#alpinistcommunityproject 2016

This week, we’re sharing an assortment of posts from the past year. If there is a climber whose vision inspires you, please nominate them for a future #alpinistcommunityproject by messaging Alpinist on Facebook.

“Traversing Mt. Logan instead of merely climbing it greatly complicated our expedition. Getting food, fuel, skis and sleds up the peak’s technical East Ridge meant we had to make triple carries. It was a great route, but in hindsight I’m not sure we needed to climb it three times.” [Photo] Bryce Brown

This photo comes from Bryce Brown’s expedition to Mt. Logan (5959m), in Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon. In spring 2015, Willi Pritti, Gord Bose and Brown planned to climb the peak’s East Ridge and then ski down the King Trench. Their goal was to complete a traverse of the peak.

To read more about Canada’s highest peak, Mt. Logan, read Joe Josephson’s Mountain Profile in Alpinist 31.

“Lynne Hempton making the exposed traverse on the third pitch of Via Myriam at the famous five towers of Cinque Torri. The towers offer a superb mix of multipitch sport and trad routes with some spectacular backdrops—here the quintessentially Dolomitic ridgeline of Croda da Lago can be seen in the background. This shot was achieved by abseiling down the fourth pitch to the end of the traverse and then dangling in-wait with a wide-angle lens.” [Photo] James Rushforth

This post comes from James Rushforth, author of The Dolomites: Rock Climbs and via Ferrata. We first featured his posts with the #alpinistcommunityproject in January 2016.

“Many people who climb in the Winds figure if you’re going to hike a few days to get to the climbs, you shouldn’t need a lot of information. Or even no information at all, so you can discover the climb anew. The ‘culture of mystery’ is alive and well in the Winds and definitely contributes to the range’s appeal. I’d imagine the future in the Winds will be much the same as the past: a slow and steady exploration by a few adventurous souls.” Chris Landry on Bow Mountain in the Titcomb Lakes area in 1976. [Photo] Michael Kennedy

This post comes from Alpinist editor emeritus Michael Kennedy’s photos and stories from the Wind River Range. As part of our research for Issue 55’s Mountain Profile, we caught up with Kennedy to talk about his travels to the Winds in the ’70s and ’80s. For more Winds climbing lore, check out the issue here.

“Mahendra looks on as Marico, a climber from Japan, ascends a 700-foot ice wall, the crux of our climb on Mt. Cathedral (6100m) on the Bara Shigri Glacier. The name for the Bara Shigri comes from the Lahaul dialect, where Bara means ‘big’ and Shigri means ‘glacier’.” [Photo] Abhijeet Singh

This post comes from Abhijeet Singh. Other photos of his appear in Alpinist 54’s “Notes from the Frontier” about Indian climbers seeking to balance fast and light styles with histories of their country’s Himalayan peaks. Check out the issue here.

“September 2014: It had rained all night until around 3 a.m., but Brittany Rogers and I tried the south ridge of Maroon Peak (14,156′) anyway. We soon realized it had snowed up high. We got to the top of the ridge at 13,000 feet and headed onto the shady west side, where we encountered lots of ice on steepening rock. We didn’t have crampons, mountain boots, or an ice axe, so we turned around. After completing the traverse the next season, I look back and am thankful for our decision.” [Photo] Jeremy Joseph

This post comes from Jeremy Joseph, a photographer based in Carbondale, Colorado.

“Indian Creek is known for its splitters, but that doesn’t mean that every climb is the same. Face holds, pods, varying crack sizes, roofs, and other features make the climbing constantly challenging and thought provoking. Here I test all those skills on Broken Tooth (5.12).” [Photo] Forest Woodward

This post comes from Jenny Abegg and Forest Woodward. Abegg cut her teeth on granite splitters in the Pacific Northwest and made her first trip to Indian Creek in the spring of 2012. She writes about her deep love for the area in the essay “Cliffs of Anxiety,” which you can find in the Climbing Life section of Alpinist 56. Woodward, the man behind the lens for this photo, has an penchant for both climbing and photographing elegant sandstone splitters, and relishes the chance to do both at once.

“This photo shows the unclimbed northwest face of Yangmaiyong (5958m), Gongga Xueshan. Three stunning snowy peaks are located in the southern end of Shaluli Shan range of West Sichuan Highlands. They are well known among the Tibetan people as the Heavenly Charms in the Snow World. The name of the highest north peak, Xiannairi (6032m) means ‘Mother Buddha,’ and Xiaruoduoji (5958m) translates to ‘the Buddha with warriors’ hands.’ According to legend, Dalai V conferred these names. All of three peaks remain untrodden. Erosion and corrosion over a long period of time has left the rocky peaks and ridges exposed, making them tooth- or bolt-shaped precipices.” [Photo] Tamotsu Nakamura

This post comes from Tamotsu Nakamura. A longtime member of the Japanese Alpine Club and Alpinist correspondent, Nakamura has undertaken roughly forty expeditions to the mountains of China and Tibet. In May of 2016, at age 81, he and trekking partner Tsuyoshi Nagai (83) explored what they refer to as a “future climbing paradise” around the Holy Mountain Balagezong in Yunnan, China.

“This photo is of my great-grandmother, Mary Gibson Henry, climbing Mont Blanc (4807m) in 1908 when she was about 23 years old. It was the very first mountain she ever climbed. Her brother, Henry C. Gibson, accompanied her…. Mary fell in love with the Alps and its wildflowers. There, she developed a lifelong friendship with Henry Correvon, the renowned Swiss mountaineer and botanist. She ordered several alpine wildflowers from Correvon’s nursery to grow in her garden outside Philadelphia. Correvon visited the garden, which later became a nonprofit foundation for botanical research, and the two corresponded until he died.” [Photo] Caroline Treadway family collection

This post comes from Caroline Treadway, a photographer and writer based in Boulder, Colorado. Originally from Washington, DC, she learned to climb in Lander, Wyoming in 1998. When she isn’t spending time in the mountains, she can often be found exploring the southwest for new species of ants and plants. She earned a masters degree in journalism from Boston University in 2010. Visit carolinetreadway.com to see more of her work.