In our relentless pursuit to ride the coattails of THE Wayne Wallace, Priti and I made the second ascent of Mongo Ridge (the SW Ridge of West Fury in the Northern Pickets of the North Cascades). It is a Stegasaurus ridge which rises 4,000ft over a mile from Goodell Creek punctuated by thick clusters of gendarmes that look like they’re straight out of the Karakoram. We first heard about Mongo when Wayne came to speak for Read more
K6 Main (the highpoint of the K6 massif) has only been reached once in history, in 1970, by the Austrian Karakoram Expedition of the Vienna Academic Section of the Austrian Alpine Club led by 24-year old Eduard Koblmüller (who would go on to become a celebrated Mountaineer including the first ascent of Southeast Face of Cho Oyu, and a 1983 Rupal Face Ascent). Before our 2020 expedition, we were lucky enough to get in contact Read more
Since I was a kid, I thought of Wai‘ale‘ale as an inaccessible, spiritual place filled with adventure that only the hardest humans in history have ever visited. I never thought it would be possible to get to the center of Kaua‘i, the highest point, one of the wettest places on Earth surrounded by swamp, dense vegetation and vertiginous cliffs. Two decades since I first learned of this place, many folks have blazed a path, and the Read more
We climbed K6 West (third ascent 7,140m) and K6 Central (first ascent 7,155m) this October. We summited West on Oct 8th and Central on Oct 9th. We had been planning to climb K6 from the Nangmah valley side for over two years. When COVID struck, we held on to the hope of going but delayed our trip from the original June-August until late September-October when the country announced they were allowing tourists to enter with Read more
QUA-ROUTINE! (also great for after quarantine is over) The goal is doing it. We won’t get strong if we don’t actually do the exercises. We wouldn’t do the exercises if they require a lot of equipment, or a lot of time. But if we have a simple plan we can squeeze consistency into our unpredictable lives. Goal: do the exercises Are you stuck at home in quarantine, and don’t have any equipment for a workout? Or Read more
Mountain: The Eiger Summit Date: March 19, 2020 Route: The 1938 Heckmair Route (first ascent route) “Anyone who returns from the Eigerwand cannot but realize that he has done something more than a virtuoso climb: he has lived through a human experience to which he had committed not only all his skill, intelligence and strength, but his very existence.” -Lionel Terray, Conquistadors of the Useless “Yes, we had made an excursion into another world and we Read more
Disclaimer: Uploading photos is not working well. Sorry for the lack of photos, please check Instagram! Over the years that Jeff and I have come to Patagonia, to climb in the Fitz Roy range, we’ve learn a couple of things, picked up some tips and tricks, and fallen in love with this place. Where to stay There are a ton of hostels, apartments and even some camping locations in town to choose from. I’d always Read more
Jeff and I had been dreaming of climbing Cerro Torre for years and years, since nearly the beginning of our climbing career. The mythical looking wind sculpted domes, and the carved blue tunnels through rimed towers had captivated my imagination. I couldn’t wait to climb through them myself! Aerial Drone 4K Video Feature Length Film The biggest weather window Jeff and I had seen in a year was approaching, and we were perfectly positioned in Read more
This season in Patagonia has been particularly rainy and windy. Everyday, everyone in El Chaltén likely has the same routine: wake up, check the weather, bemoan its awfulness, eat breakfast and then decide on a training activity for the day. When a weather window does come, it is generally a short one, surrounded by periods of precipitation, and continuous winds. Watch the weather like a condor 🦅 We took advantage of a couple shorter windows Read more
If you want to follow us around, here’s the link to see our inReach location, whenever it’s on: https://share.garmin.com/alpinevagabonds Here’s the rough plan: When Where Dec 20 – Dec 29 Florida for family holidays! 🐊 Dec 31- Mar 1 El Chaltén, Patagonia, Argentina 🇦🇷 Mar 3 -Jun 30 Chamonix, The Alps, France 🇫🇷 Jul 1 – Sep 30 Nangmah Valley, Karakoram, Pakistan 🇵🇰 Oct 1 – Oct 31 Krabi + ???, Thailand 🇹🇭 Nov 1 Read more