![Ueli Steck on Punta Margherita (4066m), one of six 4000-meter summits along the Italian/French Grandes Jorasses ridge traverse that Steck climbed in a 62-day push to climb all 82 4000-meter summits in the Alps in 2015. [Photo] Courtesy Ueli Steck](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ueli-5.jpg?resize=540%2C366&ssl=1)
Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck was found dead on April 30 near Camp 2 on Mt. Everest (8848m) after he apparently fell while climbing 7861-meter Nuptse to acclimatize for a linkup of Everest’s Hornbein Route with Lohtse (8516m).
![Jess Roskelley climbs a mixed pitch on the first ascent of Raggedy Man (5.9 WI4+) in Montana's Cabinet Mountains, March 20. [Photo] Scott Coldiron](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/arcteryx-procline-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
An ice climbing boot that handles skis as well? Jess Roskelley tested the Arc’teryx Procline Carbon Lite boots and enjoyed their versatility for approaching and climbing routes in the snowy backcountry. He used the boots on mixed pitches and WI 6, and cruised out in full control of his skis on the way down–no more sliding into tree wells with soft boots mounted into Silveretta bindings! He awarded the Proclines four stars.
![North Six Shooter towers over the valley of Indian Creek, Utah. Just east of Canyonlands National Park, this area is now included in Bears Ears National Monument, which was designated by former President Barack Obama on December 28, 2016. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/bears-ears-north-six-shooter.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to review Bears Ears and all national monuments designated in the last 21 years. The order was issued with the promise of “no predetermined outcome,” but his accompanying remarks suggest that his administration expects to make changes to the monuments’ status. The Access Fund, Friends of Cedar Mesa and Utah Dine Bikeyah respond to the threat with statements in support of established monuments.
![A view of Cerro Trono from the east side of the Cordillera Sarmiento. [Photo] Whitney Clark](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cordillera-sarmiento-5.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Last March Americans Whitney Clark, Jon Griffin and Tad McCrea ventured into a notoriously wet and seldom-visited coastal region of South America–Patagonia’s Cordillera Sarmiento–in hopes of climbing a peak called Alas de Angel Sur. The approach to their main objective proved too difficult to decipher in the time and weather that they had, but the team still managed to climb another peak by a route they dubbed Estoy Verde (M6 200m). Clark recounts their rain-soaked adventure.
![Keita Kurakami leads Hakuhatsuki, or Gray Haired Demon, (5.13d R) as a rope solo. After taking a groundfall attempting to redpoint the route as a rope solo, he decided to follow the crack all the way to the top of the cliff instead of ending at the bolt anchors. He named the extended route The Votive Light (5.13d/14a R). [Photo] Kenichi Moriyama](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/votive-light-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Keita Kurakami endures a ground fall before succeeding on the first ascent of another new trad route in Japan. He linked a previously existing 5.13d R called Hakuhatsuki (Gray Haired Demon), which ended at a bolted anchor, to the top of the cliff, calling the new route The Votive Light (5.13d/14a R).
![Brette Harrington leads an offwidth choked with ice and sugar snow in the vicinity of Pitch 9 on Riders on the Storm (VI 5.12d/5.13 A3, 1300m), Torre Central, Torres del Paine, Patagonia. She used a variety of tricks to make progress, including aid moves off her ice axes. [Photo] Drew Smith](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/riding-the-storm-5.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Mayan Smith-Gobat returns to the Torres del Paine in Patagonia to attempt a complete free ascent of Riders on the Storm (VI 5.12d/5.13 A3, 1300m) on the Torre Central, which she came close to accomplishing with Ines Papert in 2016. This year the weather dashed all hopes for a complete ascent, but Smith-Gobat and Brette Harrington summoned all their reserves and went up the icy wall anyway. Here Smith-Gobat relates their journey inward, upward and downward.
![Rob Kepley on Dos Equis (5.10b), Cathedral Spires, South Platte, Colorado. [Photo] Chris Van Leuven](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/five-ten-quantum-1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Five Ten Quantum rock shoes were designed to be an all-around, high performance shoe. Chris Van Leuven tested them on slabs, cracks and steeps, and on a variety of rock types: he scampered up them all, and was so pleased he awarded the redesigned Quantums five stars.
![Nick Bullock and Paul Ramsden's North Buttress route (ED+ 1600m) on Nyainqentangla South East. Their descent on the east ridge is marked in green. [Photo] Nick Bullock](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/british-alpinists-1.jpg?resize=768%2C620&ssl=1)
The Piolets d’Or jury is giving awards to two climbing teams this year for the 2016 first ascents on North Buttress of Nyainqentangla South East in Tibet by Nick Bullock and Paul Ramsden of Britain, and the North Buttress of Thalay Sagar in the Indian Gangotri by Dmitry Golovchenko, Dmitry Grigoriev and Sergey Nilov of Russia. Honorable mentions go to the Korean team of Cho Seok-mun, Kim Chang-ho, and Park Joung-yong, and Americans Colin Haley and Alex Honnold. Jeff Lowe is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
![Barbara Zangerl carries a cam in her mouth to save energy for placing it during her greenpoint bid of Switzerland's Gondo Crack (5.14b R). The route was bolted 15 years ago and remained unclimbed until the end of March when Zangerl and her partner, Jacopo Larcher, did the first ascents using the bolts. In early April the two then sent the route using removable protection, skipping the bolts and risking huge falls from the crux. [Photo] Richard Felderer](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/gondo-crack-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Barbara Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher made the first ascents of Switzerland’s Gondo Crack (5.14b R) in early April. The 17-meter line was a 15-year project that thwarted more than one talented suitor, including British trad ace Tom Randall.
![Nathan Martinez and Steve Dilk sit atop North Six Shooter in Indian Creek, Utah, in 2013. The area is now included in Bears Ears National Monument. Canyonlands National Park is in the background. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/bears-ears-3.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
April is likely to be a pivotal time for the future of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is poised to visit the state soon and make a recommendation to President Donald Trump on whether to rescind the monument as Utah lawmakers are requesting. Meanwhile the Access Fund reports an uptick in political participation that seems to be having an effect on leaders in Washington. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz considers the context in which the monument was created.
