In October, Luka Lindic of Slovenia and Fanny Schmutz of France completed a new alpine route on a 5,600m peak in the remote Genyen Massif of western Sichuan Province, China. The ascent, graded VII A1, 700m, took place near the Tibetan border, an area that remains largely unexplored by mountaineers.

The pair redirected to the Genyen Valley after their initial plan fell through due to permit issues. Local motorcyclists transported them from the valley entrance to a river, where they established their base camp.

For acclimatization, Lindic and Schmutz first ascended a nearby 5,200m peak via a 300m route. After a rest, they targeted the west-facing wall of the 5,600m peak, called Garmunei Gou. Bivouacking below the wall for an early start, they experienced colder conditions than expected, with snow complicating the shaded sections.

The climbers cached their bivouac gear midway up the route to climb more efficiently. The upper headwall was steep with sparse protection, requiring traverses, a diagonal rappel, and brief aid climbing. They summited at night, grading the route VII A1. The descent involved rappels back to their cached gear around 3 am. Here, they rested before returning to base camp the next day.

Schmutz sustained an ankle sprain during a subsequent scouting trip, prompting the team to refrain from climbing anything further.

The Genyen Massif, centered around the 6,204m Ge'nyen peak (the third-highest in Sichuan), has dozens of mountains, many unclimbed, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

This autumn, two young alpinists from the UK and Ireland achieved a remarkable new route on a 6,000'er, Aikache Chhok, in Pakistan's Karakoram range.

James Price and George Ponsonby connected through the Young Alpinists Group, a mentorship program for emerging climbers. They teamed up after a group trip to Scotland, where members pitched expedition ideas. During the trip, they elected to go with Price's proposal for a climb in Pakistan.

Price had been dealing with a painful ankle tendon injury and even planned to climb in a ski boot for support. However, the issue eased at base camp. Ponsonby spent the summer as a commercial salmon fisher in Alaska, putting in long hours that built strength but left no time for climbing-specific training. With modest ambitions, they packed food for five days and fuel for seven, arriving without a fixed objective or detailed photos of potential lines.

Choosing the line

After exploring valleys near the Batura Wall, they settled on a striking ridge on the Northwest Face of Aikache Chhok, a 6,000m+ peak in the Hachindar Massif. An Italian team first climbed the mountain in 1983 from the southeast.

Price and Ponsonby targeted a new 3,000m line from the north. On October 13, they began with good progress: up a main gully, into a side gully, then mixed pitches up to M5/M6, linking snowfields toward the ridge. They ended the day three pitches short, feeling optimistic about their five-day timeline.

Setbacks

Day two changed everything, with only three pitches gained through aid climbing on loose, overhanging rock around M7/A2+. The cold, shady north face felt reminiscent of famous European walls. They continued up mixed terrain beside the ridge, avoiding sections too technical for alpine boots, and bivouacked under a rock step.

Efforts to traverse ice ramps in order to bypass another rock band led to dead ends, forcing a low-point bivouac. In camp, they tried to make custard, but it turned into an inedible mess. Bummed, this was the closest they came to retreating, but they opted for one more push.

The next day involved relentless ice climbing, eight full rope-length pitches up to AI5 on rock-hard glacial ice, breaking screws and chipping picks, ending in darkness back on the ridge.

Exhaustion deepened on the following days. Facing nearly 1,000m of slabby black ice interspersed with poor rock, they invented the "Karakoram flop": simul-climbing until calves and toes burned unbearably, then clipping directly to an axe, fully relaxing (even letting the pack pull backward), before placing the next screw. Bivouacs were basic, in crevasses or under overhangs, with food running low and feet battered.

Final push

Day seven brought more simul-climbing on snow, an overhanging ice step, and steep black ice to a ridge between a mini-summit and the main one. Brief sunshine gave way to a whiteout and deep snow, prolonging the summit ridge traverse. The mist cleared just enough to reveal a corniced summit two pitches ahead. Too drained to climb further in poor visibility, they pitched their small tent and shivered through the night, focused on keeping extremities warm.

On day eight, they shared their final energy bar, and clear weather allowed them to breach the cornice and summit. They hurried down without confirming the exact height, though a Garmin read 6,663m one pitch below. (Other sources put the peak’s height at a modest 6,595m.)

They descended over unseen terrain because persistent clouds had obscured views from Base Camp. It involved rappels off V-threads, complex glacier crossings, passes over seracs, and quick moves under threat. They bivouacked again around 5,000m, comforted by headlamp signals from below, before reaching base camp on October 21. The climb took nine days total, and they finished slimmer, but without frostbite.

Local shepherds and hunters offered them generous hospitality, lending huts, sharing chai, milk, butter, and food, while watching progress through binoculars and flashing lights at night. This support made the massive face feel less isolating.

They named their new route Secrets, Shepherds, Sex, and Serendipity after a humorous screenplay the pair crafted while waiting out bad weather at base camp. They graded the climb M7 AI5 A2+.

It was the second overall ascent of Aikache Chhok.

It's time for our annual countdown of ExplorersWeb's most interesting expeditions of the year. From December 21 to December 30, we'll summarize our favorites and make a case for why we liked them so much. Today, Kilian Jornet's speed linkup of all 72 of the 14,000-foot peaks in the Lower 48 by human power alone.

This was one of Jornet's most ambitious projects yet -- straightforward in concept but immense in scope. He would climb and connect all those 14'ers by running, hiking, climbing, and cycling. No motorized transport was allowed at any point, echoing the style of his 2024 Alpine Connections project in Europe.

The challenge took place in three states: Colorado, which holds most of the 14,000'ers; California, with a dozen in the Sierra Nevada; and Washington, home to a big volcano in the Cascades -- 72 peaks in all.

Jornet's 14,000'ers excluded a couple of inaccessible ones on private land, such as Culebra Peak and Mount Bross in Colorado. He drew inspiration from the wild landscapes of the American West, community suggestions shared on social media, and input from friends like ultrarunner and iRunFar editor Meghan Hicks. Routes incorporated classic traverses proposed by locals, like Nolan's 14 in Colorado's Sawatch Range.

The start

Jornet kicked off on September 3, starting with Longs Peak in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. He confronted some of the most demanding sections at the beginning. His first major effort was the LA Freeway traverse along the Continental Divide, linking Longs Peak to South Arapaho Peak while staying above 12,000 feet for much of the way.

He finished in about 16 hours, despite arriving in the United States with little acclimatization and battling jet lag. Afternoon storms, a common hurdle in Colorado, forced adjustments early on, adding hours to his days of summiting Front Range peaks like Mount Blue Sky (formerly Evans), Bierstadt, Grays, and Torreys.

In the first few days, Jornet notched 13 summits. He covered around 570km and logged nearly 80 hours of activity. He pushed through clusters like the Mosquito Range peaks -- Democrat, Lincoln, and Sherman -- and made quick ascents, such as on Holy Cross in under four hours for the round trip.

With minimal rest, fatigue built quickly. He often slept for just a few hours a night in campgrounds or along the trail. One supposed "rest" day involved an 87km bike ride over Independence Pass to the next range.

Ramping up

As September progressed, the intensity ramped up. Jornet tackled the notorious Elks Traverse southwest of Aspen, linking seven technical 14,000'ers, including Capitol Peak, Snowmass, the Maroon Bells, Pyramid, and Castle, over an 80km route. This took three nonstop days and ended at 2 am on September 9. During that whole time, he managed only a little sleep amid storms and high exposure.

Soon after, he completed Nolan's 14, a 161km line across 14 peaks in the Sawatch, including standouts like Mount Massive and Mount Elbert (the highest in the Rockies). He ran much of this solo into the night, joining runner Sage Canaday for the final three. He finished at dawn on September 11, after about 47 hours of continuous movement, buoyed -- if you can call it that -- by just a 30-minute nap.

Pushing through Colorado’s peaks

Wildfires forced reroutes, and changing weather brought rain, storms, and cold. One particularly grueling day included a 160km bike ride in pouring rain to Pikes Peak, followed by a fast ascent and descent in under four hours.

By midway through the Colorado section, Jornet had summited 33 of the state's 58 accessible 14,000'ers, leaving 25 to go. He often climbed multiple peaks in a single push, sometimes five in 14 hours, interspersed with 75-80km of daily biking on gravel roads and passes.

After 16 relentless days in Colorado, Jornet wrapped up the last of the state's 58 peaks above 14,000 feet. In that stretch alone, he covered 1,942km, with 78,004m of elevation gain, roughly the height of nine Everests.

About half the distance was on foot or climbing, the rest cycling. He averaged 16.5 hours of activity per day, running marathon distances and biking long hauls, while dealing with altitude, bad weather, and wildfires. Tired but determined, he then pedaled south and west through dry, hot deserts toward California's Sierra Nevada.

From Sierra to the Cascades

Jornet covered this California stage efficiently and soon knocked off the state's 12 14,000'ers, including the highest in the lower 48, Mount Whitney. At one point, he cycled 626km in under 30 hours. From there, he continued north, summiting Mount Shasta on September 30 amid snow and brutal winds that dropped the windchill to -20°C.

With Shasta as his 71st peak, only Mount Rainier and its subsidiary, Liberty Cap, remained. Jornet biked a staggering 788km in just three days across Oregon into Washington, pushing through cumulative fatigue. His biometric data showed his average sleep dipped below five hours nightly, his heart rate variability dropped sharply, and his resting heart rate climbed.

72 united by human power

On October 4, 31 days after starting at Longs Peak, Jornet reached Mount Rainier's summit. Facing subzero temperatures, glacial ice, and technical climbing, this final ascent marked the completion of all 72 accessible 14,000'ers. In total, he had traveled over 5,000km by foot and bike, averaging more than 160km per day. The journey spanned extreme contrasts, from desert heat above 38°C to freezing Cascade winds.

Throughout, Jornet shared that the project was as much about the "quiet miles" and "shared ridges" between the summits as the peaks themselves. He valued the process, the wild spaces, and the community input that shaped his routes. This endeavor stood as a historic linking of America's high peaks, building on Jornet's legacy of pushing human limits in the mountains.

Over six days in December, French alpinist Charles Dubouloz soloed the iconic Divine Providence route on the Grand Pilier d'Angle (4,243m). He then continued to the summit of Mont Blanc.

Between December 9-14, with five hanging bivouacs, Dubouloz began his journey on December 7 by cycling 120km from his home in Annecy to Chamonix in heavy rain, pulling a loaded trailer with his gear.

The next day, accompanied by friend Antoine Bouqueret on skis, he climbed 2,500m across the Mer de Glace to the Torino Refuge. Other friends joined briefly to help carry the equipment, allowing Dubouloz to arrive prepared at the base of the route.

On December 9, he started alone up the 900m face of the Grand Pilier d’Angle. Short daylight hours and intense cold defined the mid-December conditions. Over the following days, he climbed through demanding mixed terrain, setting five hanging bivouacs and hauling heavy loads.

Dubouloz topped out on the Grand Pilier d’Angle on December 13. Exhausted, he made one more bivouac above 4,000m. The following morning, he continued along the exposed upper Peuterey Ridge, reaching the summit of Mont Blanc in the early afternoon of December 14.

Unfavorable weather ruled out his plan to paraglide down, so he decided to walk back to Chamonix. The entire adventure took eight days and resulted in an eight-kilo weight loss. Dubouloz described the experience as one of extreme fatigue that stripped everything to its essentials.

The ascent marked the first chapter of a larger winter project, his Winter Trilogy, which aims to link iconic routes across the Alps and Pyrenees using only human-powered travel.

Route history

The 900m Divine Providence route is graded ED+, with rock sections up to 7b+. It is considered one of the most iconic and demanding lines in the Mont Blanc massif.

French climbers Patrick Gabarrou and Francois Marsigny first ascended the route over four days in the summer of 1984, using aid on harder pitches. Alain Ghersen and Thierry Renault did the first free ascent in July 1990. Later that summer, Jean-Christophe Lafaille completed the first solo ascent in August 1990, describing it as the most difficult and committing route in the entire massif.

Winter conditions add significant challenges due to cold, short days, and altered terrain. Italians Roberto Bressan, Saverio Occhi, and Paolo Tamagnini made the first winter ascent to the top of the Grand Pilier d’Angle in 1992. The first complete winter ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc followed later that year, by Brendan Murphy and Dave Wills. Alain Ghersen achieved the first winter solo in February 1993.

This recent ascent is considered a major milestone because winter solos on this route are extremely rare. It’s only the second-known winter solo of the full route. Charles Dubouloz is well-known for his historic solo winter ascent of the Rolling Stones route on the Grandes Jorasses in January 2022.

By the autumn of 1995, Kangchenjunga -- the world's third-highest peak -- had seen both remarkable achievements and serious tragedies. Its unpredictable weather and steep faces made it particularly treacherous. This season would be no different.

Ascents before 1995

The first successful ascent of 8,586m Kangchenjunga came in 1955, when a British team reached the summit. From then until the start of autumn 1995, 122 climbers had summited the mountain. Of those, 52 did so without supplemental oxygen.

But the mountain's dangers were evident. By February 1995, 33 people had died on its slopes. Notable losses included Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz, who disappeared in 1992 during a solo attempt. In the autumn of 1994, an avalanche killed Russian climbers Ekaterina Ivanova and Sergey Jvirbiva at 6,700m. Just two weeks later, on October 23, Yordanka Ivanova Dimitrova of Bulgaria perished in another avalanche at 8,300m.

Spring and summer, 1995

In the spring of 1995, an Italian-Czech expedition led by Simone Moro targeted the Southwest Face without bottled oxygen. They pushed hard but abandoned their attempt at 8,000m in deep snow that made progress nearly impossible. This effort was part of Moro's broader "Kangch Crossing Challenge," which involved Kangchenjunga and Yalung Kang that season.

By autumn, the climbing community was reeling from a major disaster elsewhere. In the summer of 1995, K2 claimed several lives in a series of storms and accidents. Climbers heading to Kangchenjunga that autumn carried the weight of those events.

Six teams

That autumn, six expeditions converged on Kangchenjunga. Most focused on the Southwest Face route, which led to the West Col and then the Northwest Ridge, a path known for its technical demands.

The Italian Kangchenjunga Expedition, led by Sergio Martini, planned to use bottled oxygen on their ascent via the Southwest Face route. Martini, an experienced climber with ten 8,000m peaks already completed, aimed to add Kangchenjunga to his list.

A U.S.-Spanish team, led by Magda King Nos Loppe, also targeted the Southwest Face. They used oxygen for sleeping but abandoned their climb at 8,100m, citing exhaustion.

The Swiss-French team, led by Erhard Loretan, followed the same route. Loretan, on the cusp of completing all 14 of the world's 8,000m peaks, was climbing with partner Jean Troillet and others.

A French party under Michel Pelle attempted the same route with oxygen but stopped at 8,200m due to a lack of fixed ropes.

Benoit Chamoux, Pierre Royer, and Riku Sherpa climbed on the Southwest Face without bottled oxygen. Chamoux, who had summited 12 of the 8,000'ers (plus a subsidiary peak on Shisha Pangma that he counted as his 13th), was filming a documentary with Royer.

Finally, a Japanese team led by Hirofumi Konishi tried the Southwest Face without oxygen but turned back at 8,400m due to fatigue and route difficulties.

These teams shared camps and routes, creating a collaborative yet competitive atmosphere at Base Camp.

Summit push begins

On October 3, activity ramped up. Chamoux's team moved from Base Camp directly to Camp 3, then established their highest camp on October 4. The next day would prove pivotal.

Eight climbers from three teams -- the Swiss, French (Chamoux's group), and Italian teams -- set out from camps at around 7,800m on the Great Shelf, a vast plateau on the Southwest Face. No one carried bottled oxygen for the ascent. The group included Loretan, Chamoux, Martini, Troillet, Royer, and three Sherpas hired by Chamoux to assist with filming.

Loretan and Troillet left their bivouac at 2 am, while Martini, Chamoux, Royer, and the Sherpas departed from nearby at the same time. They climbed together until about 9:30 am, reaching around 8,250m at the intersection of couloirs leading to the ridge.

A fatal slip

Tragedy struck suddenly, according to Miss Hawley’s report for the American Alpine Journal. One of Chamoux's Sherpas, Riku (a 33-year-old from Sankhuwasabha), lost his balance while sitting with his rucksack on. He fell to his death, tumbling down the slope. The other two Sherpas descended immediately, leaving Chamoux and Royer without support. Riku's body lay at 7,600m, passed by climbers daily, but it was too difficult to move.

The Swiss and Italian climbers felt the French party was moving too slowly, so Loretan, Troillet, and Martini pressed ahead. However, Martini soon doubted the route, wary of a rock pillar and strong winds. He waited half an hour for the Swiss to return but, with no sign of them, turned back at 8,200m below the West Col at 8,350m. He attempted a couloir alone but found the snow-on-rock conditions too dangerous in the bitter cold and descended.

Loretan and Troillet forged on, reaching the West Col at 11 am. They found an "easy way" along the rock-and-snow ridge connecting the main summit to Yalung Kang. Despite extreme cold and swirling snow from high winds, they summited at 2:35 pm. The wind eased at the top, allowing a brief stay before they started down at 3 pm. They reached their camp at 7,300m by 5:30 pm. Loretan stayed overnight with teammates, while Troillet continued to Base Camp, arriving at midnight.

With this ascent, according to the valid list of the time, Loretan became the third person -- after Reinhold Messner and Jerzy Kukuczka -- to summit all 14 8,000ers. At 36, he was also the youngest. Back in Kathmandu, he downplayed the feat: "It's something done." He preferred to eye future projects, like Makalu's unclimbed West Face.

The disappearance of Chamoux and Royer

As Loretan and Troillet descended the ridge around 4 pm, they met Chamoux and Royer still ascending, now alone after the Sherpas' departure. Royer, carrying his cameras, radioed at 4:30 pm that he was turning back due to exhaustion. An hour later, Chamoux radioed that he was also too tired to continue. He claimed to be 40m below the summit but couldn't find the way down the ridge. He had lost sight of Royer, who had given him the radio. Chamoux bivouacked on the ridge, just above the West Col.

At 8 am on October 6, Chamoux radioed Troillet for descent guidance. Climbers saw him reach the col, but Chamoux then vanished on the north side. Neither he nor Royer was seen again.

A search began immediately. On October 6, Michel Pelle and a client reached Camp 4 but saw nothing. The next day, two of Pelle's Sherpas fixed ropes to 8,200m. Chamoux's surviving Sherpas refused to search, upset that no aid was given to Riku Sherpa after his fall.

Aerial searches by helicopter and plane yielded nothing. Climbers on nearby Gimmigela used telescopes to scan Kangchenjunga's North Face and summit area, but spotted no trace of either man.

Martini's second attempt and discoveries

Martini, recovering from his first summit bid, descended to Base Camp. On October 12, he and teammate Abele Blanc headed up again, reaching Camp 2 at 7,200m. On October 13, they made Camp 3. On October 14, they summited via Loretan's route in six hours. Though planning an oxygen-free climb, they used another team's oxygen to ensure they could search for Chamoux and Royer.

Near the West Col, they found some clues: footprints in wind-hardened snow, a bivouac spot, and items including two ice axes (one long, one short), Royer's small backpack with two cameras, two harnesses draped on a rock, and a radio propped higher up. Martini brought the backpack to Base Camp, and his Aosta teammates later took it to Europe.

Yet they found no bodies. Loretan speculated that Chamoux and Royer fell down the North Face. Martini thought they might have died among the rocks near the col, hidden from view, perhaps freezing after resting without the strength to rise and continue. The area had no crevasses to swallow them.

Competition and risks

At Base Camp, teams discussed whether competition among top climbers (Loretan, Chamoux, and Martini) had added unnecessary risk. One French climber called it a "fatal challenge" for Chamoux, racing Loretan for the 14 peaks title.

"The Swiss were much faster. Loretan is the best," he said.

An American climber was direct: "The French were not well acclimatized. They tried to keep up with the Swiss, and they killed themselves."

Reports noted Chamoux's team had vomited at Camp 3 on September 17 and descended abruptly, not returning to high altitude until the summit push. Troillet remarked that the Chamonix climbers were highly competitive.

Chamoux's group had pushed from Base Camp to Camp 3 on October 3, then to their high camp on October 4 before the ill-fated attempt. The Swiss, recovering from minor ailments in early September, had acclimatized with a foray to 7,400m on October 15, sleeping at 7,300m before bad weather hit.

The season ended with mixed emotions. The Japanese and U.S.-Spanish teams abandoned high up. Pelle's French team reached 8,200m but no further. Loretan's historic completion and Martini's perseverance were notable, but three people died: Riku Sherpa, Benoit Chamoux, and Pierre Royer. The season demonstrated the fine line between ambition and survival in the Death Zone.

In late October, five Georgian mountaineers made the first ascent of an unnamed mountain on the remote eastern side of the Chaukhi massif in Georgia's Greater Caucasus Mountains.

The climbers — Giorgi Tepnadze, Bakar Gelashvili, Temur Kurdiani, Vakho Blagidze, and Tornike Tepnadze — established a technically engaging route graded 5B on the Caucasian scale (equivalent to M5+).

The expedition's main objective was to honor their late climbing partner, Archil Badriashvili, who died in August 2024 from a lightning strike while climbing. The team named the mountain Archil Peak as a tribute.

Three of the climbers, Tepnadze, Gelashvili, and Kurdiani, were Badriashvili's usual rope mates. The trio formed the core of many of Badriashvili's major expeditions, including multiple first ascents in the Himalaya and Hindu Kush that earned them international recognition. These include a 2022 Piolet d'Or for the northwest face of 7,300m Saraghrar Northwest.

Local community supports the naming

The climbers noted that they are cautious when naming peaks or routes. However, the local Khevsur community encouraged them to name the peak after their friend.

The Khevsurs are an ethnographic subgroup of Georgians living in the remote highland region of Khevsureti, one of Georgia's most isolated areas. Historically renowned as fierce warriors, they developed a culture that emphasized courage, independence, and a strict code of honor. Their villages feature distinctive defensive stone towers and fortified dwellings, many clinging to steep mountainsides.

Khevsur religious practices blend Georgian Orthodox Christianity with pre-Christian pagan elements. Over centuries of isolation, the Khevsurs have maintained close-knit communities, and their longstanding friendships with visiting climbers — dating back to the team's 2016 expeditions in the area — reflect the region's renowned hospitality.

This ascent builds on the team's earlier activity in the area. In 2016, Badriashvili and Tepnadze completed the first ascent of the east face of nearby 3,842m Asatiani Peak. And in 2024, Tepnadze, Gelashvili, and Kurdiani added another new route there.

The Chaukhi massif comprises peaks ranging from 3,400m to 3,858m. It is known as the Georgian Dolomites due to its dramatic rock spires.

Oswald Rodrigo Pereira of Poland has just completed a remarkably fast acclimatization ascent of 6,476m Mera Peak in Nepal’s Khumbu region, just days after arriving in the country.

This was part of Pereira’s preparations for an upcoming winter attempt on 8,163m Manaslu. He will join Italian Simone Moro and Nepalese Nima Rinji Sherpa, who summited Mera Peak a day earlier as part of their own preparation.

Pereira climbed solo from Khare (4,880m) to the summit in a single push of 1,600 vertical meters in 6 hours and 15 minutes. What stands out is the overall timeline: Only 61 hours elapsed between leaving Poland and standing on the summit of Mera Peak.

Pereira says that the pre-acclimatization work he did before the trip with a hypoxic tent is paying off.

The trio plans to reach Manaslu Base Camp on December 21.

“And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens…they will all be your friends.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

In the rugged embrace of mountains, skies, and wild trails, 2025 claimed the lives of many mountaineers, adventurers, and outdoor personalities. The full list is much longer than we can include here, but all have our utmost respect.

This is for the ones who became stars in 2025.

Mountaineers

Virginio Epis

Virginio Epis, Italian ski mountaineer and high-altitude climber, was a master of blending Nordic precision with Himalayan audacity. He died on February 8, at age 93, of pneumonia at a hospital in Aosta.

Epis summited Everest in 1973 as part of the Italian Everest Expedition led by Guido Monzino, a 63-member military-backed team that marked Italy's first successful ascent of the world's highest peak. During the descent, amid a fierce blizzard and oxygen shortage, he shared his oxygen cylinder in an act of selflessness. The expedition earned him acclaim as "the skier who touched the roof of the world."

Epis pioneered numerous routes in the Mont Blanc massif and the Dolomites, including innovative ski descents that fused climbing with freeride artistry. His routes remain test pieces for elite alpinists.

François Labande

French mountaineer, ecologist, and writer François Labande — a philosopher of the peaks who wove environmental ethics into every ascent — died on March 20, aged 83, at home in La Salle-les-Alpes.

A Groupe de Haute-Montagne stalwart since 1981, he authored Traces Ecrites (blending autobiography and alpine lore) and edited Cimes, another piece of introspective mountaineering literature.

Labande's climbs in the Oisans, Ecrins, and Mont Blanc massif promoted sustainable practices. He helped shape conservation practices as Mountain Wilderness France founder and president (1995–2002).

Labande climbed alpine classics like the south face of La Meije, the south pillar of the Barre des Ecrins, and the northeast face of Piz Badile, while pioneering dozens of routes in the Ecrins. His topos Guide du Haut-Dauphiné ("the Labande") and Guide du Mont Blanc became alpinists' bibles.

Generl Buhl

Generl Buhl, Austrian mountaineering matriarch and wife of legend Hermann Buhl, died on March 8, at age 99. Generl embodied resilience, raising three daughters while preserving Buhl's legacy through memoirs and the Hermann Buhl Museum in Ramsau.

An accomplished alpinist herself, Buhl notched women's first ascents on the south wall of the Kleine Mühlsturzhorn, the Kleine Trichter on the Hohe Goll, and the south edge of the Third Watzmannkind in the Berchtesgaden Alps. Her story of supporting expeditions amid post-war hardship (organizing tours and driving Hermann across Europe after his frostbitten toe amputation) highlighted women's unseen roles in early mountaineering.

Yuri Viktorovich Smirnov

Yuri Viktorovich Smirnov, a prominent Leningrad mountaineer and Master of Sports of the former USSR, passed away on March 9, at age 79. An electrical engineering graduate, he made ascents from 1964–1989, earned the "Rescue Team" badge in 1968, and took part in over 30 rescue operations. He was a major figure in Russian rock climbing, becoming a highest-category coach (trained five Masters of Sports), the first international-category judge in the USSR (1989), and preparing routes and judging competitions for over 20 years.

Smirnov held numerous leadership roles (chairman of judges’ boards, vice-president of the Russian Climbing Federation, etc.) and designed and built more than 20 climbing walls across Russia. He founded the Nevskie Vertikali youth competitions and served as chief judge of the Rock Climbing for All Festival.

Rima Sherpa and Ngima Tashi Sherpa

On April 7, a large avalanche swept the section between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on Annapurna I, while a rope-fixing team was working. Rima Rinje Sherpa and Ngima Tashi Sherpa were carrying oxygen cylinders up the route when the slide caught them and swept them into a crevasse. Climbers in Camp 3 saw the accident but could not help. A search team led by Chhang Dawa Sherpa located the bodies two days later.

Yuri Contreras Cedi

Mexican orthopedic surgeon and Himalayan trailblazer, Yuri Contreras Cedi, died of a heart attack on May 4 at 62, while taking part in a cycling event in Cancun.

Cedi summited Everest four times (1996 via the south route from Nepal, 1997 via the north route from Tibet, plus twice more) and summited several other 8,000m peaks, including Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Shisha Pangma, Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak, K2, and Makalu. He was the first person from his country to climb Everest by two distinct routes. He miraculously survived sliding hundreds of meters down Makalu in 2022.

A Leon resident since the 1990s, he mentored underrepresented youth at clinics and authored guides on high-altitude physiology. An avid cyclist, Cedi's final social media post -- Sobre dos ruedas, el mundo deja de ser rutina y se vuelve aventura ("On two wheels, the world ceases to be routine and becomes an adventure") -- captured his spirit.

Gleb Sokolov

Russian Gleb Sokolov is one of just three people to summit all three peaks of the Lhotse massif. He died on May 9, at age 71, in Novosibirsk, Russia. Sokolov's climbing CV is impressive, with a 1996 Makalu ascent, Lhotse achievements (Lhotse Main in 1997 and 2000, Lhotse Shar in 1998, and Lhotse Middle in 2001), an Everest North Face climb in 2004, and the Snow Leopard title thanks to over 35 ascents of 7,000m peaks.

Sokolov's photography captured the sublime terror of the 8,000'ers, and his complex, intellectual character proved that the mountains demand not just strength, but soul too.

Andrzej Matuszyk

Andrzej Matuszyk, Polish alpinist, professor, and trainer, died on May 8, at 89, in Krakow. As an emeritus professor and long-time head of the Alpine Department at the Academy of Physical Education in Poland, Matuszyk shaped Polish mountaineering through texts on extreme activity, avalanche science, and ethics. His winter ascents in the High Tatras during the 1970s and his 1973 Spitsbergen expedition (first Polish passages in the Hornsundtind region) positioned Poland as a global leader in alpinism. He also participated in the 1975 Tirich Mir expedition.

Lucas Buzzeiro

Lucas Buzzeiro, Argentine AAGM mountain guide and ski instructor, died on May 10 at 49. He suffered a 300m+ fall in the Couloir des Cosmiques in the Mont Blanc massif while descending on skis.

Buzzeiro's local roots fueled his guiding career in Patagonia, where he worked independently and contributed to community initiatives. An AAGM board member and delegate for Bariloche guides, he was co-concessionaire of the Refugio Laguna Ilon with Andi Lamuniere, creating a popular trekking destination. He had a passion for freeride skiing and was a youth mentor through the Club Andino Bariloche's Escuela Juvenil de Montana.

Nick Phaliani

Nick Phaliani, a Georgian IFMGA-certified guide from Mestia, died on May 22 at 29. He died in a fatal fall from the south face of Mount Ushba during a four-person expedition.

Phaliani founded a Mestia-based tour company offering trips to demanding peaks like Ushba, the so-called Matterhorn of the Caucasus. He was featured in the 2022 film Kastanistan with Fabian Lentsch, and his freeride lines in untouched zones grew Georgia's snow sports scene.

Vaclav Ruzhevsky

Vaclav Ruzhevsky, a native Czech who became a Soviet alpinist and revered instructor, died on June 1 at 90.

Ruzhevsky's Caucasus ascents in the 1960s and 1970s, including winter firsts and routes with legends like Mikhail Khergiani, embodied the rigorous Soviet-era style. As a long-time instructor and chief of rescue/training at Ullu-Tau, he trained generations --including nine Masters of Sports, three of whom became Masters of International Class -- and championed ethical, skillful alpinism. A quiet pillar of the community, his endurance, partnerships, and dedication inspired Eastern climbers to embrace the mountains.

Cristian Brenna

Cristian Brenna, Italian rock savant, national team coach, and Guardia di Finanza rescuer, died on June 3 at age 54. He died in a 100m+ fall on Monte Biaena while out with a companion. A 1990s competition phenom with 8c+ redpoints and onsight ascents up to 8b+, Brenna's coached Olympic hopefuls and youth champions.

Brenna was active in bolting routes in the Arco area and engaged in ethics debates that enriched sport climbing. He participated in hundreds of rescues as a Guardia di Finanza alpine rescuer. A pioneer of demanding lines in Patagonia -- like the first ascent of Cerro Piergiorgio's northwest face with Herve Barmasse -- Brenna's charisma and self-deprecating humor will not be forgotten.

Sayuri Matsuyama Hoyos

Liliana Sayuri Matsuyama Hoyos, a Colombian-Japanese anthropologist, documentary filmmaker, and mountaineer, passed away in mid-2025. Hoyos pioneered women's expeditions in South America during the late 1990s and early 2000s and was known for her work with Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia.

Rita Gombu Marwah

Rita Gombu Marwah, daughter of the legendary Nawang Gombu (the first man to summit Everest twice) and grandniece of Tenzing Norgay, died on June 12, aged 67, after battling cancer in Delhi.

In 1984, Marwah became the first Indian woman to enter the Death Zone on Everest -- reaching just 200m short of the summit -- and helped pave the way for Bachendri Pal's historic ascent in the same expedition. An Arjuna awardee and first woman vice-president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, she empowered Himalayan women through youth programs and eco-initiatives. Deputy leader of the 1993 Indo-Nepalese women's Everest expedition, she summited numerous peaks.

Krystyna Palmowska

The legendary Polish alpinist Krystyna Palmowska died on June 15, at age 76, in a climbing fall in Slovakia’s High Tatras. Her remarkable climbs included:
- the first all-female winter ascent of the Matterhorn North Face (1978)
- a new route on Rakaposhi (7,788m, 1979)
- participation in the 1982 K2 Women’s Expedition
- the first woman to summit Broad Peak (8,047m, 1983)
- the first all-female ascent of Nanga Parbat (8,126m, 1985)
- reaching 8,200m on K2’s Magic Line with Anna Czerwinska (1986).

Captain M. S. Kohli

Indian mountaineer and naval officer Captain Manmohan Singh Kohli, 93, died on June 23. Best known for leading India’s groundbreaking 1965 Everest expedition -- which placed a then-record nine climbers on the summit -- Kohli was a driving force behind Indian Himalayan mountaineering from the 1950s. His remarkable achievements included:
- the first ascent of Saser Kangri (7,672m, Karakoram, 1956)
- second ascent of Nanda Kot (6,861m, Kumaon Himalaya, 1959)
- leading the first ascent of Annapurna III, the ascent of Nanda Devi, and the expedition to Nepal Peak between 1961 and 1964
- summits of Kabru Dome and Rathong in the eastern Himalaya
- participant in over 20 adventures in the Greater Ranges
- leadership of a covert 1965 Indian-American mission to install a monitoring device in the Himalaya
- guiding India’s first civilian Antarctic expedition (1982–1983)

A recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the Arjuna Award, and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Kohli served as president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and co-founded the Himalayan Environment Trust with Sir Edmund Hillary. He authored several books and remained a beloved figure in global mountaineering circles.

Pal Bodis

Pal Bodis, a respected Hungarian mountaineering instructor and board member of the Magyar Hegymaszo Oktatoi Kollegium (Hungarian College of Mountaineering Instructors), died on June 29. He passed away following a climbing accident in the Austrian Alps near the Niederer Dachstein. Bodis was leading an alpine climbing course when he fell approximately 80m.

Bodis's death represents an immense loss to the Hungarian mountaineering community.

Klara Kolouchova

Czech mountaineer Klara Kolouchova, 46, died on July 3 after falling on the lower slopes of Nanga Parbat during a descent. During a summit push, she felt too tired to continue and turned back from near Camp 3, opting to descend -- partly at night -- with her Sherpa. She slipped and fell on a rocky section, reportedly above Camp 2 or between Camps 1 and 2.

Kolouchova was the first Czech woman to summit the world’s three highest peaks. She had also climbed Cho Oyu, Annapurna in 2024, and attempted Dhaulagiri in 2025. A mother of two, she was climbing with a team that included her husband (who had remained at Base Camp).

Yuri Mikhailovich Lishaev

Crimean mountaineer Yuri Mikhailovich Lishaev died on July 8 at 70. Born in Simferopol in 1955, he was a prominent Soviet and Ukrainian climber, rock climber, speleologist, and kayaker. A multi-time champion and prize-winner in USSR and Ukrainian rock climbing competitions, Lishaev earned the title Master of Sports of the USSR in 1978. He pioneered numerous routes in Crimea and the Caucasus, made bold solo ascents, and transitioned early to free climbing -- a move that sparked conflict with federation officials. In 1980, he dramatically destroyed his Master of Sports documents in protest.

Despite severe injuries that left him with a disability and doctors predicting lifelong wheelchair use, Lishaev returned to the mountains on crutches and continued making ascents, including first post-injury solos. His resilience and innovative style made him an icon of Soviet-era mountaineering.

Krzysztof Paul

Krzysztof Paul, a Polish mountaineer, sailor, and polar adventurer from Gdansk, died in his home city on July 2, aged 91. A long-time leader of the mountaineering club Wysokogorski Trojmiasto (KW Trojmiasto/Gdansk), he funded many Polish expeditions through high-altitude industrial projects. Active in the Tatras, Alps, and Caucasus, he pioneered ski mountaineering and Arctic expeditions, including demanding winter ski traverses (in Norway, Estonia, Lapland, and the White Sea) and multiple Spitsbergen crossings.

Pascal Strappazzon

Pascal Strappazzon, a French high mountain guide from Haute-Savoie, died suddenly on July 14, at age 63. Strappazzon suffered a cardiac arrest during an ascent of Pyramide Vincent in the Monte Rosa massif. An accomplished Groupe Montagne Sapeurs-Pompiers (GMSP) instructor, he trained several generations of mountain rescuers and contributed significantly to innovations in helicopter operations and cross-border rescues in the Mont Blanc area. Passionate about the Alps, he embodied a commitment to safer mountains.

