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Khumjungar Himal (a.k.a. Khamjung, 6759m), one of the highest peaks of the Damodar, seen to the north from the approach up the Labse Khola towards the Teri La. This south-facing aspect of the mountain has not been attempted. [Photo] Paulo Grobel

Unclimbed Nepal: The Explorations of Paulo Grobel

In this guest feature from the American Alpine Journal, French guide Paulo Grobel reports on his explorations of Nepal’s Damodar Himal, north of the Annapurna group, and the first ascent of a subpeak of Himlung Himal, a popular 7,000er north of Manaslu. This story provides a sneak-peak from the 2018 AAJ.

The west face of Xanadu. [Photo] Engberg, Bain, Boning and Braasch collection

Three parties establish three new routes on Xanadu’s west face

The central west face of Xanadu in Alaska’s Arrigetch Peaks was untouched until this year when three parties established three routes in July and August. The first route to go in was a 5.13+ done by Zeb Engberg, David Bain, Gabe Boning and Billy Braasch, the second was an A4 aid route put up by soloist Silvia Vidal and the third was a 5.11+ established onsight in a day by Vitaliy Musiyenko, Brian Prince and Adam Ferro.

Henry Duhamel [Photo] Public Domain

Inaccessible (1853-1917)

Henry Duhamel was an influential figure in the early exploration of la Meije, one of the last, great unclimbed Alps in the Massif des Ecrins in France. This essay by former Vertical editor Claude Gardien–part of Erin Smart’s Mountain Profile in Alpinist 59–recounts Duhamel’s rich life as an inventor and explorer who never quite attained international fame and who died after slipping on ice in a military barracks during World War I, but who nevertheless helped usher in a new age of French mountaineering and skiing.

The author and her husband with the Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT on a backcountry ski trip in Colorado. [Photo] Mary Harlan

The Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT: A well-designed expedition shelter

Mary Harlan, an AMGA-trained rock, ice, snow and ski guide, compares the new Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT to the Hilleberg design she used on Denali in 2012. She and her husband stayed comfortable in the tent on a spring backcountry ski trip but would have liked to have had more interior pockets. Four stars.

[Photo] Eliza Earle

The Accidental Mountaineer

As a single mom living in California, Ana Beatriz Cholo never imagined she would become a mountaineer. But she began climbing peaks in her state, and she eventually earned a spot on a Denali climbing team organized for female military veterans like her. Cholo shares how the experience helped her in this Climbing Life Story from Alpinist 59.

Marooned at Midnight (VI A3 5.11 R, 17 pitches, 700m) climbs a formation the Inuit call Umiguqjuaq. [Image] Sam England and Ryan Little

Alabamans ‘Marooned at Midnight’ for first ascent of an unclimbed wall on Baffin Island

Two Alabamans, Ryan Little, 26, and Sam England, 30, received an American Alpine Club Live Your Dream Grant to attempt the unclimbed Chinese Wall in Baffin Island’s famous Sam Ford Fjord this past August–but the sea ice hadn’t broken up enough to allow boat access, as they’d planned. With no time to spare, they shifted their sights to a wall in the Clyde Inlet, an area that has been almost completely ignored by climbers, and they succeeded in establishing Marooned at Midnight (VI A3 5.11 R, 17 pitches, 700m) on a formation the Inuit call Umiguqjuaq.