Early Season Canadian Rockies Route Explosion by Swiss Team
Ueli Steck shares stories and photographs from his October tour of the Canadian Rockies, where he established committing new lines with Simon Anthamatten.
CLIMBING AND GLOBAL WARMING CONVERGE IN ANTARCTICA
“The sky was stunningly blue and clear and there was no wind; you only get a few days like this each summer on Antarctica’s highest mountains. Where we expected to encounter snow between the bands of rock we found hard, clear “water ice” similar to that on the frozen waterfalls we had climbed in Europe and North America. As its name would suggest, such ice is formed directly from water, usually running water. It is not the compacted snow or hard blue glacial ice that is almost everywhere else in Antarctica.”
FiveTen Camp 4 Approach Shoes: Win Again
These are a new-ish, beefy approach shoe from 5.10. I saw them quite a bit in the Tetons this summer and expect to see a lot more of them in the future. Why? These shoes rule!
ANTS. SLING FAILURE. THESE TWO SHOULD NOT GO TOGETHER.
Oh yeah? Really? As if I didn’t have enough to be concerned about, now I learn that a chemical secreted by ants can cause rappel slings to fail. Great.
RISK
“People say you shouldn’t jump off cliffs… But why not? You can.” Get a taste of why these New Zealanders continue risking their lives even as their friends die.
Black Diamond Firstlight Tent: Bombproof, Featherweight
Early this summer I began testing the Black Diamond Firstlight Tent, from the Vedauwoo desert to the alpine flanks of the Grand Teton. I was pleased with its versatility–it seemed the perfect tent for any summer conditions. That worried me. The ultra-lightweight, single-wall shelter is marketed as a four-season favorite, but I feared how it would fare against the wintry precipitation and cold so common from October through April in the Rocky Mountain West. Yet now, in the middle of November, having weathered significant snowstorms and cold rainstorms in the Firstlight, I’m eager to sack up in this dome no matter the forecast.
TRIP REPORT: LATOK III SEES SECOND ALPINE-STYLE ASCENT
In 2005, a two-man Spanish team took seven days to climb the route in alpine style. Our aim was to repeat the route in alpine style and confirm that Pakistan is a great destination for these kinds of ascents.
TRIP REPORT: YUTU SUMMIT PROVES ELUSIVE AS NAMESAKE RABBIT
On summit day we thought we could simply climb to the ridge and follow it to the glacier, which would lead to some easy rock towards the summit. How wrong we were.