Iftikhar Sadpara

Iftikhar Sadpara, a Pakistani high-altitude porter and climber from Sadpara village near Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan, died on July 18. An avalanche caught him near Camp 1 on K2 while he was descending toward Base Camp with a four-member team.

An experienced mountaineer who had summited K2 at least twice, as well as Broad Peak and Gasherbrum II, Sadpara worked on numerous expeditions, fixing ropes on routes like the Abruzzi Spur and supporting international teams in the Karakoram.

Bogusia Skierska

Polish climber Bogusia Skierska, long-time member of Klub Wysokogorski Warszawa, and the warm heart of the Warsaw climbing community, died on July 23 at 72. She died in a tragic fall at the Arena Wspinaczkowa Makak climbing gym in Warsaw. A fixture in the club for over 50 years and the wife of former president Zbigniew Skierski, Bogusia welcomed generations of climbers into her home with feasts, deep conversations about ethics, and support that built a family atmosphere in the climbing community. Her environmental campaigns helped protect Warsaw-area crags.

Pedro Gomez

Pedro Gomez, a Spanish climber and skier, died in July at 98. Over a 70-year career, Gomez pioneered routes in the Pyrenees and ski lines in the Sierra Nevada. He produced Spain's first high-quality down sleeping bags, the famous Caucasiano model that equipped the 1968 Caucasus expedition. An innovator in technical gear, his handmade down jackets equipped many Spanish alpinists.

Kanchha Sherpa

Nepali mountaineer Kanchha Sherpa died on October 16, at age 92, at home in Kathmandu. Kanchha was the final survivor of the 1953 British Everest team, when he carried loads to the South Col for Hillary and Tenzing's historic summit. A Namche native, he guided for over 20 years, reaching 8,000m+ peaks like Cho Oyu.

Dale Bard

American climber and Yosemite pioneer Dale Bard died on October 1, at age 71, of cancer. Bard's 1970s first ascents, such as El Cap's Sea of Dreams and Half Dome's Bushid, defined Yosemite's aid era, earning him Stonemaster status. Bard's dirtbag ethos involved living on $15 for an entire climbing season in a bakery van.

Henry Todd

Scottish mountaineer and Himalayan expedition organizer Henry Todd died on November 2. He was 80 and died from a stroke following heart surgery in Kathmandu's HAMS Hospital.

Through Himalayan Guides, Todd organized more than 60 major expeditions and pioneered oxygen bottle refilling, making high-altitude climbing more affordable and reducing litter on peaks like Everest. A former rugby player who supported Bear Grylls's successful 1998 Everest ascent, Todd empowered Sherpa teams, widely regarded as among the best of their era.

Andrzej Michnowski

Polish mountaineer and beloved Tatra elder, Andrzej "Dziadek" Michnowski, died in early November, at age 76. His first ascents, like 15.10 do Yumy in Kazalnica's Kocioł, helped define Polish Tatra climbing. For over 50 years, he mentored young Krakow climbers through demanding winter routes and traverses.

Karim Shah Nizari

Pakistani adventure guide and social activist Karim Shah Nizari died on September 23, at age 39, from a heart attack. Nizari's QAU rock team kick-started Islamabad's climbing scene, pioneering Shadara walls and Margalla routes. An HEC national games representative and Gilgit-Baltistan advocate, he contributed to the 2019 search for climbers Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard on Nanga Parbat. He promoted climate action via his website, Karakoram Essays.

Balin Miller

American climber and soloist Balin Miller died on October 1, at age 23, after rappelling off the end of his rope on El Cap's Sea of Dreams. Miller's June 2025 solo of the Slovak Direct on Denali, the first on record, marked him as a rising star. He started climbing at age three with his dad. Later, he shared his Patagonia and Canadian Rockies solos online with a growing audience.

Thomas Vialletet and Kellam Conover

French-New Zealand guide Thomas Vialletet and his client, American lawyer Kellam Conover, died on November 24 in a fall from Aoraki/Mount Cook's west ridge during a summit push.

Vialletet spent 15+ years guiding with Summit Explorers, a company he co-owned with his wife Danielle while raising two young children.

Conover was a Stanford Law graduate at King & Spalding who balanced high-stakes briefs with climbing big walls.

Alexander Rastorguev

Russian alpinist Alexander Rastorguev died on August 27, at age 68, in a rockfall on Dzhangi-Tau in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. A former president of the Krasnodar Mountaineering Federation, he opened dozens of routes across the Caucasus, including Elbrus variants and a notable 1989 first on Koshtan-Tau. Involved with Bezengi alpine camps as a senior instructor, he made 200+ ascents.

Natalia Nagovitsyna

Russian mountaineer Natalia Nagovitsyna died in late August, at age 47, from exposure after a leg fracture on Pobeda Peak. Nagovitsyna's quest for all five Snow Leopard peaks culminated on Pobeda, her final summit, pushing on despite her husband's death from a stroke while they climbed Khan Tengri in 2021.

Luca Sinigaglia

Italian mountaineer and Tien Shan regular, Luca Sinigaglia, died on August 15 at age 49. He died from exposure and cerebral edema on Pobeda Peak while aiding Natalia Nagovitsyna. Sinigaglia and a German climbing partner reached Nagovitsyna post-leg break, delivering supplies at around 7,100m before Sinigaglia succumbed on the way down.

Nikolay Totmyanin

Legendary Russian mountaineer, "Iron Uncle Kolya," Nikolay Totmyanin, died on August 11 at age 66. He died in Bishkek after an illness descending Pobeda Peak. Totmyanin's multiple Snow Leopard completions (five to seven full sets) and his 2004 Jannu North Face climb (which earned him a Piolet d’Or) highlighted his prowess.

The captain of Russia's national climbing team, his 200+ ascents -- from Lhotse's South Face to Alaska's Ruth Gorge -- spanned 50 years, including two no-oxygen Everest summits.

Christophe Jackquemoud

French mountain guide Christophe Jacquemoud died on September 12, at age 52, in a rappelling fall on the Pilier Cordier in the Grands Charmoz (Mont Blanc massif). Jacquemoud's 20+ years with the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix and ENSA (France's national school for training mountain guides) included vital route re-equips and safety missions.

Benjamin Guigonnet and Quentin Lombard

Piolet d'Or alpinist Benjamin Guigonnet and Savoie guide Quentin Lombard died on September 18, at ages 37 and 34, in a car crash on the Route des Crêtes in the Gorges du Verdon. Guigonnet won a 2018 Piolet d’Or for the South Face of Nuptse Nup II with Millerioux and Degoulet. He also enjoyed hard alpine routes and rock climbing to 9a.

Lombard achieved guide certification in 2017 and was a national ski instructor from 2014.

Franco Gaspari

Italian mountain guide Franco Gaspari died on September 17 at age 64. He fell near the summit of Cima Grande di Lavaredo. Gaspari opened Dolomites routes like Gusela del Nuvolau's east pillar (1981) and Sass de Stria west wall (1984). Working for Soccorso Alpino (a voluntary Italian rescue organization) since 1985, his thousands of rescues saved many lives. In 2024, he authored Di Roccia e di Cuore on 70 years of Soccorso history.

Maurizio Zappa

Italian alpinist and mountain rescuer Maurizio Zappa died on August 17, at age 71, of natural causes at home in Bormio. Zappa's 50-year Italian National Mountain and Cave Rescue Corps (CNSAS) career included thousands of rescues as a technician and canyoning instructor, innovating anticaduta (anti-fall) techniques. A guide since 1979, he co-opened Roda di Vael's Via Casarotto with Casarotto and Majori.

Martin Buhler

Liechtenstein alpinist and paraglider pilot Martin Buhler died on August 17, at around age 50, in a paragliding accident in Valais. A valued UP Paragliders team pilot, his flights enabled bold expeditions blending aerial access with alpine objectives.

Laura Dahlmeier

German biathlete and mountaineer Laura Dahlmeier died on July 28. Aged just 31, she died in a rockfall on Laila Peak in Pakistan. Dahlmeier's 2018 PyeongChang double gold (sprint/pursuit) was the first woman's biathlon Olympic sweep. She won seven world biathlon titles. She had been a guide in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, since 2023 (with mountain rescue involvement).

Nicolas Gregorio Benedetti

Argentine mountain guide and IFMGA/UIAGM-certified Patagonia expert, Nicolas Gregorio Benedetti, died on June 25, at age 53, in a paragliding accident on Mont Blanc. Benedetti's 30-year career included multiple ascents of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy (including early repeats of routes like the Tehuelche and Afanasieff), plus pioneering work on Patagonian ice lines and Hielo Continental traverses.

Roberto Sorgato

Roberto Sorgato, a highly respected figure in international alpinism, passed away on December 6 at 88. Born in Belluno in 1937, he rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s with daring climbs and winter first ascents on iconic Dolomites peaks such as the Civetta and Cima Su Alto. He often climbed alongside legends like Ignazio Piussi and Toni Hiebeler. In 1961, he survived a dramatic 60m fall on the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo. His close call inspired the French documentary Abimes.

Sorgato formed a strong partnership with Pierre Mazeaud, opening demanding new routes on Mont Blanc’s Brenva face and elsewhere. Sorgato also contributed to mountain culture as president of the Association of Friends of the Fondazione Giovanni Angelini in Belluno.

Skiers and snowboarders

Margot Simond

Margot Simond, a promising French junior alpine skier from Les Saisies, died on April 24 at age 18. She suffered a high-speed crash during training at the Red Bull Alpine Park on Val d’Isère's Envers de Bellevarde.

Simond's recent French U18 slalom title and strong performances on the International Ski Federation circuit -- including at the 2025 Junior World Championships -- marked her as a bright prospect for the World Cup. Former Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin hailed Simond as a potential "spark" for the next generation of skiers before her career was cut tragically short.

Eliot Danzer

Swiss freeride snowboarding prodigy Eliot Dänzer died on May 17, at age 23, in an avalanche on the Eiger's West Face. Dänzer had finished third in the 2024–25 FWT Challenger series (snowboard men), highlighted by a win at Nendaz Freeride.

Wendy Wagner

American cross-country skier Wendy Wagner represented the United States at the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Torino Olympics, as well as at four World Championships. Wagner died on November 6, at age 52, in Park City, Utah, after a battle with ovarian cancer.

After retiring from competition, Wagner earned a master’s degree in atmospheric science and served as director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center (CNFAIC) from 2014 to 2025, significantly expanding its forecasting coverage for areas including Turnagain Pass, Summit Lake, and the Chugach Front Range.

Wingsuit and BASE jumpers

Carlos Suarez

Carlos Suarez was a Spanish alpinist and BASE jumper. He died on April 1, at 52, when his parachute failed during a wingsuit flight from a hot-air balloon. Suarez and a documentary crew were filming La Fiera at the time, a documentary about BASE jumping in Spain.

At 17, Suarez free-soloed the Cassin route on the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses. With over 1,000 aerial exits, he introduced BASE jumping to Spain and mentored its pioneers, despite losing friends Dario Barrio, Alvaro Bulto, and Manolo Chana. His ethos, “adventure is not about surviving, it's about living fully," inspired many in his sport.

Liam Byrne

Liam Byrne, British wingsuit champion, died on June 21, at age 24. He died in a wingsuit BASE jumping accident on Gitschen mountain in the Swiss Alps. Byrne, who featured in the 2024 BBC documentary The Boy Who Can Fly, had completed more than 4,000 jumps in his career. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at age 12 and became a skydiving instructor by 19.

Marta Jimenez

Marta Jimenez, a Spanish Mujer Adrenalina (Adrenaline Woman) and extreme sports expert, died on July 13 at age 34. She passed away in a BASE jumping accident in the Chistau Valley (Punta Calva, Spanish Pyrenees). A TV personality in Spain, Jimenez's daring on-air challenges and stunts (she completed nearly 400 BASE jumps) brought extreme sports to millions.

Felix Baumgartner

The man who skydived at supersonic speeds from the edge of space, Felix Baumgartner, died on July 17, at age 56, in a powered paragliding accident over Porto Sant’Elpidio on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Baumgartner's 2012 Red Bull Stratos leap, a 39km freefall at Mach 1.25, made international headlines. He made 1,000+ jumps from landmarks like the Petronas Towers and Christ the Redeemer, crossed the English Channel using a carbon-fiber wing (2003), and advocated for safer practices in the sport.

Jean-Jacques Wallis

South African aerial sports athlete and licensed free-flight pilot, Jean-Jacques Wallis, died on November 25, at age 36. He died after a paragliding accident at Lion’s Head mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Wallis was testing a new high-performance hybrid wing (a type of parakite designed for strong coastal winds and speed flying) when the incident occurred.

Wallis demonstrated expertise in paragliding, skydiving, BASE jumping, speed flying, and wingsuit flying, with more than 20 years of experience. He won a gold medal in the Target Strike event at the World Wingsuit League Grand Prix.

Other adventurers

Cristina Santurino

Spanish ultrarunner and sports nutrition PhD, Cristina Santurino, died unexpectedly on June 10 -- her 36th birthday -- at her home in El Hierro, Canary Islands. Santurino's expertise in electrolyte protocols and endurance fueling advised many athletes, while her doctoral work focused on training approaches. Double winner at Gran Trail Peñalara (TEP 62km and GTP 104km) and Zegama-Aizkorri finisher (6:18:45), her myth-busting classes at Universidad Internacional de Valencia empowered women in ultras.

Andreas Tonelli

Italian enduro biker, Andreas Tonelli, died on July 15 at age 48. He died in a 200m fall while riding solo on a steep trail in the Vallelunga area above Val Gardena, Italy. Tonelli earned over 120k followers thanks to his vertigo-inducing videos, including footage of Puez-Odle traverses and Lofoten tours. A splitboarder and guide, his bike ascent of Nevado Ojos del Salado (6,893m) in the Andes was of particular note.

Karlis Bardelis

Karlis Bardelis, a Latvian ocean rower, died on November 17 at age 40. He died from a malignant brain tumor following a stroke. Bardelis's 2,898-day human-powered circumnavigation -- rowing solo across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, plus cycling over 50,000km -- set six Guinness World Records, including the first row from South America to Asia and Asia to Africa.

Photographers and cultural personalities

Gilles Rotillon

Gilles Rotillon, a French climbing theorist and academic, died on July 11 at age 78. A passionate advocate for expanding climbing as a popular pursuit, he played a key role in its development through sports federations in France. His writings explored the philosophical and cultural dimensions of climbing. Through his essays, he championed preserving wild sites.

Ivan Konar

Chilean landscape photographer Ivan Konar died on November 21 at age 80. He died from a fall during a photo outing. Konar's Patagonian portfolios (Andes' Wild Heart exhibited globally) captured Valdivian forests and the soul of southern Chile. His 50-year career chronicled Chile's wild places.

Jim Brandenburg

Minnesota's meadow maestro, Jim Brandenburg, died on April 4 at age 79, of cancer at home in Medina. Brandenburg first became famous for shooting the Arctic wolves of Ellesmere Island for National Geographic. His Chased by the Light -- one frame per day across 90 autumn days in the north woods -- earned great acclaim, with four of his images listed in the 40 most important nature photos ever taken. His Brandenburg Prairie Foundation worked to rescue Minnesota grasslands.

Stefan Fruhbeis

German alpine broadcaster Stefan Fruhbeis died on June 16, at age 64. Fruhbeis's Rucksackradio brought mountain stories to millions since the 1990s. Founder of the radio station BR Heimat, his broadcasts drew an average of 240,000 daily listeners.

Francesco Parisotto

Italian Francesco Parisotto, Scarpa's transformative leader, passed away on August 3 at the age of 98 due to natural causes in Veneto, Italy. Parisotto's post-World War II innovations in crampons and rugged packs helped revolutionize mountaineering gear, equipping countless expeditions and high-altitude ascents. With brothers Luigi and Antonio, he acquired and grew Scarpa from an artisan shop in Asolo in 1956 to a global icon.

Paolo de Zordo

Italian alpine rescue leader Paolo de Zordo, dubbed the Angel of Cortina for his decades of Dolomites lifesaving, died on May 14, at age 55, after a long illness. As deputy commissioner and head of piste safety in Cortina d'Ampezzo since 1994, De Zordo orchestrated 20,000+ rescues.

Joan Garrigos

Joan Garrigos Toro passed away on December 7 at age 78. Toro was a prominent Catalan mountaineer, climber, and alpinist who dedicated his life to mountain sports from the age of 14. He served as president of the Catalan Federation of Hiking Organizations from 1979 to 1993, modernizing the organization and boosting its growth, and later led the Spanish Federation of Mountain and Climbing Sports from 1992 to 2021. Toro achieved numerous ascents in the Pyrenees, Alps, Andes, and other ranges. He left a legacy of professionalization and passion for the mountains in both Catalan and national spheres.

“In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them, I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night. You -- only you -- will have stars that can laugh!”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Today, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released helmet-cam footage of an incredibly close call for a quick-thinking skydiver and the plane he was jumping from.

On September 20, a Cessna 208 Caravan took off from Tully Airport in Northern Queensland, Australia. The 17 skydivers on board planned a 16-person formation jump from 4,570m, filmed by a camera operator.

As the plane reached jump altitude and the first skydiver, Adrian Ferguson, positioned himself at the open door to exit, his reserve parachute's ripcord snagged on a wing flap, causing the reserve chute to deploy prematurely. It yanked him backward out of the plane, and his legs slammed into the aircraft's tail, inflicting substantial structural damage.

Meanwhile, the deployed parachute wrapped around the tail, suspending the skydiver precariously below. The pilot immediately felt the plane pitch upward due to the aerodynamic disruption. He had to apply significant forward pressure on the controls and right aileron input to maintain level flight. As the skydiver swung wildly, trying to free himself, the pilot declared a Mayday to air traffic control.

Thirteen of the remaining skydivers exited the plane and completed their jumps safely. Two others stayed aboard, observing as the suspended skydiver — showing remarkable composure — used a knife to cut away 11 of the 22 lines on his snagged chute. This allowed the remaining lines to tear free, releasing him into freefall.

Ferguson then deployed his main parachute. It became partly tangled with the fluttering reserve chute but was still functional enough for a controlled descent. He landed with only minor injuries, including a possible broken leg. The pilot, meanwhile, successfully landed the damaged aircraft safely back at Tully Airport.

Along with the footage, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its final investigation report. It highlighted how the skydiver's quick actions and the pilot's control averted catastrophe.

Watch the dramatic footage here:

The discovery that Mount Everest — initially an obscure geographical point known only as Peak XV — was the world's highest mountain was not a single "eureka" moment for one person. It was the culmination of decades of meticulous work by the British Survey of India. This monumental achievement was driven by five central figures.

Lambton’s first baseline

The story of how the height of Mount Everest was established begins not in the Himalaya but on a flat coastal plain south of Madras in the spring of 1802. On April 10 of that year, Lieutenant William Lambton, an infantry officer in the East India Company’s army, started measuring what would become the most famous baseline in the history of surveying.

With a 30.48m-long steel chain, compensated for temperature changes, he and his party spent weeks laying and re-laying out a line slightly more than 12km long between St. Thomas Mount and the village of Perumbauk. They measured every section three times forward and three times backward. The final probable error was less than 5cm.

From that single baseline, Lambton began building a chain of enormous triangles that he hoped would one day run from Cape Comorin to the snows of the north.

Lambton’s purpose was twofold: to produce accurate maps for revenue, military, and administrative use, and to measure a meridian arc long enough to improve knowledge of the Earth’s exact shape and dimensions. He called it the Great Trigonometrical Survey.

The work was slow. The triangles often had sides longer than 50km. Stations were placed on hilltops, temple towers, or specially built masonry platforms up to 15m high. Observations were taken only at night or in the early morning when the air was still, and every angle was read dozens of times.

Lambton himself carried the survey north through the Deccan, across the Narmada, and into central India. By the time fever finally killed him in January 1823 near Hinganghat in present-day Maharashtra, the Great Arc had reached latitude 20° 30′ N and covered more than 1,600km. The framework was in place, but the Himalaya still lay far ahead.

George Everest takes command

The man who inherited Lambton’s vision and turned it into a machine of almost frightening precision was Sir George Everest. Born in Greenwich in 1790, Everest had arrived in India as a teenage artillery cadet and quickly showed a talent for mathematics and astronomy. He joined the survey in 1818, became superintendent of the Great Arc in 1823, and was appointed Surveyor General of India in 1830.

Where Lambton had been enthusiastic and somewhat improvisational, Everest was methodical to the point of obsession. He threw out many of Lambton’s earlier triangles because they didn’t meet his new standards. He introduced compensation bars to correct for thermal expansion of measuring chains, insisted on observing the same angle on multiple nights, and demanded that every station be occupied by at least two independent observers.

The giant theodolite

Most famously, he replaced the lighter theodolites previously used. The Great Theodolite built by Troughton & Simms in London stood nearly 1.5m high, had a horizontal circle one meter in diameter, and could read angles to a single second of arc. Moving it required 30 porters and sometimes elephants.

The instrument was so heavy that at one station, it had to be dragged across a river on a raft. Under Everest’s management, the annual advance of the survey slowed to a crawl — sometimes only 50km a year — but the accuracy was unprecedented.

By 1841, the grid had reached the latitude of Dehradun, within sight of the outer ranges of the Himalaya. In 1843, exhausted and half-blind from years of night observing, Everest handed over command and sailed for England. He never saw the greatest result of his life’s work.

The next phase belonged to the field parties who had to work in the Terai, the narrow belt of swamp and jungle that stretches along the southern foot of the Himalaya. The Kingdom of Nepal had been closed to Europeans since the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–1816, and no British surveyor could cross the frontier. The only way to see the high peaks was from the Indian side, usually from 160 to 190km away.

The air in the Terai between November and March (when the high peaks were most likely to be clear) was thick with malaria. Observation towers 20 to 30m high were built of bamboo lashed together with ropes. At the top stood a small platform barely large enough for the great theodolite and two observers. They spent their nights in damp tents surrounded by leopards and tigers.

James Nicolson’s observations

The officer who commanded these operations in the critical seasons of 1849–1850, and 1850–51, was Captain James T. Nicolson of the Bengal Infantry. Nicolson selected six primary stations spread over a baseline of about 300km: Sandiakaphu in the Darjeeling district (the closest, at roughly 170km from Peak XV), then further west, Harpur, Jiwa Jamuni, Minai, Banog, and others.

From each station, rays were taken to as many as 30 or 40 snow peaks, including the giants later known as K2, Kangchenjunga, Makalu, and the mysterious Peak XV far to the northwest. The horizontal angles were tiny (Peak XV subtended less than one minute of arc from most stations), so every reading had to be repeated scores of times. Vertical angles were even more delicate because refraction could bend the line of sight by several minutes of arc, depending on temperature gradients in the atmosphere.

Nicolson’s health broke under the strain. By early 1850, he was so ill with malaria that he could barely stand. He was carried in a litter to Calcutta and never fully recovered. He died in 1857 at age 37, years before the final height was published.

His field books, however, reached Dehradun safely. Thousands of pages of meticulously recorded angles taken under the flickering light of oil lamps in bamboo towers swaying in the wind.

Radhanath Sikdar and the computers

At headquarters in the hill station of Mussoorie and later in the new computing offices at Dehradun sat the men who turned those angles into heights. The most important of them was Radhanath Sikdar.

Born in Calcutta in 1813, Sikdar had graduated from Hindu College, where he studied under the mathematician David Hare. Sikdar joined the survey in 1831 at the personal recommendation of Sir George Everest, who recognized his exceptional mathematical ability.

By the early 1850s, Sikdar was Chief Computer. It meant, in effect, that he was the head of the entire mathematical department. His staff of Indian computers worked in long, quiet rooms filled with the scratch of pens and the smell of ink.

The reduction of Nicolson’s observations was a colossal task. Each ray from each station had to be corrected for instrumental error, for temperature and pressure, and for the curvature of the Earth. Above all, they needed to correct for atmospheric refraction, which at those distances could amount to six or seven minutes of arc and change from hour to hour.

The effect of the Himalayan mass itself on the direction of gravity also had to be estimated. They did their calculations with seven-figure logarithms. It took months. When Sikdar finally combined all the data in 1852, the result was unmistakable: Peak XV stood at least 150m higher than Kangchenjunga and very close to 8,839 meters above the mean sea level at Calcutta.

Andrew Waugh’s final checks

The Surveyor General at that moment was Andrew Scott Waugh, a Scottish artillery officer who had been George Everest’s assistant. He had taken over from the great man in 1843.

Waugh was cautious by temperament. He refused to accept Sikdar’s result without exhaustive checking. He ordered additional observations from new stations. His assistants re-measured some of Nicolson’s rays, and independent computers repeated the calculations.

Only in 1854–1855 did Waugh begin to feel confident. Even then, he deliberately added 0.6m to the computed height, so that the final published figure, exactly 8,839.8m, would not look suspiciously round.

In March 1856, Waugh sent a long letter to the Royal Geographical Society in London. It announced that Peak XV was the highest mountain yet measured and gave its height as 8,839.8m.

In the same letter, he proposed the name Mount Everest, in honor of his predecessor. He explained that the survey had been unable to discover a commonly accepted local name. It was customary to name major features after distinguished former officers. George Everest, at the time 65 years old and living quietly in London, wrote a polite letter saying he would have preferred a native name, but the decision had already been made.

A century at the same height

The 8,839.8m stood as the official height for almost a century. It was refined slightly in 1904–1907 by the use of better refraction tables, and again in the 1950s with improved geodetic data. But the basic measurement from Nicolson’s Terai stations remained remarkably accurate.

Modern determinations, using theodolite triangulation from closer stations in the 1950s, photogrammetry, satellite geodesy, and finally GPS and gravimetry, together with the decision to measure to the top of the permanent snow cap rather than to bare rock, have settled on 8,848.86m as the current official height (China–Nepal agreement of December 8, 2020).

So, the discovery was never a single moment of revelation. It was the end product of a chain that began with Lambton’s steel cable on a coastal plain in 1802, was forged into an instrument of extraordinary precision by George Everest, carried into the malarial swamps by James Nicolson at the cost of his life, computed in the quiet offices of Dehradun by Radhanath Sikdar and his staff, and finally checked, corrected, and announced by Andrew Waugh.

Five men, five very different roles, six decades of institutional labor, and only then did the world learn the exact height of its highest point.

For a deeper journey into the measurement of Mount Everest, we recommend reading John Keay’s The Great Arc.

Last January, an Austrian woman in her mid-30s froze to death just 50m below the summit of 3,798m Grossglockner, the country's highest peak. At the time, she and her boyfriend, an experienced alpinist, were attempting a winter ascent of the technically demanding Stüdlgrat Ridge.

Now, almost 11 months later, the Innsbruck Prosecutor's Office has formally indicted the man on charges of grossly negligent manslaughter. The crime carries a sentence of up to three years in prison.

According to the prosecution, the experienced climber bears a leader's responsibility for a ”cascade of gross errors" that directly contributed to his girlfriend's death. The errors include leading an inexperienced partner — one who had never tackled an alpine climb of this length and difficulty before — up the exposed ridge. At the time, she was wearing soft splitboard boots, which were totally unsuitable for the rocky, icy terrain.

The couple had started at 6:45 am on January 18, 2025, and pushed into the night amid freezing temperatures and gale-force winds up to 74kph. Exhausted and hypothermic, the woman collapsed around midnight near the summit. The pair had a bivy sack and thermal blanket, but didn't use them. Her partner left her there around 2 am and descended alone via the normal route to the Adlersruhe hut. He finally called for help at 3:40 am.

Too late

Rescuers, including alpine police and local team members, reached her body at 10:10 am after a brutal hike in stormy conditions, but it was too late.

The man planned the route himself, but they began two hours behind schedule, without emergency bivouac gear standard for such winter endeavors. They pressed on past the last turnaround point at around 8:50 pm, even as conditions deteriorated and descending became impossible without ropes, which they lacked.

According to the indictment, the man ignored repeated incoming calls from the Alpine Police, alerted by concerned witnesses. He silenced his phone and failed to signal distress during a helicopter flyover, only alerting authorities hours later after abandoning the debilitated woman without providing wind protection or wrapping her in the emergency blanket.

The prosecutor's case rests on forensic medical reports, data from the couple's smartwatches and phones (including timestamps and ignored notifications), photographic and video evidence, witness testimonies, and expert opinions that underscore the man's higher duty of care as the more seasoned partner.

In a written response, he has denied any misconduct. The trial is set for February 19, 2026, according to oe24.at.

A German woman trekking alone in Nepal, who went missing on November 25, was found dead on Monday, December 1.

Astrid Elizabeth Weiser (Weisser in some sources), in her mid-30s, apparently died in a fall. An independent trekker with no guide or companions, she was on a multi-day journey through the Annapurna region.

According to Nepal news reports, Weiser had reached the Khopra part of the Annapurna region by late November. She stayed at the Khopra Community Lodge on the evening of November 24. This simple lodge is run by local residents.

On the morning of November 25, Weiser sent her final communication to her family from the lodge. She then set off alone toward Dobato, aiming to cover a standard segment of the Khopra Danda (or Khopra Ridge) Trek.

This route is part of the Annapurna Conservation Area, requiring permits, which she presumably obtained. Although the 2023 Nepal tourism regulations require all foreign trekkers in this area to hire a licensed guide, enforcement has remained lax.

The Khopra-Dobato section

According to detailed itineraries from trekking operators like Rad Global Adventure, the Khopra to Dobato route is a moderate descent spanning approximately 11km and typically taking 5 to 7 hours for fit hikers. From Khopra Ridge (3,660m), the trail drops steeply through open alpine pastures dotted with grazing yaks, transitioning into dense rhododendron and oak forests that provide shade but also obscure views of the sheer drop-offs.

In places, the path narrows to one to two meters in width, hugging cliff edges with potential exposures of 100 to 200 meters. Slips in foggy or wet conditions are a danger during the post-monsoon period. Still, hikers require no technical gear.

After the initial two kilometers of descent — where Weiser's accident occurred — the terrain levels into rolling meadows and forest.

This section is part of the Khopra Danda Trek, a 5 to 12-day itinerary, depending on side trips. It’s a lesser-known, off-the-beaten-path alternative for those seeking solitude and fewer crowds compared to high-traffic trails like the Annapurna Base Camp Trek, which sees over 50,000 visitors annually, or the classic Annapurna Circuit with its 30,000-40,000 trekkers per year.

The Khopra Danda route draws just 5,000-10,000 participants yearly, with fewer than 10 people per day often encountered on the Khopra-Dobato leg. This makes it ideal for experienced independent hikers, but riskier for novices due to limited infrastructure and traffic.

Discovery of the body

Weiser vanished shortly after starting her descent. Family members reported her missing after several days without contact, prompting informal searches by local guides and residents of the Khopra area.

According to Nepal News, on the afternoon of December 1, her body was discovered 160m off the trail, still just one to two kilometers from Khopra. The local police recovered her remains that day and transported the body to Kathmandu for examination. Preliminary investigations pointed to an accidental fall, consistent with the steep terrain.

The incident has sparked renewed debates about the dangers of solo hiking, the need for stricter enforcement of guide requirements, improved trail markings, and better information for visitors.

Overall fatality rates in Nepal range from 7 to 15 per 100,000 participants, with solo trekkers facing higher risks.

New Zealander Matheson Brown has set a new fastest-known time (FKT) for climbing the highest peak in each of the 50 U.S. states. Brown completed the challenge in 20 days and 14 hours.

According to Wilderness Magazine, the 28-year-old surpassed the previous record of 21 days and nine hours held by American endurance athlete Colin O’Brady, who achieved the feat in 2018. O’Brady used a private jet to travel between states, which Brown described as "like someone had come in and paid to win." In comparison, Brown traveled using economy flights and a rental car driven by his father.

On a shoestring

Brown, a former outdoor leadership student, funded the attempt through a series of manual jobs in New Zealand, including painting, scaffolding, fruit picking, construction, and forestry work. For training, he regularly ran half-marathons and completed core workouts.

The project took shape during New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, when Brown planned an efficient route across the United States. He summited peaks ranging from Alaska’s Denali (6,190m) to Florida’s Britton Hill (105m), and averaged around four hours of sleep per night.

One of Brown's goals was to show that individuals without professional sponsorship or significant financial backing can still pursue major endurance records.

"Truthfully, it wasn't about breaking the record; it was about making a statement," Brown wrote on social media.

On November 26, Sasha DiGiulian of the U.S. did the first female free ascent of the Platinum Wall, a 914m route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Also known as the Direct Line, it has 39 to 40 pitches, including 23 at a 5.12 difficulty and six at 5.13.

Established between 2009 and 2017 by Rob Miller and his partners, the Platinum Wall is El Capitan's longest free-climbable route. The development of the route, graded 5.13+ overall, began in 2006 when Miller and Justen Sjong explored variations to The Nose. In particular, they focused on exiting the Half Dollar on the Salathé Wall to reach the Triple Direct Ledge, 24m below Camp 4 on The Nose.

In 2010, Miller resumed the project during a hot, dry summer and discovered a more direct path up the slabs. Thereafter, he envisioned a nearly independent line to the Muir exit.

From 2013 to 2015, Miller and Elliot Faber collaborated on the project, hand-drilling and establishing Standing Rock (5.13a). In 2014, they found a direct line from Standing Rock's end to Triple Direct Ledge. They worked on the last hard pitch, traversing below the Muir roof, taking turns on long, exposed reaches.

First free ascent

Rob Miller and Elliot Faber attempted the first free ascent of the Platinum Wall in 2015; Faber and Jay Selvidge made a second attempt in 2016.

Finally, in 2017, Rob Miller and Roby Rudolf of Switzerland freed the Platinum Wall. Miller described their success in his report in the American Alpine Journal. On October 10, they began climbing and spent 14 days on the wall, alternating leads and freeing every pitch.

Preparation included carrying 113 liters of water and 15 days of food on foot to the summit, and distributing it to caches on Gold Ledge and Triple Direct Ledge.

The route's circuitous path on steep, blank slabs was challenging. So was finding beta for difficult traverses like the one below the Muir roof, and the exposure in high-consequence terrain. They had to bolt some pitches, particularly in the upper section between the Muir and The Nose.

The route begins just left of The Nose, ascends through 22 technical slab pitches, and accesses the upper half of the Muir route via the PreMuir (recommended) or the Shaft. From there, it follows the Muir corner system to overhanging terrain on the right wall. It finishes near the original Muir.

Says Miller:

Each tantalizing prospect on the upper wall would either yield a new approach or would clarify a dead end (which is also helpful). It never went as expected, but somehow different pieces of the puzzle started coming together.

He hopes for a one-day free ascent in the future.

Fourth free ascent

DiGiulian's climb marks the fourth free ascent of the route, following the first free by Miller and Rudolf in 2017; the second by Tobias Wolf and Thomas Hering in 2018; and a third by Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell in early 2025, according to Red Bull.

The climb began on November 2 and took 23 days. DiGiulian led 27 of the 40 pitches, including all crux sections, such as the 5.13c White Wizard pitch, the 5.13c Dog’s Head roof crack, the 5.13a Platinum fingertips crack, a 5.13d stemming corner requiring a long dynamic jump, and the 5.13a undercling roof on Teahupo'o, which was seasonally wet.

Prolonged storms

The weather presented significant challenges, with prolonged storms bringing heavy rain, snow, wind, and water sheeting from the summit. These forced DiGiulian and her partner, Elliot Faber, to remain on a portaledge for nine days.

Faber provided support from a nearby portaledge but was unable to complete several crux pitches. The ascent proceeded under clearing skies.

DiGiulian had prepared for the route over three seasons, focusing on rehearsals of the glacier-polished lower sections and upper cruxes. From the summit, she described the achievement as "the proudest climb of my career," noting her swollen and taped fingertips.

During the storms, she reported conditions as "Cold and super wet up here," and observed significant snowmelt resembling rain. Route pioneer Rob Miller described the route as "unlike anything I’ve ever climbed in the Valley" due to its blank face sections, bolts, powerful traverses, long downclimbs, and overall complexity.

On November 27, a shark killed a woman in Australia and severely injured her boyfriend, who was trying to help her.

Livia Muhlheim, 25, and Lukas Schindler, 26, both of Switzerland, were filming a pod of dolphins with a GoPro at Kylies Beach in New South Wales when a three-meter bull shark attacked them.

The incident happened early in the morning, at around 6:30 am. The bull shark struck Muhlheim first, biting her several times, severing her left arm, and injuring her leg. Schindler, a qualified diving instructor, tried to fight off the shark, but it bit him twice on his right leg, causing severe injuries.

Schindler managed to drag Muhlheim 50m to the shore and called emergency services. A bystander provided initial first aid, including making a tourniquet from her swimsuit. Emergency services arrived promptly, but despite their efforts, the woman died of her injuries at the scene. Schindler was airlifted to a hospital in serious but stable condition and remains under treatment.

Livia Muhlheim was a financial professional, a runner, and a former competitive synchronized swimmer. She and Schindler had been traveling extensively in Australia, and Schindler had recently taken part in the Sydney Marathon.

