![The author with the Blue Ice Yeti 50L backpack in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. [Photo] Chris Wood](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/blue-ice-yeti-backpack-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Blue Ice is a small, relatively new company that started in a garage in Europe and now has a presence in North America. IFMGA/AMGA guide Mike Lewis has been using the Blue Ice Yeti 50L backpack, and aside from a few details that didn’t comply with his exact personal preferences, he liked it well enough to award it five stars.
![Nanga Parbat (8126m). [Photo] Guilhem Vellut, Wikimedia](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/mazeno-ridge-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Elisabeth Revol of France has been rescued and Tomek Mackiewicz of Poland is presumed dead on Nanga Parbat (8126m) in Pakistan after completing the second winter ascent of the peak. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help support Mackiewicz’s wife and three kids. Revol is recovering from frostbite.
![Elizabeth Hawley. [Photo] Courtesy of the Michael and Meg Leonard collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/elizabeth-hawley-obit-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Bernadette McDonald recounts the life of Elizabeth Hawley, who died January 26, 2018. Hawley was a prolific and esteemed journalist who lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and documented Himalayan mountaineering from 1959 until 2015. McDonald, who authored a biography about Hawley, describes the 94-year-old as “a feminist before her time, a pillar of society in Kathmandu, an icon in the mountaineering community, a fiercely independent woman, and a dear friend to many.”
![[Illustration] Andreas Schmidt](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a59-full-value-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In 1969, a young David Roberts buzzes the doorbell at the apartment of W. H. Auden, his literary hero, in hopes of inspiring the aging poet to journey with him to Alaska’s Brooks Range.
![Whitney Clark explores unknown terrain on a peak above Sphinx Lake in Kings Canyon, California. [Photo] Tad McCrea](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/sterling-fusion-nano-ix-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The American Alpine Club recently announced that Whitney Clark, Ryan Johnson, Kurt Ross and Alan Rousseau will receive Cutting Edge Grants this year, totaling $20,000. The grants will support expeditions to Alaska, India and Pakistan.
![The Mountain Equipment Citadel Mitts. [Photo] Clint Helander](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/mountain-equipment-citadel-mitt-1-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alaskan alpinist Clint Helander finds the Mountain Equipment Citadel Mitt to be a lightweight and versatile option for climbs that require cutting down on bulk and extra grams. Five stars.
![Kyle Dempster soloed up to 6000 meters on Vigne peak to gain a better look around at the huge peaks surrounding him on the Baltoro Glacier in 2014. He'd traveled there to attempt Gasherbrum IV's Shining Wall with Urban Novak, but they called off their expedition after learning that some Slovenian friends of Novak's were missing, and Novak felt the need to return home to be with the surviving friends and family. Dempster commended Novak's decision, recalling the loss of his own cousin in a rappelling accident on Baffin Island in 2005. [Photo] Kyle Dempster](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lemonade-5.jpg?resize=540%2C354&ssl=1)
Today marks the official opening of the application period for the inaugural Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award. Applications are due by March 15 for trips taking place between April 1, 2018-March 31, 2019. The winner(s) will be announced on March 27, Kyle’s birthday.
![Hugues Beauzile and Lucien Lulu Berardini climbing at the crag they helped develop in Claret, France. [Photo] Pascal Tournaire](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/hugues-beauzile-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this feature from Alpinist 60, James Edward Mills recounts the story of Hugues Beauzile, the son of a Haitian immigrant who became one of the most promising young alpinists in France before his death on the South Face of Aconcagua 1995.
![The red line shows the route taken by Marc-Andre Leclerc and Tom Livingstone on January 3 for the first winter ascent of the Navigator Wall on Canada's Mt. Slesse. They estimated the difficulties to be M7+ R or Scottish VIII or IV, according to Livingstone. [Photo] Marc-Andre Leclerc](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/navigator-wall-winter-ascent-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The first few days of January provided good conditions for Marc-Andre Leclerc and Tom Livingstone to make the first winter ascent of Mt. Slesse’s Navigator Wall, a goal that Leclerc has had in mind for a while. Meanwhile, Brette Harrington and Kieran Brownie did a link-up of two satellite peaks nearby, completing some likely first winter ascents as well.
The American Alpine Club has announced the recipients of its 2018 Climbing Awards, given annually to distinguish individuals for their service, leadership and accomplishments. This year’s honorees include John Roskelley, Alex Honnold, Ellen Lapham, Margo Hayes and Sally Jewell, who will be presented with their awards at the AAC’s Annual Benefit Dinner on February 24 in Boston, Massachusetts.
