East-facing Great Walls of China. Highest summit is on right. Arrow marks start of Border Control and Quantum of Solace. Lindsay Griffin

(Back to: Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan)

By Ines Papert, Germany, ines-papert.de

Great Walls of China, east face, Quantum of Solace.

After two failed attempts with Wolfgang Russegger and Thomas Senf during our 2010 expedition to the southeast face of Kyzyl Asker (5,842m), I knew I’d go back. I would not have chosen the steep 1,200m line, with a variety of difficult ice and rock sections tried by many alpinists without success, were it not a real test of both my climbing skills and mental strength. But after a long winter trip to Scotland, months of endurance training, and a fast ascent of Mont Blanc, I felt perfectly prepared for the endeavor.

On our trip through Kyrgyzstan to base camp, I was accompanied by my 11-year-old son Emanuel. We lived modestly with nomads for several weeks, which was such a fulfilling experience…(read more)

Pik 4,815m in northern Borkoldoy. Ascent ridge faces camera. Mark Weeding

(Back to: Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan)

By Mark Weeding, U.K.

Fergana and Borkoldoy, various ascents.

The Northern Borkoldoy has a staggering collection of gnarly looking peaks topping out at just under 5,000m. The 4×4 journey to reach them was the hardest I have ever undertaken. The direct back roads from Naryn to Issykul feature dramatic gorges, broken bridges, crumbling single track, and a 3,940m snow-covered pass. We slithered off the road at least once…(read more)

Lydia Pyne on first ascent of Remembering Chris, Sangsar Sol. Supplied by Chris Weidner

(Back to: Middle East, Iran)

By Chris Weidner, AAC

Alam Kuh (4,805m) and Damavand (5,610m), AAC exchange.

On June 5, 13 Americans, forming the second part of an exchange between the AAC and the Alpine Club of Iran (ACI), arrived in Tehran. The first part of the exchange took place in the Tetons during July 2010.

On our first afternoon we drove through the fastest, craziest traffic I’d ever seen and hiked up to the popular bouldering area of Darband, just north of Tehran…(read more)

Shoshala,with line of Trishul Direct. Yannick Boissenot

(Back to: Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh)

By Elie Chevieux, Switzerland

Shoshala (ca 4,700m), Trishul Direct.

In spring 2010 Frederic Nicole, Bernd Zangerl, and I were exploring the Kinnaur region for new bouldering sites, when we discovered the Baspa Valley, a veritable Shangri-La for the rock climber. Returning to Switzerland I told Yannick Boissenot and Giovanni Quirici. A few minutes of description and two or three photos were enough to give birth to our project.

In April 2011 a 28-hour journey over rough roads took us from Delhi to the village of Raksham (Rakchham). The contrast of the overcrowded, overheated Indian plains with this little corner of paradise at 3,000m was extreme. Our goal was located just above the village: Shoshala, a virgin rock peak rising to ca 4,700m…(read more)

Saser Kangri Group. South Shukpa Kungchang Glacier runs north-south. American approach to Saser Kangri II marked. (SP) South Phukoche Glacier. (SL) Sakang Lungpa Glacier. (SSK) South Shukpa Kungchang Glacier. (NSK) North Shukpa Kungchang Glacier. (1) Saser Kangri IV (7,415m). (2) Saser Kangri I (7,672m). (3) Plateau Peak (7,287m). (4) Peak 6,258m. (5) Lookout Peak (6,252m). (6) Stegasaurus (6,660m). (7) Saser Kangri III (7,495m). (8) Saser Kangri II, west summit (ca 7,480m). (9) Saser Kangri II (7,518m). (10) Saserling (6,100m). (11) Pumo Kangri (6,250m). (12) Tsok Kangri (6,585m). (13) Peak 6,825m (unclimbed). Image courtesy of Image Science & Analysis Laboratory NASA Johnson Space Center ISS022-E-7162

(Back to: India, Eastern Karakoram)

By Janet Bergman Wilkinson

South Shukpa Kungchang Glacier, various ascents.

In December 2009 Mark Richey e-mailed a photo of a beautiful gray granite rock peak he’d seen from base camp on an expedition to the Indian Karakoram. He was recruiting for another visit to the region and invited me to pull a team together to join him. Little did I know that the invitation was part of his plan to coerce my husband, Freddie Wilkinson, into joining him for another attempt on Saser Kangri II. Mark is a good salesman, but does that matter when it comes to good-looking granite?…(read more)

Ache seen from C Glacier. 2009 expedition climbed peak up broad north face/ridge on left. Supplied by Tamotsu Nakamura

(Back to: Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh)

By Kazuo Hoshi, JAC, Japan, provided by Tamotsu Nakamura

Ache and Chemma.

