Derek Franz

After newlyweds Luka Lindic and Ines Papert canceled their Alaska expedition this past summer because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they reconsidered what adventures they might find close to their home. The result was two first ascents of long routes–the 12-pitch Wolke 7 (aka Cloud Nine, 5.13b, 380m) on the Hinteres Feuerhorndl near Reiteralm, and in late November, a mixed alpine route on the north face of Sagwand Spitze in Valsertal, which they named Limited in Freedom (AI6 M6, 800m).

Late on November 4, Emily Harrington climbed over the lip of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in the dark; she’d free climbed all 41 pitches of Golden Gate (5.13b, 3,000′) in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds, becoming the fourth woman to free climb El Cap in a day, and the fourth person (and first woman) to free climb Golden Gate in a day. She succeeded in spite of a sideways fall near the top that left her with a bloody head wound–and after a fall during an attempt in 2019 that sent her to the hospital. “I pulled over the final lip at 10:30 p.m. in disbelief….” She wrote on Instagram.

Early last month, a Jeff and Priti Wright, a husband-wife team from Seattle, Washington, completed the third ascent of K6 West (7040m) and the first ascent of K6 Central (7100m) on October 8 and 9, respectively, and in alpine style. They returned the way they came: back up and over K6 West. The peaks are in the Pakistan-administered side of the Karakoram Range.

The east face of Mt. Forbes (3612m) in the Canadian Rockies has presented a proud and obvious objective for generations of climbers, but it only just recently saw its first known ascent, on October 2, when Quentin Roberts and Alik Berg scampered up a direct line they are simply calling the East Face (M4 WI3+). The two made the round trip from October 1 to October 3. “People have been looking at that face for a long time,” Roberts told Alpinist. “It is just way back there and hard to gauge conditions…. There are a few faces like this left in the Rockies, but everything has to line up well if you want to do them!”

Three film festivals are holding virtual events in the coming weeks: the 5Point Film Festival is October 14-18; Banff Mountain Film is October 31 through November 8; and No Man’s Land is hosting a variety of virtual events throughout October into November.

As with so many other events around the world, the American Alpine Club and Access Fund’s annual Climb the Hill event was held virtually this week. Two discussion panels were open to the public on September 23 and 24. They focused on public lands and the environment; and on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The featured panelists were Congressman Joe Neguse, and climbers Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, Abby Dione, Meagan Martin, Margo Hayes, Kai Lighter and Katie Boue. Access Fund directors Chris Winter and Erik Murdock also participated, and American Sign Language interpreters were provided.