mike Pennings to join. Our main goal was to have a fun group of friends and as much red meat and whiskey as possible. We ended up packing nearly 50 pounds of meat into Costco freezer bags and seven bottles whiskey! This is where we learned about the Tatina Rainy Day cocktails from Mike, who had experience mixing this drink. We used horses to get us to the base of Hailey Pass and then we spent two days packing the rest off our gear over the pass to our base camp.

Mike and Jesse lapped Hooker a few times on that trip, climbing both the Jaded Lady [V 5.12-] and Hook Line and Sinker [V 5.12].

The first day, Whit and I tried Sendero Luminoso [VI 5.13+], which was truly spectacular. We hiked back to camp and chatted about our motivations. Trying to free the Sendero would take the rest of our trip, and there would be a good chance we wouldn't do it, but this is the beauty of these lines. We ultimately wanted a fresh experience, a new approach with new pitches and the journey of putting up a new line. The next day we clocked into work and spent the next five days establishing Gambling in the Winds. We left camp at 9 and returned at 5, a standard workweek. We climbed completely ground up on the whole route.

We drilled bolts off stances, hooks and beaks. I remember on one pitch, once the drill bit was deep enough into the rock, I grabbed the upper part of the bit like a hold so that I could shake out my pumped legs. Our best friends on the route where the rack of beaks--we climbed almost entire pitches only placing beaks. Later, we would add a few bolts to make the experience safer. Everyday was exciting and pushing the ropes up the wall was slow. There were a few unknowns for free climbing. I aided a roof low on the route and discovered the Rifle Pitch*, which featured steep and dynamic movement. Whit and I spent a whole day aid climbing a thin seam that ended in no man's land. Once we had the rope up, we swung around trying to find free climbable features. Finally, we found the Good Hand Pitch, which was a hidden 5.12 finger crack with a blank face below. We found enough crimps to link the pitch. The route went free! We pushed our ropes higher into the Jaded Face, which was a 70-meter pitch of green marble.

[*The Rifle Pitch is named for the steep and physical style of climbing that is commonly encountered at Colorado's Rifle Mountain Park, a world-famous sport crag where Kennedy often climbed.--Ed.]

After our workweek, we finally had the chance to climb the route in its entirety. Again, my mind wanders back to our time on Haystack [another peak in the Wind River Range] and the feelings we had climbing that route after all the work. Whit and I swung leads up our pitches without the burden of bolting, cleaning or aid climbing--we moved free and light, and topped out Gambling in the Winds (5.12).

To me the climbing isn't as important as the friendships we create in these places. The moments that we have on the wall with our partners can be translated to our everyday lives. The lessons we learn from climbing shouldn't just stay on the rock but be carried throughout our lives. Whit is a truly special guy who has an incredible balance in his life. He was the perfect partner and he has always shown me a true spirit.

In honor of Kennedy's memory, Huey and Birdwell scattered some of his ashes during their ascent.

"[It] marked the closing of an important chapter in my grief process," Huey wrote on Instagram. "Electing to enjoy our time, we spent the night on the wall, from which we cast Hayden's ashes over his route and off the summit into the endless sky of the Wind River Range."

Scattering Kennedy's ashes from the portaledge. [Photo] Courtesy Maury Birdwell and Jesse Huey

A blog by Whit Magro about the 2015 trip can be found here. Essays from the Alpinist 55 Mountain Profile of the Wind River Range can be found here.

The cover of Alpinist 66 features Lonnie Kauk climbing Magic Line (5.14c) in Yosemite Valley. The story is on the long list for Best Mountaineering Article in the Banff Mountain Book Competition. "13 Feet Under" by Jayme Moye, published in the same issue, is also on the Banff longlist in the same category. [Photo] Jim Thornburg

The Banff Mountain Book Competition and the Boardman Tasker committee recently announced the titles on their long- and shortlists, respectively.

Two stories from Alpinist 66 are on the longlist for Best Mountaineering Article in the 2019 Banff competition: "13 Feet Under" by Jayme Moye, and "Magic Line" by Lonnie Kauk with Paula Wright. (Wright is the managing editor for Alpinist.) The other longlisted stories for the category are "Finding Protection in Bears Ears" by Josh Ewing from The Climbing Zine, and "The Last Days of Mark-Andre Leclerc" by Matt Skenazy from Outside Magazine.

The other categories in the Banff Book Competition are Adventure Travel, Mountain Fiction & Poetry, Guidebook, Mountain Image, Mountain Environment and Natural History, Mountain Literature, and Climbing. The latter is a new category this year. The winner from each section receives a $2,000 award and is eligible for a grand prize selection.

