Derek Franz

The golden trio of Dmitry Golovchenko, Dmitry Grigoriev and Sergey Nilov score another Russian Golden Axe for their alpine-style first ascent of Moveable Feast (ED2 M7 WI5 5c A3, 1400m) on Thalay Sagar (6904m) last September.

Barbara Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher recently made the third free ascent of Zodiac (VI 5.13d) on El Capitan after a 13-year period in which no one succeeded since the first and second free ascents were made in 2003.

Jim Detterline participated in more than 1,200 rescues in his long career as a climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. He was well loved and famous for climbing Longs Peak (14,259’) a record 428 times. He died in a rope-soloing accident near his home in late October. More than 1,000 people attended the memorial service.

Adam Ondra sets a new precedent on the second free ascent of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) by blazing up the route in fewer than eight days and leading every pitch.

Pete Whittaker rope solos El Capitan’s Freerider (VI 5.12d) all free in 20 hours, 6 minutes, becoming the first person to do it in a day.

Junko Tabei was more than the first woman to summit the highest peak on Earth, she was a trailblazer for women in the mountains, a leader for the environment and a person who actively invested in her community all the way up until her death from cancer on October 20.