Last spring, Mike Dunn and Arthur Herlitzka made the second known traverse of the Towers of the Virgin (going left to right in the photo) in Zion National Park. *Mike Dunn*

BIG YEAR FOR ZION CLIMBING

The upcoming AAJ will include eight Climbs and Expeditions reports from Zion, one of the richest years in memory for noteworthy climbs in this southwest Utah national park. Below are a few teasers—just in time for autumn Zion season.

Nat Bailey about to whip off the 5.13a R third pitch of The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. *Jérôme St-Michel*

The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, First Free Ascent: We loved Canadian Nat Bailey’s story about freeing this nearly 40-year-old route on the east face of Mt. Moroni. After many days of work last November, Bailey and partners went for the send, but Bailey struggled to redpoint the 5.13a R third pitch. He eventually turned over that lead to his friend Drew Marshall, giving up his dream of making a one-day free ascent. Two days later, Bailey returned and fired the pitch. “I didn’t feel euphoria so much as a sort of peaceful sadness,” he writes in the AAJ. “I’m learning that when you give something life, you inherently give it a death as well.”

Cowboy Killer, The Altar of Sacrifice: Mike Dunn, who traversed the Towers of the Virgin in the spring (see photo at top), returned in late November with Ky Hart to attempt the east face of one of the biggest towers: The Altar of Sacrifice. Their route, Cowboy Killer (VI 5.10 A4 X), was climbed over six days, with a crux headwall climbed by a “grotesque gash, with rock the consistency of a sugar cookie.”

Looking down the crux pitch of Cowboy Killer (VI 5.10 A4 X), the first route up the east face of the Altar of Sacrifice. *Ky Hart*

Forest Altherr on the bouldery crux of the Mo’ Splitter Pitch (5.12), the ninth pitch on Na-Gah’s Wall. *Alex Parker*

Na-Gah’s Wall, Oak Creek Drainage: When Forest Altherr spotted a striking splitter 1,000 feet above the ground on a wall south of Meridian Tower, he was smitten. During an attempt a week later, however, he discovered fixed gear atop the first pitch. The route had been climbed with aid in 1993 (Allen-Funsten-Rourke, 1993), he learned later, but a free ascent looked possible. After more than a year of attempts, alone and with half a dozen different partners, Altherr linked all 11 pitches free in a single day.

All eight Zion reports from the 2022 AAJ can be found by searching at publications.americanalpineclub.org.

BAFFIN KAYAKING AND CLIMBING

Over the last few years, Sarah McNair-Landry and Erik Boomer have been passing their summers with exploratory adventures around their home of Baffin Island, Canada, using skis, kayaks, and climbing gear. (McNair-Landry hails from Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut territory.) In 2021, the pair ventured south from the community of Clyde River to reach remote Inuksuit Fjord, rarely visited by climbers, and put up first ascents and first descents on nearby rivers. Their report for AAJ 2022 is available online, and some of their beautiful photos are highlighted below.

En Route

Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landry skied and paddled 100 kilometers to reach Inuksuit Fjord, shuttling 45 days of food and equipment across the ice. Cloud-capped Nuksuklorolu Tower marks their destination at far left.

Finding a Campsite

Rain and warm weather created big puddles of water on the sea ice, and it was difficult to find a dry and strong spot to pitch the tent. The duo arrived on dry land the next day, where they set up a small base camp, and within a week the sea ice began to break up.

Nuksuklorolu Pinnacle South

The climbers summited this spire and found no evidence of prior visitors, but many of the formations in this area have been climbed before, and documentation is scarce.

Nuksuklorolu Middle

Midway through their trip, with the ice melted out of the fjord, Boomer and McNair-Landry made two attempts on possible new route up a spire first climbed in 1977. After 32 hours on wet rock, with free climbing up to 5.11, they bailed just below the top. “We were getting the adventure we wanted, but were also being humbled by the climbing in this wild place.”

Beautiful Rock

Boomer leads pitch four of Hotel Gina (320m, 6b+) on the White Wall, a climb in the Perfection Valley that was established in 2012.

First Descent

McNair-Landry paddles the first descent of a class IV rapid on the upper McBeth River.

All In

Boomer goes big on one of the 40- to 60-foot drops along Awesome River.

THE CUTTING EDGE: JIRISHANCA

In 2019, Vince Anderson and Josh Wharton turned back just below the summit of Jirishanca in Peru after an extremely difficult climb. In this clip from Episode 50 of the Cutting Edge podcast, Vince describes the decision to retreat. The pair returned this July to complete the route, and they tell the whole story for the podcast.

Josh Wharton (left) and Vince Anderson at base camp. *Drew Smith*

Play The full episode

DOWNLOAD THE AAJ

The 2022 AAJ will be in the mail later this fall. In the meantime, AAC members can download the 336-page PDF of the book at the AAC website. Log in to your member profile, open the AAJ drop-down menu, and select “Download.”

DIRECT QUOTE

“This was a direttissima, but the kind where a drop of water would linger on its way down.”— Spencer Gray, channeling Emilio Comici while describing a new route on A Peak in Montana, climbed with Kate Mylan in late July of last year.

Kate Mylan leading the 11th pitch of Feefeyefoh (14 pitches, 5.11+) on A Peak. *Spencer Gray*

The Line is the newsletter of the American Alpine Journal (AAJ), emailed to more than 45,000 climbers each month. Interested in supporting this online publication? Contact Billy Dixon for opportunities. Content suggestions? Email us: [email protected].