Drones patrolled the waters, and authorities used SMART drumlines -- a kind of bait rig to catch sharks -- but no further sightings have been reported. Police are reviewing the GoPro footage taken before the attack for clues. According to media outlets, it was the fifth fatal shark bite in Australia this year.

Bull shark

The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is considered one of the three shark species most dangerous to humans (along with great whites and tiger sharks). It is highly territorial and frequently inhabits the same murky, shallow coastal areas where humans swim.

Bull sharks use the classic "bump-and bite" investigative technique and rely heavily on smell rather than eyesight. It reacts aggressively when it perceives any intrusion, competition, or anything that splashes or bleeds.

2024: 47 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide

According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) from the Florida Museum of Natural History, there were 47 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks globally in 2024. An unprovoked attack occurs when the victim has not interacted with the shark beforehand. Simply swimming, surfing, or wading in the water doesn’t count as provocation. That same year, there were 24 provoked shark attacks worldwide. Four people died from shark attacks in 2024, all of them unprovoked.

From the 1980s to the early 2000s, winter 8,000m expeditions were the ultimate proving ground of Himalayan climbing. It was almost popular during that era. Hard men, often Polish, deliberately sought out extreme cold, high winds, and short days -- the harshest conditions the Nepalese Himalaya can present. Let's explore what the Himalayan Database (HDB) has to say about some of them.

The HDB generally accepts as winter climbs those that occur either within meteorological or calendar winter. The meteorological version runs from December 1 till the end of February; calendar winter goes from December 21-22 to March 20-21.

At the HDB, it's acceptable if expeditions arrive in base camp in November, as long as they summit during one of those official winter ranges. The crucial factor is when the summit occurs, not when the expedition reaches the mountain.

Most-visited winter peaks

Until the end of 2024, there have been a total of 104 winter expeditions on the eight 8,000m peaks in Nepal (Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Manaslu, and Annapurna I).

The most visited winter 8,000'er is Everest. Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki of Poland first climbed it on February 17, 1980.

In all, 35 teams have attempted Everest in winter. Of those, only five summited -- a meager 15 climbers in all. Only one topped out without supplemental oxygen: Ang Rita Sherpa, on December 22, 1987, at the age of 39.

The second most popular 8,000m winter peak in Nepal is Manaslu. Its first winter ascent took place on January 12, 1984. Again, it was two Polish climbers, Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski, who made it. They used no bottled oxygen.

A total of 25 teams targeted Manaslu. As on Everest, only five teams -- 22 people, including 16 without extra oxygen -- succeeded.

Maciej Berbeka, Maciej Jozef Pawlikowski, Zyga Heinrich, and Jerzy Kukuczka of Poland first summited Cho Oyu in winter on February 12, 1985. These Polish strongmen did not use bottled oxygen. Fifteen teams tried, six succeeded, totaling 18 winter summiters. All of them went without bottled oxygen.

Dhaulagiri I

Dhaulagiri I had an early winter ascent by Akio Kuizumi of Japan and Wangchu Sherpa of Nepal, on December 13, 1982, using bottled oxygen. But the widely accepted first winter ascent was on January 21, 1985, by Andrzej Czok and Jerzy Kukuczka. They used no supplemental oxygen.

Fourteen parties tried Dhaulagiri I in winter; five succeeded, putting a total of 11 climbers on the top, including nine without oxygen.

Rarely summited

Kangchenjunga was first summited in winter on January 11, 1986, again by two Poles. Krzysztof Wielicki and Jerzy Kukuczka used no bottled oxygen.

Only three teams have attempted Kangchenjunga in winter; two out of the three reached the top. Apart from Wielicki and Kukuczka, only Jeong-chel Lee of South Korea successfully summited Kangchenjunga in winter. He did so on January 2, 1988, using supplemental oxygen.

Artur Hajzer and Jerzy Kukuczka first ascended Annapurna I in winter on February 3, 1987, without oxygen. Although 24 parties have tried this mountain, only two teams -- six climbers -- did so in winter, all without bottled oxygen.

Denis Urubko and Simone Moro made the first winter climb of Makalu on February 9, 2009, without supplemental oxygen. Since then, although 14 other parties have attempted it, none have succeeded.

Eight teams have tried to climb Lhotse in winter, but Krzysztof Wielicki was the only climber to summit. That took place on December 31, 1988, without bottled oxygen.

Fatalities

Out of 104 winter expeditions to these eight 8,000'ers in Nepal, 27 climbers have died, including seven on Everest, four on Kangchenjunga, one on Makalu, four on Cho Oyu, four on Dhaulagiri I, two on Manaslu, and five on Annapurna I. No winter fatality has occurred on Lhotse.

Out of those deceased climbers, 22 did not use bottled oxygen, including all of those on Kangchenjunga, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri I, Makalu, and Annapurna I.

The most common cause of death was falling. Fourteen fatalities occurred this way. Two others died in a crevasse, and six perished in an avalanche. The rest perished of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or some other illness.

Among the deceased were some of the best climbers of their era, including Yasuo Kato and Toshiaki Kobayashi of Japan, who died on Everest in December 1982. Read more about them here.

Other fallen giants included Andrzej Czok, who died on Kangchenjunga of Acute Mountain Sickness in January 1986. Jean-Christophe Lafaille died in a crevasse fall at 7,700m on Makalu in January 2006. Anatoli Boukreev and Dmitry Sobolev’s deaths on winter Annapurna I were also a great loss. Boukreev, Sobolev, and Simone Moro were caught in an avalanche on December 25, 1997. Only Moro survived.

Today, winter expeditions to 8,000'ers are rare. Jost Kobusch of Germany has made three attempts to climb Everest in winter via the West Ridge solo. He's sitting this year out, however. At the moment, the only two climbers to attempt a winter climb will be Simone Moro and Nima Rinji Sherpa. The pair will attempt Manaslu alpine style. This is Moro’s seventh winter attempt on this peak.

Geoffrey Winthrop Young (1876-1958), British climber, poet, and author of several books, was one of the most important and influential figures in the history of British mountaineering. His significance was not only due to his notable climbs. He shaped the sport technically, ethically, and culturally.

Young was born into a wealthy, intellectual, and climbing family. His father, Sir George Young, was a baronet and classical scholar who had pioneered early Alpine routes. When Sir George’s brother died in a climbing accident on Mont Blanc in 1865, he decided to quit climbing. He even banned any mention of climbing in the family home. But sons and daughters often defy their father's taboos, and when Geoffrey Winthrop Young was a young man, he discovered the beauty of climbing.

At the age of 21, Young ascended Mont Blanc with a guide. After that, he fell in love with mountaineering. He started climbing in Britain and Wales during the school holidays while he worked as a teacher. However, at that time, the ethic of going without a guide was already emerging. In 1904, Young already held the opinion that hiring guides was something outdated for skilled amateurs.

Ascents in the Alps

From 1905 to 1914, Young led a small, elite circle that systematically climbed hard lines in the Alps without guides, often in lightweight style and in bad weather. One of his partners was Josef Knubel, one of the era's top Zermatt guides, whom Young later called his ideal companion.

Together and with others like Siegfried Herford, they carried out an astonishing number of notable ascents in the Alps, including:

• the Southeast Face of the Weisshorn and the Furggen Ridge of the Matterhorn in 1905
• the first ascent of the South Ridge of Täschhorn
• new routes on the Weisshorn and Dom in 1906
• the Midi-Plan traverse in less than 15 hours
• the Southeast Ridge of Nesthorn
• new routes on the Rimpfischhorn and Zinal Rothorn in 1907
• the ascent of the Mer de Glace face of the Aiguille du Grepon in 1908
• the Northeast Face of the Charmoz in 1909
• the first ascent of the Brouillard Ridge of Mont Blanc with H.O. Jones and George Mallory
• the first complete traverse of the West Ridge of the Grandes Jorasses
• the first guideless traverse of the Frontier Ridge of Mont Maudit in 1911

In 1913-14, he ascended the Zmutt Ridge of the Matterhorn and the West Ridge of the Gspaltenhorn with Herford. This was Young's last great pre-war climb.

Transformative

These weren't always the hardest ascents of the era, because climbers like Hans Dulfer and Paul Preuss were already pushing free-climbing to new levels in the Kaiser and the Dolomites.

But in British alpinism, Young's ascents were transformative. They proved amateurs could match professionals, emphasizing balance, trust, and minimal gear over brute force. And that was the point.

From around 1907, Young organized legendary Easter and Christmas meets at the Gorphwysfa Hotel (later called the Pen-y-Pass Youth Hostel) in Snowdonia. Up to 60 climbers — men, women, and even children — converged for two weeks of cragging on sites like Clogwyn du’r Arddu and Idwal Slabs. Evenings of lectures, rope practice, and debate followed these days of climbing.

These gatherings were the beginning of a climbing school for the next generation. Women climbed on equal terms, a rarity then, and the atmosphere fostered an "almost ideal social fabric."

Every key British climber of the interwar years went to those meetings, including Mallory, Herford, John Percy Farrar, and Oscar Eckenstein. Young taught balance techniques, modern belaying, and the moral weight of leadership.

The Alpine Club archives highlight these get-togethers as the beginning of British rock ethics, shifting from "engineer's climbing" (top roping) to free, partnership-based ascents.

Young also pioneered new British routes on Northumberland crags, the Lake District, and on Welsh slate.

Mallory mentor

George Leigh Mallory met Young at the 1909 Pen-y-Pass meeting. The 33-year-old Young realized that the young Mallory (then 23) was a talented climber and invited him to the Alps.

From 1911–1914, Mallory roped up almost exclusively with Young, and they climbed together the Brouillard Ridge, Mont Maudit Frontier, the Grepon North Ridge, and more. Young imparted his guideless ethics, balance moves, and alpine minimalism. All these influenced Mallory's later style.

Their bond was fraternal. Young was the best man at Mallory's 1914 wedding. As Alpine Club records note, Young was Mallory's "principal guide" in his formative years. Without him, the Everest icon might have stayed earthbound.

Injured in WWI

In 1914, World War I broke out. Working as a correspondent for the Daily News, Young crossed to Belgium after Mallory’s wedding. As a conscientious objector, he joined the Friends’ Ambulance Unit in Flanders and then commanded the First British Ambulance Unit for Italy in 1916. On the brutal Isonzo Front, he drove ambulances under fire. There were no fatalities under his command, and he saved thousands, earning the Belgian Order of Leopold and Italian Silver Medal for Valour, as well as British decorations.

On August 31, 1917, during the assault on Monte San Gabriele, shrapnel shredded his left leg above the knee, which had to be amputated. It seemed that his climbing career was over. But Young didn’t give up. He designed an aluminum prosthetic leg and tested it on Tryfan in 1919. As Wayne Willoughby reported in the American Alpine Journal, Young wrote to Mallory about his plans to continue climbing: ”Now I shall have the immense stimulus of a new start, with every little inch of progress a joy instead of commonplace. I count on my great-hearts, like you, to share in the fun of that game with me.”

'I keep the dreams I won'

From then until 1935, Young climbed routes like the South Ridge of the Täschhorn, the Matterhorn, the Petits Charmoz, Dent du Requin, Grepon, Zinal Rothorn, and Monte Rosa, which companion Claude Elliott called "the greatest physical feat” he had ever witnessed.

We can see his impressive resilience in his beautiful post-amputation poem of 1917, entitled I Hold the Heights:

I have not lost the magic of long days;
I live them, dream them still.
Still I am a master of the starry ways,
And freeman of the hill;
Shattered my glass, ere half the sands had run -
I hold the heights I won.

Mine still the hope that haileth me from each height
Mine the unresting flame.
With dreams I charmed each doing to delight;
I charm my rest the same.
Severed my skein, ere half the strands were spun -
I keep the dreams I won.

What if I live no more those kingly days?
Their night sleeps with me still.
I dream my heart upon the starry ways;
My heart rests in the hill.
I may not grudge the little left undone;
I hold the heights, I keep the dreams I won.

Writes 'Mountain Craft'

In 1920, Young published Mountain Craft, which remains one of the most important manuals in mountaineering history. It focuses on different topics: technical skills, route-finding, mountain judgment, reading terrain and weather, history and ethics, training and leadership, and first aid and rescue techniques. In fact, the book contains one of the earliest systematic approaches to mountain rescue in print.

Mountain Craft remained the standard reference for serious mountaineers for decades. He also wrote: The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity (1899), Wall and Roof Climbing (1905), Freedom -- Poems (1914), From the Trenches: Louvain to the Aisne, the First Record of an Eye-Witness (1914), On High Hills: Memories of the Alps (1927), Collected Poems (1936), Mountains with a Difference (1951), The Grace of Forgetting (1953), and Snowdon Biography with Sutton & Noyce (1957).

”For the youngest, as for readers of all ages, it is a blessing that his books will always be there,” wrote David Allan Robertson Jr. in the American Alpine Journal in his remembrance piece on Young.

Young died on September 8, 1958, at age 81.

When historians list the handful of people who changed mountaineering, Young’s name is always there. Few have touched the sport at so many decisive points. As the American Alpine Journal noted in its 1959 obituary, Young exemplified melding mind and body, graciously and gallantly, into full play. Young stands in much the same relationship to his era as Edward Whymper was to the Golden Age or Albert Mummery to the Silver Age of alpinism.

You can read Mountain Craft here.

Beginning in 2026, foreign visitors to popular American national parks will pay a $100 surcharge, beyond the entry fee that everyone pays.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that this new fee will apply to the 11 most-visited parks -- Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.

Non-nationals can avoid this $100 à la carte surcharge by purchasing the new nonresident America the Beautiful annual pass for $250. (The current price is $80.)

U.S. citizens and permanent residents will see no increase in entrance fees or in the price of their $80 annual pass. The changes are designed to keep visits affordable for American families while generating additional revenue for the parks.

“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations."

Additional details are posted on Recreation.gov and NPS.gov.

On November 17, a sudden blizzard with winds reaching 193kph struck the remote O Circuit trail in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park. Several international trekkers near the top of John Garner Pass bore the worst of the storm. Five of them died.

The incident has sparked intense criticism of park management, staffing levels, weather forecasting, and rescue delays. Here, we reconstruct the timeline of what happened and the controversies around it.

The O Circuit (also called the Paine Massif Circuit) is a 130 to 140km, 7 to 10-day trek that circles the entire Torres del Paine massif. It is the only route that includes the remote western backside of the park. Rated difficult to very difficult, it features long distances between campsites, 4,000m of total elevation gain, and exposed passes.

A group of about 40 hikers started the trek together on November 14 and formed a casual alliance through shared campsites, according to Megan Wingfield, one of the survivors of that day. Although a few of them were accompanied by a guide, most were on the O Circuit independently.

Wingfield and her group turned around 200m from the top of the pass when three retreating hikers warned them it was too dangerous to continue. As they struggled to descend in whiteout conditions, others lost their way or were stranded at the top of pass during the worst of the storm.

The victims

The group of about 30 included five British friends who had spent months planning their Patagonia adventure. They were Victoria Bond (40, a public relations consultant from Cornwall), Hayley Newnham, Tom Player, Matt Smith, and film and TV director Christian Aldridge.

A Mexican couple -- Cristina Calvillo Tovar, 37, and Julian Garcia Pimentel, 36 -- and a German couple, Nadine Lichey, 45, and Andreas von Pein, 52, were independent pairs who were also part of the larger group during the final ascent to John Garner Pass. All had spent the night before at the Los Perros campsite.

As a result of the storm, five eventually died. Calvillo Tovar, Garcia Pimentel, Nadine Lichey, Andreas Von Pein -- the Mexican and German couples -- and Victoria Bond, who was with the five-person British group.

Timeline

Between November 13 and 17, hundreds of hikers from various countries were on the O Circuit. "There are 8-10 campsites...and each one hosts 50 or so hikers," Wingfield told ExplorersWeb.

On November 16, the weather was already rough, although some hikers still managed to cross the pass, despite 140kph winds. By that evening, those who would suffer the worst of the storm had converged at Los Perros campsite, the last sheltered refuge before the exposed John Garner Pass.

"The pass is only six kilometers long, the super exposed part being even shorter, maybe two kilometers," explained Wingfield.

Chile’s presidential election on November 16-17 reduced CONAF (National Forestry Corporation of Chile) ranger staffing by about half, because voting is compulsory for public employees. Therefore, any weather evaluations that evening were not site-specific.

No ranger was present at Los Perros or on the pass itself to evaluate the weather or to consider temporarily closing the route. Campground staff (hired by a private concessionaire) shared only standard public weather apps, which predicted light rain and winds up to 100kph, conditions considered ”normal” for the pass, according to Christian Aldridge, one of the British hikers.

At 1,241m, John Garner Pass is the highest point of the O Circuit, located on the west side of the Paine massif. The last part is above tree line. Harsh winds of 80-100kph often hit this area, and bad weather can come at any time. The trail follows a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides.

The storm

On November 17 between 5 to 7 am, about 30 hikers left Los Perros for John Garner Pass. Conditions started drizzly, but deteriorated rapidly after 10 am. Winds reached 193kph, and visibility dropped to less than three meters. The temperature fell to −5 °C, but the wind chill was far below -20°C.

"We all studied the Windguru website the night prior," recalled Megan Wingfield. "On the advice of the Los Perros campsite staff, [we] left early because that was our 'best weather window.' The weather changed extremely quickly to life-threatening conditions."

Those who had the unlucky timing to be at the highest point of the circuit, received the full lethal force of the storm. Wingfield told ExplorersWeb:

By the time conditions became life-threatening, we were all fairly compact together because the exposed part of the pass is only around 2km...None of us remember seeing the German or Mexican couples. We believe they were ahead of us, and therefore higher up the pass when we all turned back.

In the blowing snow and poor visibility, it was also impossible to keep track of others, including the five-person British group.

Those who turned back barely made it down safely. Wingfield described to The New York Times how bodies slid in all directions and one hiker went for a long whipper down the icy slope. Although some of the survivors were injured, Wingfield and most of the others managed to retreat down to Los Perros on their own by noon.

But five had not.

A distress post appeared on the Torres del Paine Facebook group around 2 to 3 pm. Initial response by CONAF was slow, and bad weather grounded the helicopters.

Rescue and body recoveries

On November 18, volunteer rescue teams made up of the survivors reached the area on foot and found some of the bodies scattered over a one to two-kilometer area near the pass.

Incredibly, two of the hikers were still alive...barely. But despite the help, they couldn't hang on. Megan Wingfield explained:

Cristina [Tovar] was found by the search-and-rescue team of fellow hikers. She was found first. She was still alive...They brought her down on a stretcher made from hiking poles, rope, and tarp. She became unconscious on the way down and suffered cardiac arrest. She got many rounds of CPR by doctors in the group of hikers (there were many), but was not able to be revived.

After Cristina, they found Julian [Pimentel]. He was deceased when they found him and not brought down back to camp. Then, search and rescue hikers also found Nadine [Lichey], still alive. They were not able to move her, so they brought up bottles of hot water and sleeping bags to wrap her in. She passed fairly quickly, still on the mountain.

The next day, the weather improved enough for limited helicopter operations. Those with bad injuries were airlifted to the hospital in Puerto Natales. The rest hiked out on their own. The prosecutor announced the start of a formal investigation.

On November 20–22, a helicopter recovered the bodies, and the repatriation process began, coordinated by the UK, Mexican, and German embassies.

Twenty-seven hikers required medical attention, according to the final tally released by the Regional Government of Magallanes on November 20.

Controversies and criticisms

Following the incident, criticisms emerged, mostly by the survivors, who have publicly shared accounts through media interviews, social media posts, and statements to investigators. They criticize, in particular, the rangers’ absence on election day (November 16–17).

According to the survivors, there were inaccurate weather forecasts and a lack of real-time monitoring. Public apps and campground briefings predicted maximum 100kph winds, less than half the actual gusts. No satellite or on-site weather stations existed for the backside of the range.

They also blame the Park for the delayed rescue response. The first Facebook distress call was initially dismissed. Helicopters could not fly until November 19 due to extreme winds and zero visibility, forcing injured survivors to self-evacuate. Bodies remained exposed for nearly three days, according to the rescue chronology published by La Tercera.

In the survivors' opinion, another weak point is the optional guiding on a very difficult route. Despite the O Circuit’s high risk rating and remoteness, professional guides are not mandatory, unlike many comparable routes worldwide.

These have directly fueled the ongoing probe and public backlash against CONAF (the park authority), the campground operator Vertice, and the lack of broader safety protocols.

A horror film

Aldridge told the press that the storm was a "horror film." He sharply criticized the forecast inaccuracies ("100kph predicted; it was triple that") and the absence of rangers due to election staffing shortages was "mismanagement at its worst." The other survivors described the terror of ”screaming names into the wind,” and watching friends vanish meters away in the whiteout.

CONAF temporarily suspended new O Circuit reservations during the aftermath and is conducting an internal review.

Prosecutor Cristian Crisosto told Channel T13 on November 21 that survivor testimony forms the backbone of the criminal investigation into possible negligence and failure to assist persons in danger. No charges have been filed yet, but the case remains active.

Those who are more familiar with Patagonia and its mountain areas know that sudden bad weather can hit at any time, and storms are very harsh. Even 100kph winds would have been dangerous on that exposed pass.

This remains the worst incident in Torres del Paine National Park since the 2011 wildfire that claimed one ranger’s life and burned nearly 18,000 hectares.

Megan Wingfield concluded:

It was unimaginably terrible. And just the lack of response from anyone in the park...It was shocking how we did this all ourselves with our limited resources. Luckily, half the group of hikers were doctors, including my husband and I, but even so, there was not much we could do. Ugh.

We are still processing the treachery of both the storm on the pass and the aftermath. The Mexican couple were both physicians and so was Nadine [Lichey]. All five victims were such smart, capable, able-bodied people...so tragic.

Obviously, none of us would have attempted this hike if we'd had any idea.

Indonesia's highly active Mount Semeru released a massive column of scalding ash and gas yesterday, November 19. It forced hundreds of residents to flee to safety, according to AP.

The eruption generated a thick, grey ash plume that reached two kilometers into the atmosphere. The most immediate danger, however, came from the swiftly moving pyroclastic flow (superheated rock, ash, and gas), that avalanched down the volcano's slopes, traveling as far as seven kilometers from the crater.

Local officials in East Java immediately began moving approximately 300 residents from vulnerable villages near the volcano's base. The evacuees are currently living in temporary shelters in local schools, government offices, and mosques, according to Al Jazeera. No deaths were reported.

The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) issued a stark warning, establishing an exclusion zone of roughly eight kilometers around the crater. Everyone has been warned to avoid this area due to continued risk of further pyroclastic flows and lava activity, according to Reuters.

Below, a short video of Semeru's eruption:

Climbers stranded but safe

Amid the chaos, a group of 170 climbers and support staff found themselves temporarily stranded while camping on the mountain. Authorities confirmed today that miraculously, everyone is safe. Rescuers are helping them descend, according to Reuters.

A red alert warned pilots to steer clear of the potential ash cloud, but flight disruptions have been minimal so far.

Meanwhile, volcanic ash has covered the streets and partially buried homes in nearby communities. The monitoring of the volcano remains at Level 4, the highest level. The event is a reminder of Semeru's destructive potential: In December 2021, a major eruption left widespread devastation, with dozens of fatalities.

A live video cam shows Semeru, belching superheated ash and rocks:

Pyroclastic flows are one of the most dangerous features of a volcanic eruption, much deadlier than lava. A pyroclastic flow from Mount Vesuvius famously obliterated the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. In 1991, a pyroclastic flow in Japan killed volcano photographers Katia and Maurice Krafft. In his film Into the Inferno, Werner Herzog showed the deadly cloud that consumed them, beginning at the 2:17 mark of the trailer below.

Chomolhari, also called Qomo Lhari, lies right on the Tibet-Bhutan border. Its north face drops down 2,700m to the Tibetan Plateau. The south side is shorter but heavily glaciated, feeding western Bhutan's sacred river, the Paro Chhu.

For the Bhutanese and Tibetans, this 7,326m peak is the abode of the goddess Jomo Lhari, who safeguards the land, its faith, and its people. Until the 1990s, climbing was either banned or restricted because of its sacred status. Combined with brutal winds and border issues, this explains why only six known parties have attempted it in almost 90 years.

This summer, an interesting climb took place on the Chomolhari massif, which went largely unnoticed. The American Alpine Journal just reported it on November 10.

The first ascent

The mountain first appeared in Western mountaineering literature during the 1924 Everest reconnaissance, when Noel Odell described its north face as "a most formidable precipice of rock and ice."

Real access, however, had to wait until the 1937 British diplomatic mission to Lhasa, headed by Basil Gould. Sir Basil John Gould (1883-1956), often known as B.J., was a prominent British diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the Political Officer for Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet.

Freddie Spencer Chapman, officially the mission’s ornithologist and radio officer, managed to obtain a rare climbing permit from the Tibetan government. Chapman, accompanied only by Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama, crossed the 5,200m south col from Tibet on May 20 and descended into Bhutan. The next day, they climbed the southeast spur in good snow conditions.

Close call on the descent

The descent was another matter. Near the summit, while Chapman was taking a photo, Pasang slipped, carrying away Chapman. He fell 152m, but finally was able to self-arrest with his ice axe, just a few meters from a precipice.

After that, a storm hit the mountain, and the two men set up camp and waited for the storm to subside. Chapman then fell into a crevasse and spent three hours getting out on frozen ropes while Pasang held him from above. They survived the descent by eating snow mixed with barley meal.

They regained the col on May 23 and returned to Tibet. It remained the only ascent for the next 34 years.

Tragedy on the second ascent

Bhutan’s first post-war monarch, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, finally allowed climbing in 1970. An Indo-Bhutanese military expedition was organized under Lieutenant Colonel Narendra Kumar of the Indian Army, with Dorjee Lhatoo, later director of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, as climbing leader.

On April 23, 1971, the first summit team — Prem Chand, Dorjee Lhatoo, Santosh Arora, and Sherpa Thondup — reached the top via the same southeast spur, using bamboo ladders fixed across crevasses for the lower parties. Later, in the American Alpine Journal, Lhatoo described the ritual performed before the climb: “Gold, silver, and jewels were offered to the mountain deity at base camp to ask permission for the ascent.”

The following day, a second team, consisting of Sherpa Ang Nima and Captains S.L. Kang and Dharam Pal, who were both relatively inexperienced at high altitude, left for the summit. According to the expedition report: “From base camp, they were observed through binoculars until 6,800m on the final ridge, when cloud enveloped them. They never reappeared.”

Searches began on April 26. Indian Air Force helicopters flew repeated sorties as ground parties scoured the south side and the Tibetan frontier. Only minor items, such as a telephoto lens and some food tins, were ever found.

“It is presumed that the party fell down the almost vertical north face into Tibet, a drop of over 2,400m,” Kumar recalled.

Dorjee Lhatoo later suggested that the climbers may have strayed across the border and been detained, though no evidence ever surfaced. The fate of the three men remains unknown.

A poorly documented ascent

After Bhutan tightened access again in the 1980s, the next confirmed ascent came from the Tibetan side. A joint Sino-Japanese expedition in 1996 or 1997 approached via the south col and climbed a variation of the southeast spur. It remains the only recorded ascent between 1971 and 2004.

In the spring of 2004, the experienced British–New Zealand couple Julie-Ann Clyma and Roger Payne attempted the striking 1,950m northwest pillar, visible from the Tibetan plateau. They established base camp at 4,500m on the west side and spent weeks waiting for a weather window.

“The wind was relentless, often exceeding 100 kilometers per hour even at camp," wrote Payne. "Above 6,000m on the pillar, it became impossible to climb safely. Spindrift avalanches poured continuously.”

Summit by the south col-south ridge

After abandoning the pillar, Clyma and Payne crossed the south col under a full moon. On May 7, 2004, they climbed the normal route alpine-style, in a single 12-hour push from high camp. They summited in rapidly deteriorating weather and hurried down to base camp the same day.

“Chomolhari’s reputation for wind is fully deserved,” concluded Payne. "It is the dominant factor on every route."

A Slovenian masterpiece

In the autumn of 2006, a six-member Slovenian team received one of the last-minute Chinese permits that occasionally surface for this border zone. Marko Prezelj, Boris Lorencic, Rok Blagus, Tine Cuder, Matej Kladnik, and Samo Krmelj set up base camp at 5,000m beside the sacred lake on the Tibetan side. While four members climbed a new 1,900m line up the left gully of the north face to the east ridge (TD+, sustained 80° ice), Prezelj and Lorencic spent six days forcing the direct northwest pillar that had repelled Clyma and Payne.

“We had two bivouacs of extreme discomfort,” wrote Prezelj. "At the second, under a small roof at 6,500m, the wind was so violent that sleep was impossible, and we simply waited for morning, half-frozen."

They topped out on October 17 after climbing mixed terrain up to M6 and ice to 90° with minimal gear and no fixed ropes. The route was awarded the 2007 Piolet d’Or, the only time Chomolhari has ever received this level of international recognition.

Prezelj remarked, “On Chomolhari, the mountain decides everything. We were just allowed to pass.”

2025: the first ascent of Chomolhari III

This year, however, an excellent expedition escaped notice in the press. In February, a Chinese expedition headed to Chomolhari. They weren't there for the main peak, but for the unclimbed subsidiary summit, 6,706m Chomolhari III. This satellite peak sits approximately four kilometers east of the main summit, along the international border ridge.

Fu Youngpeng and Liu Yang had attempted the north spur before, but the harsh, cold wind stopped them at 6,000m. Liu returned in July 2025, this time with Song Yuancheng and He Lang.

On July 23, the trio started off, simul-climbing rapidly past the February high point. They climbed at night in order to avoid avalanche danger on the lower 700m of the spur.

According to the climbers, three distinct rock bands girdled the upper spur. The party cleared the first on day one via protectable mixed pitches. They then dug in for an uncomfortable sitting bivouac at 6,200m just below the second band.

The three Chinese climbed the second band (M4-M5) on July 25, leading to a far better night in a small cave under a boulder at 6,450m. On the summit day, they still had to solve the final crux: a steep wall of deep, unconsolidated snow that repeatedly collapsed.

Health issues

After several failed attempts, Liu Yang found a firmer line on the right that allowed the trio to reach the summit cornice, just after midday on July 26. They downclimbed and rappelled the same line over the following two days. Liu began showing symptoms of high-altitude cerebral edema, so they started abandoning gear on tricky anchors and continuing to rappel even on easier ground.

All three reached base camp on the morning of July 28, according to the American Alpine Journal, and Chomolhari III was ascended for the first time. They named their 1,400m route (graded AI2, M5, 70° snow, everything free-climbed), The Shining Wall. Note that this is not the Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV.

The true summit of Chomolhari has remained unclimbed in recent years.

Why so few ascents?

The reasons are straightforward and have barely changed since 1937. Bhutan doesn't give climbing permits, and the Tibetan side is effectively closed to foreigners, since the summit ridge itself is the frontier. Then there's the wind; almost every climbing report mentions sustained 80–120kph winds above 6,000m, even on supposedly calm days.

The 6,972m Chomolhari II, also called Tserim Kang, remains unclimbed. The slightly lower east summit, at approximately 6,922m, was reached in 2006 by the same Slovenian team that had climbed new routes on the main peak’s north side.

Altogether, the Chomolhari group is one of the most beautiful and least visited 6,000-7,000m massifs in the entire Himalaya.

A violent snowstorm in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park has claimed the lives of five tourists.

On Monday, November 17, sudden extreme weather, with heavy snowfall and gusts up to 193kph, caught a group of international hikers on the “O” Circuit trek in the remote Los Perros–Paso John Garner sector.

The bodies of two deceased hikers, both Mexican nationals, were recovered first. Later today, three more were found dead: a German man and woman, and a British woman. These three were among the seven originally reported missing. Four others have been located alive, and there are currently no missing persons.

Search-and-rescue operations involved around 30 park rangers, military personnel, and specialized teams. They continued their work despite poor visibility and strong winds, according to La Prensa Austral. Since everyone is now accounted for, the search has been called off.

Authorities have closed parts of Torres del Paine National Park.

From the first guided ascents of the 19th century to the solo speed records of today, the European Alps were and remain the cradle of alpinism. Any single story from its climbing history -- one ascent, one tragedy, one success -- inevitably leads to others.

Today, we follow that thread and tell a few of the countless stories of 3,773m Aiguille Noire de Peuterey. Also known as the Black Needle, this sharp granite tower lies on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif.

One of the longest ridges of the Alps

Aiguille Noire de Peuterey is in the Aosta Valley between the Brenva and Freney Glaciers. The peak is part of the Peuterey Ridge, a 12km line of rock and ice that runs from about 1,500m in the valley to the summit of 4,810m Mont Blanc. This makes it one of the longest continuous ridges in the Alps.

To the north, the Aiguille Noire is separated from the higher 4,112m Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey by the sharp pinnacles of Les Dames Anglaises. The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey has been an important objective for climbers since the late 19th century.

Golden Age of Alpinism

Emile Rey and Jean-Baptiste Bich were two of the most accomplished Italian guides of the 19th-century's Golden Age of Alpinism. The two Aosta Valley locals were members of the Société des Guides de Courmayeur. Rey, a Courmayeur guide who worked extensively in Chamonix, earned the informal title of Prince of Guides for his visionary route finding.

Lord Wentworth was the grandson of the poet Lord Byron. He made more than a dozen first ascents in the Alps, all with Rey. On August 5, 1877, Rey and Bich guided Wentworth to the summit of Aiguille Noire, completing its first ascent by its east-southeast ridge.

Preuss, the purist

In 1913, two young men wanted to ascend the South Ridge of the Black Needle, then still unclimbed. They were the Austrian purist Paul Preuss, then 26, and Count Ugo di Vallepiana, a 22-year-old Italian student of economics who became a war hero and author of Italy's first ski manual. Preuss was a master of ropeless ascents and a fierce purist who rejected artificial aid. He looked at the 1,100m knife-edge ridge and declared, "Others will climb it. I renounce it," as noted in David Smart’s book Paul Preuss - Lord of the Abyss.

In Preuss’s view, the route demanded pitons and ropes for safety, and other unfair means he refused to use. He had already soloed over 300 peaks without aid and believed that any climb that required gear violated a mountain’s integrity.

The same afternoon that he rejected the South Ridge, with Vallepiana watching from below, Preuss soloed the easier East Ridge of the peak in under five hours. By 4 pm, Preuss was already drinking coffee in Courmayeur, according to Count Aldo Bonacossa’s eyewitness account. Unfortunately, Preuss died a few months later, on October 3, 1913, on Mandlkogl, falling 300m to his death during a free solo.

The first ascent of the South Ridge

In the summer of 1930, Karl Brendel and Hermann Schaller from Germany fulfilled Preuss’ prophecy, becoming the first to climb the South Ridge. Starting from Bivacco Borelli at 2,325m, the duo climbed approximately 50 pitches, first to Pointe Gamba, and then through exposed aretes, dihedrals, and difficult chimneys.

They bivouacked on a narrow ledge at Pointe Bich, roped together for safety. The next day, Brendel and Schaller summited. The two Germans, using only a few points for belays, honored to a certain degree Preuss’s free-climbing ideals. The route was graded TD+, meaning très difficile -- very difficult.

The first ascent of the Peuterey Integrale

The Peuterey Integrale is the unbroken, 10 to 12km ridge on the Italian (south) face of Mont Blanc. It starts in Val Veny at 1,500m and continues to the summit of Mont Blanc. The line is one of the most committing routes of the Alps, as well as the longest. It has approximately 4,500m of vertical gain.

On July 28-31, 1934, Adolf Gottner and Ludwig Schmaderer from Germany, along with Ferdinand Krobath from Austria, carried out the first ascent of the Peuterey Integrale.

They left Val Veny with 70m hemp ropes and food for four days. They ascended the South Ridge of Aiguille Noir de Peuterey in the rain, then made 10 rappels down the Northwest Face into Breche des Dames Anglaises, below the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.

Traversing its southeast summit, they crossed Col Peuterey. They then ascended the rib of the Grand Pilier d’Angle and topped out on the summit of Mont Blanc on July 31.

During the four days of the climb, they made three bivouacs. Their feat was notable: Before 1934, individual peaks and sections had been climbed, but they were never linked in one push. Even today, the Peuterey Integrale is one of the ”Big Three” alpine ridge traverses.

From August 18 to 20, 1939, two young climbers from Turin, Vittorio Ratti and Luigi Vitali, climbed a bold, direct, 700m new line on the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey via the West Face. The 1939 Ratti-Vitali was one of the last major prewar ascents of the massif.

Boccalatte and Pietrasanta, the pioneering duo

Gabriele Boccalatte (1911-1938), a trained concert pianist from Turin, and Nini Pietrasanta (1909-2000), a nurse from Milan, formed Italy’s most accomplished climbing partnership of the era. They met in Chamonix in 1932, when she treated Boccalatte’s climbing injuries. Four years later, they married and welcomed a son. Together, the couple opened technically demanding and aesthetically pure routes on Mont Blanc’s Italian side. Pietrasanta documented their climbs in 16mm films.

