![Cole Lawrence sends Pitch 6 (5.13a) on the first free ascent of Super Ultra Mega, an eight-pitch route on an unnamed buttress in Montana's Bitterroot Range. [Photo] Winter Ramos](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/super-ultra-mega-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Missoula climber Cole Lawrence and several partners completed a vision that began a decade ago when he established and redpointed Super Ultra Mega (5.13a, 8 pitches) on an unnamed, unknown buttress in Montana’s Bitterroot Range last September. The climbers say this is just the beginning of the potential for new, big free routes and that it’s time to put the area on the map.
![The east face of Howse Peak, Icefields Parkway, Alberta, Canada. [Photo] Courtesy of Parks Canada](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/howse-peak-folo-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Parks Canada reported in a press conference today that Jess Roskelley, David Lama and Hansjorg Auer started climbing M-16 (VI WI7+ A2) on Howse Peak early Tuesday morning, April 16, summited around 12:30 p.m. and were likely killed in an avalanche while descending the east face of the mountain that day. The bodies were found in a field of avalanche debris on Sunday, April 21.
![David Lama during acclimatizing on Fox Peak, October 2018. [Photo] David Lama/Red Bull Content Pool](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/howse-peak-deaths-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Hansjorg Auer, David Lama and Jess Roskelley are presumed to have been killed in an avalanche while attempting M-16 (VI WI7+ A2) on Howse Peak, located on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, Canada. Parks Canada officials confirmed in a press conference today that a helicopter search was conducted and crews observed signs of multiple avalanches in the area and that “there was strong evidence that the climbing party was involved and that the victims were deceased.”
![Kyle Dempster. [Photo] Andrew Burr](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kyle-dempster-packrafting-file-photo.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Four recipients have been selected for the second annual Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award. Cassady Bindrup, Gabe Dirksen, Talley Kayser and Max Neale are each receiving $1,000 for solo trips, respectively, to the Scottish Highlands, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Sierra Nevada Range and Baranof Island, Alaska. Last year, a total of $4,000 was distributed among three recipients.
![The East Face of Jannu/Kumbhakarna. The actual route is shown in red, while the intended route is shown in orange. [Photo] Courtesy of Marcin Tomaszewski](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/two-russian-alpinists-jannu-1.jpg?resize=780%2C620&ssl=1)
Two Russian alpinists, Sergey Nilov and Dmitry Golovchenko, spent nearly three weeks attempting a new route in alpine-style up the unclimbed east face of Nepal’s Jannu/Kumbhakarna.
![Grit and Rock grant recipients. [Image] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/grit-and-rock-new-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Grit and Rock recently announced six teams as recipients of its 2019 First Ascent Award. The grant, which distributes $10,000 a year for women-led expeditions, aims to level the playing field in alpinism by encouraging first ascents by women. This year’s award will support climbs in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Canada and Kyrgyzstan.
![Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Ballard, Nardi collections](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ballard-nardi-2.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The bodies of Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, were spotted through a telescope above Camp III on Nanga Parbat’s Mummery Rib at around 5900 meters on March 9. A BBC.com story posted today, March 11, quoted Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo as saying there might be a possibility of recovering the bodies.
![Elena Quispe and Ana Lia Gonzales at the summit. [Photo] Jaime Murciego](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cholitas-4.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Two “Cholitas Escaladoras” from El Alto, Bolivia, became the first Aymara women to summit Aconcagua (6962m) in January. Three others nearly succeeded as well. Their achievement represents a benchmark for indigenous women reclaiming their identity after centuries of discrimination and for the Bolivian climbing community as a whole.
![Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Daniele Nardi's Facebook page](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ballard-nardi-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, are missing on Nanga Parbat (8126m) in Pakistan. According to updates on Nardi’s Facebook page, helicopters are attempting to deliver a rescue team “as close as possible” to Camp 3 today, where a tent “invaded by snow” was spotted amid “traces of an avalanche” during a morning reconnaissance. The climbers were last heard from on Sunday, February 24, while attempting a winter ascent via a new route up the Mummery Rib, which is prone to avalanches. Their last known position is somewhere around 6300 meters between Camp 3 and Camp 4.
![A climber rappels in Utah's San Rafael Swell, one of many areas across the country that will soon have wilderness designations if President Donald Trump signs the Natural Resources Management Act, which was passed by Congress on February 26. [Photo] John Easterling](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/san-rafael-swell-pano.jpeg?resize=930%2C272&ssl=1)
Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a historic bipartisan bill titled the Natural Resources Management Act, 363-62. It cleared the Senate, 92-8, on February 12, and it is anticipated that President Donald Trump will soon sign it into law. The legislation combines more than 100 previously existing bills that affect public lands all over the country, and it includes provisions that pertain directly to climbers and climbing areas.
