THE LINE
MONTHLY UPDATES FROM THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL
The American Alpine Journal (AAJ) operates year-round, and now you can see the fruits of our labors nearly every month. The Line brings you the latest reports from around the world, slide shows, interviews, and much more—all curated by the editors of the American Alpine Journal.
October 2024
In AAJ 2024, we highlighted new climbs in Angola spearheaded by American climber Nathan Cahill, along with local developers—see Cahill’s story here. The pace of exploration on the beautiful rock of this southwest African country has not slowed. This past summer, a Spanish quintet visited the province of Cuanza Sul and climbed seven new routes on six different granite domes. Here is the story they‘ve prepared for the 2025 AAJ.
September 2024
Mark Westman has been climbing in the Alaska Range for nearly three decades and was a Denali Mountaineering Ranger for ten years. He has attempted Mt. Russell, on the southwest edge of Denali National Park, three times by three different routes over 27 years. The third time was the charm, as he and Sam Hennessey raced to the summit in a single day in late April. It was only the ninth ascent of the 11,670-foot peak, and Westman believes the line they followed may be the most reliable way to reach this elusive summit.
Read how a professor of mechanical engineering at Seattle University solved a geographic mystery in Uzbekistan and made the first known ascent of that nation’s highest peak. (This same peak was also No. 141 in the professor’s quest to summit the high point of every country in the world.) Plus: attempting Everest, climbing Kangchenjunga, completing the “Seven ’Stans,” and becoming a Snow Leopard—just a few recent accomplishments in the very busy life of Eric Gilbertson.
It’s prime season for climbing in the high peaks of the western United States, so we’re sharing six brand-new mountain routes from six states around the West. Read the July Line for a peak into these new routes: Bluebell (Cascade Range, Washington), Aiguille Extra (Sierra Nevada, California), Takin’ ’Er by the Tusks (Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho), Spirit Animal (Rocky Mountains, Colorado), Directissima (Mt. Owen, Teton Range, Wyoming), Ménage Trout (Beartooth Mountains, Montana).
June 2024
With Father’s Day just past, we’re sharing a few stories of multi-generational climbing families that are featured in the upcoming 2024 AAJ (plus one from the archives). The June Line features; The Uriostes of Red Rock, The Millers of Juneau, The Nembrinis of Nembro, and Three George Lowes on the Grand.
May 2024
Most American Alpine Journal (AAJ) stories cover climbs from the prior year. But in some parts of the world, where January and February are prime for climbing—Patagonia, Antarctica, parts of Africa—we do our best to report the latest ascents. This edition of “The Line” highlights a few stories about recent climbs that will appear in the 2024 AAJ—plus one ski descent—from four different continents.
April 2024
With the 2024 American Alpine Journal completed and off to the printer, we began highlighting stories from the latest edition in “The Line,” starting with four reports featured in photos on the back cover of the new book: our annual round-up of alpine news from New Zealand; a new route up a spectacular granite spire in Brazil; photos from a big wall at high altitude in the Tien Shan; and the first ski descent of Mt. Breitenbach in Idaho.
Alaska season is almost upon us, and this issue of “The Line” is focused on Alaska’s legendary Kichatna Mountains. Four first ascents in the Kichatnas from April and May 2023 will be featured in the upcoming American Alpine Journal. Here are highlights of those climbs, including a custom story-map from AAC partner OnX (see teaser below). Read about each first ascent and the climbs in the Kichatna Mountains in “The Line.”
Supported by an AAC Live Your Dream Grant, Suraj Kushwaha from Vermont and Nikhil Bhandari from Hyderabad, India, explored a beautiful granite dome near Manali in northern India. Last spring, Kushwaha had attempted a route on the 4,600-meter formation, dubbed Rathan Thadi Dome, but melting snow soaked the rock and halted the effort. Armed with the lessons from that experience, he returned with Bhandari in October and climbed two beautiful rock routes: Rathan Thadi Direct (6 pitches, 5.11-) and Fissure in Time (6 pitches, 5.10 A2 M2). Kushwaha said the latter would go free at about 5.12-. The two also found some quality bouldering in the valley, the highlight of which was Tehelka (“Chaos,” V6).
Alan Goldbetter, Aniek Lith, and Marius Rølland spent eight days last January exploring Khor Ash-Sham in the Musandam Peninsula of Oman: “kayaking with dolphins, wading shin-deep through bioluminescent algae, climbing multi-pitch routes on virgin limestone, and giggling the nights away under a shimmering, star-filled sky.” Their two new routes, each 5.10 and more than 1,000 feet long, were the first recorded roped climbs in the fjord. Plus: new climbs in Canada’s Arjuna Spires.
This stunning photo shows the nearly 500-meter southeast face of Mt. Kalamos on the Greek island of Anafi. The route is The Ritual of Hardship, and it climbs 19 pitches straight out of the sea. Completed in May by an international crew, the route goes all free at 7b (5.12b) or at 6c+ (5.11c) with a smattering of easy aid; a full rack is required to supplement the bolts on the climb. Find all the details at “The Line.” Plus: unclimbed peaks in Central Asia and a wild ski descent in Idaho.
