Video: Trailer for An American Ascent

In June of 2013, a team of of all African-American climbers traveled to Alaska to climb the highest peak on the continent – Denali. That team would be the first of its kind on the mountain, and hoped to inspire others to follow in their footsteps in seeking outdoor adventure. A documentary film was made about that expedition called An American Ascent, and it is currently screening across the country. The video below is the trailer for that film, and will certainly give you the gist of what it is about. It will also compel you to seek out the film for yourself. Hopefully this comes to Netflix, as I'd very much like to see the whole thing.

 An American Ascent - Film Trailer from Distill Productions on Vimeo.

Summer Climbing: K2, Broad Peak, and Beyond

After the spring climbing season in the Himalaya was cut short due to the earthquake in Nepal, the mountaineering scene has been unusually quiet for the past few months. But now that summer is nearly upon us that is about to change, as climbing teams start to get back to business and turn their attention to other big peaks outside of Nepal and Tibet.

With the arrival of June, the seasonal monsoons are once again hitting central Asia, making it unsafe to climb in the Himalaya proper. That means that all the expeditions to Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna, and the like would have gone home by now regardless of the earthquake. There is generally a short lull between the end of the spring climbing season in Nepal, and the start of operations elsewhere. That lull won't last for long however, and even now expeditions are gearing up for the challenges ahead.

In preparation for the start of the summer climbing season, Alan Arnette has taken a comprehensive look at some of the teams that we'll be hearing a lot about in the coming weeks. Those climbers have set their eyes on some big 8000 meter peaks in Pakistan, and in the days ahead I'll be watching their progress closely.

On K2, the commercial teams have moved onto the mountain in recent years, and this year there will be two squads led by Madison Mountaineering and Himalayan Experience. Both of those outfitters have a great deal of experience on major peaks, and they hope to continue the momentum that was started last year when an unprecedented 40 climbers found success on the world's toughest mountain. But K2 is fickle, and the weather there is incredibly unpredictable, so I wouldn't count on a repeat of 2014, which was a banner one indeed.


Amongst the climbers attempting K2 this season are David Tait, a man who has summited Everest on five separate occasions. If you've followed David's expeditions over the years, you've probably heard him talk about retiring from the big mountains on more than one occasion, yet he continues to find reasons to come back. K2 will be a different kind of challenge for him however, and it will be interesting to read his thoughts on the mountain.

Alan also points out that there will be teams led by Nazir Expeditions, Adventure Tours Pakistan, and Seven Summits Treks, which operates out of Nepal. These outfitters provide less support for the climbers on the mountain, and are more like a loosely affiliated group that are sharing a climbing permit.

Elsewhere, there will be several teams on Broad Peak, which is sometimes used as an acclimatization climb ahead of K2. Last year, Chris Burke was able to summit the "Savage Mountain" but her efforts to bag both K2 and Broad Peak were thwarted. She'll return this summer to try to nab BP and claim her ninth 8000-meter mountain.

The Gasherbrums (I and II) will play host to a team of international climbers who will be working together to bag both summits. The two mountains pose a formidable challenge for any mountaineer, but are also excellent peaks to gain experience on before proceeding on to the other eight-thousanders. These mountains are rarely very busy, but it is always interesting to follow progress on them none the less.

Finally, Alan is reporting that Nanga Parbat will remain empty once again this summer. After the terrorist attack on that mountain back in 2013 – which left 11 dead – few teams have wanted to venture to Nanga during the summer season. It has been the target of numerous winter expeditions in recent years, but it seems that teams will shy away again due to security concerns.

It should also be noted that the climbing season on Denali is in full swing as well, with numerous teams already on the mountain. While not as tall as these massive 8000-meter peaks, the Alaskan mountain is as challenging as the come. We'll be keeping an eye on proceedings there as well, with updates as they are warranted.

That's the round-up of the summer climbing season ahead. Stay tuned for regular updates.