Almost two months after the avalanche at Sentinel Pass buried Michelle Kadatz beneath thirteen feet of snow, she and Tim Banfield returned to the site to recover the skis she and Maia Schumacher had lost during the accident. To retrieve her skis, Kadatz had to dig back into the hole where she'd been buried for nearly 25 minutes. [Photo] Tim Banfield

In "13 Feet Under," Moye tells the story of how Michelle Kadatz survived an avalanche that swept her 650 feet down slope and buried her at a depth far beyond the reach of her partners' avalanche probes. Her improbable rescue, however, wasn't as unusual as what she experienced while entombed thirteen feet under the snow in Canada's Banff National Park.

In "Magic Line," the cover story for Alpinist 66, Lonnie Kauk--the son of legendary climber Ron Kauk and Ahwahneechee descendant Lucy Parker--shares an oral history of his family, his connection to the rocks of his home in Yosemite Valley, and the personal growth that he experienced in the process of redpointing Magic Line, a route first completed by his father that remains among the most difficult single-pitch climbs in the Valley.

To see the rest of the nominees in all categories, visit the Banff Mountain Book Competition webpage here. A press release from the Banff festival organizers reads:

"Every year the book competition is inundated with outstanding entries and 2019 was no exception. After many months of reviewing 132 titles in seven categories, we have selected the top books in each category based on style, content, relevance and story as reviewed by a team of dedicated readers."

Alison Criscitiello's story from Alpinist 59, titled "Contraindications," was chosen for the top prize in Banff's Best Mountaineering Article Award category out of four finalists last year.

The Boardman Tasker shortlist includes four books that are also nominated for Banff's Mountain Literature category: Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change and the Race for 5.14 by Jeff Smoot; Inner Ranges by Geoff Powter; No Easy Way by Mick Fowler; and Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss by David Smart. The other two nominees for the Boardman Tasker are Lands of Lost Borders: a Journey on the Silk Road by Kate Harris; and The Equilibrium Line: Poems inspired by climbing by David Wilson.

[Image] Boardman Tasker Award

Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives is serving as a Boardman Tasker judge this year, along with Roger Hubank (Chair) and Tony Shaw. The website reports that, as usual, there was a "substantial level of entries" this year, with 32 from Great Britain, Canada, Italy, New Zealand and the USA. The winner will be announced at the Kendal Mountain Festival, on November 15. For more information about the award and the nominated books, click here.

Meanwhile, stay tuned to Alpinist.com for the upcoming podcast episode featuring Powter and his book Inner Ranges.

Helen Kilness, left, and Jean (Jene) Crenshaw in 2014. [Photo] Katie Ives

Jean (Jene) Crenshaw--the cofounder of Summit magazine, the first monthly publication dedicated to climbing in the US--died September 2 in Big Bear, California, at age 95. She was preceded in death by her close friend and Summit cofounder Helen Kilness, who died at age 96 in 2018.

Summit was published from 1955 through 1989. Paula Crenshaw, Jean's niece, wrote:

To grasp the contribution of these two extraordinary women is to understand the societal expectations of women in the 1950s after World War II. Mostly, middle-class women were expected to marry and become housewives.... Unmarried or career women were often looked upon as those women not lucky enough to have found a husband to support them. This is the world Jean and Helen found themselves in when they left the Coast Guard after World War II.... They combined savings, bought a motorcycle, taught themselves to ride in the dealership parking lot, and rode it across the country back to their families. They discovered a passion for rock climbing during excursions with the Sierra Club and in 1955, they turned their love of the mountains into 35 years spent publishing Summit magazine.

Paula Crenshaw, Jean's niece, wrote: "These are the last photos taken of them when I rode my bike down to visit. Jean was pestering me to take her for a ride on the back. I was too afraid she'd fall off! But it shows her famous smile everyone loved. Helen died a few months later." [Photo] Courtesy of Paula Crenshaw

Jean and Helen were concerned no one would buy a mountaineering magazine produced by women, and therefore listed themselves as the more masculine Sounding Jene Crenshaw and HVJ Kilness. This tactic fooled at least one outraged reader who in 1956 wrote, "Sir: I find a regrettable tendency in your magazine to refer to mountaineering as a career equally adaptable to both men and women." This letter created a storm of responses from readers and the resulting controversy delighted Helen and Jean.

Helen and Jean were quite religious but hired the comic illustrator Sheridan Anderson, whom Doug Robinson remembers as a "dirtbag bon vivant," to produce their magazine artwork. Sheridan, always the jokester, couldn't resist sneaking in cartoons for the covers with disguised vulgarity that would be missed by the "ladies." Summit unwittingly published several of these magazine covers. By the 1970s, to some climbers, the magazine had an outdated folksy reputation and was overshadowed by the hardcore mountaineering magazines. Nonetheless, the editors published now-classic works by some of the top writers of the day, including Steve Roper, Royal Robbins (who was the rock-climbing editor from 1964 to 1974), Arlene Blum, whose advocacy for women's climbing would inspire generations to come--and many more.

