AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
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.
AAC Members: Get a Sneak Preview of the AAJ right now! AAC members can now download a PDF of the complete 2024 AAJ. Log in at your member profile and click the Publications tab to download your sneak preview. Physical copies of the 2024 AAJ will start going into the mail next month.
Bluebell (Cascade Range, Washington)
The line of Bluebell (21 pitches, 5.13-) on the North Norwegian Buttress of Mt. Index. Photo by Nathan Hadley.
Nathan Hadley and friends spent more than 25 days establishing and free climbing Bluebell (2,000’, 5.13-), the first free route up the North Norwegian Buttress of Mt. Index. About one-third of the bolt-protected route’s 21pitches are overhanging. Hadley believes it’s one of the steepest long free climbs in North America (“Imagine two of Yosemite’s Leaning Towers, with sections of slab before, in between, and after.”) Hadley’s AAJ report describes the arduous effort to establish the climb and also offers a touching tribute to one of his partners on the route: Michal Rynkiewicz, who died in a rappelling accident soon after this climb was completed.
Aiguille Extra (Sierra Nevada, California)
James Holland following the second pitch (5.10+) of the new direct start to the East Buttress of Aiguille Extra. Photo by Cam Smith.
The East Buttress of Aiguille Extra, a 14,048-foot satellite of Mt. Whitney, was first climbed in 1978 with a bit of aid. Forty-five years later, James Holland and Cam Smith freed the 10-pitch route at 5.10+, adding a three-pitch direct start. In AAJ 2024, Smith writes, “James and I hope the free version of the East Buttress (1,230’, IV 5.10+) will encourage others to check out [Aiguille Extra], an unsung gem of the Eastern Sierra.”
Takin’ ’Er by the Tusks (Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho)
Benj Wollant finishes the crux sequence of pitch three (5.12a R) on Takin’ ’er by the Tusks. Photo by Greg Rickenbacker.
A rare new route up the beautiful Elephant’s Perch was completed in September by Greg Rickenbacker and Benj Wollant. Takin’ ’Er By the Tusks (625’, 5.12a R A3) combines challenging aid and stout free climbing on the southeast face of the granite formation. A bolting ban in Sawtooth National Forest ensured plenty of exciting climbing. Wollant, who grew up in the nearby town of Stanley, wrote in his AAJ report that establishing a route on the Elephant’s Perch was “a longtime dream come true.”
Spirit Animal (Rocky Mountains, Colorado)
The line of Spirit Animal on the 1,500-foot northeast face of Chiefs Head in Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by Bill Duncan.
“Given that I’d never stepped foot into Glacier Gorge [in Rocky Mountain National Park], you might say my plan to rope-solo a new line up the 1,500’ northeast face of Chiefs Head (13,577’) was ambitious,” writes Nathan Brown in AAJ 2024. But that’s what he did. Brown, a prolific new-router who earned his ground-up chops in North Carolina before moving to Colorado, spent two summers establishing Spirit Animal (10 pitches, 5.11), all alone, on the remote and steep Chiefs Head wall. Brown finished work on the route last September, but had not yet redpointed the full route in a continuous ascent. Just this month, he made the trek into Glacier Gorge yet again and rope-soloed the route completely free, with a bivouac in the middle.
Directissima (Mt. Owen, Teton Range, Wyoming)
(A) The Grand Teton. (B) Mt. Owen. (1) The original North Ridge Route (1951). (2) Directissima (2023). Both routes continue up the long ridge to the summit of Mt. Owen. However, the FULL north ridge, continuing over Mt. Owen and up the north ridge of the Grand, may never have been linked. Photo by Acroterion | Wikimedia.
Tetons guide Michael Abbey had long imagined a more direct route up the north ridge of Mt. Owen, hewing closer to the ridgeline than the original North Ridge Route (Clayton-Emerson, 1951), which slants in from the left. It took a couple of attempts, but in 2023 he and Karen Kovaka completed Directissima (V 5.10) over two days in August. In his AAJ report, Abbey notes that another North Ridge Direct was climbed in 2001, but the key pitches of the new line were most likely unclimbed before last summer.
Ménage Trout (Beartooth Mountains, Montana)
Jackson Marvell climbing the sixth pitch of Ménage Trout, high above East Rosebud Creek in the Beartooth Mountains. Photo by Austin Schmitz.
Until 2023, the Bear’s Face had only one known full-length route: Ursus Horribilis, established in 1998 by Andrew McLean and the late Alex Lowe. Last summer, Chantel Astorga, Matt Cornell, and Jackson Marvell, along with photographer Austin Schmitz who was shooting images of The North Face team members, completed a line started by Cornell, Marvell, and Justin Willis three years earlier. Ménage Trout has 13 pitches and went at 5.10+ R A2+. Astorga wrote in her AAJ report that the team hopes to return to free the climb.
Bear’s Face also got its first winter ascent in 2023, when Adrien Costa, Charlie Faust, and Paul Shaughnessy completed Dancing Bears (310m, WI5 M6 R) on the left side of the face, on the last day of the year, after multiple attempts.
Explore These Peaks
Take a closer look at all six of the peaks and ranges highlighted here with this interactive map from onX and Mountain Project.
The Line is the newsletter of the American Alpine Journal (AAJ), emailed to more than 80,000 climbers each month. Find the archive of past editions here. Interested in supporting this publication? Contact Heidi McDowell for opportunities. Got a potential story for the AAJ? Email us: aaj@americanalpineclub.org.