The Tokai section of the Japanese Alpine Club (JAC Tokai) has made 11 expeditions to the Indian Himalaya since 1988, mainly in Ladakh, Lahaul, and Spiti, where they have climbed 15 summits over 6,000m. The 10th, in 2009, planned to attempt the well-known Karcha Parvat (6,271m), in Lahaul, but found the ridge completely snow-free, so they would have been unable to melt water at camps…(read more)

Ushba from south. Northwest summit (4,694m, left) and Southeast (Main) summit (4,710m). Normal route to Northwest summit (Almer-Cockin, 1888, 4A) reaches gap between summits from far side. (1) Artsishevsiy, 1971, 5B. (2) Grigorenko-Prigoda, 1972, 5B. (3) Myshliaev, 1962, 5B. (4) Voloshanovskiy, 2010. (5) Monogarov, 1960, 5B. (6) Harakternik, 2011, 6A. (7) Kensitskiy, 1972, 5B. (8) Kustovskiy, 1962, 6B. Supplied by Anna Piunova

(Back to: Asia, Georgia)

By Lindsay Griffin, Mountain INFO, from information supplied by Anna Piunova, mountain.ru

Ushba (4,710m), south pillar, Harakternik.

The center of the pillar was climbed to two-thirds height in 1960 by Monogarov and his team, who then slanted up left, leaving the final prow unclimbed. In 1962 the left flank of the pillar was climbed by Myshliaev (who joined the upper section of the Monogarov route) and the right side by the celebrated Kustovskiy route. In 2010 a Ukrainian team led by Mishel Voloshanovskiy climbed a little left of the Monogarov, joining it as it slants left, and claimed a new line. However, it appears they were close to or on a little-known route climbed in 1981 by Golubev and partners, who also slanted left at Monogarov’s bolts. The climbing history of one of the most famous mountains in the Caucasus is thus complex and not well documented…(read more)

(A) Goromiku (5,582m, first ascent Charlie Fowler, 1994). (B) Goromity (5,609m, unclimbed). (C) Wuse Shan (5,430m, first ascent Yan Dongdong and Li Lan, 2010). (D) Celestial Peak (first ascent Americans Lahr, Perlman, and Steck, 1983, followed a day later by Schneider, Wagstaff, and White), seen from south. Takao Ohe, supplied by Tamotsu Nakamura

(Back to: Asia, China, Sichuan)

By Takao Ohe, Japan, supplied by Tamotsu Nakamura

Goromity (5,609m), attempts.

Hitoshi Onodera and I attempted the peak in August 2011. After reconnoitering the access from both east and west, we dismissed the approach from the Changping Valley to the east as being far too long. We approached from the west, via the Da Niu Chang valley, which is south of the Xiao Niu Chang and leads toward Wuse Shan (5,430m). The Xiao Niu Chang is steep and narrow (as reported by the Chinese), while the Da Niu Chang has a trail…(read more)

Unclimbed Sejong I (left) and Nobuyugya from northeast. Takao Ohe, supplied by Tamotsu Nakamura

(Back to: Asia, China, Sichuan)

By Takao Ohe, Japan, supplied by Tamotsu Nakamura

Sejong reconnaissance.

Before our attempt on Goromity (as reported elsewhere in this section), Hitoshi Onodera and I traveled to Kangding, en route to the Gongkala Shan, where we had a permit from the Sichuan Mountaineering Association for Kawarani (I, 5,992m; II 5,928m). However, the Deputy Director of the Sports Administrative Department, a senior official in the Ganzi Tibet Autonomous Region, refused to let us continue, stating that Kawarani was holy to Tibetans. The same problem was met by British expeditions in 2005 and 2007. We moved to the northern end of the Chola Shan, where we had information that there was an unclimbed massif called Polujab, south of Zhogchen Monastery…(read more)

Nordenskjold, with 2011 route. To right is east summit of Roots (2,270m), climbed by British team in 2001. Crag Jones

(Back to: Antarctica, South Georgia)

By Crag Jones, Alpine Club, U.K.

Nordenskjold (2,355m), first or second ascent.

