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The west face of Tengi Ragi Tau (ca. 6940m) with Release the Kraken (AI5 M5+, 1600m) drawn in red. Alan Rousseau and Tino Villanueva's three bivy sites are marked in blue near the beginning, middle and top of the upper rockband. [Photo] Alan Rousseau

Alan Rousseau and Tino Villanueva Release the Kraken on Tengi Ragi Tau’s west face

Alan Rousseau writes about the first ascent of Tengi Ragi Tau’s west face, which he completed with Tino Villanueva in mid-October. Explaining the name of their route, he writes, “The peak had eluded us for so long, I think we had made it out to be a bit of a mythical beast. For that reason, and for the wild upper snow features, we named our route Release the Kraken (AI5 M5+, 1600m).”

[Photo] Height of Land Publications

Backcountry.com battles small businesses over trademark

The news of Backcountry.com suing smaller companies for using the word “backcountry” in their titles has led to inquiries about the status of Alpinist’s sister publication, Backcountry Magazine. Height of Land Publications Editorial Director Tyler Cohen, formerly editor-in-chief of Backcountry, wrote the following story that includes a statement from HOL CEO Adam Howard. So far, Backcountry Magazine has not been included in these lawsuits and Height of Land Publications stands in solidarity with the smaller companies that are being impacted.

Phil Powers at an American Alpine Club Benefit Dinner with Doug Walker, a former president of the AAC who died in an avalanche in 2016. [Photo] Jim Aikman

American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers to step down in summer 2020

American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers announced yesterday, October 1, that he plans to retire after 14 years. He will remain CEO until this winter, then he will step back and continue working with the organization as a senior advisor until next summer. The goal is to transition to new leadership by summer 2020.

Climber representatives pose in front of the nation's capital in Washington, DC, last year during the Access Fund and American Alpine Club's third annual Climb the Hill event, which included more than 60 delegates. [Photo] Stephen Gosling

Climbers join activists worldwide in demand for action on climate crisis

Climbers and activists are meeting this week in Washington, DC, to lobby Congress on a host of issues, including the climate crisis, energy development and leasing reform, recreation access and enhancement, and public land management agency funding, in addition to recreation and conservation land designations such as the ongoing legal battle over national monuments that were reduced by the Trump Administration in 2017. Known as Climb the Hill, the event is the fourth annual lobbying session organized by the Access Fund and the American Alpine Club.

Mt. Hooker with Gambling in the Winds (V 5.12+, 2,000') drawn in red. [Photo] Austin Siadak

Friends complete Hayden Kennedy’s vision on Mt. Hooker: Gambling in the Winds (V 5.12+)

In 2015, Hayden Kennedy and Whit Magro spent a week in Wyoming’s Wind River Range establishing a route over new terrain over halfway up the northeast face of Mt. Hooker. On the last day of their trip, they free climbed to Der Minor Ledge, 800 feet from the top of the wall, where they traversed right and finished on the Boissonneault-Larson. They dubbed their route Gambling in the Winds (5.12). In the aftermath of Kennedy’s death in October 2016, his friends Jesse Huey and Maury Birdwell returned to Mt. Hooker over the last two seasons to complete his route. Last year was “dismally cold and wet,” Huey told Alpinist. But this year they managed to free the remaining 800 feet directly to the top, spending two days on the wall, August 9-10. Two weeks later, Magro managed a one-day, team-free ascent with Harrison Teuber.

The Epaulette (West) Ridge of Mt. Waddington follows the right skyline. The bergschrund that the climbers jumped down at the end of the ridge below the summit is visible as a shadowed line, just below the horizon on the white slope. [Photo] Courtesy of John Scurlock

Simon Richardson and Ian Welsted complete first ascent of Waddington’s West Ridge

On August 3-7, the Scottish alpinist Simon Richardson and Canadian alpinist Ian Welsted made what is likely the first complete ascent of the West Ridge of Mt. Waddington in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and possibly the first traverse of the mountain (from Fury Gap to Rainy Knob) as well. “The crenellated upper west ridge… is such a major structural feature,” Richardson said, “it is difficult for the 21st Century alpinist to believe it was unclimbed, especially on a mountain with the stature of Mt. Waddington. But in today’s world, where technical difficulty is often paramount, there are still major lines that have been overlooked. Quite simply, the complete West Ridge of Waddington should have been climbed decades ago!”

Seto Hi'um (TD: M4 WI4 1150m) on the south face of Chhopa Bamare (6109m) as seen from base camp. [Photo] Benjamin Billet

Benjamin Billet and John Kelley complete first ascent of Chhopa Bamare (6109m)

This past winter, from February 9 through March 3, Benjamin Billet, of France, and John Kelley, of Alaska, completed the first ascent of Chhopa Bamare (6109m) in Nepal. They summited on February 28 and named their route Seto Hi’um (TD: M4 WI4 1150m), which translates as “white snow” in Nepali. Kelley had made two previous attempts to climb the peak solo after the Nepalese government opened it for permits in 2014. “The first attempt was in December of 2017. I tried to get up the East Ridge. Made it up and over the East summit before turning back,” he told Alpinist. “The second attempt was in March of 2018. Didn’t get any farther than high camp due to snow and poor unsettled weather.” Billet told Montagnes Magazine that he met Kelley on the Internet a few months before the expedition, and that this was their first time climbing together. Billet wrote the following account for Alpinist.

The west faces of Gasherbrum IV, V, VI, and VII. The peak of Gasherbrum II is just barely visible behind the southern ridge of Gasherbrum IV. Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) is hidden behind Gasherbrum V. [Photo] Florian Ederer, Wikimedia

Fall during ski descent on Gasherbrum VII results in dramatic rescue from 6300m

On July 20 Cala Cimenti, of Italy, became the first person to stand on top of 6955-meter Gasherbrum VII. Cimenti’s elation, however, was soon cut short. His partner Francesco Cassardo–who had decided not to continue to the top in order to save strength for their ski descent–was injured in a massive fall shortly after putting his skis on to follow Cimenti down. Cassardo was ultimately rescued by helicopter at 5900 meters near Camp I on July 22 after a dramatic effort that included the Polish alpinist team of Denis Urubko, Janusz Adamski and Jaroslaw Zdanowicz, Canadian climber Don Bowie and Italian mountaineer Marco Confortola.