Moreover, the magazine focused on mountains for everyone, and an article on a family enjoying a modest hike would run alongside an article on the latest hard rock route to go up. The magazine began as a monthly production but when monthly deadlines interfered with climbing adventures it became bimonthly. Deadlines became fluid for a sometimes-frustrated readership as Jean and Helen explored new mountains to write about and photograph. Long after Summit ended, Jean and Helen, even into their 90s, would take off for the wilderness and disappear for days at a time.... Theirs was a life well lived.

A cover of Summit. [Photo] Courtesy of Paula Crenshaw

The American Alpine Club recognized Crenshaw and Kilness "for their important contributions and lifetime service to American mountaineers" in 1989. [Photo] Courtesy of Paula Crenshaw

Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives wrote a profile of the women and of Summit for a Sharp End story titled "A House of Stone and Snow" in Alpinist 49 (2015). Ives had visited Crenshaw and Kilness in their home above Big Bear Lake in 2014. Ives shared some excerpts from the story in a Facebook post on September 6 after learning of Crenshaw's death:

Some of my favorite memories of them below (from 2014, hence the present tense, although in a way this moment feels timeless to me, as if they must still be living this life somehow):

"INSIDE SUMMIT HOUSE, Jene takes out a series of black-and-white photos from a tucked-away box. There's an image of her in a white military uniform, her smile full of authority and charisma. There's a photo of Helen leaning her back against their motorcycle, gazing wide-eyed at the world. Jene tells me she was briefly engaged to an enlisted man. 'But he went down with his ship. Afterward, I said I would never get married. And I never did. The magazine became my life.' Between the lines of Summit stories, there's another, invisible history of that life lived at the rhythm of pitches, the running of a press, the shuffling of feet on forest trails--and the moment of sitting down before a blank piece of paper, that, no matter how often repeated, feels endlessly new. There's the friendship between two women that has lasted for more than seventy years. And the house they shared, now precarious with age, still perched on top of its crag.

"'It's been real nice living here,' Helen says. 'I enjoyed every moment, just living surrounded by birds, deer, trees, being out in the mountains.' Toward evening, the light deepens to rose and gold. One of their two small terriers gently washes the face of the other, now ailing. 'Climbing gives you a good attitude toward danger,' Jene says, when I ask her what she loved about our pursuit. 'Climbing makes you accept life as it is. It's a good, clean life, to climb mountains. A good feeling when you get to the top.' She knew the risks her writers faced; in quiet moments, she faced them, too. 'I would always leave my desk in order because I might not come back,' she says. She's accepted the idea of dying. 'It just means that you might not come back.'

Night falls so quickly it happens without notice. One minute the sky was still lit, and then it's dark. Soon the first snows will fall, piling drifts as high as six feet; soon they'll have to move down to their second house in the valley. Jene says she thinks she's still strong enough to run the tractor to plough the road; she insists they could spend one more winter here. 'I'm dragging my feet,' she tells me. 'I don't want to go.'"

Jean (Jene) Crenshaw as a young woman. [Photo] Courtesy of Paula Crenshaw

Ives shared the following quotes about Summit, which she collected from interviews for her 2015 Sharp End story (and which have since been updated).

Jim McCarthy: "Like any any pioneering effort it had an enormous influence on subsequent publications. If present day climbing media pundits don't properly credit Summit, it because they, like most of their contemporaries, don't know much about history."

Ed Webster: "When I think of Summit magazine, yes, it featured an eclectic array of foreign mountaineering, skiing and rock climbing articles, but what stood out and made a lasting impression on me and the white painter's pants, rugby shirt, bandana-wearing climbers of my generation were Sheridan Anderson's cartoon masterpieces--and Royal Robbins' philosophically nuanced how-to manifestos on clean climbing and the use of nuts. The symbiotic effect of Sheridan's cartoons and Robbin's prose exhortations had on us was profound. Hammers and rock pitons were left at home. And nuts triumphed! This sea change in rock climbing protection and environmentally aware climbing ethics occurred almost overnight in America in the early 1970s. Royal, Sheridan, and Summit magazine had an equal role in leading this social movement to adopt clean climbing as did Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost's elegantly-designed hexes and stoppers, and Doug Robinson's treatise "The Whole Natural Art of Protection" published in the 1972 Chouinard Equipment catalogue. In its own modest understated way, Summit magazine, ably piloted by Jean Crenshaw, helped usher in the worldwide clean climbing revolution of the early 1970s."