Dropped off on the coast below the Nordenskjold Glacier on November 18, it took six days to establish base camp at 1,130m on the uppermost section of the glacier. This period was characterized by cloudy and occasionally wet weather and poor visibility. A day was lost returning to the coast to collect replacement boots, after a sole became detached. Very lean conditions in 2011 meant sections of icefall proved awkward to negotiate with heavy sledges and skis, much more difficult than on my previous attempt. We left one of the sledges and our skis on the middle section of the glacier, allowing us to load carry up a steep snow field and avoid the difficult icefall guarding the upper glacier. We towed the remaining sledge, with all our gear, in tandem to the eastern end of the glacier below Nordenskjold’s north face…(read more)

Crux ice pitch of Fountain Gully (continuation below hidden). Olly Metherell

(Back to: Africa, Morocco)

By Lindsay Griffin, Mountain INFO, from information provided by Olly Metherell

Toubkal Region, Afella (4,015m), southeast face, Fountain Gully.

On January 3 James Mehigan, Olly Metherell, and Andrew Stokes-Rees made the first ascent of Fountain Gully on Afella in the Ouanoukrim chain. After a frantic evening of food shopping in Marrakesh, Mehigan and Metherell had their first scary moment when they were led into the labyrinthine streets of the medieval souk at 11 p.m., £400 of shopping piled on a hand cart, by two mischievous locals “helping” them to find their hotel…(read more)

Approaching Koh-e-Sauze from north. Ascent route climbed up right and back left behind skyline ridge. Rebecca Coles

(Back to: Asia, Afghanistan)

By Rebecca Coles, U.K.

Jurm Valley, Koh-e-Sauze (5,680m on Russian map), second ascent.

Only 16km wide at its narrowest, the Wakhan Corridor is an obscure panhandle of land giving Afghanistan a tiny border with China. Exploration started long before mountaineers ventured into the area. Marco Polo is reputed to have spent time here recovering from malaria, and the source of the Oxus was discovered deep in the upper Wakhan. Before the 1979 Soviet invasion, the Wakhan was a popular, if remote, mountaineering destination. Now it is an oasis of calm and relative security…(read more)

By Hiroshi Hagiwara, Editor ROCK&SNOW, Japan

Ultar (Ultar Sar, 7,388m), southeast pillar attempt.

Giri-Giri boys Fumitaka Ichimura and Yusuke Sato made the best attempt to date on the magnificent southeast pillar of Ultar. On their alpine-style push they left 4,300m base camp on September 6, ascended the glacier, and climbed to a col below a gully at 4,500m, where they bivouacked. Next day, setting off with heavy packs loaded with one week’s food, they climbed the gully. It was a hot day, and there was much melting snow and running water. Their gloves, jackets, and even inner boots soon became soaked. At 1 p.m. they reached a second col at 5,000m and after fixing one pitch above, bivouacked until 4 a.m. the following morning. This day turned out to be equally hot, and they climbed without jackets or fleeces, finally making a long traverse to a bergschrund at 5,800m, which they reached at 7 p.m…(read more)

By Alexander Yurkin, Russia. Supplied by Anna Piunova, www.mountain.ru

Trango Tower (6,239m), northwest face, No Fear.

In August Dmitry Golovchenko, Sergey Nilov, leader Viktor Volodin, and I, from the Moscow Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, planned to climb a new route on the north face of Trango Tower. However, prevailing conditions made the approach dangerous, and we opted for a new line on the northwest face…(read more)

North side of Khane Valley. Nikolay Petkov

(Back to: Asia, Pakistan, Masherbrum Range)

By Nikolay Petkov, Bulgaria

Tagas Group, Khane Valley exploration.

Between September 10 and 22, Doychin Boyanov, Mihail Mihaylov, and I explored the Khane Valley to investigate possibilities for big wall routes and virgin summits. It lies parallel to and immediately south of the Nangma Valley. There is almost no information about alpine ascents, and the only named summits are those that border the Nangma Valley and those visible from the village of Khane, in the Hushe Valley, and from pastures along the Khane River.

According to locals the first foreigners to visit the valley were Koreans in 2001…(read more)

Diamir Face of Nanga Parbat. (1) Kinshofer Route (1962, original line). (1a) Line generally followed today. (2) Messner brothers 1970 descent route via Mummery Rib. (3) Messner 1978 descent route. (4) Slovenian 2011 ascent to upper southwest ridge. Bivouac sites marked. (5) Messner 1978 ascent route. (6) Upper section of 1976 Schell route (climbs Rupal Flank to Mazeno Col). There have been several variants to Schell route, e.g. in 1981 by Ronald Naar, who followed a higher traverse line to reach snowy section of ridge up and left from Slovenian high point. Viki Groselj, provided by Irena Mrak

(Back to: Pakistan, Western Himalaya)

By Irena Mrak, Slovenia

Nanga Parbat, Diamir Face, ascent to upper Mazeno Ridge.