In August 1935, after a failed attempt one week earlier due to a storm, Boccalatte and Pietrasanta completed the first ascent of the west face and south ridge of Punta Bich, the Aiguille Noire’s sharp western pinnacle. Their climb was hailed as a masterpiece. Later that August, the duo also sent a new route on the southwest face of Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.

Boccalatte died three years later, on August 24, 1938, in a rockfall on the south-southeast face of Aiguille de Triolet. He was only 27 years old. After his death, Pietrasanta retired from high-level climbing. She raised their son Lorenzo alone and preserved their archives.

After her death in 2000, Lorenzo found the diaries, the 16mm films, and photographs of his mother. These made possible the 2014 documentary called Nini: La Storia Ritrovata, a 2016 book entitled Oltre la Vetta, and then Pellegrina delle Alpi, which contains her notes and diaries. The Boccalatte route remains a Mont Blanc classic.

Casarotto’s winter Super Integrale

In February 1982, Renato Casarotto left the Freney basin with a portaledge, stove, and food for 15 days. He wanted to create a new, harder variant of the Peuterey Integrale: the Super Integrale. And he wanted to do it in winter. His plan was to link three independent rock pillars across the south flank of the ridge.

Casarotto began on Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, soloing the Ratti-Vitali route up the West Face. The route took Casarotto three days. He then crossed snow ridges to Pico Gugliermina on Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, and climbed the Boccalatte-Gervasutti route, which Boccalatte and Giusto Gervasutti first ascended in 1938. It took Casarotto another three days. Finally, he climbed the Bonington Central Pillar on the Freney Face, first climbed in 1961 by Chris Bonington and Don Whillans.

During his climb, a 70-hour blizzard pinned him mid-wall. Casarotto survived the ordeal on melted snow and salami. On day 15, Casarotto reached the summit of Mont Blanc. His approximately 2,500m route of ED3/4 terrain, carried out entirely in winter, self-sufficiently, remains unrepeated.

Death of a champion

In August 2010, 23-year-old Chloe Graftiaux, a multiple World Cup champion, topped out the South Ridge of Aiguille Noire de Peuterey with a partner. During the descent, at 3,200m, a falling rock dislodged from the south face slabs and struck her. She fell 600m to the glacier below. Her death sparked global debates about descent risks.

We recommend Alex Buisse’s Mont Blanc Lines (Editions Glenat, 2021) and the English version by Vertebrate Publishing, 2022. It is a must-have book, rendered with unmatched clarity, with impressive photos of the peaks, ridges, and climbing routes, including the Aiguille Noire.

Climbers Angelina di Prinzio from Argentina, Paloma Farkas from California, and Catalina Unwin from Chile have established a new route on the West Face of 3,300m Cerro Steffen in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

The route, which they named Sincronia, is 900m long with difficulties graded WI4, M4, and slopes up to 60°. It marks the second-known ascent of the peak and the first on its West Face.

The three climbers began planning the trip a year ago. They chose Cerro Steffen based on limited photos, historical references, and a 1965 first-ascent report.

Logistics included virtual meetings across three countries, route planning with minimal data, and arrangements to cross Lake O’Higgins.

The ascent, carried out during a suitable weather window, was supported by grants from Grit & Rock, the NOLS Rothberg-Birdwhistell Exploration Fund, and members of Argentina’s guiding community.

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British surveyor Michael Spender created the first detailed photogrammetric map of Mount Everest’s North Face in 1935 using 1,200 aerial photos and ground measurements. His map guided major British Everest expeditions for North Face approaches for years.

Early years

Michael Alfred Spender was born on November 11, 1906, in London. His father, Harold Spender, was a Liberal journalist and biographer. His mother, Violet Schuster, was a painter and poet of German-Jewish descent. Violet died of influenza in 1921, when Michael was 14.

Spender attended Gresham’s School, then Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in engineering in 1928. He never joined the Alpine Club or pursued climbing for sport. For him, mountaineering was merely the means to an end: accurate surveys of high places.

From 1928 to 1929, he mapped Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with the Royal Geographical Society, living on the survey launch for 18 months. In 1932 to 1933, he surveyed East Greenland’s fiords using overlapping aerial photos, aiding British territorial claims.

The 1935 Everest mission

Earlier surveys of Everest existed; for example, those conducted by Canadian surveyor Major Edward Oliver Wheeler, who played a pivotal role in the 1921 British Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition. Wheeler’s photos aided Spender’s work, but Spender further evolved the photogrammetric technique, which uses overlapping images to give 3D images and precise measurements.

After the 1924 Everest tragedy with George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, the Mount Everest Committee demanded a new North Face map. The Royal Air Force loaned the 1935 Everest expedition two Houston-Westland biplanes, and Spender was the chief surveyor. The team included leader Eric Shipton, Bill Tilman, Edmund Wigram, Charles Warren, and porter Tenzing Norgay, who was only 21 years old at the time. The team was completed by Dan Bryant, Edwin Kempson, and 11 Sherpas. Spender had only three weeks for the preparation.

Open cockpit

A theodolite precisely measures horizontal and vertical angles. It has a telescopic sight, two rotating circles (one for azimuth, one for elevation), and a leveling base. Surveyors sight a target, read the precise angle in degrees/minutes/seconds, and triangulate positions from that angle. Spender used two types. The heavy Wild photo-theodolite was 18 kilograms, including a camera, for base control. The portable Watts-Leica for high camps was 8.6 kilograms.

Biplanes flew at altitudes of 8,200 to 8,800m. Spender sat in an open cockpit, directing 1,200 overlapping photos. As he emphasized, the single photograph gives a flat picture; the stereo pair restores the three-dimensional form of the mountain. Spender was convinced that this was the key to accurate contouring.

Maurice Wilson's body found

Spender established six primary stations at 6,100m at the high pass known as Lho La, linking aerial photos to fixed points recorded in 1921. With Sherpa assistants, he crossed the icy Rongbuk streams at dawn.

“We forded the glacier-fed torrents at 4 am before the afternoon rise. By 7 am, the water was waist-deep and dangerous,” Spender recalled. He mapped two previously unmapped eastern valleys near Base Camp: “The quarter-inch maps were out by half a mile in places. We corrected them with the Watts-Leica from 5,500m.”

Spender trained Shipton, Kempson, and Warren to use the Watts-Leica. They surveyed the East Rongbuk Glacier toward 7,035m Kharta Changri, setting “Spitsbergen Camp” beyond a 30m ice cliff. While advancing to Camp 3 up the East Rongbuk Glacier, Warren discovered the frozen body of Maurice Wilson, the solo climber who had perished the previous year, before the team continued on to Kharta Changri.

Spender stated that a mountaineer can become a skilled geographer because with a light instrument, he can fix his route and map it simultaneously.

Spender’s accuracy

Persistent clouds blocked the expedition. Spender got sick on Lho La, and Sherpas carried him down, but he insisted on finishing the survey. Spender stressed that the ground control could not fail. The aerial photos were useless without it.

After the expedition, back in London, he began the data processing. He used a Wild A5 stereo-plotter and shipped negatives to Copenhagen, where an expert plotted the initial contours. Then Spender integrated the 1921 Wheeler photos, the 1933 Houston flight’s obliques, and Captain Crone’s graphical method for the heights of Makalu and Chamlang peaks.

Spender’s accuracy was notable. His contours proved remarkably consistent with later surveys. Shipton praised Spender’s work and, in his book Blank on the Map, claimed that Spender gave them a map they could trust.

In his report for the Himalayan Journal, Survey on the Mount Everest Reconnaissance, Spender laid out his philosophy. He believed in the need for preparation. For him, the stereo method worked much better than the plain-tabling, because, in his opinion, plane-tabling was laborious and lost accuracy above 6,000m, while the stereo method gave a model from which contours flowed naturally.

He noted that the climber’s involvement was also important. For him, the future of Himalayan cartography lay with the mountaineer-surveyor. With a light theodolite and camera, the mountaineer-surveyor could map as he climbed. Thanks to his surveying work of 1935, the North Face of Everest became known within 15 meters in every detail.

“The 1935 survey proves that photographic methods, properly controlled from the ground, can replace all older techniques in high mountains,” wrote Spender. His final report included a 1:12,500 map published in the Geographical Journal, with 15-meter contours. Every ridge, couloir, and icefall was rendered with unprecedented clarity.

Later mapping

In 1937, Spender rejoined Shipton in the Karakoram. He crossed a mountain pass, later renamed Spender’s Pass, with Sherpas. In 1939, at the Wild factory in Switzerland, he compiled the unpublished 1:50,000 Environs of Mount Everest using 1935 film and plates. It covered 350 square kilometers around Everest and 450 square kilometers in the Sar area, with 100m contours.

Lost for over 50 years, it was rediscovered at the Royal Geographic Society, scanned, and featured in the Geographical Magazine. It later informed G.S. Holland’s 1961 1:100,000 map.

War service and death

In 1939, Spender joined the Royal Air Force, working on photo interpretation. He built a 3D stereoscope that located V-2 sites, aiding the 1943 Peenemünde raid. He also spotted D-Day beach obstacles. In 1944, he was promoted to Squadron Leader.

On 3 May 1945, his Avro Anson plane crashed near Süchteln, Germany, after engine failure. With a broken chest and punctured lung, he died in a hospital on May 5, at age 38. He is buried in Eindhoven Cemetery.

A complex character

Spender’s brother, Stephen, who was a poet, saw Michael “cold and sharp.” Early friction, especially with John Auden in the Karakoram, came from Spender’s intensity. “His apparent arrogance was the mask of a man who demanded precision in himself and others. Once understood, he revealed a rare humility and generosity."

Spender’s drive was intellectual, and not ego-driven. He trained climbers not to impress, but to empower them. "The surveyor should not be a burden. He must make the climber his own geographer,” wrote Spender.

His brother Stephen wrote in his World Within World: “Michael was always the clever one, cold and sharp in manner, but with a mind like a steel trap. He had little patience for sentiment.”

Stephen’s portrait revealed the complex character of Michael Spender: He was brilliant, exacting, and sometimes aloof. However, those who worked closely with him saw deeper layers. Shipton, in his 1946 Alpine Journal obituary, addressed the contradiction: “To some, he appeared arrogant and overbearing, but those who came to know him found energy, enthusiasm, originality, and an underlying humility that made him the ideal companion for exploratory trips.”

Legacy

Spender’s 1,200 photos, dozens of ground stations, and stereo-plotting created a map accurate to 15 meters, and his report remains a foundational text in high-altitude cartography. Spender elevated surveying from a side task to a core scientific contribution in exploration.

As Shipton noted, Spender's work in the development of survey methods for use in mountainous country, and his own application of them in the field, did much to raise the standard of exploratory survey from a subsidiary role to one of major importance. He was one of the pioneers in this field.

Elizabeth Hawley was born in Chicago on Nov. 9, 1923. Today would have been her 102nd birthday. For over 50 years, she documented Himalayan expeditions from Kathmandu.

Hawley's work for The Himalayan Database made her the arbiter of mountaineering truth, the "Sherlock Holmes of the mountaineering world." We commemorate her birthday by revisiting some of her important investigations and disputes.

Verification process

Hawley’s power came from her post-expedition interviews with climbers, conducted in Kathmandu. She began this work in the 1960s, interviewing every major expedition to Nepal's Himalaya (and later expeditions to Tibet) before and after their climbs.

"Even at the moment you’re checking in, after thirty hours of flying to Nepal, Miss Hawley knows you’ve arrived," wrote Ed Viesturs in his book No Shortcuts to the Top. "The phone at the front desk rings, and you have no choice but to schedule a briefing."

Over 7,000 interviews detailed more than 20,000 ascents on about 460 peaks. Her sessions were often called the "second summit" by climbers, who sat on her couch and answered her questions. Hawley asked them about the weather, the route, the color of the snow, what other mountains they could see from the top, the location of the prayer flags, and much more. If their answers didn’t add up, she marked the climb as "disputed" in her records.

Hawley’s database

Hawley's database became the official record of Himalayan climbing. The Hawley stamp of approval was essential. Without it, the ascent was not proven or accepted. Her rejections were not personal, but principled, prioritizing precision over prestige. Mountaineering legends deferred to her. Miss Hawley, as many called her, was an institution.

Shisha Pangma

Shisha Pangma is the only 8,000m peak entirely inside Tibet. The main summit is at 8,027m. Its Central Summit is at 8,008m and is sometimes called the North Summit because of its position on the northern end of the summit ridge when accessed via the standard North Ridge route. A narrow ridge connects the main and central summits.

It takes about two hours to make the 250m traverse to the main summit over a sharp and exposed ridge. Hawley had a simple rule: only the main summit counted. Reaching the Central Summit was not enough. Two famous climbers learned this the hard way.

Boukreev

An elite high-altitude climber, Anatoli Boukreev worked as a guide on Everest in 1996 and helped save lives during the famous storm described in the book Into Thin Air. He climbed the 8,000m peaks without bottled oxygen, and speed was his style.

In September 1996, Boukreev went alone to Shisha Pangma. He left Base Camp, climbed quickly, reached the Central Summit, and returned to camp, all in just 28 hours. He even skied part of the way down. It was a remarkable solo climb, and Boukreev thought he had reached the real summit of the mountain.

When he returned to Kathmandu, he met Hawley. "I’ve got to go back, Elizabeth said I didn’t really climb it," Boukreev told his friends with a smile. Boukreev wasn’t angry because he understood Hawley’s rule. His Shisha Pangma ascent remains officially incomplete.

The careful American

Ed Viesturs is an American climber known for safety and planning. His goal was to climb all 14 8,000m peaks without oxygen. In 1993, Viesturs went to Shisha Pangma and reached the Central Summit. He knew Hawley’s rules, and he felt the climb was incomplete.

"After Miss Hawley had cross-examined me, she peered over her eyeglasses and said sternly, 'You realize, don’t you, Ed, that you haven’t climbed Shisha Pangma? You’re going to have to come back and do it right,' ” Viesturs wrote.

In 2001, he returned with Veikka Gustafsson and topped out on the true summit. Hawley accepted it, and Viesturs became the first American to finish all 14 8,000'ers without bottled oxygen.

Cho Oyu

Alan Hinkes wanted to be the first British climber to summit the 14 8,000’ers. He finished his last one, Cho Oyu, in 1990, or so he thought. Cho Oyu has a large summit plateau, and the true highest point is a small bump at one end. Many climbers stop early and think nothing of it. When Hinkes met Hawley in Kathmandu, his answers raised doubts. He wasn’t sure exactly where he turned around, and other team members gave different stories in their interviews. Hinkes reached the edge of the summit plateau, not the summit.

Hawley marked the climb "disputed." According to her records and later reports, this removed Hinkes from the official list of completers. The British Mountaineering Council supported him, but Hawley’s word carried more weight in the international climbing world. Hinkes never went back to Cho Oyu. He still defends his climb, but The Himalayan Database doesn’t count it as certain.

A stickler

Hawley respected Spanish climbers Juanito Oiarzabal and Inaki Ochoa de Olza. With her peculiar style, she noted their honesty:

"Those conscientious about not making false claims included two Spanish, one on Dhaulagiri I and the other on Lhotse. Juanito Oiarzabal, who is a stickler for veracity amongst mountaineers and had blown the whistle on some errant ones, had a problem about the top of 8,167m Dhaulagiri."

Hawley noted that Oiarzabal felt he didn’t reach the true summit. He came to an upright aluminum pole on the normal northeast-ridge route and was told that this point was considered the summit. Numerous climbers had claimed success based on having reached the pole.

"But for him, this was not the true summit...So he went all the way back up again. He made another summit push, was turned back by high winds, and only on May 22 did he get beyond the pole by a different line above 8,100m and satisfy himself that he had really summited Dhaulagiri I," Hawley wrote.

Ochoa de Olza was on the normal route of Lhotse when he arrived at a point probably only 30m from the summit. However, he realized his eyes had frozen in the -35°C cold and he couldn’t continue.

"He didn’t claim to have reached the summit, although he certainly was very, very close," Hawley wrote.

Oh Eun-sun

In 2010, South Korean climber Oh Eun-sun claimed to be the first woman to climb all 14 8,000’ers. Her last climb was Kangchenjunga in 2009. However, her summit photo showed a ridge, but not the true summit. Hawley spoke to the Sherpas, who told her that the team turned back early because of bad weather. Hawley ruled the climb "unlikely."

The Korean Alpine Federation agreed with Hawley, and Oh Eun-sun’s record was expunged. Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban finished her 14 peaks series in 2010 and became the first woman with a verified record on all the 8,000'ers.

Why Hawley mattered

Miss Hawley was not a judge in a court; she was a journalist who kept records. Climbers wanted her approval more than a certificate. Messner called her "the only authority" on Himalayan records. According to the book I’ll Call You in Kathmandu by Bernadette McDonald, Messner said Hawley’s database was more honest than any government list.

Legacy

Hawley died on Jan. 26, 2018, at the age of 94. She passed away in a hospital in Kathmandu after a short illness. News of her death spread quickly among climbers and journalists. The American Alpine Club called her "the conscience of the Himalaya." Even Nepali officials, whom she had sometimes criticized for loose permit rules, paid tribute to her work.

Hawley’s greatest achievement was transforming her notes into The Himalayan Database. In 1992, she partnered with Richard Salisbury, and more than 10,000 hours were digitized. Published by the American Alpine Club in 2004, it became the gold standard for mountaineering record-keeping.

As Dawa Steven Sherpa said, "one of her biggest contributions is keeping mountaineers honest."

The Himalayan Database records every expedition since the 1950s to peaks over 6,500m in Nepal. By the time of Hawley’s death, it listed more than 60,000 climbs, 10,000 summits, and every known death. After she retired from daily interviews, her assistant Billi Bierling took over the work. The database is now digital and run by a small team at the Mountain Heritage Institute in Kathmandu. It is updated each year with new permits, summit reports, and fatality details, although without the strict scrutiny that characterized Hawley’s work.

U.S. Ambassador Peter Boddle called Hawley a "treasure" for deepening ties between the U.S. and Nepal. In 2014, a 6,182m peak was named for her, though Hawley thought it was a joke because she didn’t like naming mountains after people.

Further reading

For a clear and honest account of her life, we recommend reading I’ll Call You in Kathmandu: The Elizabeth Hawley Story by Bernadette McDonald. The book is based on interviews with Hawley and with Bierling. It explains how she started the database, why she questioned summit claims, and how she lived alone in a small Kathmandu apartment while running the most trusted database in mountaineering.

We also recommend the American Alpine Club's remembrance piece.

Hawley never climbed high mountains, but she made sure that the stories told about them were true. She is sorely missed.

A major avalanche struck the approach to 6,440m Cholatse three days ago, according to two-time Piolet d’Or winner Valery Babanov. The near miss prompted his team to abandon their climb.

Yesterday on social media, Babanov detailed the hazardous conditions following the prolonged bad weather across the Himalaya.

”[The] day before yesterday, a large group of Sherpas and Western climbers were caught in a big avalanche on the approach to Camp 1 at 5,750m,” he wrote. ”Fortunately, no one was killed, but several were injured.”

The incident, combined with heavy snow loads and high avalanche risk throughout the region, prompted them to cancel their climb and return to Kathmandu.

As previously reported, deadly avalanches have hit other Nepalese mountains recently, claiming the lives of at least nine people.

As we reported earlier this fall, a three-man Polish-Slovak team has done the first ascent of 6,754m Chumik Kangri in Pakistan’s heavily militarized Saltoro region. The zone has been off-limits to climbers for years due to border tensions between India and Pakistan.

Climbers Michal Czech and Wadim Jablonski from Poland, and Adam Kaniak from Slovakia, reached the summit via the unclimbed south face. They accessed the peak by the Gyong Glacier, an area so rarely visited that even basic maps were unreliable. It was a true exploratory expedition.

The team named their 1,100m line The Great Gig in the Sky, according to PlanetMountain. The climbers graded it M6 for mixed climbing and A1 for aid sections. Challenges included a prominent pillar, exposed traverses, fragile rocks, and steep snow and ice fields.

A dark start

The trio began the climb during the night of September 14 to avoid rockfall and unstable snow. According to Jablonski, they were happy to find that the approach in the dark was quite safe and obvious. The first day, they focused on reaching the edge of the Chumik pillar over steep ice and granite. They established their first bivouac at 6,250m on a sharp snow ridge.

The second day brought them the greatest uncertainty. Jablonski recalls that they didn't know if it was possible to find a way through the huge, steep upper part of the pillar.

"But thanks to nature's plan, there are faint rock features and thin ice smears that let us climb to the plateau at 6,600m, just below the summit," wrote Jablonski on social media. There, they made their second bivouac.

After three days on the wall, Czech, Jablonski, and Kaniak topped out on September 16.

Descent: A fight in the dark

The descent proved more harrowing than the ascent. The climbers followed a rough ridge characterized by seracs, poor ice, and loose rock. They did several rappels and completed much of the descent in darkness to minimize the risk of ice and rockfall.

“This was one of our most serious undertakings,” they later reflected, citing the combination of high altitude, technical difficulty, and general uncertainty.

Permits and checkpoints

The team had to navigate complex logistics. They had an official permit for unclimbed 6,600m Gharkun Tower, another peak in the area, but switched to Chumik Kangri after reconnaissance showed it offered a better balance of risk, technical interest, and summit probability.

Traveling with a mandatory liaison officer, they passed through army checkpoints and were among the first foreign visitors to enter the valley in 45 years.

Locals and security forces offered unexpected hospitality in a region defined by military presence. With no reliable maps, the climbers relied on satellite imagery, self-made sketches and on-the-ground observation to plan their route and bivy sites.

Supported by the Polish Mountaineering Association, the Polish Ministry of Sport & Tourism, and sponsors, their effort was part of a broader mission to climb unexplored 6,000m peaks in the Karakoram.

Gharkun Tower and Gharkun Main -- not the same

Although the party didn't climb Gharkun Tower, it wasn't clear to most of us until recently if Gharkun Tower and Gharkun were the same peak. Gharkun (6,620m) lies just south of K12 and was first ascended in 1976. According to the Alpine Journal, a five-man Japanese expedition led by Haruki Sugiyama climbed it in July, with all five reaching the summit.

ExplorersWeb asked Ali Saltoro, director of Alpine Adventure Guides and the expedition's outfitter, about Gharkun Tower. According to him, the 6,600m Gharkun Tower is next to Gharkun (main) and remains unclimbed.

These valleys have many unclimbed peaks below 7,000m that offer a mix of ice and rock, according to Ali Saltoro.

”The Saltoro Valley is a piece of heaven on earth and a second Patagonia for mountaineers looking for a first ascent,” he added.

On Saturday, a big avalanche hit a group of climbers in the Ortler Alps of South Tyrol, Italy. The incident occurred around 4 pm near 3,545m Vertainspitze (Cima Vertana), just across the border from Austria.

Seven German tourists were caught while heading up the mountain on a ski tour. Two escaped unharmed, but the other five died. The victims include two men in their 30s and 50s, a 30-year-old woman, and a father with his 17-year-old daughter, according to Tiroler Tageszeitung.

Rescue teams from Italy's mountain service worked fast with helicopters to search the area. They found three bodies — a man, another man, and a woman — on Saturday. The father and daughter were found dead today.

Experts say the avalanche occurred because new snow didn't stick well to the old layer after heavy winds and fresh falls. There was no high alert for danger that day, but early winter storms made the slopes risky. ANSA, the Italian news agency, noted that the avalanche swept away two separate rope teams from the group.

No one else was hurt in nearby slides that day. Police say the group members were skilled climbers, but the sudden event was difficult to predict. Families are getting support, and the site is now closed for safety.

This area is popular among climbers from Germany and nearby countries, but it can be very dangerous in bad weather.

Peter Aufschnaiter was an Austrian climber who lived an adventurous, varied life, including turning a prison escape into seven years in Lhasa. To the general public, he is most familiar as Brad Pitt's sidekick in Seven Years in Tibet, the Hollywood adaptation of Heinrich Harrer's book. But Aufschnaiter was more than the soft-spoken guy with the Tibetan wife; in fact, that romance never happened. On his birthday, we revisit his life and mountaineering career.

Aufschnaiter was born on November 2, 1899, in Kitzbühel, Austria, where he began climbing before attending school. His family ran a small hotel, and his early exposure to the Tyrolean Alps sparked a lifelong passion for mountaineering.

He learned to draw maps and studied agronomy at the University of Munich, graduating in 1925. His diploma focused on irrigation systems for alpine agriculture.

In 1929, Aufschnaiter joined a German-Austrian expedition to 8,586m Kangchenjunga. Led by Paul Bauer, the team climbed without supplemental oxygen. Aufschnaiter helped set up ropes and take precise altimeter readings while documenting the route. Bad weather finally stopped the party at 7,400m.

Two years later, Aufschnaiter returned to Kangchenjunga with a German expedition, again led by Bauer. Once again, they climbed without bottled oxygen but turned around at 7,940m in poor conditions. The expedition lost four of its members: Hermann Schaller and Pasang Sherpa died in an avalanche at 6,100m, and Sherpas Babu Lall and Lobsang succumbed to illness (non-AMS).

From Nanga Parbat explorer to war prisoner

In 1939, Aufschnaiter led a small team to 8,126m Nanga Parbat. Aufschnaiter, Heinrich Harrer, Hans Lobenhoffer, and Ludwig Chicken (no kidding) wanted to find a safe route for a climb the next year. The team set up a camp at 4,200m on the Diamir Glacier. They tried the West Face but had to abort due to rockfall and avalanche danger.

They then moved to a middle rocky ridge (the Aufschnaiter Rib) and put up 1,200m of rope, reaching 6,096m. The route then broke into loose stones and led only to a lower summit at 7,785m. Aufschnaiter took photos and left tools for the next trip. This reconnaissance was part of a broader German effort on Nanga Parbat, and Aufschnaiter’s detailed photographic and topographic records were important.

The team left the mountain on Aug. 28, 1939. Three days later, on September 1, Germany started World War II. The mountaineers reached the port of Karachi on September 5, where British police put them in handcuffs.

The prison camp at Dehra Dun was 400km north of Delhi. Wire fences held 1,200 people from Germany and Austria. Conditions were relatively good, with guards letting prisoners play sports and read books, but escapes were harshly punished. Aufschnaiter used the time to study the Tibetan language.

Escape

Aufschnaiter started a climbing group in the camp. He taught others how to walk on ice and studied secret maps. In 1942, he and his teammate Harrer tried to run away dressed as workers, but search dogs found them quickly. In 1943, they dug a tunnel, but it collapsed after 18m.

On April 29, 1944, seven prisoners cut the perimeter wire during a storm and split up. Only Aufschnaiter and Harrer headed north. They were carrying dry bread, a small gun, and a fake letter saying they were soil experts. After 65 days, they reached the Tibetan border.

Two years to Lhasa

The walk was 2,050km, with much of the route above 4,500m. According to Harrer’s book Seven Years in Tibet (1953), guards stopped them twice in Nepal. Finally, Aufschnaiter and Harrer went the long way around, adding weeks to their journey. Aufschnaiter lost two toes to frostbite, and Harrer lost 25kg. In December 1945, they climbed a mountain pass at 5,500m and saw Lhasa.

On Jan. 15, 1946, the two mountaineers walked into Lhasa. According to the 1993 American Alpine Journal, "the closer they came to the forbidden city, the less suspect they became." Lhasa had 30,000 people at that time, and many temples. Aufschnaiter showed his fake papers to the government office, and the city needed workers, so he was soon signed up to work.

Contributions in Lhasa

First, Aufschnaiter fixed the city water, as its old wooden pipes were losing half the water. He installed three kilometers of clay pipes and built a clean pond. After that, the situation in the city improved, as fewer people got sick.

Aufschnaiter didn’t return to Austria after fleeing the British internment camp but did use his position in Tibet to request high-yield potato tubers from European alpine regions via diplomatic mail and border traders in Kalimpong and Yatung. This helped people in Tibet grow 30 percent more food at 3,800m. He also drew maps of 200 hectares of grain fields and taught forty local men to measure land. He introduced vegetable gardening in the Lhasa valley, cultivating carrots and cabbage, and designing flood control dikes along the Kyichu River to protect farmlands.

By 1948, Aufschnaiter ran the land office in Lhasa. His map of Lhasa at a scale of 1:25,000 remained the best map until the 1980s. He also built a small power plant on the Kyichu River, providing the first electric lights to the Dalai Lama’s summer home. Aufschnaiter also surveyed seismic activity and installed a small hydroelectric turbine generating 20-30kW. While he worked, he filmed Tibetan daily life with a 16mm camera.

Meanwhile, Harrer taught the young Dalai Lama English and science. Harrer and Aufschnaiter met most nights to talk. Aufschnaiter’s notebooks (now in the Austrian National Library) are full of soil tests, ice measurements, and water-wheel drawings. These diaries, spanning 1944-1951, include over 1,000 pages of meticulous observations on geology, botany, and ethnography.

Losing his citizenship

After the war, Austria took away the passports of people who had stayed away too long. In 1950, Aufschnaiter received a letter stating that he was no longer an Austrian citizen. He eventually got his passport back in 1972, one year before he died, after persistent appeals.

In October 1950, Chinese guns sounded in the east, and Lhasa's leaders discussed the possibility of fighting. The Dalai Lama asked Harrer for ideas, and Aufschnaiter drew safe roads to India, but continued working. When Chinese officers took Aufschnaiter's office, they paid him to keep mapping, but said that he couldn’t leave the city. Finally, Aufschnaiter left secretly on his own with 40kg of papers on a mule.

Aufschnaiter worked in Gyantse and southern Tibet for approximately 10 months under Chinese supervision and then entered Nepal in 1951, taking a United Nations job in Kathmandu in 1952.

Climbing again at age 55

In 1955, Aufschnaiter joined a climbing team in India. On June 15, he and George Hampson reached the top of 6,069m Ronti.

"We went up the Nanda Kini valley, crossed Humkum Gala at 5,182m, and another pass by Nanda Ghunti. We camped on rocks near a snow gully with old slide marks. Starting at 6 am, we reached the top at 1:03 pm, and got back to camp at 5:15 pm," they wrote in the American Alpine Journal.

The last 200m were steep ice, and Aufschnaiter cut steps with his old ice axe from 1939. After this outstanding alpine-style first ascent, Aufschnaiter explored routes on Tent Peak and other lesser mountains in the 1950s.

Books and movies

Aufschnaiter's 1940 report on Nanga Parbat in the Zeitschrift des Deutschen Alpenvereins (Journal of the German Alpine Club) helps climbers today.

In Nepal, he wrote about Tibetan farms for the United Nations, and his book Peter Aufschnaiter: Sein Leben in Tibet (Eight Years in Tibet) was published ten years after his death, based on his manuscripts. It included detailed maps of Lhasa and the surrounding areas and surveyed its rivers and glaciers. The book also had agricultural notes on soil types, descriptions of irrigation systems, plus photos and sketches of Tibetan tools, houses, and water wheels. Aufschnaiter’s book was more like a government report, not an adventure story. An English translation followed in 2002, emphasizing scientific data over drama.

Harrer published his book, Seven Years in Tibet, in 1953, and it sold millions of copies.
The 1997 movie, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, starred Brad Pitt as Harrer and David Thewlis as Aufschnaiter. The Hollywood adaptation was loosely based on Harrer’s 1953 memoir, sharing the core story of his WWII escape from the British POW camp, the Himalayan trek, and seven years in Tibet tutoring the 14th Dalai Lama amid China’s 1950 invasion.

A dramatic account

While the book presents a detailed travelogue showing Harrer’s complex character and his sometimes strained relationship with Aufschnaiter, the movie reduces Aufschnaiter to a minor role. It omits his contributions and personality, adds a fictional romance, downplays historical controversies, and prioritizes cinematic drama over accuracy. The movie is visually striking, but it is not a faithful version of their shared journey.

Aufschnaiter went home to Austria in 1960. He taught mapmaking in Innsbruck and took people trekking in summer. He passed away in Innsbruck on October 12, 1973, and was buried in Kitzbühel.

Fay Manners of the UK salvaged an October expedition in India’s Garhwal Himalaya with two new solo ridge traverses, after a storm and her partner’s illness shut down their main objective, a second attempt on unclimbed 6,974m Chaukhamba III.

Manners and American Michelle Dvorak had "unfinished business" with Chaukhamba III'’s east face. Last year, they reached 6,500m before a haul bag containing their tent, stove, crampons, and ice axes tumbled into a gorge. Stormbound for days, they were helped by French military climbers and airlifted out by the Indian Air Force.

This season, the pair trekked in via the Satopanth Glacier. Dvorak, who completed her PhD in science in August after 11 years, spent the previous week hiking to 5,000m in Nepal’s Langtang Valley for acclimatization.

In Garhwal, porters almost abandoned them many kilometers from Base Camp, then a week-long storm dumped over 1.5 meters of snow at around 4,700m. Dvorak came down with a cold that turned into a chest infection, and the -15°C pre-dawn air finished the job. She stayed at Base Camp, reading novels and fighting the bug. She then caught a stomach illness in Delhi that lasted until her 22-hour flight home.

"The expedition was a failure,” she posted on Instagram yesterday.

But a healthy Manners wasn't quite ready to pack it in. While soloing Chaukhamba III was out of the question, she pushed alone to Advanced Base Camp while Dvorak recovered. Following some snow leopard tracks, she gained a remote, likely virgin ridge she named Asha (Hindi for hope).

Asha traverse

The Asha Traverse runs just over two kilometers along a knife-edge crest with steep drops on both sides. Sun-warmed sections gave hard, walkable snow, while shaded pockets held knee-deep powder. Short mixed steps required precise axe work in cracks and earned the line an AD 5a rating. Manners finished it on October 18 and described the climb as “narrow, exposed ridges balanced with relaxed stretches…just me, an unclimbed Himalayan ridge, and the stillness of the mountains.”

Anamika traverse

A few days later, on October 20, she tackled a second line, the Anamika Traverse (AD 4c). The name (Hindi for the small, wordless joys of life), fit the modest scale: a lower ridge that still delivered an open view of the Satopanth Glacier and the east face they never reached.

Here, the crusted snow was almost skiable. Manners moved unroped, savoring the contrast with last year’s high-stakes drama. Forecast snow forced an early exit from the area. The duo left a week ahead of schedule with no immediate plans for a third Chaukhamba attempt.

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In January 1973, 10 students from the Kuibyshev Aviation Institute embarked on a ski trek across the Lovozero Tundra in Russia’s far north, an area known for its harsh beauty and unpredictable weather. The students aimed to cover 50km from Revda to Kirovsk, over the Chivruay Pass. However, the excursion became one of the deadliest hiking tragedies in Soviet history.

The Lovozero Tundra lies on the Kola Peninsula, one of the largest peninsulas in Europe. It lies entirely inside the Arctic Circle, bordered by the Barents Sea to the north and the White Sea to the east-southeast. The western part of the Kola Peninsula has two mountain ranges: the Khibiny Mountains and the Lovozero Mountains. Chivruay Pass lies in the Lovozero range.

The team

The group was a mix of eager freshmen and a few graduates, all part of a tourism group from the Kuibyshev Aviation Institute (now the Samara State Aerospace University) in the Volga Federal District of Russia.

Twenty-four-year-old Mikhail Kuznetsov led the team. A seasoned skier, he had trekked the Kola Peninsula the previous year. His group included Lidiya Martina, 26, an engineer and the only woman; Sergey Gusev and Yuri Krivov, both 17; graduate Valentin Zemlyanov, 23; the group’s photographer Ilya Altshuller, 23; Alexander Novosyolov; Anatoly Pirogov, 17; Yury Ushkov, 18; and Artyom Lekant, 17. The group bonded during training hikes in the Khibiny Mountains.

The team’s goal was to complete a category II route, a challenging but achievable trek for prepared hikers. They wanted to test their skills and see the northern lights over the Chivruay Pass.

Setting out

On January 24, the group boarded a train from Kuibyshev (now called Samara) to Revda, a small mining town on the Kola Peninsula. When they arrived the following day, they chatted with locals. Mine worker Lev Gugel warned them of a brewing storm, with winds strong enough to "make dogs fly." Ignoring the warning, they skied over the Elmorayok Pass that day and camped near the river under clear skies.

Their planned route would take them along Lake Seydozero, up the steep Chivruay Gorge, over the 800m-high pass, and down to the city of Kirovsk by January 31 to meet a rescue checkpoint deadline. The group’s leader, Kuznetsov, stung by a 1972 trek that triggered a costly search, was determined to finish on time.

January 26 started cold, -24°C with light winds. The team skied past Lake Seydozero and stopped for lunch in a pine grove at the Chivruay Gorge’s mouth. After lunch, they pressed on despite gathering clouds, driven by the deadline. The 700m ascent was hard, with 45° slopes slick with ice. By 3 pm, as daylight faded in the short Arctic winter, the team reached the pass’s flat plateau. Winds surged, and snow slashed visibility. Meteorological logs from a nearby settlement recorded gusts up to 110kph, with temperatures dropping to -28°C, according to SGPress.ru.