Winter Climbs 2015: Nanga Teams Retreat to BC, Moro Departs for Nepal

There is more news from Nanga Parbat today, where the combined international team of Alex Txikon, Daniele Nardi, local climbers Muhammad Ali "Sadpara" and Muhammad Kahn, along with the Iranian squad, have retreated back to Base Camp after establishing Camp 3 on the mountain. The group had been working for five straight days to establish the route and shuttle gear, and are now ready to rest and regain some strength before heading up again.

According to reports, C3 was installed at 6700 meters (21,981 ft) where at least three of the climbers spent the night as part of their acclimatization. They then fixed ropes above that point, but were unable to reach Camp 4 before deciding it was time to descend. The entire squad is still working on acclimating to the altitude, with the exception of Nardi who has been on Nanga for more than a month now.

Dispatches indicate that Txikon and the other late arrivals are in need of some rest, so they'll spend at least a few days in BC now to let their bodies recover. The forecasts indicate that the weather should be good through the weekend, with storms arriving on the mountain on Sunday. That means that there is no weather window for the next few days, which will limit their efforts. In fact, the forecast calls for poor weather for most of next week, with possibly a meter of snow being dropped on the slopes of Nanga Parbat. For now, the teams will just have to wait to see if and when they'll get another chance.

Meanwhile, Italian climber Simone Moro is preparing to set out for Nepal. He'll leave tomorrow to begin his winter expedition in the Himalaya. He will be joined on the climb by talented alpinist Tamara Lunger, who summited K2 without oxygen this past summer.

The duo have set their sighs on the 8163 meter (26,781 ft) Manaslu, which they hope to link with Manaslu East, a peak that is an impressive 7992 meters (26,220 ft) in height. The hope is to complete the climb before the end of winter, which means they'll have roughly 35 days to top out. Both are said to have already been acclimatizing prior to their departure, with the plan of eventually making an alpine style attempt on the two summits once they have scouted the route.

Finally, there have been no updates yet from Andy Kirkpatrick, who had intended to set off for Denali to complete a solo summit of that mountain in February. The latest updates to the Brit's Facebook and Twitter pages indicate that he was heading off on an expedition, but there has been radio silence for the past eight days. Hopefully he is now in Alaska and prepping for the climb, but at this point it is unclear what his plans are.

That's all for today. It looks like things will be kind of quiet for the next few days at least as the weather on Nanga sorts itself out, and Simone and Tamara make their way to the mountain. We'll have more updates soon as the news warrants.

Legislation Introduced to Officially Rename Mt. McKinley to Denali

Two U.S. Senators from the state of Alaska have introduced legislation that would permanently change the name of Mt. McKinley back to its native name of Denali. This marks the latest attempt to get the mountain, which is officially named after William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, renamed. Previous attempts to change the mountain's moniker have been denied, although the bill will likely receive more support in the newly elected Republican Congress.

The legislation was introduced by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, who argue that the mountain first received its name thousands of years ago by the Athabascan tribe, who called it "Denali," which means the "the Great One" or "the High One" in their language. It wasn't officially renamed to Mt. McKinley until 1917, although it has been referred to by that name for nearly 20 years prior to that by local prospectors and settlers.

At 20,237 feet (6168 meters) in height, McKinley is the tallest mountain in North America, and a significant climb amongst mountaineers. While the general public most commonly knows the peak it by its officially designated name, it has been referred to it as Denali for years in mountaineering circles. Regardless of the outcome of this legislation, that isn't likely to change anytime soon.

While there will be more Republican support for a name change this time out, it won't be without some opposition. Ohio Representative Bob Gibbs, who is a Republican as well, has introduced counter-legistiaiton aimed at blocking efforts to rename the mountain. President McKinley was from Ohio, and many people there still take pride in the fact that the mountain bears his name.

As you can imagine, in Alaska the sentiment is quite different. There, the indigenous people and others feel it is time to give the mountain its original name back. Denali is used commonly there to name streets, businesses, and even children. There has been a groundswell of support for the name change there for years, although most locals already refer to it by its Athabascan name anyway.

There is no word yet on when the vote on the bill will come to congress, and while it may seem like a rather trivial piece of legislation, it could get bogged down in committees to try to stall it out. Still, later this year, it is possible that Mt. McKinley will be no more, and everyone will refer to the mountain as Denali.