Arlene Blum's first cover story with Summit was about the groundbreaking all-women's expedition to Denali in 1970. She told Alpinist, "Their publishing my articles was important to the beginning of my writing and climbing career. When I did my 'endless winter' of climbing expeditions around the world for 15 months during 1971 to 1973, I wrote 10 articles for Summit magazine and was paid $100 for each. This payment made the critical difference that allowed me to climb in countries like Iran and Afghanistan at this better time. Due to the early support of Helen and Jean, I was able to gain the high-altitude experience that made possible my later expeditions, such as Annapurna and Everest. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for believing in me and supporting me at a critical time for my climbing career."

Climbers and activists are meeting this week in Washington, DC, to lobby Congress on a host of issues, including the climate crisis, energy development and leasing reform, recreation access and enhancement, and public land management agency funding--in addition to recreation and conservation land designations such as the ongoing legal battle over national monuments that were reduced by the Trump Administration in 2017.

Known as Climb the Hill, the event is the fourth annual lobbying session organized by the Access Fund and the American Alpine Club.

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

The timing of this year's Climb the Hill occurs in a week of global action on the climate crisis.

On September 23, the United Nations Climate Action Summit will convene in New York in order to discuss action on the Paris Climate Accord. The Paris Accord represents an agreement between 194 nations (in 2015) to take steps to limit the average global increase in temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Scientists broadly agree that a 2-degree increase is the maximum the globe can withstand before the impacts of climate change (including rising sea levels, an increased number of mega fires, and more severe periods of precipitation and drought) may intensify to catastrophic levels. In June 2017, President Trump announced that he planned to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord (though that withdrawal cannot legally take place until November 2020).

Climate activists have organized additional events leading up to the UN Climate summit.

Across the globe, student activists such as Greta Thunberg and youth groups such as the Indigenous Youth Council and the Sunrise Movement have helped spread awareness of a climate strike on Friday, September 20. Students and workers--from high schoolers in Australia to Amazon employees in Seattle--plan to walkout as part of a global demand for action on the climate crisis. Bill McKibben predicts that the strike may be "the biggest day of climate action in the planet's history."

News organizations are also taking part in the action.

In the week leading up to the UN Climate Action summit, news and media outlets across the globe have pledged to increase their coverage of the climate crisis in a coordinated effort known as the Covering Climate Now coalition. The coalition, launched by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation, aims to increase global understanding of what editors of both of those publications refer to as "the most urgent story of our time."

More than 250 media outlets (including Alpinist and Rock and Ice) have joined the coalition.

According to recent polling data from the American Alpine Club, 94 percent of climbers believe that the climate crisis "poses a risk to the places we climb, ski and mountaineer," and 88 percent of climbers in the US believe that climate change is "mostly" driven by human activities. The statistics of climate change awareness among climbers is greater than the national average. According to data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication in April 2019, only 55 percent of Americans believe that climate change is "mostly human-caused."

Scientists worldwide are nearly unanimous (likely surpassing 99 percent) that climate change is driven by human activities--from greenhouse gas emissions of methane and carbon to deforestation, among other factors.

A press release from the organizers of Climb the Hill summarizes the main objectives of the lobbying effort:

Nearly 60 percent of all rock climbing areas in the US is located on federally managed public land. The protection of these lands and the environment surrounding them is critical to the future of climbing and the safety of climbers. Access Fund and the AAC will represent climbers by pursuing legislative and administrative action on recreation access and enhancement, energy development and leasing reform, funding for public land management agencies, recreation and conservation land designations, and climate change action.

Notably, for the first time in the history of Climb the Hill, a JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Taskforce, co-chaired by Shelma Jun and Pete Ward, will provide training and resources to Climb the Hill attendees.

In a briefing packet for Climb the Hill participants, the organizers shared "A Note from the JEDI Taskforce":

We believe that climbing and access to the outdoors can provide opportunities for personal growth, spur social change, and make our community strong. But many-- including people of color, indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ folks, and people with disabilities--experience disparities in access to climbing and to conversations about climbing policy. As a result, they are not equitable recipients of those benefits. Our JEDI Taskforce is committed to ensuring that the voices of all our community members are represented at this event.

Alex Honnold, Bethany Lebewitz (Brown Girls Climb), Kareemah Batts (Adaptive Climbing Group), Maricela Rosales (Latino Outdoors), Mikhail Martin (Brothers of Climbing), Quinn Brett, Tommy Caldwell and Vernan Kee (Natives Outdoors) are among the over 60 climbers and activists who will attend this week's Climb the Hill event.