First Ascent of K6 Central, Third Ascent of K6 West

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: Strength + Core

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…

The Eiger North Face

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 and excursion into another world and we Read more…

Aylen Aike Hostel

EL CHALTÉN BETA

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…

On top of Cerro Torre

Cerro Torre – Via dei Ragni

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…

Optimizing Short Weather Windows

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…

2020 Vagabond Itinerary

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…

Smash-and-Grab Success on Denali’s Cassin Ridge

It was the perfect smash and grab. My wife Priti and I had been monitoring the Denali weather every day since early May. The minute we saw a weeklong window of good weather, we jetted from Seattle to Alaska, arriving at Kahiltna Base Camp at 3 p.m. on June 2—only 24 hours after deciding to pull the trigger while at work on a Friday afternoon. Our goal was to climb the Cassin Ridge on Denali’s Read more…

People climbing on the Moonboard

Building a Moonboard

The MoonBoard is a standardised interactive training wall that connects a global community of climbers through shared problems and competitive performance rankings. https://www.moonboard.com/ Adjustable Angle Moonboard Jeff and I built a Moonboard climbing wall in our loft to climb and train in the convenience of our home. (See our channel @belltown.woody) To save living room space, we designed it to be able to change the angle, raising and lowering it on a winch. When we Read more…

Mailbox Peak by Colin Bryant

Virtual Mailboxes

“How are you going to receive mail when you are traveling abroad for a year?” – the first question my dad asked me. He loves sending me letters and packages, and I am very excited every time I get something from him. It might be our love language. But he was also concerned about how I would be able to deposit a check that is due to arrive after the start of my year-long climbing Read more…