The storm

On the plateau, the group tried to pitch their lightweight Zdarsky tent, but the storm ripped it apart. The ropes snapped, and the stakes pulled free in the gale.

The hikers split up. It was a common tactic to find shelter without risking everyone. Kuznetsov stayed with Gusev, Krivov, Novosyolov, and Pirogov, wrapping the collapsed tent around them for warmth. Zemlyanov led Altshuller and another hiker down the steep Kitkuay River path, while Martina and Novosyolov tried the Kuftuay River route. Tracks later showed that the scouts lost their skis, possibly blown away, and struggled back uphill in blinding snow. Hypothermia set in, and some hikers stripped off clothes, a symptom called paradoxical undressing, where the freezing brain misreads cold as heat.

By January 27, all 10 members of the team were dead. Their watches froze between 4:33 am and 5:00 am, marking their final moments. Kuznetsov’s group lay huddled under the tent, faces pressed close for warmth. A search team found Martina and Novosyolov 300m away, half-buried near boulders, clothes in disarray. Zemlyanov and his partner lay 80m apart in the Kitkuay Gorge, as if reaching for each other. Altshuller, the photographer, was 150m downslope, face down, and his watch was still ticking when he was found, months later.

The storm’s ferocity left no chance for survival without shelter.

Rescue efforts and search

Just a day later, on January 28, a Moscow Aviation Institute team, led by Viktor Samodelov, found the tent while conducting their own expedition in the area. "They looked asleep," Samodelov told Rambler.ru, shaken by the sight. He radioed for help, but blizzards grounded rescue helicopters.

On February 2, volunteer Dr. Vladimir Borzenkov joined the search effort, and they airlifted the first five bodies to Kirovsk city. The autopsies confirmed hypothermia and frostbite, but no major injuries. According to Borzenkov’s account, reddish skin stains on Altshuller were a freezing effect, not blood.

Searches continued into June. They found Zemlyanov and another hiker in February, Martina and Novosyolov in March, and Altshuller in June (though his camera was missing).

Military helicopters, snowshoe teams, and dogs scoured the tundra. Metal detectors searched the drifts, and the teams turned up scattered gear: a notebook marked "KuAI" and sleeping bags caught on rocks. The search spanned three phases, with a cabin built on the plateau for the rescuers. Because Altshuller’s camera -- possibly holding clues -- had not been found, it fueled speculation about what had happened.

The official report

The investigation, launched quickly, blamed hypothermia from an unexpected cyclone. The group’s choice to climb at dusk, ignoring Gugel’s warning, was fatal. Kuznetsov’s push to avoid another rescue likely drove the decision, according to A. Lukoyanov’s report. The files were sealed or lost, a common Soviet practice to avoid bad press.

Borzenkov dismissed rumors of military tests or meteors, citing weather logs and no blast marks. "It was just the storm," he told Dyatlovpass.com, noting the watches’ synchronized stoppage confirmed the timeline.

Military personnel from Kirovsk searched for the hikers, and authorities expressed their condolences. Kuznetsov and Novosyolov's parents were barred from conducting a private investigation.

Mirroring the Dyatlov Pass incident

The 1973 Chivruay Pass tragedy mirrors the 1959 Dyatlov Pass incident, where nine hikers died in odd circumstances. Both involved storms, hypothermia, and unanswered questions, but Chivruay’s scale was larger. Families noted heavy coffins and hidden bruises, hinting at secrets.

According to Rambler.ru, Soviet officials hushed the case to protect the tourism industry and banned public memorials. Relatives pushed for files but found none, sealed for 75 years or destroyed. Theories of explosions or KGB cover-ups persist, but Borzenkov insists that nature alone caused the accident.

Human mistakes

Lukoyanov’s report calls it "youthful recklessness." The group was young and uneven, mostly teens led by a 24-year-old. Wet clothes from humidity, a flimsy tent, and a dusk ascent worsened their odds, according to Borzenkov.

Kuznetsov’s 1972 near-miss may have influenced his decision-making. Splitting up scattered their strength; Altshuller’s lone climb back suggests a desperate bid to regroup. Lukoyanov notes 83 ski deaths from 1975-1990, with 12% freezing because of poor planning and ignored warnings.

The hikers (except one) were buried in Kuibyshev’s Rubezhnoye Cemetery, with a monument honoring their names. A plaque was placed on Chivruay Pass. The institute tightened safety rules, adding mentors and gear checks.

The Chivruay tragedy remains another enigmatic incident, alongside the 1959 Dyatlov Pass disaster, where nine hikers died in mysterious circumstances -- with signs of panic and strange injuries -- and the 1993 Khamar-Daban incident, where six hikers perished from hypothermia and exhaustion in bizarre conditions.

Today, German climber Wolfgang Gullich would have turned 65. He transformed sport climbing with his bold ascents and innovative training, leaving a legacy that endures despite his tragic death at the age of 31. Gullich pushed boundaries with daring routes in the Alps, Yosemite, the Frankenjura, Patagonia, and the remote spires of the Karakoram.

Early years

Gullich was born on October 24, 1960, in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. His father introduced him to aid climbing at the age of 13, teaching his son to use gear to ascend the sandstone cliffs of the Sudpfalz region. With his brother, Gullich spent weekends exploring these crags.

Gullich made solo climbs at age 15. By 16, he was free climbing routes. In 1977, his brother died in a climbing accident while the two boys were climbing together in the Sudpfalz region. This tragedy profoundly impacted Gullich.

Frankenjura

In the early 1980s, Gullich relocated to the Frankenjura climbing area, a region of limestone crags in northern Bavaria. There, he joined a group of elite climbers, including redpoint pioneer Kurt Albert and Jerry Moffatt. With Albert, a fellow visionary who shared his passion for free climbing, Gullich pioneered several routes.

In the 1980s, sport climbing was divisive: Traditionalists scorned bolts as "cheating," but Gullich and Albert’s redpoint philosophy (free climbing with pre-placed protection) redefined the sport's ethics. A redpoint climb involves practicing a route before a clean ascent, which is when someone ascends a route without falling or using gear. It became Gullich’s specialty.

In 1984, Gullich redpointed Kanal im Rucken (8b/5.13d) in the Frankenjura, the world’s first climb at that grade. In 1985, he ascended Punks in the Gym (8b+/5.14a) at Australia’s Mount Arapiles,another global first. In 1987, he sent Wallstreet (8c/5.14b) in the Frankenjura.

Gullich’s masterpiece came in 1991, when he climbed Action Directe (9a/5.14d), a 15m, 45° overhanging route with tiny holds, at Waldkopf in the Frankenjura. To this day, it remains a benchmark for sport climbing’s elite.

The Campus Board

Gullich’s success wasn’t just physical. He approached climbing like a scientist, studying biomechanics, psychology, and even Eastern philosophy to enhance his performance. To tackle Action Directe’s brutal finger holds, Gullich invented the Campus Board in 1988, a simple set of wooden rungs hung in a Nuremberg gym called Campus. It trained explosive finger strength without foot support.

It worked: Gullich could do pull-ups on one finger per hand, a feat showcased on German TV.

Big walls

Gullich’s talent wasn’t just confined to sport climbing’s bolted routes. He also completed bigwall climbs in some of the world’s wildest places. In 1988, he free climbed the Yugoslavian Route (5.12) on the Nameless Tower of the Trango group in the Karakoram.

A year later, alongside Albert, Christof Stiegler, and Milan Sykora, he made the first ascent of Eternal Flame (7b+ A2) on the same tower, freeing most of the route but using some aid because of the extreme conditions. In 1991, Gullich joined a team on the first ascent of Riders on the Storm on Patagonia’s Paine Towers.

Free solos

Gullich’s free solos were even more daring. In 1986, after a 10m fall on England’s Master’s Edge that severely injured his back, Gullich sought redemption in Yosemite. He targeted Separate Reality, with no footholds, just hand jams over a significant drop below him. He free soloed it, moving with calm precision. During the climb, renowned photographer Heinz Zak captured Gullich suspended mid-jam, chalk bag trailing. The image became an iconic climbing photo and is the Featured image of this article.

Fatal accident

On August 29, 1992, Gullich had a radio interview in Munich. After the interview, he was driving home to Nuremberg when he fell asleep on the A9 Autobahn near Ingolstadt and flipped his car. In the hospital, he was placed into an induced coma, but he died two days later, at age 31.

Legacy

He rejected the 1980s competition trend, believing that a successful climber is someone who has done many hard routes in many areas, not just a local specialist. Gullich’s impact went beyond physical feats: his mindset reshaped climbing culture. He saw climbing as a blend of art and science, where creativity and discipline met.

According to writer Tilmann Hepp, Gullich didn’t just climb routes, he created problems that forced climbers to evolve. Gullich’s Frankenjura climbs, such as Wallstreet, introduced dynamic moves and finger-intensive holds that challenged the status quo. Climbers had to adapt, training harder and smarter to keep up.

Gullich's invention of the Campus Board wasn’t just a tool; it was a shift in how climbers prepared. Before Gullich, training was often haphazard: pull-ups on doorframes or random hangs. Gullich brought structure, focusing on explosive power and finger strength. This approach inspired a generation, from early adopters like Jerry Moffatt to modern climbers like Alex Megos, who still train on Campus Boards.

Gullich’s influence is everywhere in modern climbing. Action Directe remains a very difficult challenge, and only a few climbers, like Iker Pou, Alex Megos, and Adam Ondra, have repeated it, often calling the route a humbling experience.

Gullich’s training principles, based on specificity, progression, and recovery, are now core to climbing programs. He even worked as a stunt double for Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger (released posthumously in 1993).

We recommend reading Wolfgang Gullich: A Life in the Vertical by Tilmann Hepp (1994), which is the definitive biography, packed with his journals, photos, and quotes.

Below, you can watch a documentary on Gullich, with English subtitles available:

On October 19, 1954, climbers topped out on Cho Oyu for the first time. A small Austrian party summited via the Northwest Ridge after approaching through Nangpa La. Herbert Tichy, Sepp Joechler, and Pasang Dawa Lama summited without supplemental oxygen.

Scouting Cho Oyu

In 1951, Eric Shipton led a British team to scout the mountain from the west while studying the routes up Everest. They examined Cho Oyu's Northwest Ridge but didn’t climb, focusing on maps. In 1952, Shipton returned with a stronger group, including Edmund Hillary. They reached approximately 6,800m on the Northwest Ridge but hit a dangerous icefall with huge ice blocks. Shipton’s team found the icefall too difficult and dangerous and turned back.

Herbert Tichy and the 1954 expedition

Herbert Tichy, a 42-year-old Austrian geologist, led the 1954 expedition. Born in Vienna in 1912, he grew up hiking in the Austrian Alps. As a young man, he rode a motorcycle to India in 1935, crossing deserts and mountains while mapping rocks and writing about the people he met. World War II forced him into the German army.

After the war, he wrote books about his travels, including a popular one on Tibet. In 1952, he tried Kangchenjunga but aborted due to stormy weather. Tichy believed in small teams with light gear.

"We wanted to climb with the least possible means, relying on our own strength," he wrote in the Himalayan Journal. The team carried tents, food, and cameras, but no oxygen or radios.

The team

Sepp Joechler, 31, was a bricklayer from Tyrol. Born in Landeck, he started climbing at 17 with his brother Hans. By the 1940s, he was carrying out bold winter climbs in the Lechtal Alps. He climbed the Eiger’s North Face in 1952 with Hermann Buhl.

Pasang Dawa Lama, 42, from Namche Bazaar, was already an experienced mountaineer. In 1937, he carried out the first ascent of a 7,000’er. Together with Spencer Chapman, he summited Chomolhari, surviving a challenging descent. He carried loads to 8,000m on early Everest trips and climbed Nanda Devi. He joined as the Sherpa leader of the expedition.

The Austrian party included Dr. Helmut Heuberger from Innsbruck, as well as Ajiba Sherpa, Angnima Sherpa, and Gyaltsen Sherpa.

Approach and establishing camps

The team left Austria in early September and flew to Kathmandu before heading to Namche Bazaar. During their approach, the monsoon brought rain and mist that turned to snow above 3,900m. On September 19, they reached Namche Bazaar for final preparations. Four days later, after a trek over moraines and frozen glaciers, they crossed the Nangpa La (Nangpa Pass) into Tibet.

They established Base Camp at 5,500m on the Gyabrag Glacier, below Cho Oyu’s Northwest Ridge. Using Shipton’s maps, they planned a better route.

"We studied the mistakes of earlier expeditions and chose a line that avoided the worst of the icefall," wrote Tichy. In the first week of October, they set up Camps 1 and 2.

The icefall below Camp 3 (at around 6,560m) was the hardest part. Pasang and Ajiba spent two days finding a way through, tying ropes. Soon after, a storm hit Camp 3 during the night. Tichy’s mittens came off as he tried to save the Sherpas’ tent, and his hands froze within minutes. Pasang and Angnima warmed Tichy's hands between their thighs, while Ajiba found his gloves. They abandoned the tents, roping up for a desperate retreat.

They descended to Camp 2 and the storm eased, but Tichy’s hands were "misshapen and hurt." He couldn’t undo a button or eat without help. The doctor and the Sherpas moved to Camp 1 to give him space. Tichy despaired.

Regrouping and waiting

At Camp 1, the team regrouped. Tichy’s hands needed hospital care, but Kathmandu was three weeks away. They decided Pasang and a few Sherpas would bring supplies from Marlung, while Tichy rested.

Camp 1 was "idyllically situated," with views of Cho Oyu and other peaks. Each day, they watched Cho Oyu’s snow plume to gauge the summit winds.

"We knew that only an almost windless day would make an ascent possible," Tichy wrote. The weather stayed clear but wild, with fierce winds signaling winter’s approach.

They waited for Pasang. Tichy’s hands, wrapped in fleece and three pairs of gloves, remained useless but protected. The team’s hope wavered after the storm’s brutality, but Pasang’s return sparked new determination. He had trekked from Marlung over the Nangpa La in just three days, driven by fear that a Swiss expedition led by Raymond Lambert, now nearby, might beat them to the summit.

The second attempt

The team planned a second summit push, learning from their earlier failure. Instead of tents at Camp 3, they dug an ice cave, inspired by Arctic igloos. Once, Joechler and two Sherpas tried to reach Camp 4 at 7,010m, but returned. Supplies were low, and Pasang’s earlier absence had limited their options. The Swiss team’s presence added pressure; they had only one shot at the summit.

They finally set a new Camp 4 a little bit higher, but digging another ice cave was impossible in the hard snow, so they anchored their tents tightly. Joechler and Pasang were chosen for the summit push, while Tichy debated joining them.

"I hated my helplessness," he admitted. He decided to climb without a rope, so he could turn back without slowing the others. "If I found I was not fit enough myself to grapple with Lady Luck, I would at any rate still not have cost them the summit," he reasoned.

The summit push

On October 19, Tichy, Joechler, and Pasang started around midnight. The three climbers moved fast, mostly without ropes to save time. Pasang led, using his Everest experience to pick the best path through snowfields. Tichy’s hands got so cold they started to freeze. Joechler stayed close, ready to catch a possible slip. At sunrise, they reached the summit ridge. The wind was sharp, and Tichy’s fingers turned black from frostbite.

"My hands were useless, but I could not turn back so close to the goal," Tichy said.

On October 19, 1954, at 3 pm, they stood on Cho Oyu’s summit. But getting down was challenging; Tichy’s frostbitten hands were swollen and useless. Pasang and Joechler helped him, and the three men finally completed the descent to Base Camp.

"We proved that courage and teamwork could do what heavy expeditions could not," recalled Tichy in his expedition report.

Cho Oyu became the fifth 8,000'er ascended, after Annapurna I, Everest, Nanga Parbat, and K2.

Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition that first climbed Everest, has passed away quietly at his home in Kapan, near Kathmandu. The 92-year-old mountaineer was an important part of the core Sherpa support team at a time when Everest was a distant dream, not a crowded tourist attraction. The Nepal Mountaineering Association shared the news of his passing yesterday.

Kanchha was born in 1933 in Namche Bazaar, a small village in Nepal’s Everest region. He didn’t know his exact birthday, but later guessed it from the Tibetan calendar, choosing the Year of the Rooster. His family grew potatoes and raised yaks, barely making ends meet.

His father, also a Sherpa climber, tried to climb Everest in 1952 with a Swiss team. That attempt, stopped by bad weather and risky route conditions on the Tibetan side, failed to summit. His father’s bravery inspired Kanchha.

At 19, needing work, Kanchha left Namche for Darjeeling, India, where climbers and porters had gathered. There, he met Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing knew Kanchha’s father from the 1952 expedition and saw something in the young man. With no climbing skills or gear, Kanchha joined the 1953 British expedition led by John Hunt. He was one of the more than 100 Sherpas hired to carry supplies, earning five rupees a day.

The 1953 Everest expedition

Kanchha’s job was tough but vital. As a high-altitude porter, he carried 27kg loads of oxygen tanks, tents, and food up icy slopes and steep rocks. He tied ropes to snow and stone for climbers to use. He helped build camps, each one a small base higher on the mountain. Kanchha’s strength and good attitude kept the team going.

He reached the South Col, the last camp before the summit, one of only three Sherpas to get that far with the main climbers. From there, he waited as Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed higher into the clouds on May 29, 1953. Later that day, word came: They had reached the top.

“There was no radio, so we were waiting and waiting. When they came down, everyone was hugging and cheering,” Kanchha told National Geographic.

In London, the news hit just before Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, making headlines around the world. For Kanchha and the Sherpas, it was simple food and big smiles, but the role of Kanchha and the other Sherpas was at the heart of the expedition’s success.

After Everest

Kanchha continued to climb after 1953, participating in six more Everest expeditions as a porter, until 1970. In 1963, an avalanche killed his cousin. In 1970, another avalanche took six friends.

His wife, Ang Lhakpa, had had enough and asked her husband to stop climbing, and he did. They moved back to Namche, where tourists were starting to arrive. They opened Nirvana Home, a small inn where climbers shared stories over hot meals.

Kanchha also worked to preserve the Sherpa culture, founding a group to collect and preserve songs, dances, and traditional stories about the mountains. Even in his 80s, he walked to far-off monasteries to pray, always full of energy, according to Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

But Kanchha grew upset with how Everest changed. By 2024, he saw pictures of Everest Base Camp covered in trash and overcrowded with people. The New York Times also wrote about his concerns, noting that thousands climb the mountain each year, leaving behind garbage and showing little respect for the environment.

Kanchha Sherpa, a true mountaineer at heart, leaves behind his wife, Ang Lhakpa; four sons; two daughters; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. His funeral, following Sherpa traditions, will happen soon in the Everest region.

The sixth-highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu is located 20km west of Everest, on the border between Tibet and Nepal. We have already written a brief climbing history of the mountain, as well as a history of climbing Cho Oyu from Tibet. Today, we will examine the climbing routes on the Nepalese side of this so-called Turquoise Goddess.

The various climbing routes on Cho Oyu include both the southern (Nepalese) and northern (Tibetan) sides of the peak. The comparatively easy normal route goes up the northwest side in Tibet. The Nepalese side is technically demanding, with steep faces, a high risk of avalanches, and unpredictable weather. That's why almost all commercial expeditions use the Tibetan route. Despite its difficulty, some notable climbs do take place on the Nepalese side.

In October 1978, a small Austrian-German team, led by Eduard Koblmueller, embarked on an unauthorized ascent of Cho Oyu’s formidable Southeast Face. It was a bold goal; Reinhold Messner had deemed the route unclimbable. The team, consisting of Koblmueller, Alois Furtner, Peter Von Gizicky, Gerhard Haberl, and Herbert Spousta, carried 250kg of gear to a 5,000m Base Camp, operating under a trekking permit for Gokyo.

Facing a 3,000m wall of ice-saturated rock, avalanche-prone plateaus, and steep ice troughs, they established camps at 6,000m and 7,400m, fixing ropes through the treacherous sections. They didn’t use supplemental oxygen or Sherpa support.

On October 27, Koblmueller and Furtner reached the summit at 6 pm, witnessing Everest as the sun set. Haberl had turned back at 8,000m because of frostbitten toes, and Gizycki and Spousta retreated at 7,800m. Heavy snowfall trapped the team at 6,600m without food or fuel, but they avoided avalanches and had all descended safely by November 1.

Controversy

The ascent, described by Koblmueller as his most challenging climb, sparked controversy. Stefan Woerner and Haberl later questioned whether the team climbed the Southeast Face or the easier Tichy route (the first ascent route of 1954). In 1981, Japanese climbers found no evidence of prior ascents on the southern face, and Gunter Hauser and the German Alpine Club doubted the summit claim.

However, Reinhold Messner saw the team's photos and argued that they did climb the Southeast Face, as claimed. Jan Boon, who met the three Austrians in the Khumbu, also supported their claim, noting their description of a unique Tibetan view from the summit.

Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism banned the group for five years for climbing without a permit.

Winter first by the Southeast Pillar

In February 1985, a Polish-Canadian expedition led by Andrzej Zawada achieved the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu. They climbed via the challenging Southeast Pillar, a route with brutal conditions. The team, including Jerzy Kukuczka, Zygmunt A. Heinrich, Maciej Berbeka, and Maciej Pawlikowski, faced a perilous 1,000m ridge fraught with rockfall risk. They established five camps up to 7,600m and didn’t use bottled oxygen. With only four members to carry gear, they struggled with logistics, moving a Camp 3 tent to serve as Camp 5.

On February 12, Berbeka and Pawlikowski summited after reaching 200m below the peak by 11 am, battling mist and technical difficulties. Kukuczka and Heinrich, delayed by differing acclimatization — Kukuczka was fresh from summiting Dhaulagiri on January 21 — followed on February 15. They hoisted Polish, Nepalese, and German flags, stayed 20 minutes taking photos, and enjoyed the sunset views despite temperatures of -25°C and fierce winds.

The descent proved complicated: Kukuczka fell four meters, and wary of darkness, the pair bivouacked at 7,920m before reaching Camp 5 on February 16. Kukuczka suffered slight frostbite on his fingers and toes, while a rockfall leg injury had earlier sidelined Heinrich. Earlier, Dmoch withdrew because of heart issues.

This ascent marked Kukuczka’s eighth 8,000’er and his second in a month. He thus became the first to ascend two 8,000m peaks in Nepal in such a short period.

New route: Southwest Face up, West Ridge down

In the autumn of 1990, Voytek Kurtyka, Erhard Loretan, and Jean Troillet ascended Cho Oyu's Southwest Face and descended by the West Ridge without supplemental oxygen. In their report for The Himalayan Database, they explained that the most difficult part of the climb was a few sections with deep snow and rock just above a couloir.

Japanese climber Yasushi Yamanoi established a new variation of the 1990 route in the autumn of 1994. He summited on September 23 without bottled oxygen.

Southeast Ridge- East Ridge route

In the autumn of 1991, a Russian expedition led by Sergey Efimov successfully established a new route on the Southeast Ridge- East Ridge. Other climbers had previously attempted this route, without success.

The team consisted of 14 Russians, one Ukrainian, and one Bashkir (a Turkic ethnic group from Russia).

They established their Base Camp northeast of Gyazumpa between two lakes. They navigated the complex East Ridge by setting up camps and fixing ropes at key sections:
- 100m through an icefall below Camp 2
- 120m just before Camp 2
- 400m between Camp 2 and Camp 3
- 730m from Camp 3 to Camp 4
- 320m between Camp 4 and Camp 5
- 80m above Camp 5

Above Camp 5, the route followed the ridge into a 70m-deep gully with mixed rock, ice, and snow. The rock was brittle, although some areas allowed them to install bolts. The gully’s north and south faces featured 3,000m rock walls descending from the ridge, with snow atop and steep rock faces beyond the gully.

On the Tibetan side, a couloir ran parallel, and a shelf on the far west side allowed a critical 200m traverse on 80° rock faces, described as the most difficult part of the climb. This traverse led back to the border ridge toward the summit.

Summit push

After establishing Camp 4, the team rested at lower camps. On October 15, a group scouted and fixed ropes beyond Camp 4. Three days later, a summit attempt from Camp 4 reached 7,900m (beyond the gully) by 1 pm, but they aborted the push because it was too late, and climbing in darkness would be very hard.

On October 19, the next summit party moved equipment from Camp 4 to establish Camp 5 at 6,950m. They arrived at 3 pm and fixed 100m of rope, then spent the night.

On October 20, starting at 8 am, Ivan Plotnikov, Eugeny Vinogradsky, Alexsander Yakovenko, Valeri Pershin, and Sergey Bogomolov summited. Plotnikov, Vinogradsky, and Yakovenko reached the top around 11 am, followed by Pershin and Bogomolov nearly two hours later, all without supplemental oxygen.

Yuri Grebeniuk, a surgeon, attempted the summit but turned back at 8,000m when his fingers began to freeze. He returned to Camp 5 at 1:30 pm with the first three summiters. They all spent the night at Camp 5.

Tragedy on descent

On October 21, the team descended from Camp 5 to Camp 3, leaving the Camp 5 tent behind but taking the sleeping bags. During the descent through the gully, a falling rock struck Grebeniuk on the forehead while he was climbing a 15m section.

Helmets were not worn above Camp 3, as rockfall was not anticipated. Grebeniuk sustained a deep wound and died within a minute. His teammates couldn't carry his body down because of the difficult terrain, so they left him in a sleeping bag on a shelf in the gully. During attempts to move the body, Pershin frostbit his fingers, which turned black but were expected to heal. He used oxygen that night in Camp 3.

Timofeev also sustained a head wound from a falling rock, and Pogorelov had a painful nerve issue in one leg that required a week’s rest at Base Camp.

Reincarnation: the Southeast Face Direct

In the spring of 2009, Denis Urubko and Boris Dedeshko from Kazakhstan embarked on a daring alpine-style ascent of the Southeast Face via a committing new route. Urubko, captivated by the face since 2001, described it as "terrifying and beautiful" in the American Alpine Journal.

The duo flew to Lukla on April 5 and began their acclimatization during the trek to Namche. They climbed Chhukung Peak to 5,800m, spent two nights there, and later reached 7,100m on the Ngozumba massif’s south face.

By April 14, they established Base Camp at 5,100m on the Ngozumba Glacier’s moraine. During a reconnaissance on April 25, they set an Advanced Base Camp at 5,300m on the Lungsampa Glacier. Urubko, battling a chest condition, briefly descended to Namche for recovery, returning by May 4.

The summit push

They left Base Camp on May 6, reaching ABC at 5,300m. At midnight, they tackled the Southeast Face from 5,600m, climbing steep rock (50º to 90º, sometimes overhanging) amid avalanches and falling rocks.

On May 7, they bivouacked at 6,000m on a tiny ledge, enduring wind and snow.

"The world narrowed to dimensions of a dull glass box 10m a side," Urubko wrote, capturing the claustrophobic intensity.

They progressed to 6,600m, then to 7,100m, bivouacking under seracs and bergschrunds as a storm raged. On May 10, they navigated a rock band at 7,300-7,500m before stopping at 7,600m.

On May 11, despite worsening weather, Urubko and Dedesho summited at 8:10 pm via deep snow and avalanche-prone couloirs. Urubko, completing his 14th 8,000m peak, felt "empty and transparent, like glass."

A dangerous descent

The descent was perilous. Avalanches buried their tent, and a rock struck Urubko’s head. By May 14, they reached Advanced Base Camp, returning to Base Camp on May 15, exhausted and frostbitten. With only 1,200m of rope, reused throughout, they left no gear behind. Urubko called it his most dangerous climb.

They named their 2,600m route (6b A2/3 M6 with steep snow and ice) Reincarnation. Here is their exciting report in the American Alpine Journal.

After the Urubko-Dedeshko climb of 2009, there were no successful ascents from the Nepalese side of the peak until 2024. In 2022, Gelje Sherpa's team climbed from Gokyo but stopped at 7,400m because of avalanches. In 2023, from Thame, they hit 7,600m, but the weather won. A Russian team led by Andrey Vasiliev tried the South-Southwest Ridge in fall 2023 and spring 2024, reaching 7,200m each time.

In 2024, a Seven Summit Treks team with Alasdair McKenzie, Tenjing Gyalzen, Lakpa Temba, Lakpa Tenji, Ngima Ongda, Chhangba, and Gelje Sherpa established a route by the South-Southwest ridge. This team used supplemental oxygen.

A couple of days ago, Czech climbers Marek Holecek and Radoslav Groh arrived at Cho Oyu, aiming to open a new alpine-style route up the Southeast Face.

Marc-Andre Leclerc loved mountains for the adventure, not for the fame. He achieved incredible things, winter soloing Torre Egger in Patagonia and free climbing El Capitan’s Muir Wall, among other notable climbs. He was never nominated for a Piolet d’Or, but Leclerc didn’t care about awards.

Leclerc thought chasing records or attention took away from the real experience of climbing.

"The obsession with time and speed is one of the greatest detractors from the alpine experience," he wrote.

His 2016 solo climb of Mount Robson’s Emperor Face, a tough 1,500m wall in the Canadian Rockies, demonstrates this climbing ethos.

Mount Robson and its first ascent

Mount Robson (3,954m) in British Columbia’s Mount Robson Provincial Park is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The Secwepemc people call it Yexyexescen, meaning "striped rock," and see it as sacred. Europeans named it after fur trader Colin Robertson. Its height and bad weather, with lots of snow and wind from the Pacific, make it a hard climb.

In 1909, Arthur Oliver Wheeler explored Mount Robson but couldn’t summit. In 1913, George Kinney and Curly Phillips skied to the base. That same year, at the end of July, Albert MacCarthy, William Foster, and guide Conrad Kain reached the top via the northeast Kain Face. They cut over 1,600 ice steps, making it North America’s hardest ice climb at the time. Kain said: "God made the mountains, but good God! Who made Robson?"

From 1939 to 1953, no one summited the peak, but after World War II, new routes opened. In 1951, climbers tackled the Southeast Face. In 1962, Steve Roper and Allen Steck climbed the Wishbone Arete, which was listed in the book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. However, the steep northwestern wall, the brutal Emperor Face of ice, rock, and snowy gullies, was the real challenge.

Mike Perla and Jim Spencer first completed the impressive Emperor Ridge, which is the northwest ridge, in 1961.

Ascents of the Emperor Face

In July 1978, James Logan and Mugs Stump made the first ascent of the Emperor Face, via a difficult VI 5.9 A2 route to the summit ridge. Logan had tried and failed to climb the face in 1976 and 1977, each unsuccessful attempt fueling his determination to succeed on a face that he found more impressive than the Eiger. After an unsuccessful climb on Mount Logan’s Hummingbird Ridge and waiting out two weeks of rain below the Emperor Face, a clear day finally gave them their chance.

They set up a camp high on the lower snow slopes, having already climbed 914m of easier snow and rock, carrying 25 pitons and eight days’ of food. The climb pushed their skills and courage, with steep 60° ice, thin ice over vertical rock steps, and few safe spots to place gear. Instead, they relied on shaky pitons or tied-off screws.

On the first day, Stump and Logan reached a snow rib in the center of the face, a spot previously reached by Pat Callis and Jim Kanzler, the highest point on earlier attempts. The next day was grueling, with every other section extremely hard: thin ice, loose rock, and an overhanging wall. Logan’s key section involved carefully placing pitons and climbing loose, snow-covered rock. He nearly fell when a crampon slipped.

"At such times, I can climb much better than usual, and fortunately can often muster this frame of mind on serious climbs where it is most needed,” Logan wrote, describing the intense focus, shaped by his earlier failed tries, that kept them going.

A night of avalanches

Despite a scary night camped on 70° ice with snow avalanches pouring over them, Logan and Stump kept climbing. Stump led up steep ice to the final wall, and Logan’s careful piton work and risk-free climbing got them to the north face’s snowy slopes. Tired but successful, they pushed through a snow cornice to reach the ridge, then chose to descend the south face instead of going to the summit, which Logan had already reached on a previous trip. For Logan, beating the Emperor Face, after years of failed attempts, was the real victory.

Dave Cheesmond and Tony Dick made the first complete ascent of the Emperor Face to the summit in August 1981.

After the 1981 ascent, and before Leclerc’s solo climb of the Emperor Face in 2016, there were a few more climbs.

In 2002, Barry Blanchard, Eric Dumerac, and Philippe Pellet established Infinite Patience (VI WI5 M5, 2,250m), reaching the summit via the Emperor Ridge. Then, in 2007, Steve House and Colin Haley climbed a variation left of the original Stump-Logan route (WI5 M8, 2,500m total), reaching the summit.

Jason Kruk and John Walsh established a new line to the Emperor Ridge (M6, 2,500m) in 2010, but didn’t continue to the summit in bad weather. In the spring of 2012, John Walsh and Josh Wharton made the first one-day ascent of Infinite Patience. In the autumn of the same year, Jay Mills and Raphael Slawinski completed the third ascent of the same line.

Leclerc goes solo

Leclerc had been dreaming of climbing the Emperor Face since he first saw pictures of it at the age of 10.

In 2016, at age 23, he felt strong enough to carry out his plan. From March 25 to April 11, he climbed four routes in the Valley of the Ten Peaks with his friend Luka Lindic, including three new ones.

"Each time we climbed another route, I could feel that my familiarity and confidence with the Rockies' unique style of mixed climbing was becoming stronger," Leclerc wrote.

In 2014, Leclerc had tried soloing Mount Andromeda’s Shooting Gallery route (also known as the North Ridge Couloir) and got scared, climbing "downward sloping frozen cubes of choss masked beneath six inches of powder snow." He barely made it down. Now, he was ready to try again.

Leclerc didn’t own a car, so he hitched rides from Banff to Jasper and camped in hidden spots. He didn’t use a phone or watch, just an MP3 player for music. Before tackling Robson, he tested himself by soloing Mount Andromeda’s Andromeda Strain route.

"I marveled at how well the climb had gone and at how calm and comfortable I had felt soloing the route," he wrote after. He was ready for the Emperor Face.

Leclerc's Emperor Face

Leclerc took a bus to Mount Robson and spotted it from the highway. "The way it seemed to just tower above the road was like no other mountain I had seen; the summit felt incredibly distant, as if it were located on another planet entirely."

He hiked 20km to Berg Lake, then skied to the Mist Glacier’s edge. There, he camped and looked at the Emperor Face, partly covered in clouds with wind howling high above.

"For the first time in a long time, I felt deeply intimidated by the aura of the mountain," he said.

The next morning was calm. He skied up the moraine, then at the base, he put on crampons and got out his ice tools. He chose Infinite Patience and its gullies, chimneys, and ice runnels. The first ice pillar was steep and thin.

"The steepness took me by surprise and I had to stop to shake out several times through the crux section before the angle slowly eased off," he wrote.

Deep snow slowed him in Bubba’s Couloir (named after Barry Blanchard), but he kept going, brushing away powder to find cracks for his tools.

"I would brush away large amounts of snow until finding an ideal thin crack, then I would use my other tool to gently tap the pick into place, creating a sort of self-belay."

Soaked by snow mushrooms

Halfway up, he saw Berg Lake below. Near the top, snow mushrooms blocked the ice runnels. He tunneled through one, getting wet.

"I soon found myself scraping up a sketchy groove while digging a tunnel through the snow mushroom...I could not help but dislodge snow into my jacket and was soon soaked down to my base layer."

Worried about getting too cold, he pushed on. The climbing improved on firm snow and mixed grooves. On a sunny ledge, he dried his clothes and made four liters of water, thinking the wind higher up might stop his stove. Two chimney pitches took him to the Emperor Ridge, where the views were phenomenal.

The 800m traverse across the west face was tough. For Leclerc, it was the physical and mental crux of the route.

"I kicked steps and planted my tools for what felt like an eternity, my gloves becoming wet and freezing solid in the cold wind."

He reached the summit at sunset, his feet hurting badly. "Robson seemed to be so much taller than any of the surrounding peaks, like a platform in the sky looking down on the rest of the world," he wrote.

Descent and survival

After summiting, Leclerc chose to descend by the west face and the Emperor Ridge.

Leclerc was too tired to go down right away. He dug a trench in the summit snow and got into a thin bivy sack. He tried to stay warm with a hot water bottle, but the boiling water spilled, soaking him.

"I yelled an obscenity and realized that my situation was becoming too desperate to stay on the summit any longer."

His headlamp batteries were dead, and his gear was covered in ice, but he started rappelling, using V-threads in the ice and leaving some gear behind.

At dawn, he reached a ledge and tried to melt snow, but his lighter fell down the mountain. With only 500ml of water left, he kept going, climbing down steep snow as ice fell around him. He saw the mountain’s shadow stretch across the horizon. He reached his skis, then skied to the river, eating food that didn’t need cooking. At Hargreaves shelter, he found a lighter, then realized he had a backup in his pocket all along.

Leclerc’s first solo of the Emperor Face was a huge achievement, but he didn’t tell the world about it. He lived simply, sleeping in stairwells, hitchhiking, and listening to music on his MP3 player.

After Leclerc’s climb, there were a few other excellent climbs on the Emperor Face. In 2018, Jasmin Fauteux and Maarten van Haeren repeated Infinite Patience, and in 2020, Ethan Berman and Uisdean Hawthorn established an amazing new mixed route, Running in the Shadows, up the right side of the face.