The original goal of our seven-member expedition, supported by the University of Ljubljana, was to climb Nanga Parbat by the Kinshofer Route. Although we planned to climb in classic siege style, we wanted to use no supplementary oxygen and no high-altitude porters and leave as little trace as possible…(read more)

West face of Nafees Cap. K7 Central is pointed summit up left, while K7 Main is visible high on right. (1) Flatlandsmo-Felde-Lied-Wiik, 2011. (2) Kalland-Saether, 2011. (3) Naughty Daddies (Laing-Sedon, 2009, to high point a couple of pitches above junction with 4). (4) Ledgeway to Heaven (Favresse-Favresse-Pustelnik-Villanueva, 2007). Henki Flatlandsmo

(Back to: Asia, Pakistan, Masherbrum Range)

From information supplied by Henki Flatlandsmo and Odd-Roar Wiik, Norway

Charakusa Valley, Nafees Cap, west face.

What was going on? Odd-Roar was awakened by the sound of a slide coming from above. When the first ice blocks hit the portaledge, he threw himself into the wall, half on top of Ole, covering his head as best he could. A few anxious seconds later it was quiet again. A large block of ice had come through the fabric. Later he heard the story of “the last kiss” from Henki, 100m below. He and Sigurd had thought their last hour had come, and in the chaos made an intimate farewell. Before long they were all laughing, but the camp that they felt so sure was safe no longer seemed comfortable…(read more)

West face of Latok III rises 2,000m above Baintha Lukpar Glacier. (1) South face of Latok I (7,145m; Matsumi, Shigehiro, and Watanabe, then Endo, Muto, and Oko, 1979). (2) 2011 Russian Route, with eight bivouacs marked. (H) 2001 attempt high point and site of Borikhin’s accident. (3) 2000 Russian attempt and high point. (4) Southwest ridge. (4) Latok V (6,190m). Alexander Odintsov, supplied by Anna Piunova

(Back to: Pakistan, Panmah Muztagh)

By Lindsay Griffin, Mountain INFO, from information provided by Anna Piunova, www.mountain.ru

Latok III (6,949m), west face.

One of the Latok group’s most coveted objectives, the 2,000m west face of Latok III, was finally climbed by a four-man Russian team led by Alexander Odintsov. The ascent realized an 11-year dream for the veteran leader. Considering past events on this mountain, his achievement is all the more remarkable…(read more)

Kohi Brobar from west, showing high camp and route of ascent. Christof Nettekoven

(Back to: Pakistan, Karakoram, Ghujerab Muztagh)

By Lindsay Griffin, from information provided by Mirza Ali, Pakistan Youth Outreach, and Christof Nettekoven

Koh-e-Brobar (6,008m GPS), south-southeast ridge.

Within a year Pakistan Youth Outreach has organized three expeditions and a training camp for youngsters in the peaks of the Shimshal region. Its purpose is to educate young people in mountaineering and the outdoors, to promote women’s adventure, and to explore the great adventure areas of Pakistan. After two successful expeditions, the third, named Gender Equality, had as its goal an unnamed, unclimbed summit in the Ghujerab Mountains…(read more)

Northeast spur of Farhod Brakk, attempted to nearly two-thirds height by three Spanish climbers. In right background are flanks of Namika (6,325m). Provided by Francesc Estorach

(Back to: Asia, Pakistan, Masherbrum Range)

From information provided by Francesc Estorach, Director de Comunicación, FEDME, and Simon Elias, Spain, translated by Alex Horner.

Various ascents and attempts from Hushe, Charakusa, Kande, and Atoshar valleys.

The groups based themselves in the comfortable refuge built two years ago in Hushe by the NGO Sarabastall. For acclimatization Barrientos and Simon Elias climbed Karpo Tower (4,630m) via the south face, naming their 360m, nine-pitch route, Barba Roja (Red Beard) as a tribute to Spanish alpinist Daniel Crespo, who died in Peru during 2010. They reached the foot of the face after a five-hour walk from Hushe and completed the climb over two days, July 25 and 26…(read more)