October 2023
Winter ice routes are already forming in many high places, and in case anyone needs inspiration to sharpen the tools, here are three fresh reports from the world of ice climbing. Each of these stories will appear in the 2024 AAJ—explore “The Line” to read these reports online right now.
In this edition of “The Line,” American Alpine Journal editor-in-chief Dougald MacDonald offers his annual insider’s guide to the newest AAJ, pointing out a few gems that readers may overlook. “The AAJ mainly exists to document new climbs, but it’s a testament to our contributors’ creativity that their stories are rarely dry,” says MacDonald. “Nearly every report reveals something unexpected: a moment of humor or fear, or a bit of climbing history. You never know what you might find.” This online feature is made possible by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, presenting sponsor of the AAJ’s Cutting Edge Podcast.
Last summer, climber/runners Jenny Abegg and Kaytlyn Gerbin stitched together a mega link-up in the state of Washington, traveling 127 miles, north to south, through the high country of North Cascades National Park. “It’s no secret that this style of travel has grown more popular throughout the last decade or so,” Abegg writes in AAJ 2023. Climbers want to go faster and lighter; runners want to go bigger.
O CANADA! Canada is an enticing destination for U.S. climbers: an international locale that’s easy to reach and to navigate, yet with a wilder feel than many of the crowded crags and peaks back home. With the 2023 AAJ going into the mail next month, here’s a teaser from the upcoming edition: five fresh reports from five Canadian provinces and territories.
The best 5.11 in the High Sierra? “Over the last couple of years, I’ve been working on a route which, in my honest opinion, has the potential to become known as one of the five best 5.11s in the High Sierra.” That’s the start of Vitaliy Musiyenko’s @mtngansta report for AAJ 2023 on "Against the Grain", a new route up Charlotte Dome in California’s Kings Canyon National Park. Musiyenko, co-author of the new High Sierra Climbing guidebooks, and Brian Prince completed the 1,800-foot 5.11c route in late July of 2022.
May 2023
In the early to mid-1970s, one of the great challenges of arctic climbing was the southwest face of Ingolfsfjeld, an enormous wall 120 kilometers northeast of Tasiilaq on Greenland’s east coast. Visible from the sea, the peak was first climbed by its northeast ridge in 1971, by a Croatian duo, but the biggest face—rising at least 1,200 meters—remained unclimbed despite several attempts.
Ethan Berkeland and Tristan O’Donoghue traveled with the help of an AAC Mountaineering Fellowship Fund grant for climbers 25 or younger. Their trip was plenty challenging, with a week of storms at the start. But eventually, they managed a couple of new routes, including a beautiful long traverse, before packrafting out of the mountains at the end of the expedition. Ethan shared photos from their expedition.
Jeremy Collins’ eight-pitch climb in Missouri (of all places) may have been fully bolted, but it wasn’t safe. Read about the hazards and fascinating history of the Osage Party Barge. Plus, unclimbed peaks in India’s Eastern Karakoram and ice climbing in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains are revealed.
A very stout backcountry wall in Idaho is revealed, plus a Slovak pair makes an all-free, single-push ascent of Denali’s hardest climb, and two Japanese guides working in Canada find success on an unclimbed face in Nepal.
The AAJ’s annual Buried Treasure post, featuring an insider’s guide to the 2022 edition from editor in chief Dougald MacDonald: the story behind a funny route name, an apt quote, a mini-epic in the High Sierra, highlights from the AAJ’s increased commitment to ski mountaineering, and much more.
Find fresh AAJ reports from Nepal, New Hampshire, and Greenland, plus a photo gallery from Drop the Mic, a new 10-pitch mixed climbing testpiece near Ouray, Colorado. Bonus: a long new route in Montana ends with a late-night descent and a visit from the sheriff.
See a slide show of Nathan Hadley’s incredible new route The Rubbernecker (7 pitches, 5.14-) on the southeast face of South Early Winters Spire, near Washington Pass in the North Cascades. Australian-Argentinean climber Sebastian Pelletti shares three of his beautiful new routes in Chile, his adopted home. And Vitaliy Musiyenko learns not to trust his cute “Friends” backpack.
Last year was huge for new climbs and first free ascents in Utah’s Zion National Park, with eight separate reports appearing in the upcoming AAJ. In the September Line, we preview four of these, from the Towers of the Virgin to Mt. Moroni. Plus, a Baffin Island slide show brought to you by local crushers Sarah McNair-Landry and Erik Boomer.
The Line is the newsletter of the American Alpine Journal (AAJ), emailed to more than 80,000 climbers each month. Interested in supporting this online publication? Contact Heidi McDowell for opportunities. Content suggestions? Email us: aaj@americanalpineclub.org.