Leclerc’s legacy

Tragically, Leclerc died in March 2018 at age 25. He and his climbing partner, Ryan Johnson, disappeared on Alaska’s Mendenhall Towers after climbing a new route. An avalanche likely took them, and their bodies were never found.

The 2021 documentary The Alpinist, directed by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, details Leclerc's incredible climbs and simple life. It features amazing footage and personal moments; the film captures Leclerc’s climbing philosophy.

This month, on October 10, Leclerc would have turned 33 years old.

You can watch the trailer for The Alpinist here:

Yesterday, two died during an unauthorized climb of 2,173m Vilyuchinsky volcano, in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

According to Russian media, three unregistered climbers were ascending the stratovolcano when two of them — a man and a woman — fell down a steep slope and sustained severe injuries. The man was dead at the scene, while the woman died from her injuries during the descent.

Rescuers reached the third member, a woman, higher up the slope and lowered her on a stretcher to medics. She was unharmed but exhausted and hypothermic. Her condition is reported as moderately severe.

Sergey Lebedev, the Kamchatka Region’s Minister of Emergency Situations, noted the challenging conditions — including icy slopes, strong winds, and steep terrain — that complicated the rescue operation. Teams used Mi-8 helicopters and ground units to reach the victims at around 1,500m elevation.

Vilyuchinsky's last eruption occurred around 10,000 years ago, and it has shown no recent activity. The volcano lies about 50km south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka's regional capital, and its icy slopes pose significant risks, particularly in early October.

As the tourist group was not registered and the climbing route has been officially closed since July 1, an investigation is underway into the unauthorized climb.

Today, Kilian Jornet topped out on Mount Rainier, marking the successful completion of his States of Elevation project.

The Spanish mountaineer and ultrarunner has climbed all 72 accessible 14,000-foot peaks in the contiguous United States. His scorchingly quick journey began on September 3 at Longs Peak, Colorado.

Over 31 grueling days, Jornet covered more than 5,000km, linking summits across Colorado, California, and Washington through a blend of running and cycling, all under his own power.

The project saw Jornet tackle an average of over 160km daily — equivalent to Tour de France stages — while ascending technical routes like the LA Freeway and Nolan’s 14. With minimal sleep, often just 4.5 hours per night, he navigated extreme conditions, from desert heat exceeding 38°C to subzero temperatures on Rainier.

His approach emphasized the journey itself, as he noted the "quiet miles" and "shared ridges" between peaks.

Today's ascent of 4,392m Mount Rainier culminated a grueling month-long odyssey that built on his past feats, including 2024's linkup of the Alps’ 82 peaks above 4,000m in 19 days.

More on this historic achievement will follow as details emerge.

Marco Schwidergall, Tomasz Rodzynkiewicz of Poland, and Matej Prcin of Slovakia have made the first ascent of a 6,232m peak in the Ghujerab Mountains of the Karakoram, according to Polski Himalaizm Sportowy. They tentatively named it Tumladen Sar, pending local approval.

Their 1,800m M5 route featured ice up to 85 degrees.

The expedition, which also included Michal Nowicki, Maksymilian Parys, and Mateusz Wieckowski, set up Base Camp near Pakistan's Virjerab Glacier. The team split into two groups, with Schwidergall, Rodzynkiewicz, and Prcin targeting the unclimbed peak.

Two bivouacs, ten rappels

They began on September 21, with the team spending two bivouacs on the wall. They summited on September 23 at 2:30 pm. After 10 rappels down the south side and navigating a complex glacier, they safely returned to Base Camp on September 24.

The first day involved climbing a couloir with steep, high-quality ice, reminiscent of classic Alpine routes, plus one mixed pitch graded M5. Windblown snow made conditions challenging, according to Schwidergall.

On the second day, the climbers had to face endless stretches of hard ice up to 80º. Schwidergall notes that on the third day, they climbed easier ice and firn to the summit, with two more difficult pitches.

During acclimatization, the same trio summited a nearby 6,031m peak via a route with rocky sections and ice up to 50 degrees.

The Ghujerab Mountains, part of the Karakoram range bordering Pakistan and China, remain largely unexplored, with only a few expeditions venturing into the region due to its remoteness and logistical challenges.

Notably, a 2021 Polish Himalayan expedition included climbers Adam Bielecki, Michal Czech, Janusz Golab, Wadim Jablonski, and Maciej Kimel. They focused on exploratory ascents in the adjacent Shimshal Valley, which separates Ghujerab from other Karakoram subranges.

In the 1980s, Vladislav Oleksandrovych Terzyul of Ukraine emerged as one of the strongest climbers of his generation. During his career, Terzyul climbed all 14 8,000m peaks, although he only reached secondary summits on Shisha Pangma and Broad Peak.

His life ended tragically on Makalu in 2004. We trace his journey, from his early climbs to his final expedition.

Terzyul was born in Artyom, Russia, on June 18, 1953, and later moved to Odessa, Ukraine, where he settled in the coastal city of Yuzhny. As a young man in the 1970s, he began climbing in the Caucasus Mountains. He summited 5,642m Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, and tackled technical routes on ice and rock, often in harsh winter conditions.

In the 1980s, Terzyul expanded his experience in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. He also climbed in the Tien Shan and Altai ranges, mastering mixed routes of ice, snow, and rock. His daily routine in Yuzhny included jogging 4.5km and swimming in the Black Sea, keeping him physically ready for the mountains.

By the late 1980s, Terzyul was a leading figure in the Odessa Alpine Club and earned the Soviet title of Master of Sport in alpinism. He summited all the 7,000’ers in the former USSR and won the prestigious Snow Leopard award.

Quest for the 14

Terzyul’s pursuit of the 14 8,000’ers was motivated by Reinhold Messner’s successes. He was convinced that a Ukrainian could summit the 14 peaks without supplemental oxygen. The quest defined his career.

From 1993 to 2003, he summited nine 8,000m peaks, all without supplemental oxygen except Kangchenjunga, his first 8,000'er. He also reached the Central Summit of Shisha Pangma (and skied down from 7,400m, according to RussianClimb) and made it to the foresummit of Broad Peak.

Among his many climbs, a couple stand out. Terzyul was a member of the 1996 Polish International Expedition to Annapurna I that established a new route on the Northwest Ridge. In 2000, he made a successful solo push to Cho Oyu’s summit and skied down to Camp 2. He then helped a sick climber descend from Advanced Base Camp to Base Camp.

In 2001, Terzyul joined the Ukrainian National Expedition to Manaslu, reaching the summit via a new route on the Southeast Ridge. Before the 2004 Makalu expedition, his last summit was Gasherbrum I in 2003.

Makalu, 2004

In the spring of 2004, eight expeditions targeted 8,485m Makalu. Four teams climbed via the Makalu La-Northwest Ridge route (one of them with a variation), while two parties used the Southeast Ridge. Soloist Jean-Christophe Lafaille chose the Northwest Ridge-North Face of the Kangchungtse–Makalu La-Northwest Ridge route, and the Kazakhstan Makalu Expedition, led by Maxut Zhumayev, targeted the difficult West Pillar without bottled oxygen. The Kazakh team included nine climbers: Zhumayev, Sergey Brodsky, Ervand Iljinsky, Damir Molgachev, Vassily Pivtsov, Artyom Rychkov, and Alexander Rudakov, from Kazakhstan; Jay Sieger from the U.S., and Terzyul from Ukraine.

Makalu’s West Pillar is wild, complicated, and dangerous. It is a very exposed route, especially in Makalu’s frequent strong winds. French climbers Bernard Mellet and Yannick Seigneur made the first ascent of the West Pillar on May 23, 1971, using oxygen, as members of a team led by Robert Paragot.

In 1980, John Roskelley made the West Pillar’s second ascent and its first without O2. Only three other expeditions climbed the West Pillar before 2004.

The expedition begins

On April 9, 2004, Zhumayev’s team left for Nepal. They flew to Lukla on April 14, reaching Base Camp by helicopter on April 16, just above the junction of the Barun and Chago Glaciers.

Camps sprang up quickly: Camp 1 was established by April 22 (below 5,180m), Camp 2 by April 23 at the West Pillar’s base, Camp 3 by May 6 at 7,400m on the West Pillar, and Camp 4 by May 13 at 7,700m-7,800m, according to The Himalayan Database.

The first summit attempt took place from May 12 to 14, when Molgachev, Brodsky, and Rychkov climbed from Camp 4. However, strong winds and exhaustion forced them to turn back before the summit, and they retreated to Base Camp.

On May 15, the same trio tried again, leaving Camp 4 at 6 am and reaching 8,300m by 4:30 pm. But high winds and the late hour prompted another retreat to Camp 4.

Terzyul and Sieger summit

On May 17, Terzyul and Sieger departed Camp 4 at 6 am, using fixed ropes. At 7:30 pm, Iljinsky spotted them from Base Camp with a telescope: The pair was summiting Makalu as the sun set. But fog soon engulfed the peak, obscuring them from view.

The next day, Iljinsky observed Sieger descending alone to 8,300m by 9:30 am, where he sat down, exhausted. After a five-minute break from observing, Iljinsky returned and saw only a red object -- Sieger’s body -- among the rocks. No further movement was detected, confirming the 45-year-old American's death.

There was no sign of Terzyul, suggesting that he and Sieger had separated post-summit, possibly due to differing descent speeds, an accident, or disorientation in the fog.

Finding Sieger

Despite snow at Base Camp on May 19, Pivtsov and Zhumayev launched a summit bid from Camp 4 at 12:10 pm, reaching the top on May 20 just before 10 am in clear conditions. During their descent, they found Sieger’s body at 8,300m, upside down among large rocks, right arm extended up, head facing down. The body was impossible to move. They returned to Camp 4 by 6 pm.

On May 20, Molgachev, Brodsky, Rychkov, and Rudakov started another attempt from Base Camp but retreated to Camp 2 in worsening weather. Molgachev and Rychkov reached Camp 4 on May 24, starting for the summit at 11:45 am, but stopped at 8,000m due to heavy snow, wind, and cold. They returned to Base Camp that day, ending the expedition.

In 2010, a Ukrainian team found Sieger’s body lower on the mountain, at 7,800m, hanging from a rope, likely shifted by natural forces. Despite extensive searches, they found no trace of Terzyul.

Legacy and tributes

Terzyul died on Makalu aged 50. While his 14 peaks are disputed internationally because of the two secondary summits, Terzyul is hailed in Ukraine as the country’s first climber to complete all 14.

In 2010, the Ukraine Makalu Expedition, led by Valentin Simonenko, summited Makalu and placed a black rectangular plaque on the West Ridge in Terzyul’s memory. In 2021, a group led by Yulia Zi released a biographical documentary called Terzyul14. In 2015, Oleksiy Honcharuk, Natalia Polyakova, and Oleg Sytnyk published Vladislav Terzyul: Tie Your Knot, revealing personal details about Terzyul’s life. His daughter, Yulia, noted that the book uncovered new facets of his personality, blending his athletic achievements with his humility and strength.

In the autumn of 1988, a team of Slovak climbers set out to tackle Everest’s Southwest Face, a steep and unforgiving route first climbed by Chris Bonington’s British team in 1975. That earlier climb used siege tactics, with fixed ropes, camps, and bottled oxygen.

The Slovaks wanted to do it differently, in alpine style, carrying everything themselves, no oxygen, no Sherpas, no pre-set camps. It was a bold plan, one of the toughest climbs ever attempted on Everest. They succeeded, but at a terrible cost: One man reached the summit, but he and three others disappeared on the descent.

The team

The Slovak team was led by Ivan Fiala, a 47-year-old mountaineer from Bratislava with years of experience in the Himalaya. For this expedition, he remained at Base Camp, overseeing the operation. His deputy, Jaroslav Orsula, handled logistics, while Dr. Milan Skladany kept an eye on the team’s health. The climbers chosen for the Southwest Face were four strong alpinists from Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains: Dusan Becik, 34, a technician; Peter Bozik, 34, a blacksmith; Jaroslav Jasko, 27, an engineer; and Jozef Just, 33, a calm and steady climber. All were skilled, tested on tough peaks, and ready for Everest’s challenge.

The goal

The team planned to repeat the 1975 British route up the Southwest Face, but without the heavy support. They would carry minimal gear and move fast, climbing as a tight group. First, they would acclimatize on Lhotse, using its West Face to prepare their bodies for high altitude. Then they would switch to Everest, aiming to climb the Southwest Face in two or three days, and descend via the South Col and Southeast Ridge.

It was a daring idea, especially without oxygen, which even Bonington had called impossible for this route. The route, known as the Hard Way, featured steep ice couloirs, a notorious rock band with chimneys rated V-VI on the UIAA scale, long snow traverses prone to avalanches, and exposure that left little room for error.

Deals at Base Camp

The expedition was officially a joint "Czechoslovakia-New Zealand" effort, but the two groups operated mostly on their own. The New Zealanders, led by Rob Hall, had their own plans for Everest’s South Pillar and Lhotse’s West Face, but they shared the permit and some Base Camp resources. This partnership helped with negotiations in the crowded Base Camp, where Fiala’s party arrived on Sept. 9, 1988. To reach the Western Cwm, the flat valley below the Southwest Face, the Slovaks had to cross the Khumbu Icefall.

By that time, U.S. and French expeditions had already set up ropes through the Icefall, charging $7,000 for their use. It was a huge sum for the Slovaks, who came from a communist country with little money. After negotiations, the French permitted Fiala's team to use the ropes. The Americans also agreed, in exchange for gear and food. The South Koreans also consented after the Slovaks promised to fix ropes to Camp 4 on Lhotse, which the Slovaks planned to climb as part of their acclimatization. These deals were crucial; without them, the expedition might have stalled before it began.

Establishing camps

In the first weeks, Becik, Just, and Jasko worked hard to set up camps. They placed Camp 1 at the top of the Khumbu Icefall, Camp 2 in the Western Cwm at 6,400m, and Camp 3 at 7,250m on the steep, icy Lhotse Face. Sherpas helped with food and materials to Camp 2, but the upper work was a team effort.

Fiala stayed at Base Camp, talking to the climbers on the radio. Orsula kept supplies organized, and Skladany checked for signs of altitude sickness: headaches, nausea, or worse. The doctor noted how the thin air stole appetites and sleep. Base Camp life was a routine of boiling snow for tea, repairing gear under prayer flags, and watching storms roll in from the east.

Acclimatizing on Lhotse

Before their main goal on Everest, the team needed to acclimatize. On September 21, after a spell of bad weather, they started up Lhotse from Base Camp. Becik and Just led the way from Camp 3. After seven hours, they reached 8,050m and bivouacked for four hours in a small tent.

That night, September 27, they climbed by moonlight. On September 28 at 6:00 am, Becik and Just reached Lhotse’s 8,516m summit without bottled oxygen. The ascent was a seven-hour grind from Camp 3, pushing through fixed lines the team had helped place for the Koreans. At the top, the views stretched to the horizon: Everest's black pyramid dominating, the curve of the Kangshung Glacier below.

Bozik and Jasko went as far as Camp 4 at 7,900m, spending a night there before turning back. They bivouacked just under the chimney leading to the summit, enduring a couple of hours in the open before descending, saving their energy for Everest.

All four descended to Camp 2 on September 28 and Base Camp on September 29. Lhotse had done its job: Their bodies were ready. Fiala praised it as a key step, noting how the four strong climbers -- now battle-tested -- emerged hungrier for the face. Radio reports from the descent spoke of fatigue but no major issues, and Skladany's checks at Base Camp confirmed improved altitude tolerance.

The first try on Everest

On October 7, Becik, Bozik, Jasko, and Just started their first attempt on Everest’s Southwest Face.

They moved through the Icefall and reached Camp 2 in the Western Cwm, but strong winds hit hard, trapping them in their tents. The next day, the weather was too bad to climb higher, and they retreated to Base Camp. It was a setback, but they weren’t done. They rested, ate, and waited for a better chance. Skladany checked them over, noting fast heartbeats and tired eyes, but they were still strong. Orsula made sure their gear was ready: one tent’s inner lining, two sleeping bags (for Bozik and Jasko, who planned to try Lhotse later), three days of food, a stove with gas, 240m of rope, four ice axes, two ice hammers, three small cameras, and one light video camera. No oxygen.

This first probe exposed the Face's temperament. Winds howled down the couloirs, whipping spindrift into blinding sheets, and the lower ramps felt steeper than photos suggested. Back at Base Camp, Fiala reviewed the reports, adjusting expectations. The delay built tension, but it also allowed recovery.

Another push

On October 12, they tried again. They left Base Camp, crossed the Icefall, and reached Camp 2. Winds kept them there on October 13, but at 3 am on October 14, they started up. The first day was tough. They had planned to climb a key couloir, but the ice was harder than expected, and technical sections slowed them down. By 7 pm, they stopped at 8,100m, setting up their first bivouac on a platform they carved out of the snow.

The lower wall proved a rude welcome. Icy terrain demanded constant axe work, and a difficult stone wall rated V-VI UIAA loomed, forcing careful route-finding. Just radioed down that progress was slow, but the group felt solid, with no health complaints yet. Digging the platform took precious energy; the cold night tested their minimal sleeping setup.

October 15 was clearer, but the Rock Band’s chimney -- a steep, narrow section from the 1975 route -- was harder than they thought. It took all day to climb, with icy holds and loose rock. By 5 pm, they reached 8,400m, above the Rock Band, and made another bivouac. They were moving more slowly than planned, but the summit was close. No one reported any issues, and the radio crackled with steady updates, Fiala noting the climber's resilience.

A third bivouac, concerns start

On October 16, they faced a long snowfield, sloping to the right. It was slow going, with soft snow and hidden hard patches. Becik started to struggle, feeling sick, weak, and vomiting in the morning. His strength sapped, the others were forced to match his faltering rhythm. The group stayed together, but it took the whole day to cross.

At 7 pm, after two and a half hours of digging, they set up their third bivouac at 8,600m, just below the South Summit. Fiala, at Base Camp, was worried. The team was behind schedule, and Becik’s condition was a red flag. Over the radio that night, the team said Becik was better.

The platform at 8,600m was tiny, the wind probing for weaknesses in their tent liner.

Pushing alone for the summit

On October 17, at 9 am, they started for the South Summit, hoping to reach it by 10 am, and the main summit by 11. The route was steep but familiar from other climbs. By 10 am, they made it, but the team was breaking apart. Becik, too weak to go on, stayed below the South Summit. Bozik and Jasko (whose vision was blurry, likely from retinal hemorrhages caused by altitude) headed toward the South Col, planning to save energy for Lhotse later. Just went on alone.

On October 17 at 1:40 pm, Just radioed Fiala: He was on Everest’s summit, alone, after completing the first alpine-style, oxygen-free ascent of the Southwest Face. He described bitter cold and strong winds, staying only 15 to 20 minutes on top to take photos. Unsure of Bozik’s and Jasko's positions, he scanned the ridge, seeing only clouds. By 2 pm, he started down. At 3 pm, from the South Summit, he found Becik had moved from where he’d waited. Bozik and Jasko were out of sight, probably heading to the col. Just’s vision was failing too, with spots clouding his eyes.

A call that never came

At 4 pm, Just radioed that he had met Becik and Jasko. Jasko was sluggish, barely moving, and needed urging to descend. Bozik also had vision problems and felt lost. At 5 pm, Becik caught up from above, his eyesight clearer, and took the lead. By 5:30 pm, at 8,300m, halfway to the South Col, they said they could see the route and were okay. They promised another call in two hours from the col. It never came.

At 6 pm, three Americans reached the South Col. The sky was clear, and they could see the route to the South Summit. No one was there, no climbers, no headlamps. By 11 pm, a fierce storm hit, with winds up to 160kph. At Camp 2, four of seven tents were ripped apart, likely blown down the east face. Fiala tried to organize a rescue, offering Sherpas 25 times their pay to check the col. However, the storm was too dangerous, and no one went.

The search

On October 18, at 10 am, the Americans checked again: South Col tents deserted, no signs up high, and Camp 3 empty below. They then descended.

Searches followed, but helicopters couldn’t fly, and climbers found nothing. Becik, Bozik, Jasko, and Just were gone, likely swept off by the storm or lost in crevasses on the Kangshung Face. Their bodies were never found.

Fiala, heartbroken, stopped climbing for good. Orsula and Skladany put up a plaque in Gorak Shep with the climbers’ names.

Legacy

The Slovak climb was a milestone. Reinhold Messner called it one of the greatest Himalayan efforts. Chris Bonington was amazed they did it without oxygen. No one has climbed the Southwest Face in alpine-style since. A 2020 film, Everest: The Hard Way by Pavol Barabas, tells their story, with Fiala’s voice carrying the weight of loss and pride. In Slovakia, climbers still talk about the four, their names a reminder of what’s possible, and what the mountains can take.

The tragedy underscored the limits of oxygenless assaults, yet Just's summit -- one man against the Hard Way -- stands unchallenged in alpine purity.

Six hours and 20 minutes into his attempt to set a Fastest Known Time on Mount Everest without bottled oxygen, Tyler Andrews’ tracker shows him at 6,972m. The American ultrarunner has climbed 1,672m since starting at 8:20 pm Nepal time.

At 1:00 a.m., Andrews left Camp 2. This season, the route between Camp 2 and Camp 4 is more straightforward, so he bypassed Camp 3.

This marks Andrews' fifth attempt at the speed record. Earlier this week, he aborted at 7,400m due to deep snow and the difficulties of solo trail-breaking. He was also shaken after a crevasse fall in the Khumbu Icefall. Since skier Andrzej Bargiel and his Sherpa companion have summited since then, Andrews can benefit from their tracks.

According to his home team, the athlete is feeling good and moving well.

Kilian Jornet has now finished all 56 accessible peaks in Colorado above 14,000 feet.

Two further 14,000-foot peaks, Culebra and Bross, are on private land and not open to the public, so Jornet did not attempt those. But the Spanish ultrarunner and mountaineer completed the others in an incredibly fast 16 days, covering 1,942 kilometers and 78,004m of elevation gain -- almost nine Everests.

“I feel great to have finished Colorado,” he said in a video posted Tuesday. He admitted the start was tough with jet lag and altitude, plus bad weather most days. But he found his rhythm, knocking off several peaks a day while cycling between them on his gravel bike -- no mechanized transport.

His ambitious States of Elevation challenge is to climb all 72 available 14,000-foot peaks in the contiguous United States within about one month. Chalking off the 56 in Colorado since beginning on September 3, he now has 12 in California and 2 in Washington remaining.

In the end, Jornet will cover about 965km of hiking and climbing, plus 3,862km of biking.

Hardest sections

His journey took in some hard routes, including the Elks Traverse, an 80 km stretch over seven rough peaks in three days. He also tackled Nolan’s 14, a 161km route across 14 Sawatch Range peaks, dodging wildfires and storms.

In the Sangre de Cristo mountains, he climbed snowy ridges alone. One day, he summited five 14,000’ers in 14 hours, biking 30km between them. Even his "easy" days were intense, like 160km of cycling to Pikes Peak, followed by a fast climb.

Local runners like Sage Canaday and Simi Hamilton have joined him for sections. iRunFar’s Bryon Powell ran with him on Handies Peak and saw him smiling after 11 hours and four summits. “He’s the same calm Kilian,” Powell said, “doing huge days like it’s no big deal.”

As Jornet recently posted on Instagram, he was on the move every day for about 16.5 hours, covering a marathon on foot, another 75-80km by bike, and 4,875m of vertical, for 16 days straight. Apart from the 78,004m of climbing, he has covered a horizontal route as long as Denver to San Francisco, but over mountainous terrain.

Next stop, Mount Whitney

”It feels great to have finished Colorado," Jornet said. "The mountains are stunning, and the wilderness is truly special. During the first two weeks, the weather was really tough, which added an extra layer of challenge.”

Now, he is biking to California to climb its 12 14,000-foot peaks, starting with Mount Whitney, the highest in the Lower 48 at 14,505 feet (4,421m). After that, he’ll head to Washington for Mount Rainier and Liberty Cap, aiming to finish by early October. His Instagram shows him pedaling across open land, with updates posted a day late for safety.

On September 13, Yudai Suzuki, Genki Narumi, and Hiroki Yamamoto of Japan made the first ascent of the east face of 6,080m Hasho II in the Karakoram.

Hasho II is the highest summit in a remote and glaciated corner of Pakistan. It sits on the watershed dividing the Khane, Nangmah, and Lachit Valleys.

Before the expedition, the Japanese trio had intended to climb Changi II, but when they scouted it,  the rock looked so loose that they decided to seek an alternative. Suzuki, Narumi, and Yamamoto hiked through the Lachit Valley until they found a good objective in the unclimbed east face of Hasho II.

"This peak was the most attractive and logical to climb in terms of rock quality and objective dangers," Suzuki told ExplorersWeb.

The three men climbed from September 9 to 13. They established Advanced Base Camp at 5,090m and made two bivouacs, at 5,510m, and at 5,850m on the plateau.

"The bivy was only the width of my shoulders," Suzuki recalls. "It was quite uncomfortable and cold, but a rich experience when I look back on it."

They graded their new 880m route 5.10, A1, 50º, VI.

The first three pitches were a moderate 5.10, but featured a lot of sand and dirt. After excavating some dirt from the crack, they continued climbing. "It looks like perfect golden granite in the photo, but it was actually super wild alpine rock," says Suzuki.

On the third day of the climb, they mounted the final blue ice section, then descended to their Advanced Base Camp before nightfall.

Many small crevasses

"It was really insanely crevassed terrain," recalls Suzuki. "We fell about ten times into hidden crevasses, but luckily, every time, they were just leg deep."

Information from the American Alpine Journal suggests that their first ascent of Hasho II's east face is just the second overall ascent of the mountain. A Russian team led by Konstantin Markevich first summited it in the summer of 2019 via the west flank and south-southeast ridge.

On Sept. 24, 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston stood on the summit of Everest after the first complete ascent of the Southwest Face, a route that had defeated every previous expedition. Led by Chris Bonington, the team used meticulous planning, over 3,200m of fixed ropes, oxygen, and a large crew of climbers and Sherpas to achieve their goal.

Everest’s Southwest Face drew attention after Nepal opened to climbers in 1950.
The steep, 2,000m wall of rock, ice, and snow stretches from the Western Cwm and features the Rock Band at around 8,300m, a high barrier of fractured rock and thin snow. It demands advanced climbing skills in harsh weather with avalanche risk.

Attempts before 1975

Several teams tried to climb the Southwest Face before 1975 but failed because of the route's difficulty, brutal winds, and logistical issues.

A Japanese party led by Yoshihiro Fujita scouted the Face in the spring of 1969, reaching 6,500m. In the autumn of the same year, Hideki Miyashita led another reconnaissance expedition to around 8,000m, but the team didn’t intend to try for the summit, according to The Himalayan Database.

In the spring of 1970, Japanese leader Hiromi Ohtsuka and his large team reached 8,050m on the Southwest Face, but they finally summited via the normal South Col-Southeast Ridge route.

The 1971 spring International Everest Expedition, led by Norman Dyhrenfurth and O.M. Roberts, included climbers from multiple nations. They aimed to follow a similar route to the Japanese teams, left of the central gully. They reached 8,380m, but poor team cohesion, logistical issues, health problems, and bad weather eventually stopped them short.

In the spring of 1972, Karl. M. Herrligkoffer led a team that abandoned at 8,350m because of cold weather, low morale, and team dysfunction.

The first British attempt

In the autumn of 1972, Chris Bonington led a strong British party, including Doug Scott, Dougal Haston, and Mick Burke. They fixed ropes via the central gully, which was already a significant achievement. Brutal winds, cold, and poor supplies forced them to turn back at 8,230m, and Tony Tighe was killed in the Icefall by a falling serac.

However, this expedition laid the groundwork for their 1975 success, testing key sections of the Rock Band and learning which camp sites to use to avoid avalanches. For 1975, they planned a siege-style assault with a large team, tons of gear, and Sherpa support.

In the post-monsoon season of 1973, a Japanese expedition led by Michio Yuasa reached 8,380m but summited via the normal route.

The 1975 team

Bonington assembled a team of 18 climbers and approximately 60 Sherpas, plus other support staff. Most of the team had climbed together before 1975.

Bonington was already a Himalayan veteran. He started climbing in the Alps as a teen and led the 1970 Annapurna I South Face first ascent. A logistics master, he secured funding for the expedition from Barclays Bank and managed team dynamics.

Doug Scott was from Nottingham and began climbing at 12. A teacher by trade, he lived for the mountains. Dougal Haston, from Currie, Scotland, was a climbing star. He climbed hard alpine routes from a young age and summited Annapurna I in 1970. Mick Burke, a Manchester rock expert, filmed the ascent for the BBC. In 1970, Burke became the first Briton to climb the Nose of El Capitan. Nick Estcourt, a rock and ice specialist, was known for bold winter routes.

Pertemba Sherpa, a sirdar from Solukhumbu, led the other Sherpas carrying 40kg loads. Hamish MacInnes was the deputy leader, and the party also included Charles Clarke (doctor), a BBC crew, and logistic experts such as Mike Cheney and Adrian Gordon. The other members were Hamish MacInnes, Martin Boysen, Tut Braithwait, Arthur Chesterman, Jim Duff, Allen Fyffe, Brian Ned Kelly, Chris Ralling, Mike Rhodes, Ronnie Richards, Keith Richardson, Ian Stuart, and Mike Thompson, all from the UK. As well as Pertemba Sherpa, there were 30 more Sherpas and 26 Icefall porters.

The Sherpas included Mingma Nuru Sherpa, Ang Phurba Sherpa, Tenzing, Lhakpa, Nima, Psang Sherpas, and many others. Their role was very important for the team's logistics, and Pertemba would play a starring role in the expedition.

The expedition flew to Kathmandu in July 1975. However, the journey to Everest started badly. On August 23, during the trek to Base Camp, Mingma Nuru Sherpa tragically drowned in a river.

The ascent

The team set Base Camp on August 25, and crossed the crevassed Khumbu Icefall in a day. At 6,100m, they established Advanced Base Camp in the Western Cwm and set up Camp 1 near Advanced Base Camp. They further set Camp 2 at 6,500m and Camp 3 at 6,700m at the base of the face.

Scott and Burke began to climb the face on September 6, fixing 370m of rope to a buttress for Camp 4 at 7,200m. Camp 5, at 7,700m, sat right of the central gully. Bonington moved there on September 16, staying nine days.

"I had never believed in leading an expedition from Base Camp," he wrote in the American Alpine Journal.

Sherpas, led by Pertemba, hauled tons of gear up the mountain, including oxygen, tents, and food.

"The tremendous enthusiasm of the Sherpas who carried more, often heavier, loads...I had never thought possible," Bonington noted. The team fixed over 3,200m of rope, with winches aiding gear hauls.

Breaking the barrier

The Rock Band at around 8,300m was the crux of the climb where past expeditions had stalled. On September 20, Estcourt and Braithwaite, supported by Bonington and Burke, cracked it. From Camp 5, they crossed a great gully to the Rock Band’s left-hand cleft.

"Although we had obtained every photograph we possibly could, none had shown what happened inside the gully; this was one of the big gambles," recalled Bonington.

The gully was shadowed and cold, with winds around 40-60kph. A rock plastered with snow blocked the route. Braithwaite led, climbing a 60° to 70° edge with crampons and axes. He ran out of oxygen, but he kept going.

Estcourt took over above the chockstone, finding a ramp of steep snow at 8,230m. As Bonington noted, this was the key: "It was probably the hardest climbing ever attempted at that altitude."

The ramp had an overhanging wall pushing Estcourt off balance. Without oxygen in the thin air, he climbed a pitch he called one of the hardest he had ever led. Fixed ropes secured it, and Bonington and Burke followed, hauling 300m of rope.

The group fixed 800m of rope through the Rock Band to a snowfield above. This opened the path toward Camp 6, which was set up two days later at 8,320m on a snow arete. Ang Phurba Sherpa then hauled a box tent up.

The summit push

On September 22, Scott and Haston reached Camp 6. On September 23, they fixed ropes to 8,380m, battling strong winds. At dawn on September 24, they started up, using fixed ropes for speed. Haston led through rock bands and then a deep couloir.

"The snow was soft and deep, and [the couloir] looked much longer than we had expected," Haston explained.

Haston's oxygen failed near a rock step, and it took an hour to fix. Scott then led the step over 90 minutes, fixing a rope. The climbers waded through snow on a 60° slope, sinking to their knees. At 3 pm, they topped a cornice to the South Summit at 8,760m.

"We considered bivouacking," Scott wrote, citing loose snow and the late hour. Yet they eventually pushed on. The Hillary Step, masked in powder, was shoveled by Haston.

Finally, on September 24 at 6 pm, Scott and Haston summited Everest, finding a Chinese marker at the top. "The view was as much and more than any climber could expect," Haston said.

Darkness descends

Because they topped out late, it was soon dark. The two climbers were forced to bivouac at 8,750m. Without sleeping bags and low on oxygen, this was a dangerous situation.

"The cold had worried its way into our limbs," Scott wrote. They dug a snow cave and survived till dawn, when they descended to Camp 6.

The second push

Bonington planned three summit bids. On September 26, Martin Boysen, Pete Boardman, Mick Burke, and Pertemba Sherpa left Camp 6. The weather was not good, with strong winds and cirrus clouds that warned of changing conditions.

Halfway across the snowfield, Boysen turned back after suffering oxygen issues. Boardman and Pertemba reached the South Summit by 10:30 am. Soon after, Pertemba’s oxygen bottle iced up, and it took 90 minutes to fix. Finally, Boardman and Pertemba Sherpa summited at 1:10 pm, flying Nepal’s flag. Pertemba’s success was a Sherpa milestone on a technical route.

Tragedy

While descending, they met Burke below the summit. He was climbing solo. Boardman and Pertemba waited at the South Summit, but within half an hour, the weather dramatically deteriorated. In whiteout conditions, Boardman and Pertemba Sherpa waited an hour, then descended, barely finding the fixed ropes. "It was an agonizing decision," Bonington recalled.

Burke vanished. Bonington noted that he was certain that Burke reached the top. Nobody knows what happened to Burke, but a cornice fall to the Kangshung Face is likely.

Boardman and Pertemba made it down, but with frostbite and snowblindness, respectively.

The team could not search for Burke until September 27 because of the storm.

Aftermath

The team returned as heroes. It was the first British Everest summit, and they achieved it via the hardest route climbed at the time. The 1975 ascent was the pinnacle of siege-style expeditions. With 70 people and tons of gear, it showed what teamwork could achieve.

Bonington’s 1976 book Everest the Hard Way became a bestseller. The same year, Burke's footage was used in a documentary titled Everest the Hard Way.

The 1975 Bonington route was successfully repeated to the summit by a Slovak party in 1988, in alpine style. However, that expedition ended in tragedy, in a story we'll look at in depth in a future story.

You can watch Everest The Hard Way here:

On September 18, shortly before midnight, a car accident on the Route des Cretes in the Gorges du Verdon in the French Alps claimed the lives of accomplished French mountaineers Benjamin Guigonnet, 37, and Quentin Lombard, 34, according to France Bleu and Le Dauphine Libere.

Their vehicle veered off the narrow, winding, unlit road and plunged approximately 700m into a ravine, killing both instantly. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Benjamin Guigonnet received a 2018 Piolet d’Or with Helias Millerioux and Frederic Degoulet for their 2017 first ascent of the south face of 7,742m Nuptse Nup II in Nepal. Born in 1988, Guigonnet became a high-mountain guide in 2011 and was a trainer at the Ecole Nationale de Ski et d’Alpinisme (ENSA) in Chamonix.

His notable achievements include climbing the Cassin route on the Grandes Jorasses and mastering rock climbing routes up to 9a difficulty. Guigonnet was also a father of two and a technical advisor for Simond. For more on Guigonnet, the 2023 documentary Nuptse: L’Inaccessible Absolu chronicles his Himalayan expedition.

Quentin Lombard has been a high-mountain guide since 2017 and a national alpine ski instructor since 2014. He also worked at ENSA, focusing on mentoring aspiring mountaineers.

Remote Pauhunri peak lies in the Eastern Himalaya, on the border between Sikkim, India, and Tibet. In 1911, it became the highest peak ever summited, yet it remains little known compared with other Himalayan peaks.

Pauhunri rises above the Teesta Khangtse Glacier to the west and northwest, and the Teesta River valley to the south. Nearby, Chholamo Lake, one of India’s highest at 5,099m, adds to the area’s beauty.

According to most sources, Pauhunri is either 7,128m or 7,125m, but according to Eberhard Jurgalski's updated measurements, it is 7,107m, with a prominence of 2,014m, making it a major independent peak.

Long approach, few ascents

Climbing Pauhunri is not extremely technical -- its routes are graded PD+ to AD on the Alpine scale, with snow and ice slopes. However, its high altitude, harsh weather, and long approach make it tough. Reaching the peak requires a multi-day trek from Lachen in North Sikkim, the closest town with a road, through glaciers and rough terrain.

