![Charles Dubouloz summits the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses after soloing Rolling Stones (5.10 A3, or M8, 1100m) over six days in January. [Photo] Seb Montaz Studio (@sebmontazstudio)](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/rolling-stones-solo-winter-ascent-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
From January 13 to 18, Charles Dubouloz completed what is likely the first solo winter ascent of Rolling Stones (5.10 A3, or M8, 1100m) a rarely repeated route on the fabled north face of the Grandes Jorasses above Chamonix, France. He spent six days with five bivies on the wall, pressing on through strong winds and low temperatures of -30°C (-22°F), sustaining some frostbite to a big toe.
![Corrado Korra Pesce in 2015. [Photo] Klaus Dell'Orto](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/corrado-korra-pesce-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
On Thursday, January 27, two teams of climbers summited Cerro Torre together after completing two new, parallel routes up the Patagonian tower. But while they were descending, an avalanche injured Tomas “Tommy” Aguilo (Argentina) and killed 41-year-old Corrado “Korra” Pesce (Italy). A rescue effort involved more than 40 people toiling for nearly two days without sleep.
![The red line shows the approximate route of Frozen Fight Club (M7 A3, 780m). [Image] Marcin Tomaszewski collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/frozen-fight-club-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Polish climbers Marcin “Yeti” Tomaszewski and Damian “Dany” Bielecki completed a new big wall aid route in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range on a 700-meter cliff known as the Uli Biaho Gallery. They spent 11 days establishing Frozen Fight Club (M7 A3, 780m) on December 5-16. Frozen Fight Club might be the first big wall route in the region that was climbed during the coldest season.
![Bronwyn Hodgins nears the top of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in May 2021, when she became the third woman to free climb Golden Gate (5.13a, 34 pitches). [Photo] Nick Smith](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a76-ob-yosemite-dreams-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this On Belay story from Alpinist 76–which is now on newsstands and available in our online store–our digital editor Derek Franz travels to Yosemite to climb through layers of historical and personal past, and witnesses some history in the making.
![Derek Franz on the rim of the Black Canyon in 2020 after finishing a route during which he wore his new Black Diamond Crack Gloves for the first time. [Photo] Morgan Williams](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/black-diamond-crack-gloves-1-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Mountain Standards Gear Review: Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz has been using the Black Diamond Crack Gloves to jam cracks across the west for the past several months. He writes: “I’ve used these gloves in Yosemite, Black Canyon and Utah desert, and also crammed them into some sharp, crumbly choss cracks near my home on Colorado’s Western Slope, and they’re holding up well, much better than I predicted based on how thin they felt when I first tried them on…. I found these puppies to perform well in thin hand cracks as well as for offwidth teacup fist jams.” Five stars.
David Smart’s book, Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites, received the Boardman-Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in November. The biography was published in 2020 and provided some of the inspiration for Smart’s Mountain Profile on the Cima Grande in the Dolomites that was recently published in Alpinist 76. In this feature, an interview with Smart explores topics related to Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites, the Cima Grande profile and Smart’s writing and climbing career.
![A screenshot of a publicist's Facebook post announcing the upcoming media briefing for Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko's first ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Annapurna III (7555m). [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/annapurna-iii-se-ridge-screenshot.jpg?resize=496%2C620&ssl=1)
Three Ukrainian climbers–Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko–have just completed the first ascent of the fabled Southeast Ridge of Annapurna III (7555m). Until now, no one had surpassed the high point of 6500 meters that was first reached by British climbers Steve Bell, Nick Colton and Tim Leach in 1981. Balabanov, Fomin and Viacheslav had only 12 days of food and took 18 days for the ascent and descent. After diverting from their original descent plan, they were eventually picked up by helicopter at 5000m.
![[Image] Banff Mountain Book Competition](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/banff-book-awards-2021.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
A story from Alpinist 74 (Summer 2021)–“Letters to a Young Climber,” by Doug Robinson–was recently selected as the winner of Best Mountaineering Article at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, which is happening this week. The recognition comes with $2,000 and is eligible to receive a $4,000 Grand Prize that will be selected from a pool that includes seven other category winners on November 5. A book by Alpinist contributor Chris Kalman, “Dammed If You Don’t,” won the Mountain Fiction and Poetry category. A grand-prize winner among the eight categories will be selected on November 5. Meanwhile, the film “Dream Mountain,” of which Alpinist is a sponsor, was selected for the for the 2021/22 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour.
![This photo was taken on a trip to Venezuela that was supported by an American Alpine Club Live Your Dream Grant. [Photo] Blake McCord](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/aac-climbing-grants-2021.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The American Alpine Club (AAC) is currently accepting applications for six grants: the TINCUP Partner in Adventure Grant, the Cutting Edge Grant, the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant, the McNeill-Nott Award, the Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant, and the Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award. Deadlines to apply vary depending on the grant, ranging from November 8, 2021, to January 31, 2022.
![A screenshot from the livestreamed event outside the White House on October 8 as President Joe Biden signed the proclamations restoring the protections to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments as set by President Barack Obama. Biden handed out the pens he used to the people gathered behind him. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/biden-signs-monument-proclamations-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
President Joe Biden signed an executive order today restoring Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments after former President Donald Trump rescinded the original designations in 2017. Trump’s rescissions had reduced Bears Ears by approximately 85% and Grand Staircase by almost 50%. Biden also reinstated protections in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument after Trump’s 2020 decision to open it to commercial fishing. Bears Ears NM was originally designated at 1.35 million acres by President Barack Obama in 2016, and Grand Staircase was set at 1.9 million acres by President Bill Clinton in 1996.