Pauhunri’s difficult access has kept it off most climbers’ lists. It has been climbed only five times, by around 10 people.

The first ascent

Alexander Mitchell Kellas was born in 1868 in Aberdeen, Scotland. He was a chemist, teacher, and mountaineer whose work changed Himalayan climbing.

Kellas's love for mountains started in the Scottish Highlands and then the Alps, but he eventually focused on the Himalaya. Between 1907 and 1921, he made eight trips to Sikkim.

In 1910, Kellas scouted the Kangchenjunga region, including Kirat Chuli, as part of his broader exploration of the Sikkim Himalaya. Kellas’ goal was to study the geography, assess potential climbing routes, and gather data on the effects of altitude. That year, he climbed 6,965m Langpo, which has only two ascents, both by Kellas.

Kellas and his two Sherpas, Sony and "Tuny’s brother," carried out the first ascent of Pauhunri between June 13 and 17, 1911. It was Kellas’ fourth Sikkim expedition.

From Sikkim, to Tibet, to the summit

The trio took a route from the northwest, starting in North Sikkim and approaching via the upper Lhonak Glacier. This glacier lies on the Tibetan side of the border but was accessed from Sikkim. Their long approach went via the Lachen Valley to the village of Lachen, then to the Lhonak Lake area and up the Lhonak Glacier, which descends northwest from Pauhunri toward the Tibetan plateau.

From the glacier, they ascended a steep, loose section on mixed terrain to a prominent col on the northwest side. From there, they followed the northeast ridge to the summit, topping out on June 14 without supplemental oxygen.

This climb, done without fixed ropes, was advanced for its time. At 7,128m, the team set a world altitude record, beating Tom Longstaff's 1907 climb of 7,120m Trisul. The record fell again in 1930, with the first ascent of 7,462m Jongsang Ri.

Early maps misjudged Pauhunri's height, so the record was not fully recognized until the 1980s. Some sources, like the American Alpine Journal (2008) and author Jill Neate, list 1910 for this climb, but Kellas’ own notes published in the Alpine Journal in 1912, confirm the 1911 date.

Kellas's legacy

Kellas valued the help of Sherpa and Lepcha porters, unlike many climbers of his time. Sadly, the names of his porters in 1911 were not recorded, a sign of the era’s focus on Western climbers.

Kellas also climbed 6,835m Chomiomo in 1911 and made maps and photos that helped later expeditions to Kangchenjunga and Everest. Kellas died in 1921, aged 52, from dysentery during the first British Everest expedition. He died before reaching the mountain. Forgotten for decades, his story was revived in the 2011 book Prelude to Everest by Ian R. Mitchell and George W. Rodway.

Kellas’s Pauhunri climb was his greatest achievement, and a major event in mountaineering history, although underrated at the time. With two Sherpa porters, he summited using a simple, lightweight style, climbing the northwest ridge without fixed ropes. This was unusual at a time when most expeditions were large and complex.

During the climb, Kellas studied how altitude affects the body, measuring pulse and breathing, and testing oxygen equipment. His 1917 paper, A Consideration of the Possibility of Ascending the Loftier Himalaya (Geographical Journal), said Everest could be climbed without extra oxygen if climbers adapted to altitude -- a bold idea proven true in 1978. He also pushed for using oxygen tanks, which later helped Everest climbers in the 1920s.

Four more ascents

In 1930, a large Swiss-led team under Gunter Oskar Dyrenfurth set out to explore the Kangchenjunga region in Sikkim. This international group, including Dyrenfurth’s wife Hettie, climber Fritz Wiessner, and local Sherpas, wasn’t solely focused on Pauhunri but aimed to scout the Zemu Glacier’s peaks. They trekked through Sikkim’s rugged terrain, setting up camps amid snow and mist.

On a clear June day, a small party from the expedition tackled Pauhunri’s north ridge, the same route Kellas had pioneered. They reached the summit, marking the second confirmed ascent. It wasn’t their main goal -- Kangchenjunga loomed larger -- but Pauhunri’s summit was a proud side achievement.

After World War II, the Himalaya beckoned adventurers again, and a third ascent took place, although there are no details. By the 1980s, India’s mountaineers were taking charge in their Himalayan backyard, especially in restricted border zones like Sikkim.

Around 1986-1988 (records disagree on the exact year), an Indian Army team set its sights on Pauhunri. Details are scarce because military climbs often stay under the radar, but they followed the same north col route from the Chholamo Glacier. Facing brutal winds and snow, they pushed to the summit, marking the fourth ascent.

The last registered ascent

In November 1989, three climbers from Sikkim’s Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute (Nawang Kalden, Nima Wangchu, and Pasang Lhakpa) decided to climb Pauhunri as a training mission. Starting from a base camp at 5,100m on the Chholamo Glacier, they set up two higher camps, battling cold and altitude. On November 1, after a grueling 7.5-hour push from their Camp 2 at 6,210m, they stood on the summit.

Pauhunri’s five ascents over 78 years make it one of the least climbed 7,000m peaks, with no evidence of post-1989 ascents.

Only the northern routes are known, with no attempts recorded on other sides. Pauhunri stays forgotten because it lacks the draw of bigger peaks, and is hard to reach because of its isolation and border sensitivities. Yet, for climbers seeking rare challenges, it offers a unique adventure.

On September 7, Colin Haley achieved a historic first, completing the first solo winter ascent of Cerro Torre in Patagonia. The American climbed via the Ragni Route.

This marked Haley’s tenth climb of Cerro Torre and the culmination of a dream he had nurtured for over a decade.

"I kneeled on the summit of Cerro Torre just before 10 pm, by myself," Haley wrote in a blog post, describing the moment he reached the summit under a brilliantly bright full moon.

A monumental challenge

The spectacular Cerro Torre is a beacon for alpinists because of its technical challenges and unpredictable weather. According to Haley, the climb demanded "ice climbing skills, mixed climbing skills, rock climbing skills, snow climbing skills, big wall skills, a high level of physical endurance, skills to thrive day after day in a cold, harsh environment, ski mountaineering skills, cross-country skiing skills, and even mountain biking skills."

Haley's extensive experience, including seasons on Denali, waterfall climbing in the Canadian Rockies, and big wall climbing in Yosemite, prepared him for this monumental challenge.

Patagonian legacy

Haley’s history with Patagonia is storied. A veteran of the region, he first climbed Cerro Torre in January 2007 with Kelly Cordes. The pair completed the first full ascent of Los Tiempos Perdidos, an 800m ice chute on the South Face, followed by another 600m from the Col de la Esperanza via the Ragni Route. This route, first climbed in 1974 by a Ragni di Lecco team (an Italian mountaineering club), is renowned for its unique ice and rime features shaped by Patagonia’s fierce winds.

Haley’s subsequent ascents of Cerro Torre include the Torres Traverse with Rolo Garibotti and a single-day Torres Traverse with Alex Honnold, both among his life’s most meaningful climbs. In 2022, he completed the first solo winter ascent of the Supercanaleta route on Fitz Roy, and in January 2023, he carried out the first alpine-style solo ascent of Fitz Roy’s Goretta Pillar

The spark of an idea

The idea of soloing Cerro Torre by the Ragni Route first took root in December 2007, while Haley camped alone on the Torre Glacier after his partner bailed. Eventually, he retreated at the bergschrund below the Standhardt Col, deeming the goal too ambitious at the time.

A year later, in December 2008, Swiss alpinist Walter Hungerbuhler, inspired by a conversation with Haley, completed the first solo ascent of the Ragni Route. Though Haley was not upset, the experience taught him to be more guarded with his ideas, recognizing the creative aspect of envisioning new challenges in alpine climbing. Hungerbuhler’s ascent, however, occurred during a busy summer season with multiple parties on the route. This prompted Haley to consider a winter ascent to ensure a true solo experience.

The 2013 attempt

Haley’s first serious attempt at a winter solo came in August 2013. That winter, he traveled to El Chalten -- a town largely deserted in the off-season -- and made one attempt on September 14. The Ragni Route, which faces south and receives little sunlight in winter, presented unexpectedly fragile ice. The fragility made free-soloing sections, which Haley had found manageable in the summer, far more challenging.

Additionally, the long approach was far more taxing in winter, requiring significant gear caching. His 2013 attempt ended just above the Col de la Esperanza. He had underestimated the difficulty and the need for extensive self-belaying in winter conditions.

Pucher’s near miss

In 2016, Austrian climber Markus Pucher came remarkably close to achieving the first winter solo of Cerro Torre. Pucher, whom Haley describes as a "super-badass," reached just one pitch below the summit before retreating, an effort Haley deeply respects.

"Arriving one pitch from the summit of Cerro Torre by oneself in winter is an incredible effort," Haley wrote.

Pucher had previously made a solo attempt in 2015, reaching just below the Elmo, and his 2016 effort remains one of the most impressive in the peak’s winter climbing history.

The 2023 setback

In 2023, Haley spent August and September in Patagonia, singularly focused on Cerro Torre. Heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures (colder than anything Haley had experienced, even after 16 ascents of Denali and a winter climb of Mt. Huntington) made the climb exceptionally challenging. Deep snow, the physical toll of the long approach, and the psychological strain of facing difficult conditions alone led to an unsuccessful attempt.

Discouraged, Haley declared he was done with rope-soloing and unlikely to revisit the project, citing the immense labor of the approach and the route’s severe cold in winter.

The return

Circumstances in 2025 reignited his ambition. After an unsuccessful climbing expedition in the Karakoram’s Charakusa Valley, where poor conditions and constant rockfall thwarted his plans, Haley returned to Chamonix. With only six days to prepare, he made a spontaneous decision to return to El Chalten, arriving on August 13.

A favorable weather window was already underway, prompting him to begin portering gear immediately. Over several missions, he cached equipment near the base of the Ragni Route, having learned from his 2013 and 2023 attempts that preparation was crucial. On one mission, he hired a porter to carry 20kg to La Playita, a small but transparent detail he noted in his blog.

The summit push

By September 4, with gear in place and promising weather, Haley began his ascent. Accompanied partway by photographer Ty Lekki, who skied to the Circo de las Altares to capture stunning images of the climb, Haley started from the top of Filo Rosso on September 6. The climb was grueling, with brittle ice, steep rime, and the physical demands of self-belaying.

A critical moment came on the final pitch, where a collapsed section of the summit mushroom forced Haley into a narrow crevasse.

For nearly three hours, he chipped away at glacial ice in contortionist positions, leaving behind gear to squeeze through.

"I spent the next two hours and 45 minutes making my way through this crevasse, which I would describe somewhat as the ice version of the Harding Slot," he wrote.

Emerging just before 10 pm on September 7, he reached the summit under a full moon, a moment both triumphant and nerve-wracking because he had to focus on the descent.

A difficult descent

The descent was full of challenges, including a failed Beal Escaper device that forced Haley to cut his rope, requiring numerous Abalokov anchors with a shortened 45m line. Physically depleted, with swollen hands and feet, he reached the top of Filo Rosso by 6:15 am on September 8. The journey back to El Chalten took several days, with Haley carrying heavy gear through deteriorating weather. By the time he reached the Rio Electrico bridge, he had been mostly alone in the mountains for seven days.

The ascent marks the second complete winter climb of the Ragni Route, following a 2013 climb by Stephan Siegrist, Thomas Huber, Matias Villavicencio, and Dani Arnold. It is only the third complete winter ascent of Cerro Torre, after the above 2013 ascent and a 1985 Compressor Route expedition. Haley’s solo effort, however, stands alone as the first of its kind and is a testament to his deep connection to Patagonia’s mountains.

"This might be the most special one," Haley reflected.

For more details, you can read Haley's blog here.

By 2013, Broad Peak had almost 20 fatalities, making it one of the deadliest 8,000m peaks. That year, two expeditions -- a Polish winter team and an Iranian summer team -- added five more names to this fatality list, turning a milestone season into one of huge tragedies. Today, we revisit 2013's two fatal Broad Peak expeditions.

The world's 12th-highest peak, 8,051m Broad Peak is located in the Karakoram on the border between Pakistan and China. The mountain's name comes from its broad summit ridge, which spans nearly 1.5km and includes multiple subsidiary peaks, such as the Rocky Summit at 8,028m and Broad Peak Central at 8,011m. This wide ridge, combined with the Karakoram's extreme weather, avalanches, crevasses, and rockfall, makes Broad Peak dangerous. While it is often considered one of the easier 8,000’ers compared to K2 or Nanga Parbat, its fatality rate tells a different story. There are around eight deaths per 100 successful summits.

Early climbs and early fatalities

Broad Peak was first ascended on June 9, 1957. The Austrian team, led by Marcus Schmuck, climbed unsupported via the West Ridge without supplemental oxygen. Schmuck, Hermann Buhl (who died soon after on Chogolisa), Kurt Diemberger, and Fritz Wintersteller summited.

Broad Peak's first registered death occurred in the summer of 1975. A Polish team led by Janusz Ferenski aimed for Broad Peak Central. The 15-member party set up Base Camp at 5,000m on the Godwin Austen Glacier on June 30, following a route close to the 1957 Austrian line but sticking to the ridge’s crest. They placed Camp 1 at 5,800m, Camp 2 at 6,550m, and Camp 3 at 7,200m, according to the American Alpine Journal.

On July 28, six climbers -- Roman Bebak, Kazimierz Glazek, Marek Kesicki, Janusz Kulis, Bohdan Nowaczyk, and Andrzej Sikorski -- pushed for the summit. The ascent was hard, with two challenging rock sections near the top. Bebak turned back before the col, but at 7:30 pm, Glazek, Kesicki, Kulis, Nowaczyk, and Sikorski reached the Central Summit, marking its first confirmed ascent.

Tragedy on the descent

As darkness and worsening weather closed in, the climbers navigated a treacherous ridge. They opted to rappel to a snow terrace to reach the col. Disaster hit when Nowaczyk’s rappel rope came loose, sending him plummeting down the Chinese side to his death. With no spare rope, the team continued unroped on the icy slopes. Kesicki and Sikorski slipped at different points and fell to their deaths. Kulis arrested his fall, and only he and Glazek survived.

Over the decades, there have been deaths from falls, exhaustion, and exposure, especially on the standard route from the Pakistani side. This route involves steep ice slopes, seracs, and a long summit ridge prone to whiteouts.

The 2000s saw more incidents. In 2009, Italian Cristina Castagna vanished during a descent in bad weather from Camp 4 at 7,400m. Her body was never recovered. In 2018, Icelandic climber Ingolfur Sveinsson died in an avalanche near Camp 2 at 6,000m.

More recently, in 2021, South Korean climber Kim Hong-bin perished after summiting, despite rescue efforts. In 2022, British climber Gordon Henderson fell to his death near the summit during a busy season that saw multiple fatalities on neighboring peaks.

Winter attempts amplify the dangers, with sub-zero temperatures, high winds up to 100kph, and limited daylight.

The 2013 Polish winter expedition

The 2013 Polish winter expedition was part of a national program led by the Polish Mountaineering Association to conquer the 14 8,000’ers in winter. Directed by legendary climber Krzysztof Wielicki, who had himself made winter ascents of Everest and Kangchenjunga, the team aimed for the first winter summit of Broad Peak. This would be a significant achievement: At the time, only 11 of the 14 8,000’ers had been summited in winter, and Poles were responsible for nine of them.

The expedition arrived at Base Camp on January 23, facing brutal conditions. Temperatures dropped to -40°C, with strong winds and deep snow.

The core summit team consisted of four experienced climbers: Maciej Berbeka, 58, a veteran with a storied career; Adam Bielecki, 29, a rising star who had just completed the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum I; Tomasz Kowalski, 27, an ambitious young mountaineer; and Artur Małek, 34, known for his technical skill.

Berbeka, in particular, had a deep connection with Broad Peak. Born in Zakopane, Poland, in 1954, he was a UIAGM-certified mountain guide and member of the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue team. His achievements included the first winter ascents of Manaslu in 1984 with Ryszard Gajewski, and Cho Oyu in 1985 with Maciej Pawlikowski via a new route, making it the only winter 8,000m ascent by a new line. He had also summited Annapurna I, Everest, and Lhotse.

In 1988, Berbeka became the first person to reach over 8,000m during winter in the Karakoram by climbing to the Rocky Summit of Broad Peak. That 1988 attempt, part of a larger K2 expedition, had ended in controversy when Berbeka was told he had summited, only to learn later it was the slightly lower Rocky Summit, 23m shy of the true summit. This unfinished business drove him back 25 years later.

The summit push

The team established Camp 2 at 6,300m and Camp 4 at 7,400m. Acclimatization rotations were grueling, with storms burying tents and forcing delays. By early March, a weather window opened, and on March 4, the four climbers pushed from Camp 2 to Camp 4, arriving late after battling deep snow and crevasses. At dawn on March 5, they left at 5:15 am, roped in pairs: Bielecki and Małek leading, followed by Berbeka and Kowalski. The route above 7,700m featured three major crevasses, the largest secured with fixed ropes. Berbeka and Bielecki alternated leads to the 7,900m col between Broad Peak Central and the foresummit, reaching it by 12:30 pm.

From there, the summit ridge stretched out, but winter conditions transformed it into a technical nightmare. Cornices loomed, and unexpected ice required careful belaying.

The group reached the foresummit (Rocky Summit) around 4 pm, then continued to the main summit. Darkness fell as they pushed on, with headlamps piercing the freezing night. Between 5:20 pm and 6 pm, all four Polish climbers stood on the true summit. This was the first winter ascent of Broad Peak, and it was achieved without supplemental oxygen. It was a big moment: the 12th 8,000'er ascended in winter, and Berbeka's third first winter ascent. He thereby joined an elite group that included only three others -- Krzysztof Wielicki, Jerzy Kukuczka, and Simone Moro.

Struggles on descent

The team had summited late, and temperatures sank to -30°C with winds howling. Bielecki and Małek moved ahead, reaching Camp 4 by 10:10 pm and 2 am on March 6, respectively.

Berbeka and Kowalski lagged, exhausted from the long day. Kowalski radioed Base Camp, reporting fatigue, breathing difficulties, and a broken crampon. He had bivouacked at 7,900m in extreme cold, without a tent. Berbeka was last heard from near the col, urging Kowalski to descend. By morning, neither had reached Camp 4.

Rescue attempts began, but blizzards and high winds grounded helicopters and halted high-altitude searches. On March 8, Wielicki declared Berbeka and Kowalski dead, citing the altitude, conditions, and lack of contact. Berbeka's body was never found, likely lost in a crevasse near 7,900m. Kowalski's remains were spotted in 2022 by Polish climber Rafal Fronia at about 8,000m on the ridge.

In 2023, Fronia led a team funded by the Polish Olympic Committee and the climbing community to recover Kowalski's body. They buried him in an ice cave at a less visible spot, providing some closure after 10 years.

Controversy

After the expedition, a Polish Mountaineering Association report criticized the expedition for poor communication -- radios malfunctioned because of the cold and other technical issues -- and a lack of team cohesion.

It faulted the late summit push, which left little margin for the descent, and the decision for Bielecki and Małek to hurry down without waiting. The report stated that the group "de facto ceased to exist" when Bielecki separated from Małek, violating the plan to descend as a unit. Bielecki and Małek defended their actions, arguing that stopping in the death zone would have led to hypothermia for all. Their survival instincts kicked in amid the winds at -40°C.

Italian climber Simone Moro supported them, noting winter climbing's unforgiving nature in an interview with Planet Mountain. "Individual responsibility is key; you can't sacrifice everyone," Moro said.

The debate raged in Polish media, with some accusing the survivors of abandoning teammates, while others praised the historic ascent despite the risks. The Polish Mountaineering Association ultimately cleared the expedition of major fault but recommended better radio protocols and team training for future efforts.

Berbeka’s legacy

The 2022 Netflix film Broad Peak, directed by Leszek Dawid, dramatized Berbeka's life. It focused on the 1988 controversy and Berbeka's drive for redemption. Starring Irakli Kvirkvelia as Berbeka, it portrayed the emotional toll of mountaineering, earning praise for highlighting Polish climbing history but criticism for some dramatized elements. The film grossed well in Poland and sparked renewed interest in winter climbing history.

The 2013 Iranian summer expedition

Just four months after the Polish expedition, there was another tragedy on Broad Peak.

A five-member Iranian team from the Arash Mountaineering Club in Tehran attempted a new route on the Southwest Face, dubbed Route Iran. Led by the experienced 47-year-old Ramin Shojaei, the group included Afshin Saadi, 43, Aidin Bozorgi, 24, Pouya Keivan, 24, and Mojtaba Jarahi, 28.

This was no novice crew; they built on prior Iranian efforts. In 2009, a 10-person Arash team had climbed the lower half of the Southwest Rib to 6,800m before retreating because of an illness. In 2011, a six-person follow-up fixed ropes for 350m across a traverse but ran out of time. Bozorgi, Keivan, and Jarahi, the team's young members, were the strongest options for the alpine-style push above 7,000m.

Bozorgi, from Tehran, was a climbing prodigy. He started mountaineering at 13, summited Damavand at 15, earned a degree in electrical engineering, and excelled at ice, rock, and big-wall climbing.

Keivan was a skilled all-rounder, and Jarahi was set to marry soon after the trip, adding personal stakes. His teammates teased him about his upcoming wedding. Their climbing motivation stemmed from national pride and a desire to prove Iranian prowess on uncharted terrain, despite tensions with the Iranian Mountaineering Federation over funding and support.

The summit

The climbers arrived at Base Camp in late June 2013, sharing facilities with international teams, including Americans and a Mongolian woman.

They acclimatized via the normal route, establishing Camp 3 at 6,800m by early July. On July 13, Bozorgi, Keivan, and Jarahi branched right onto the new line, facing poor weather and a shift from snow to rocky terrain. They bivouacked at 7,350m that night, advancing only 100m the next day through difficult mixed climbing to 7,450m.

On July 15, progress improved on easier ground, leading to a bivouac at 8,000m just below the summit. Early on July 16, they reached the top via their new route, a major achievement, partial though it was, joining the normal route higher up.

A fatal descent

Opting for the standard route to Camp 3 for safety, they traversed the col at 7,900m but took a wrong turn onto a subsidiary spur with rocky, exposed terrain.

They were exhausted, without food or water, and the wind had torn away their tent, forcing two more bivouacs above 8,000m. On July 19, Bozorgi radioed Shojaei at Base Camp, reporting dire conditions: no supplies, Jarahi ill, and all affected by fatigue and altitude. Their last contact was fragmented, and Bozorgi couldn't share GPS coordinates. Pakistani porters reached the col on July 20 but found no trace amid deteriorating weather. Rescue efforts, involving helicopters and other expeditions, were halted by storms. On July 22, the three were declared dead.

Shojaei later reflected on the team's errors. They underestimated the descent's complexity, their team leader was insufficiently acclimatized, and they relied on an alpine-style push without enough gear. The new route was a bittersweet success, celebrated in Iran for its ambition but mourned deeply. The climbers' bodies were never recovered, likely lost in crevasses or avalanches.

Iranian media highlighted the Iranian Mountaineering Federation's mismanagement, with Bozorgi having written a pre-expedition letter criticizing their support. The Arash Club honored them with memorials, emphasizing their role in advancing Iranian mountaineering amid economic challenges.

Descents a recurring problem

The 2013 Broad Peak tragedies fit into a pattern of risk on 8,000’ers. The death zone above 8,000m causes rapid deterioration from hypoxia, frostbite, and exhaustion. The Polish incident exposed winter climbing's special challenges -- shorter days, unstable snow, and cold -- while the Iranian one showed the peril of new routes, with navigation errors and resource depletion. Both teams succeeded in their goals but faltered on the way down, the most dangerous phase. The descent accounts for over 70% of the fatalities on such peaks.

Comparisons to other tragedies, like the 1996 Everest disaster or the 2008 K2 tragedy, reveal common threads: weather changes, communication failures, and ethical dilemmas over leaving teammates. Broad Peak's long ridge amplifies these, with whiteouts causing disorientation. Post 2013, safety improved slightly with better forecasts and gear, but the fatality rate remains high.

These stories remind climbers that 8,000m peaks demand humility, as Wielicki noted in a documentary on the expedition: "Happy expeditions are those when everyone returns."

Conclusions

The 2013 Broad Peak tragedies encapsulate the dual nature of high-altitude mountaineering, triumphs sometimes overshadowed by profound loss. The Polish team's first winter ascent was a historic feat, cementing their nation's dominance in extreme climbing, yet the deaths of Berbeka and Kowalski highlight how quickly ambition can lead to disaster.

These events may teach critical lessons. Preparation is vital, but so is adaptability. The Polish Mountaineering Association's report, which emphasizes communication and cohesion, could prevent future mishaps. New routes, while innovative, require conservative margins, as the Iranians learned too late. Ethically, debates over descending ahead versus group survival persist, but Moro's defense is true: In the death zone, self-preservation can sometimes save at least part of the team.

Italian climbers Matteo Della Bordella and Marco Majori have achieved the first winter ascent of Via Casarotto on the Goretta Pillar of Fitz Roy (3,405m), a historic milestone in Patagonian alpinism.

Supported by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) and the Ragni di Lecco group, the expedition departed from Italy on August 5 and reached El Chalten after a challenging journey. Their goal was to tackle the iconic northern route — a visionary line, first pioneered solo by the legendary Renato Casarotto in January 1979 — in full winter conditions.

Della Bordella, Majori, and Tommaso Lamantia made a first attempt on the route early in the expedition, but the extreme cold and wind rendered their hands too frozen to manage the ropes. Lamantia returned home after this attempt, leaving Della Bordella and Majori to persist.

As weather windows remained stubbornly closed, doubts crept in. Finally, at the very end of the trip, a brief good forecast allowed them to launch another attempt. They began on Friday, bivouacked on the wall, and reached the summit on Sunday after three intense days.

The route covers 1,300m over 35 pitches, with difficulties up to grade VII and aid sections (A1-A2). Winter transformed the challenge: shorter days meant only half the climbing time compared to summer, with nighttime temperatures dropping to -20°C and midday highs barely reaching 5°C in the sun. Early morning starts were especially punishing in the biting cold.

Renato Casarotto

Renato Casarotto (1948-1986), born near Vicenza, Italy, was a master of bold solo and winter ascents in the Alps and Himalaya. Among his achievements are the Cozzolino Dihedral on Mangart, the Freney trilogy, and the east face of the Grandes Jorasses, all in winter. Further afield, he topped out on McKinley via the "Ridge of No Return", climbed the north ridge of Broad Peak, and tried the "Magic Line" on K2, where he lost his life in 1986.

Casarotto's Patagonia legacy began in late 1978 with a climbing group from the Italian town of Morbegno. The rest of the group left after a failed attempt on Fitz Roy, but Casarotto continued, with vital radio support from his wife, Goretta Traverso, at Base Camp. After one unsuccessful summit push, he succeeded on January 19, 1979 — the first solo ascent of Fitz Roy and the only route opened solo on the massif.

Casarotto dedicated the north pillar to his wife. The line's technical demands and exposure have kept repeats rare, cementing its status as one of Patagonia's toughest routes.

Fitz Roy

Fitz Roy is famed for its razor-sharp granite and unrelenting weather. The peak's first climb was a summer effort on Feb. 2, 1952, by the French team of Lionel Terray, Guido Magnone, Pierre Lesueur, Jean Arlaud, and Jacques Guipond via the southeast ridge. The first confirmed winter ascent came much later, in July 1986, when Argentine climbers Eduardo Brenner, Gabriel Ruiz, and Sebastian de la Cruz succeeded on the Supercanaleta route, a 1,600m line originally established in 1965. The first winter solo ascent was in 1990 by Yasushi Yamanoi, via the Southwest Buttress.

The climbers' take

"Early on, with Tommy [Lamantia], we had a good try, and that alone made the trip worth it. Being on the wall in winter, with the cold and being alone, was amazing. You feel so small against these huge mountains. Then came the hard parts, the good weather window that wouldn't open, the doubts. But in Patagonia, you have to push until the end, and it paid off. It was a great climb, like in summer, but with shorter days and much colder temps. Starting early in the morning was tough. The route is the same — 35 pitches and 1,300m — but in winter, you have half the time to climb. It was a huge challenge, made even better by following Casarotto's steps and doing it first in winter, in the style he liked," Della Bordella reflected.

Majori shared a deeply personal connection: "I dreamed of this climb since I was a kid. My dad was here with Casarotto and took a black-and-white photo that we hung at home: it shows Casarotto tiny and alone on that huge wall. Growing up with that picture makes you dream big. And that dream came true. In the style Matteo [Della Bordella] suggested, in winter, with very low chances. I wasn't even at full strength, coming from a K2 accident last year with my shoulder still hurting, but this climb was like shock therapy. It got me back to where I was. Thanks so much to Matteo; we were a great team with perfect teamwork."

On August 31, Simon Gietl and Davide Prandini free climbed the Identitat route on the west face of Mittlerer Zwolferkofel in the Dolomites, two years after Gietl’s solo first ascent of the route.

The climbers graded the difficulty at 8+/9-, used no bolts, and left all pitons in place, which follows Gietl’s usual climbing ethics of minimal environmental impact. After the free ascent, Gietl and Prandini descended by the normal, south face route.

A spectacular limestone climb

In 2023, Gietl described this 500m route — then rated at 8 and A1 — as a reflection of his alpinist identity, emphasizing the adventure and personal fulfillment it provided after over a decade of planning.

The Mittlerer Zwolferkofel, also known as Croda Antonio Berti, is a 3,011m peak in the Sexten Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy. It is part of the Zwolferkofel massif, with the main summit reaching 3,094m. The Dolomites are renowned for their dramatic limestone peaks, and the Mittlerer Zwolferkofel is a notable feature in this region for mountaineers because of its challenging routes and historical significance.

The main summit of Zwolferkofel, considered by many as the most beautiful peak of the Sextner Dolomites, was first ascended in 1874 by Michael and Johann Innerkofler via the south face. Michael Innerkofler was a climbing pioneer in the Dolomites who also made the first ascent of Cima Ovest and Cima Piccola of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

Pobeda Peak (7,439m), also known as Jengish Chokusu or Victory Peak, is the highest mountain in the Tien Shan range. Located on the Kyrgyzstan-China border, it is the northernmost and coldest 7,000’er. Its climbing history is peppered with significant achievements but also major tragedies.

Though a popular climb, Pobeda is the most difficult of the five Snow Leopard peaks (the five mountains in the former Soviet Union above 7,000m). Pobeda’s climbing routes are very long, with huge chunks above 7,000m, making rescues almost impossible. We recount some of the mountain's tragic climbs.

The 1938 attempt

A Soviet team led by August Letavet and featuring Leonid Gutman, Evgeny Ivanov, and Aleksandr Sidorenko made the first recorded attempt on Pobeda. In September 1938, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Komsomol (the Communist Youth Movement), they climbed from the Zvyozdochka Glacier on the northern side.

On September 19, they ascended the Kokshaltau Ridge, close to the eastern shoulder of Pobeda, and measured their highest point at 6,930m. They were 500m too low, and still between three and five kilometers from Pobeda's true summit.

"This is the top of the wall. Altitude 6,930m above sea level. To the southeast, fading, go mountain chains...Everything is closed, only one unknown peak with a sharp knife, breaking through the thick of the clouds, sticks out over this troubled sea. Apparently, this is a very high peak," the team wrote in their report.

The 1943 survey

In 1943, a Soviet geographical expedition accurately measured Pobeda’s height at 7,439m, confirming it as the highest point in the Tien Shan, surpassing 7,010m Khan Tengri. The team renamed it Pik Pobedy (Victory Peak) to honor the Soviet victory at Stalingrad in World War II. Tomur, meaning iron in Uyghur, was recognized as the peak's name on the Chinese side.

The survey established Pobeda as a major mountaineering objective.

The first confirmed ascent

A Soviet team led by renowned mountaineer Vitaly Abalakov made the first verified ascent of Pobeda on Aug. 29, 1956. The team of 11 climbers approached via the northern ridge (now called the Abalakov Route, Russian grade 5B). They placed a summit cairn slightly below the highest point on the eastern part of the summit ridge because of snowy conditions.

But before this first ascent, Pobeda had already seen a mountaineering tragedy.

An early tragedy

In 1955, a Kazakh expedition of 12 climbers attempted Pobeda via the northern ridge. At 6,900m, 11 members perished in a violent snowstorm, marking one of the deadliest incidents in Pobeda’s history. Ural Usenov was the sole survivor. One year later, he was among the climbers who made the first ascent.

1959: Death during descent

In 1959, a team from Uzbekistan led by Vitaliy Ratzek attempted Pobeda. The team employed a strategy where less experienced climbers delivered supplies to higher camps before descending. At a camp at 7,100m, the supporting group became exhausted and was unable to descend independently. The stronger climbers, instead of summiting, attempted to assist their teammates. Three climbers -- whose full names are not fully documented in available sources but are referred to as V. Kiselev, A. Gontsov, and I. Bogachev -- died of exhaustion during the descent.

A rescue team of Kazakh and Georgian mountaineers mobilized, but the remote location, severe weather, and high altitude prevented timely intervention. The bodies could not be recovered.

The 1961 Georgian expedition tragedy

Vazha Pshavela Peak (6,918m) is a subsidiary summit on the western part of the Pobeda massif. It lies along the western ridge, one of the primary routes to access Pobeda’s main summit. Climbers ascending or descending via this route often traverse or pass near Vazha Pshavela Peak, especially when approaching from the South Inylchek Glacier.

In 1961, a Georgian party attempted a traverse of Pobeda’s western ridge to the summit. On August 23, they reached the western shoulder at 6,918m and named it Vazha Pshavela Peak. On August 26, the team summited Pobeda, but the descent was catastrophic.

After summiting, the team faced deteriorating weather. Darkness forced climbers Ilia Gabliani, David Medzmariashvili, and Konstantin Kuzmin to bivouac in subzero conditions without adequate shelter.

Ilia Gabliani died during their descent, likely from exhaustion or exposure. While rappelling from Vazha Pshavela Peak, Teimuraz Kuhianidze fell with the rope and died. David Medzmariashvili, attempting to traverse the slope to search for Kuhianidze, also fell to his death. Konstantin Kuzmin, alone and without belay, reached Dikiy Pass, where rescuers observed him through binoculars and provided aid.

A 1966 expedition attempted to recover Gabliani’s body but only reached Vazha Pshavela Peak, unable to locate or retrieve the corpse in hazardous conditions. The bodies of Ilia Gabliani, Teimuraz Kuhianidze, and David Medzmariashvili remain unrecovered.

Almost as many deaths as summits

By 1969, Pobeda’s death toll was nearly equal to the number of successful summits. However, that year, an Uzbek team led by V.A. Elchibekov successfully climbed the northern ridge, emphasizing improved camp placement (for example, Camp 4 at 6,600m) and better equipment to survive the harsh conditions. This expedition marked a shift, as most subsequent teams avoided major tragedies.

Recent tragedies

However, recent events demonstrate that Pobeda remains one of the most dangerous peaks in the world.

In August 2021, three separate incidents occurred, resulting in the deaths of Mehri Jafari, Reza Adineh, and Valentin Mikhailov.

British-Iranian climber Mehri Jafari initially planned a solo climb as part of an uncompleted project that included Lenin Peak. However, after an unsuccessful solo trek from base camp to camp 1 (4,500m), she joined a group of Iranian climbers for the summit attempt. During the ascent, Jafari struggled to keep pace with the group, likely due to an arm injury and insufficient acclimatization.

On August 4, while descending alone from around 6,300m, Jafari took the wrong ridge, slipped, and fell toward the Diky Glacier. Hungarian climbers Albert Kovacs and Peter Vitez, who were 50–100m away, witnessed the fall.

A volunteer rescue team, including Alexander Stone, Albert Kovacs, and Peter Vitez, searched near Camp 3 and Camp 4 (6,400m), but recent icefalls and avalanches hindered their efforts. Jafari’s body was never found, likely buried under snow or ice.

Iranian climber Reza Adineh was part of a team with Mohammad Mirzaie, Mohammad Babazaden Anari, and Mohammad Nikbakht. Between Camps 4 (6,400m) and 5 (6,900m), Adineh, struggling to keep pace, disappeared. Drone searches failed to locate him.

In the same season, Russian climber Valentin Mikhailov died during a rescue attempt on the Abalakov Route. A group led by Nikolay Totmyanin summited but fell into a crevasse at around 6,900m during a traverse. Mikhailov, part of a Moscow-St. Petersburg rescue team, attempted to assist them. However, a ledge collapsed under him, likely weakened by prior stress from Totmyanin’s group, and he fell to his death. Rescuers could not recover his body because of unstable terrain, harsh weather, and avalanches.

Search operations ended by August 12, with authorities unable to retrieve the bodies of Mehri Jafari, Reza Adineh, or Valentin Mikhailov.

More deaths in 2023

In the summer of 2023, well-known Russian alpinist Dimitry Pavlenko, his wife Svetlana, and two clients went missing on the Abalakov Route. They didn't summit, but reached 7,300m. Their tracker showed that they descended to 7,200m. However, at that point, one of the climbers' trackers dropped suddenly to 6,580m. An avalanche may have swept them away.

Summer 2025

On August 12, 47-year-old Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, pursuing the Snow Leopard award (the five 7,000m peaks of the former Soviet Union), fell at the Black Rock section at around 7,150m while descending from the summit.

Nagovitsyna fractured her leg and was unable to move. Her climbing partner, Roman Mokrynsky, secured her in a tent with minimal supplies and then descended to South Inylchek Base Camp to seek urgent help.

On August 13, Italian Luca Sinigaglia and German Gunther Siegmund reached Nagovitsyna, delivering a sleeping bag, stove, and gas canister, but the exhausted climbers could not take her down. Sinigaglia and Siegmund spent the night in extreme conditions at 7,150m before descending. At approximately 6,900m, Sinigaglia collapsed in an ice cave, and he died on August 16, likely from cerebral edema and hypothermia. Also on August 16, a Russian helicopter crashed at 4,600m because of turbulence, and foot rescue teams only made it to 6,400m.

A drone confirmed Nagovitsyna was alive on August 19, but high winds and snow halted rescue efforts.

By August 25, the rescue was abandoned, and on August 27, a military drone with thermal imaging showed no signs of life in Nagovitsyna's tent. Experts, including Alexander Yakovenko, deemed the situation hopeless because of the 3km ridge and extreme conditions.

A climber has never been rescued from such high altitude on Pobeda, and Russian experts estimated it would require a 30-strong team for any chance of success. The four-man rescue party that was available finally turned around from below 6,500m in bad weather. They were fortunate to return alive.

Nagovitsyna's 2024 attempt

According to Russian sources, Nagovitsyna had attempted Pobeda in 2024, but her guide told her to descend because she was not prepared for the ascent. She only had Pobeda left to complete the Snow Leopard challenge. Nagovitsyna’s husband, Sergey, died on Khan Tengri in 2021.

A hidden double fracture?

Russian media have suggested that Nagovitsyna may have hidden a double leg fracture sustained just two months before her 2025 Pobeda climb. Mountaineer Alexander Ischenko told Russian news site MSK1.Ru that Nagovitsyna suffered a double leg fracture from rockfall in May 2025 during a climb on 4,479m Teke-Tor in Kyrgyzstan’s Ala-Archa region. Ischenko says Nagovitsyna was evacuated by helicopter. Despite this severe injury, she joined the Pobeda expedition in August.

Ishchenko suggested that Natalia likely concealed the injury from her guides and expedition organizers to gain approval for the climb. "No responsible guide would allow someone with a double fracture from two months ago to attempt such a climb," Ishchenko stated.

Ishchenko's claim is echoed by Alexander Pyatnitsyn, Vice President of the Russian Mountaineering Federation, who told the TASS news agency that three guides had previously denied Natalia permission to climb because of inadequate preparation, yet she proceeded with an independent team. Meanwhile, Russian media outlet SHOT reported that Natalia’s second-class mountaineering rank fell short of the third-class rank required for Pobeda.

Other fatalities on Pobeda this month

Legendary Russian climber Nikolay Totmyanin died on August 11 at the age of 66. He fell ill while descending from Pobeda. He descended under his own power, but later died in hospital.

On August 12, Iranian climbers Maryam Pilehvari and Hassan Mashhadiaghalou -- climbing independently without notifying their federation or South Inylchek Base Camp -- perished after descending from Pobeda’s summit. The exact circumstances are unclear, but they could have succumbed to exhaustion, altitude sickness, or an accident. Drone searches failed to locate their bodies because of poor visibility, and no rescue attempts were successful. Their bodies remain unrecovered.

Long routes

The climbing route on Pobeda via the classic west ridge route is approximately 27km from South Inylchek Base Camp (4,000m) to the summit (7,439 m). This includes 15km to Camp 1 and a 12km summit ridge. Other routes, like the Abalakov, likely have similar lengths because of the shared summit ridge, though measurements for approaches vary. This lengthy summit ridge, combined with Pobeda’s massif structure, adds complexity to rescue operations. Injured climbers who cannot descend from above 6,800m by themselves have very low survival chances.

Around 80 climbers have died on Pobeda.

Although the fate of Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, stranded at 7,150m on Kyrgyzstan’s Pobeda Peak since August 12, has been obvious for several days, the last wisps of hope ended today. A few hours ago, a military drone captured thermal imaging footage of Nagovitsyna’s tent on Pobeda Peak. The images, published on the official website of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GKNB), revealed no signs of life in her tent.

After more than two weeks, Kyrgyz authorities have officially declared the 47-year-old Moscow mountaineer missing -- a formal designation, because they didn't actually see her body. But the drone confirmed what everyone feared: that sometime in the 15 days since she broke her leg descending from the summit, the climber had succumbed to the brutal conditions — temperatures down to -26°C, thin air, and a lack of food and water — on one of the world’s deadliest peaks.

According to Mountain.ru, earlier drone footage from August 16 and 19 showed Nagovitsyna alive, active, and waving from her wind-torn tent, offering hope to family and rescuers. However, by August 23, worsening weather — snowstorms, high winds, and avalanche risk — forced the suspension of all rescue efforts, as reported by TASS and confirmed by Dmitry Grekov, head of the Southern Inylchek Base Camp.

Nagovitsyna’s ordeal began after she successfully summited 7,439m Pobeda, part of her quest to complete the Snow Leopard challenge by climbing all five 7,000m peaks in the former USSR.

Not a guided client

According to Elena Laletina from RussianClimb, Nagovitsyna was not a guided client but part of an independent group of four climbers who had previously met on Lenin Peak. This year, they decided to climb Pobeda together. The team included Nagovitsyna, a Russian climber named Roman, Luca Sinigaglia from Italy, and Gunther Sigmund from Germany.

After Nagovitsyna broke her leg, Roman gave first aid and secured her in a tent before descending to seek help. Italian climber Sinigaglia and German mountaineer Sigmund reached her on August 13, delivering critical supplies — a sleeping bag, stove, and a gas canister. Sinigaglia then died of cerebral edema and frostbite during his descent on August 16. According to Izvestia, Sigmund also had frostbite, and on August 20, he returned to Germany for further medical treatment.

Subsequent rescue attempts, including a ground team that made it to 5,800m and plans for an Italian-led helicopter evacuation, were thwarted by relentless storms and logistical challenges. According to Mountain.ru, two days ago, the rescue mission officially ended due to bad weather. The Italian pilots left, and the climbing season closed.

On August 23, Grekov, the base camp manager, told TASS that no climber had ever been rescued from so high on Pobeda Peak. Kyrgyz helicopters can’t reach such an altitude. Hopes of retrieving Nagovitsyna’s body, along with that of Sinigaglia, are now deferred to spring 2026.

Nagovitsyna's husband also died nearby

The mountains were not kind to Nagovitsyna. In 2021, her husband, Sergey, died of a stroke at 6,900m on nearby Khan Tengri. Nagovitsyna refused to leave his side and stayed with him until the end. She later returned to place a memorial plaque.

According to Izvestia, on August 26, her son, Mikhail Nagovitsyn, appealed to Russian authorities, including the Investigative Committee of Russia, for aid. News-Pravda.com reports that this Committee has begun an investigation into the incident.

Mountaineers comment

Ak-Sai Travel, a key organizer of mountaineering expeditions in the region, posted a statement on Facebook today from a list of experienced mountaineers. Translated into English, the statement says:

"Since the initial reports of incidents on Pobeda Peak (7,439m) involving the loss of contact with Iranian climbers Pilehvari Maryam Abolhassan and Mashhadiaghalou Hassan Seifollah, a leg injury to Russian citizen Natalia Nagovitsyna, and the deteriorating health of Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia (who later died), daily briefings have been held with participants involved in the search-and-rescue operations.

"Specialists with relevant training, including acclimatization...joined the discussions.

"After assessing all risks to the lives and health of rescuers and considering the challenging weather conditions, [this group] has concluded that conducting a search and rescue operation this season is not feasible...[and] may lead to additional casualties.

"This opinion was formed by the group of climbers involved in the rescue operation, experts, and specialists on Pobeda Peak and may not align with public opinion."

The statement was signed by many mountaineers who had previously summited Pobeda, including several Snow Leopard recipients.

The drone video shows Natalia Nagovitsyna and her tent on Pobeda:

Ulugh Muztagh (6,973m) is an extremely remote peak on the northern Quinghai-Tibetan Plateau in Western China. It remained a mystery for nearly a century before a team of American and Chinese climbers climbed it in 1985. Called the Great Icy Mountain in the Turkic language, it sits in a high desert where few people go.

After his 1895 journey, English explorer George Littledale guessed Ulugh Muztagh was over 7,723m, making it one of the world’s highest peaks. The 1985 expedition climbed it and measured its true height.

Shipton’s idea

The idea to climb Ulugh Muztagh started in 1966. Robert H. Bates was stuck in a tent with Eric Shipton during a storm on Mount Russell in Alaska. Bates asked Shipton what he’d do differently if he could start over.

Shipton, who’d spent years on Everest, said: "I wouldn’t spend six years trying to climb Mount Everest. That’s too long for any mountain." Instead, he said he'd go for Ulugh Muztagh, a peak in Central Asia. He described it as "a big mountain — nobody knows how high — reached in the 1890s by an Englishman."

He described it as harder to get to than Antarctica, surrounded by high, empty land with no people nearby. Shipton and his friend Bill Tilman had wanted to climb it, but political restrictions and logistical difficulties had deterred them.

Bates, who’d climbed big mountains like K2, loved the idea. In 1973, Bates teamed up with Nick Clinch, another climber who’d heard Shipton’s stories. They decided to find the mountain, measure it, and climb it.

Previous journeys to Ulugh Muztagh: The Littledales

In 1896, British explorer George R. Littledale and his wife Teresa described Ulugh Muztagh as towering and glacier-covered, and suggested that it could be as high as Everest. The Littledales made three major journeys between 1890 and 1895. During their first trip, they crossed the Pamirs. On the second, they crossed Central Asia from Samarkand to Peking, and the third journey -- which took 12 months -- traversed Tibet.

In 1895, the couple passed Ulugh Muztagh while attempting to reach Lhasa, and they estimated the mountain's height. Their estimate was unverified and based on visual observation, but it contributed to the mountain’s mystique.

A base of magma

Formed by the ancient collision of continents that uplifted the Himalaya and Kunlun ranges, Ulugh Muztagh’s base is reinforced by hardened magma, distinguishing it from the eroded surrounding landscape. This unique geology led scientists to speculate that Ulugh Muztagh could be a volcano. The 1985 expedition realized that it was not a volcano, but it does have a base strengthened by ancient magma intrusions.

Getting a permit

Bates and Clinch spent several years trying to get to Ulugh Muztagh. The mountain was in a part of China that had been closed to foreigners since the 1950s. They asked for permission many times, even suggesting a joint expedition with China and Pakistan, but got nowhere.

In 1979, Bates went to Beijing to ask in person, but was told the area wasn’t open. They kept trying until January 1985, when another group got permission. A determined Clinch flew to Beijing immediately, and -- after two more trips -- received approval for a joint American-Chinese expedition on May 30, 1985.

'A geriatric expedition, but a damn good one'

Clinch put together a team of eight Americans, calling it "a geriatric expedition, but a damn good one." Robert H. Bates, 74, would survey and measure the mountain. Nick Clinch was the organizer and had led the first climb of Hidden Peak in 1958. Pete Schoening was in charge of gear and was well known for saving six climbers on K2 in 1953. Tom Hornbein, the team’s doctor and climbing leader, was famous for climbing Everest’s West Ridge in 1963. Hornbein planned the route and organized supplies during the expedition. Jeff Foott and Dennis Hennek were strong climbers who would carry heavy loads and remain ready for the summit. Geologists Peter Molnar and Clark Burchfiel joined to conduct a scientific study of the mountain.

The Chinese team featured 16 climbers and 27 support staff, including climbers Hu Feng Ling, Zhang Baohua, Ardaxi, Mamuti, and Wu Qiangxing. Leaders Wang Zheng Hua and Lu Ming ran logistics, and interpreter Guo helped with communication.

This was the first American-Chinese climbing expedition, and the first time foreigners were allowed in southern Xinjiang in 30 years.

A long trip

On Sept. 11, 1985, the Americans flew from San Francisco to Beijing with 87 bags of gear, including survey tools like a Doppler satellite surveyor, a Uniranger, and a Kern T-2 theodolite.

The 1,100km trip to the mountain took 10 days. Seven army trucks, three Land Rovers, and two jeeps crossed deserts and mountains. They stopped in Korla, a city of 120,000 with hospitals and factories, and Ro-jeng, where Marco Polo had once passed through. They crossed the Altyn Tagh Range and reached an asbestos mine, the last stop before the desert. They saw yaks, bears, antelope, and wolves near Acchikul Lake.

On October 2, after a tough drive up a canyon, they set up Base Camp at 5,300m on the mountain’s east side. They immediately encountered a problem: the satellite surveyor’s antenna was missing. A Chinese Mountaineering Association jeep team had to rush a new one to them.

The survey

The plan was to train and acclimatize at base camp, but Wang Zheng Hua wanted to start climbing. The Chinese climbers who’d tried the peak in 1984 picked the route. They set up Camp 1 at a glacier’s edge, and soon they were carrying supplies to Camp 2, approximately 10km up the glacier.

Bates stayed at base camp to run the survey because he could no longer carry heavy loads. Molnar and Burchfiel, used to high altitudes, carried gear with Foott, Hennek, and Hornbein. Schoening and Clinch got sick, slowing them down. Hornbein planned routes and made sure food and gear were in the right spots.

The survey went on despite strong winds. They set up a 10,460m baseline in the desert and used the satellite surveyor to catch signals. Later, Molnar calculated the peak’s height as 6,987m, "with an estimated possible error of 6 to 10 meters." The altitude was significantly less than Littledale’s guess, but still a major challenge.

The first ascent

Ulugh Muztagh was a tough climb. Its glaciers had hidden crevasses, and loose snow could slide. Steep ice walls and bad weather only made it harder.

By mid-October, snowstorms hit. Camp 2 was buried, and the avalanche risk was high. On October 13, Schoening, Hornbein, and Burchfiel put in ice screws for Camp 3, but wind and snow soon stopped them. Clinch, who had a bad cold, went back to base camp.

Schoening and Hornbein reached 6,200m to store supplies, and a mix-up about who would lead the Chinese to the summit led Foott and Hennek to come down. On October 20, good weather allowed the Chinese climbers at Camp 3 to move to Camp 4, close to the summit.

On October 21, five Chinese climbers — Hu Feng Ling, Zhang Baohua, Ardaxi, Mamuti, and Wu Qiangxing — reached the summit at 7:28 pm. The team at base camp celebrated, but joy turned to worry as it got dark. The summit climbers took a different way down and ran into trouble.

The descent

During the descent, Hu and another climber fell more than 500m. The next morning, Schoening’s team spotted them, one climber lying still and the other trying to help. They gave up their summit climb to attempt a rescue.

Clinch, coming from Camp 2, also helped. Hu had frozen feet and bruises, and his friend was also hurt. Hornbein and Hennek took care of them at Camp 2. Guo, the interpreter, was touched and said, "Americans must be the kindest people in the world."

In the end, there was no time for another summit try, and on October 23, everyone left the mountain.

Carrying Hu was slow and painful, and they didn’t reach base camp until October 24. The team packed up and drove back, cold and low on food. In Ro-jeng, they were greeted with dancing girls, and in Korla, thousands cheered their return with firecrackers and flowers. In Urumchi, a big dinner in the Great Hall of the People included a roast sheep to show friendship.

Ulugh Muztagh was not as tall as hoped, but this was an important climb, showing how people from different countries could work together, even when things got tough. For Bates and Clinch, the climb was for Shipton, who loved unknown peaks. They toasted him, happy to have reached his dream mountain.

Ulugh Muztagh remains one of the world’s most remote and rarely climbed peaks, with only a handful of documented ascents since 1985.

We recommend Peter Molnar’s report in the Alpine Journal: Ulugh Muztagh: The Highest Peak on the Northern Tibetan Plateau.

Rescue efforts for Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, who has been stranded for 10 days at 7,150m on Pobeda Peak with a broken leg, were called off today as winds intensified and snow closed in.

The four rescuers descended to Camp 1, according to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru. They had wanted to progress up to 6,400m today and also to search for the body of Luca Sinigaglia of Italy. He died on August 16 after trying to rescue Nagovitsyna.

But bad weather had the last word, and they had to descend, ending the rescue mission. The weather also canceled a planned helicopter flight with Italian pilots. Forecasts show poor conditions through August 23–24. Rescuers may begin a further attempt on August 25, but Nagovitsyna has already been stranded for 10 days above 7,000m, injured. Her few supplies have run out by now, and even today, there is not much hope of finding her alive.

The rescue team of Vitaly Akimov, Andrey Alipov, Sergey Krasovsky, and Andrey Novikov has been racing since August 20 to reach Nagovitsyna. The leader, Akimov, already has an injury he sustained during an early attempt to rescue Nagovitsyna on August 16, according to Elena Laletina of RussianClimb.

Inexperienced guide

Nagovitsyna, a 47-year-old Muscovite, was a commercial client, led by a guide named Roman, according to Life.ru. No one knew him at base camp, suggesting that he might have been unfamiliar with Pobeda’s deadly routes. During their descent on August 12, Nagovitsyna fell at the dangerous Black Rock section, breaking her leg while belaying Roman from above.

Friends called this situation “absurd,” arguing that a client shouldn’t belay an inexperienced guide.

“This mountain doesn’t forgive such mistakes,” said Denis Kiselev, a rescuer and instructor at the Central School of Mountaineering Instructors.

Nagovitsyna climbed despite an earlier leg fracture from a hike a year and a half ago. Her late husband, Sergey, who died of a stroke on Khan Tengri in 2021 as she stayed by his side, had warned her against Pobeda, citing its extreme physical demands. According to some sources, Luca Sinigaglia met the Russian couple at Khan Tengri in 2021, and they became friends.

Boris Dedeshko, a five-time Kazakh mountaineering champion, told KP.ru that in 2024, Nagovitsyna tried Pobeda, but her guide turned her back because she was unprepared. But a friend, Lia Popova, said she had trained hard for the Snow Leopard badge. Pobeda was her fifth 7,000m peak; she had only two left after this one.

She joined the expedition as the only woman in a mixed group. Life.ru notes Nagovitsyna’s insurance may not cover the $60,000 rescue cost, potentially leaving her 27-year-old son to cover much of the bill.

The race to save Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, stranded at 7,150m on Kyrgyzstan’s 7,439m Pobeda Peak with a broken leg, grows desperate.

For nine days, the 47-year-old Moscow climber has endured subzero temperatures. She is running or has run out of food, water, and fuel, and is lying in a torn tent in a sleeping bag in one of the world’s deadliest high-altitude environments. She has no communication device.

A four-person rescue team, dispatched by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Defense on August 20, reached Camp 2 yesterday and 5,800m today, according to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru. Tomorrow, weather permitting, they will continue up to 6,400m.

Increasing pessimism

The Russian Mountaineering Federation issued stark warnings today about the slim odds that Nagovitsyna can survive. Vice-President Alexander Pyatnitsyn said, "It will be almost impossible to save her," he said. "There’s a three-kilometer-long ridge, and it takes at least 30 people in such a situation to rescue a person from there.”

Elena Laletina from RussianClimb echoed the same thoughts to ExplorersWeb: that four or even eight rescuers aren't enough to carry out such a difficult rescue, where Nagovitsyna is immobilized and can't assist.

Alexander Yakovenko of the Russian Mountaineering Federation told Izvestia, “Today, four people are trying to get there. There's an avalanche hazard, a big challenge. There is a small chance they will make it. But that means three, four, maybe five more days.”

Yakovenko added that the rescuers themselves risk being caught in an avalanche, underscoring the perilous conditions on the mountain. Yakovenko even went so far as to describe the situation as “hopeless.”

“If she’s alive, I’ll believe in a miracle," he told Pravda Greece. "If she is saved, then I will believe in a miracle twice over.”

A long way

One of the closest starting points for climbing Pobeda Peak is the South Inylchek camp, located 3.5 vertical kilometers below. The distance between base camp and the summit is an astonishing 12km.

The process is further complicated by unfavorable weather, and the terrain where the Russian woman is stranded makes it difficult to bring her down. Her tent lies in the same spot where climber Mikhail Ishutin died 10 years ago. His body has still not been retrieved. Even in ideal weather, specialists would need at least two days to bring the stranded woman down.

To ascend Pobeda from Base Camp to summit usually takes 5-10 days, or 5-7 days for experienced, well-acclimatized climbers, if the weather is not bad. The descent typically takes 2-4 days. Since Nagovitsyna is at around 7,150m, rescuers could reach her before the weekend.

Nagovitsyna came to Pobeda, also known as Jengish Chokusu, to pursue the Snow Leopard title. This old honor is bestowed on those who've climbed all five 7,000m peaks in the former USSR. By reputation, Pobeda is the hardest, and it marked her fifth summit. But on her way down on August 12, she slipped and fractured her leg. Her climbing partner, Roman, provided first aid, secured her in a tent, then descended to base camp to seek help.

On August 13, Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia and a German mountaineer named Gunther (no last name provided) reached her, delivering a sleeping bag, stove, and gas canister — supplies critical for her survival. Tragically, on August 16, Sinigaglia died on his way down. His body is now resting in a cave at 6,900m. Gunther, exhausted and battling worsening weather, also retreated, unable to carry Nagovitsyna by himself across the treacherous terrain.

Complicated rescue

The three-kilometer-long ridge at 7,000–7,400m on Pobeda demands fixed ropes, anchors, and a stretcher to carry an immobilized climber. This, in turn, requires multiple climbers to rotate duties and manage fatigue. The thin air, -20°C temperatures, and strong winds exacerbate exhaustion and altitude risks. Meanwhile, a large team is needed to share the heavy gear — ropes, medical supplies, food, and gas. Safety backups are critical, as avalanches or injured rescuers could derail the mission. The four-person team, described as insufficient by experts, faces a near-impossible task, with progress slowed by snowstorms and poor visibility.

Pobeda Peak’s reputation as the deadliest 7,000m peak in the former USSR is well-earned, with at least 70 recorded deaths. No injured climber has ever been evacuated from as high an altitude as Nagovitsyna's on this mountain.

On August 16, a Russian Ministry of Defense Mi-8 helicopter crashed at 4,600m, injuring the pilot and a rescuer, while a second attempt failed due to zero visibility. On August 19–20, helicopters evacuated 62 climbers, tourists, and rescuers, including the body of Russian climber Alexey Yermakov, who died near Khan Tengri. Nagovitsyna’s extreme altitude and immobility forced them to concentrate on more accessible parties in distress.

No news on Nagovitsyna

A drone flyover on August 19 confirmed she was alive, but unconfirmed reports on August 20-21 suggested that Nagovitsyna is no longer showing signs of life.

However, according to Kyrgyzstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry, quoted by Pravda, no one can confirm Nagovitsyna’s current status until rescuers reach her, which is estimated to be August 24-25.

Nagovitsyna's chances of surviving beyond 10–12 days are slim due to extreme cold, thirst, and thin air. Nevertheless, rescuers continue to race to her, battling harsh weather and treacherous terrain in the faint hope of saving her life.

Nagovitsyna’s son and her sister, in particular, cling to hope.

Extreme conditions continue to delay the rescue of Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, stranded at 7,150m on 7,439m Pobeda Peak in Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan mountains for over a week.

Due to harsh weather and poor visibility, helicopters cannot fly, so rescuers are hurrying on foot to reach her.

Today, a four-person team made it to Camp 2. They plan to move up to 5,800m tomorrow, August 21, when stable morning weather should offer a critical window. However, afternoon snow is expected, according to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru.

As we reported yesterday, the 47-year-old Nagovitsyna broke her leg over a week ago, on August 12, while descending from the summit of Pobeda, also known as Jengish Chokusu. Stranded at high altitude with minimal food and water, and without radio communication, she remains in a torn tent, enduring extreme cold and struggling to survive in the thin air. A drone flyover on August 19 confirmed that she is still alive, prompting intensified rescue efforts.

Many other evacuations

Pobeda and neighboring peaks have wicked weather, long, difficult routes, and objective hazards like avalanches and many crevasses. On August 19 alone, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense evacuated 62 climbers, tourists, and rescuers from Pobeda and nearby 7,010m Khan Tengri, and another 30 from North Inylchek. Two big Mi-8 helicopters made six flights, according to 24.kg. Meanwhile, a helicopter crash from excessive turbulence on August 16 injured a pilot and several rescuers.

The August 19 evacuation focused on saving a large group of people already at or near base camps, as well as recovering the body of another climber, Alexey Yermakov. He died on Khan Tengri at around 6,800m on August 16.

Natalia Nagovitsyna was not evacuated on that day due to her extreme altitude, severe weather, helicopter limitations, logistical prioritization of accessible evacuees, and her immobility. She depends on outside rescue and cannot assist in her descent. Hopefully, ground rescuers will reach her this week. Her torn tent offers limited protection at 7,200m.

An Italian dies during rescue attempt

The rescue efforts have already claimed one life. Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia died on August 16 during an early attempt to save Nagovitsyna.

On August 12–13, Sinigaglia and a German climber reached Nagovitsyna and gave her a sleeping bag, a stove, a little food, and a gas cylinder, which have been critical to her survival. Exhausted and caught in zero-visibility with gale-force winds, they spent the night on the mountain, and Sinigaglia severely frostbit his hands. Later, they became trapped in a blizzard at 6,800m.

Sinigaglia fell ill, and a doctor consulted over the radio suspected that he was suffering from high-altitude cerebral edema, compounded by hypothermia and frostbite. Sinigaglia died at approximately 6,900m. His body remains in a cave, with harsh weather stalling the recovery of his remains.

Two missing Iranian climbers

Posts on X dated August 18–19, as well as a comment by one of our readers (Ali Sedghi), report that two Iranians, Maryam Pilehvari and Hassan Aghalou, went missing on Pobeda after attempting to summit around August 12. According to these posts, Mahmoud Allahyari, president of the Central Province Mountaineering Board, stated that Pilehvari, a prominent Iranian climber with a notable record of high-altitude ascents, and Aghalou, a Tehran-based climber, disappeared during a storm on Pobeda Peak. There is “almost no hope” of the pair's survival.

A critical rescue operation is unfolding on 7,439m Pobeda Peak, the highest mountain in the Tien Shan.

According to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru, 47-year-old Natalia Nagovitsyna of Russia broke her leg on August 12 while descending from the summit of Pobeda, also known as Jengish Chokusu, on the Kyrgyzstan-China border. Her partner administered first aid before descending to base camp to seek help.

Nagovitsyna has been stranded without food at over 7,000m for a week. She has no radio to communicate, but a drone flyover today, August 19, confirmed that she is still alive and in her tent.

Rescue efforts face significant challenges. On August 16, a Russian Ministry of Defense Mi-8 helicopter, dispatched to evacuate her and other injured climbers, crashed at 4,600m in poor weather and turbulence. Nine people were on board. The pilot and two rescuers sustained non-life-threatening fractures.

That same day, reports emerged of two fatalities on the mountain — one Italian and one Russian — and an injured German climber, further complicating the situation.

A second helicopter, deployed after the initial crash, couldn't reach her. The extreme altitude and harsh conditions of Pobeda Peak, the highest and most technically challenging in the Tien Shan, would make a successful rescue unprecedented. No injured climber has ever been evacuated from so high on this treacherous mountain.

Tragic history

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense continues to coordinate the operation. Rescuers have begun moving toward her position.

Nagovitsyna has had a tragic relationship with high-altitude mountaineering. Four years ago, on 7,010m Khan Tengri, also in the Tien Shan, her husband Sergey suffered a fatal stroke at 6,900m. Although rescuers implored her to descend, she remained with him until his death.

One year later, Nagovitsyna climbed the mountain again to install a plaque in his memory, according to News.az. The featured image of this story shows her carrying the plaque.

Nagovitsyna’s location, near the body of a climber who died of heart failure in 2015, is on perilous terrain and poses a significant obstacle for rescuers, some of whom are already injured.

On August 4-9, Marc Toralles, Bru Busom, and Ruben Sanmartin opened a difficult alpine-style route on 6,634m Yerupaja, Peru’s second-highest mountain. The Spaniards' 3,000m line went up the east face and east ridge, and culminated in the first east-to-south traverse of the mountain. They then descended via the south ridge.

Toralles, Busom, and Sanmartin rated the climb as 6c+, M6+, and 95º. Starting on the east face, they navigated a steep limestone wall prone to falling rock and ice. After that, they reached the narrow and exposed east ridge bristling with those characteristic and unstable ice "mushrooms.”

No option for retreat

The ridge offered no escape and forced the team to commit fully to reaching the summit in order to descend safely. They spent four days battling poor visibility and precarious snow conditions. Their descent via the south ridge was equally demanding, requiring careful rappels through complex terrain. The team also summited a lower sub-summit, thus completing a traverse never before documented. They described this as their most committing climb, with survival hinging on reaching the top, due to the lack of options for retreat.

Notable past ascents

Yerupaja is the highest peak in the Cordillera Huayhuash range, first surveyed in 1927 by the American Geographic Society expedition, according to the American Alpine Journal.

Yerupaja, nicknamed The Butcher for its sharp ridges and extreme difficulty, has a sparse but storied climbing history due to its remote access, dangerous glaciers, and technical demands. Despite its stature, it is one of the least climbed peaks in the Andes.

The first ascent of the mountain’s 6,334m main summit (Yerupaja Grande) occurred on August 3, 1950. David Harrah and James Maxwell of the Harvard Andean Expedition climbed via the southeast face to a col at about 5,944m. They then took the east ridge to the summit.

Even earlier, a 1948 Austrian expedition led by Karl Schmidbauer failed to summit via the southwest face due to weather and route challenges.

In July 1957, Toni Egger and Siegfried Jungmeier climbed the east ridge to the top of 6,121m Yerupaja Chico, a sub-summit of the Yerupaja massif. Scottish teams in the 1960s, led by Malcolm Slesser, attempted the ridge, but the dangerous glacier approach repelled them.

On July 12, 1966, Leif Patterson and Jorge Peterek made Yeruapaja’s second ascent via a direct west face route, climbing steep ice over 13 days.

Northeast face

The northeast face was first climbed to the summit in July 1968 by two members of a British-American expedition, Chris Jones and Paul Dix, in alpine style, evading falling rock and ice.

On June 24, 1969, Egon Wurm and Sepp Majerl summited Yerupaja’s main summit via the east spur, a challenging route left of the northeast face. After summiting, they descended via the northeast face, bivouacked again on the face, and reached the base of the wall on June 25.

Wurm and Majerl were members of the Tyrolean Andean Expedition of the Austrian Alpine Club, Innsbruck branch, led by Otto Wiedmann. The team included Helmuth Wagner, Egon Wurm, Sepp Majerl, Reinhold Messner, Peter Habeler, Dr. Raimund Margreiter, and Otto Wiedmann.

On July 4, 2001, Santiago Quintero of Ecuador carried out a bold solo ascent of the west face. It took him 17 hours from base camp-summit-base camp. His ascent was the last on Yerupaja’s main summit before Toralles, Busom, and Sanmartin’s success earlier this month.

In 2003, Slovenians Matevz Kramer, Tadej Zorman, and Matej Mejovsek opened a route on the northeast face but did not reach the summit. They turned around at 6,550m in a storm. In 2014, Nathan Heald and Luis Crispin reached the summit ridge via the west face but retreated due to dangerous conditions.

The 2025 ascent by Toralles, Busom, and Sanmartin stands out for linking the east face and ridge to the summit, thus completing a full traverse. But despite exceptional climbs like this one, Yerupaja remains one of the Andes’ most challenging peaks.

From August 5-7, Leo Billon and Enzo Oddo completed the first free ascent of the Lafaille route on the West Face of the 3,733m Petit Dru in the Mont Blanc massif.

The French climbers initially climbed the route in a single day using aid techniques, pulling on pitons and hanging from them for support. They later returned to tackle the route as a free climb, without using pitons for aid, according to Planet Mountain.

The pair set up two bivouacs on the wall and took turns leading all the most challenging sections. They then descended via 10 rappels to collect their equipment, have a quick meal, and complete the descent to the base at around 8 pm. They bivvied for the night before returning to the valley. Initially rated A5+, the route has now been free-climbed at 8b+.

Billon and Oddo’s climb is a significant achievement, given the route's technical difficulty and the West Face’s reputation as one of the Alps’ most demanding big walls.

French alpinist Jean-Christophe Lafaille first established the Lafaille route on a solo winter ascent from February 12-21, 2001. He used aid climbing techniques rated up to A5+.

The Petit Dru was first climbed on August 29, 1879, by Jean-Esteve Charlet-Straton, Prosper Payot, and Frederic Folliguet via the South Face and the Southwest Ridge.

Billon is member of Chamonix’s Military High Mountain Group (GMHM), and Oddo is a civilian alpinist from Nice and Billon’s frequent climbing partner. In June, the duo opened a new 700m route on the West Face of the Aiguille du Plan.

On July 26-27, Manuel Lopez and Alex Ubeda of Spain opened a new route on the northeast face of 5,686m Cashan West in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. They graded the 500m line 7a+.

The Pou brothers first alerted the pair to the good rock on Cashan West’s northeast face.

On July 25, Lopez and Ubeda headed to the Rajucolta Valley with a driver and a porter to help carry gear to base camp. After a long approach hike, they set up tents on a conveniently flat boulder on the moraine. A rockfall near their planned descent route worried them, and they went to bed unsure about the climb.

The climb

On July 26, they started up a clear line with obvious dihedrals. Lopez led the first 60m pitch at 5,200m, wearing just a fleece jacket. The fourth pitch was tough, a technical 7a dihedral. The solid rock continued to impress them. After a 60m traverse over easy but loose terrain, they mounted another dihedral with a small overhang. After 240m, they fixed ropes and returned to camp.

On July 27, they awoke at 4 am and jumared back up. The sun hit the wall as they reached the fifth pitch. Ubeda led the sixth pitch, but the seventh was the hardest -- a tricky traverse on a blind crack that couldn’t be protected.

Lopez placed a bolt to reach an overhanging dihedral, rating it 7a+. Ubeda climbed it with a heavy pack. The rock remained excellent. After this, the climbing got easier. A 60m pitch led to a ledge, followed by two easy pitches (IV and III) to the snowy top of the wall. They skipped the true summit due to bad snow and rappelled from the shoulder.

According to Lopez, the route could become a classic due to its clear path and good rock.

Cashan West

Cashan West, part of the Nevado Cashan massif, lies in the Cordillera Blanca range in northern Peru. It’s within Huascaran National Park, which has 18 peaks over 6,000m, including 6,768m Huascaran. Cashan West is in the central part of the range, southwest of 6,369m Huantsan.

In 2019, Iker Pou, Eneko Pou, and Manu Ponce climbed the first route on the north face, rated 800m, 7a+. In 2022, the Pou brothers returned and climbed a harder mixed route (980m, M6 85º). The northeast face, where Lopez and Ubeda climbed, had earlier routes established by Seba Pelleti and Juan Secul in 2019, and Mike Bowyer and Tom Schindfessel in 2024.

Nikolay Totmyanin, one of the old stars of Russian alpinism, died yesterday, August 11. He fell ill while descending from Pobeda Peak on the Kyrgyzstan-China border, according to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru. Totmyanin was 66.

"He came down on his own, pushing hard, knowing he had to get lower as quickly as possible," wrote Piunova on Facebook. "On the evening of August 10, he was admitted to intensive care in Bishkek. By morning, he was gone."

Totmyanin worked as a nuclear power engineer in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but his extraordinary climbing career spanned decades. He completed over 200 ascents in the Caucasus, Pamirs, Tien Shan, Alps, Himalaya, Karakoram, and North America, including 27 climbs graded 5A and 10 graded 5B, as well as 63 big-wall climbs. He had previously summited 7,439m Pobeda, commonly known today as Jengish Chokusu, several times.

On a team led by Aleksander Shevchenko, Totmyanin helped two members climb Lhotse via the South Face Direttissima in 1990, a new route at the time. He summited Everest twice without supplemental oxygen, in 2003 and in 2006. He also helped pioneer a new route on K2's highly difficult West Face in 2007 without bottled oxygen.

Totmyanin was part of the first ascent of Jannu’s north face in 2004, which earned a Piolet d’Or. In 2008, he summited Dhaulagiri I without bottled oxygen, and in 2011, he climbed Kangchenjunga, again in the same style.

He earned the coveted Snow Leopard award five times (for summiting all five 7,000m peaks in the former USSR (Jengish Chokusu, Khan Tengri, Lenin Peak, Korzhenevskaya, Ismoil Somoni). Totmyanin was honored as a Master of Sports and won his country's version of a Golden Ice Axe, among many other distinctions.