Andrew Finnigan and Julian Webster are raving about the new route they climbed between Mounts Somnus and Momus, in the Routeburn north branch, on July 17. They named the line Mid-winter Christmas because "we thought it was Christmas!" Andrew writes:

'Mid-winter Christmas' (WI3+, M5) in the Routeburn north branch.

'Sarah Duncan and I climbed Mount Somnus in early July. We went up the south gully and camped on the plateau at 2000m. On the way up, a significant flow of water ice at the top of a nearby buttress grabbed my attention. I took a couple of photos and tried to imagine how to climb the bottom part of the face –which had a big chimney/gulley that appeared to have intermittent and thin ice – to access the fat upper pitches. I guessed three or four very dry mixed pitches at the bottom to access two pitches of ice at the top. I had a closer look at the photos during the following week and mustered some enthusiasm to investigate the line. It takes me a lot more drive to investigate what might be a dead end than to repeat a climb someone else has recommended.

'Julian and I fanged up to Routeburn Flats hut on a Friday night, arriving to a practically full hut at midnight. Amazingly, two parties arrived after us – seems the great walks are busy in July too. We were out of the hut at 6am and walking up the north branch under a clear starry sky and on a heavy frost. Two hours from the hut, we turned off our headtorches and racked up at the base of the climb. A short scramble had us at the start of the steep ground and we were surprised to find that a beautiful 70-degree slab of ice made up pitch one.

'We realised we could be in for something special when we saw the next pitch – a fat flow of ice steepening up to a 4m vertical step at the top. This was shaping up way better than we had hoped! At every pitch, we couldn’t believe how good it was. It was consistently technical, always changing and of the highest quality. We thought it was Christmas! I believe there are very few climbs in New Zealand of this quality and length, and less than 4 hours walk from the car.

'We topped out at 4pm and walked the final 200m to the descent gully. A one-hour walk had us back at our packs just in time to put our headtorches on. We arrived back at the Routeburn Flats hut to be welcomed by cheers from a group of 14 having a mid-winter Christmas party and our support crew, with hot cups of tea and congratulations all round.

'The climb consisted of 9 pitches, 70% of the climbing was on water ice, 10% was mixed or dry tooling, and 20% was snow. We graded the hardest water ice pitch at WI3+ and the hardest mixed moves at M5. There are steep ice pillars, small overhanging mixed moves, tenuous dry slab moves, and there is some delicate chimneying and bridging – and all with good protection and comfortable belays.

'Julian and I have climbed plenty of NZ’s classic routes between us and we both agreed that this is the best of all. It is much more technical than the south faces of Douglas or Cook, and has five times as much quality climbing as Friday's Fool. I certainly haven’t climbed all the good routes in the country but I know of nothing better. This should become a mega classic.'

Andrew reports that the line was repeated by Rob Frost and partner only a few days after the first ascent, but via a variant 3-pitch start to the left of the original line. The variant start is said to be just as much fun and of a similar level of difficulty.

Julian Webster eyeing up pitch two, the top of which provided the ice crux.

The top third of the route; Julian is at bottom right.

Map showing the approximate location of 'Mid-winter Christmas'.

Julian at the final belay, loving the sunshine.

*******

Ben Dare and Steve Leake climbed a new mixed line on the south face of Single Cone in early July, Stairway to Methven. Ben writes:

Looking down pitch one, the crux of 'Stairway to Methven'.

'Definitely one of the most entertaining outings I've had in the hills for a long time. It got off to a bit of a rocky start when Steve fell off the chair lift as we tried to scam a free ride up Shadow Basin – shhhhh, don't tell NZ Ski! They had just started the lift and there was no one around so it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Anyway, Steve failed to notice that they had lifted the seats, to stop them icing up overnight, and completely mistimed it. Pretty comical, as I got an easy ride up and then sat in the sun for 20 minutes while Steve did the plod.

'After an uneventful wander along the Queens Drive, it was time to head up. We didn't really have anything definite in mind so just started climbing and did it onsight. There was a lot more snow around than when I was last up there in May, and we managed to weave our way up continuous snow slopes on the right-hand side of the face until about one-quarter to one-third of the way up. Then we cut up steep mixed ground towards the arête bordering the south face, with Steve adding classic commentary from the belay.

'This first pitch turned out to be the crux of the climb, going at around M5 with a couple of tricky sustained sections. Gear placements were hard to find under the powder that had filled all the decent cracks. There was quite a bit of zig-zagging between placements and we were on a single rope so by the end of the pitch, rope drag was becoming a real issue. I'd recommend that anyone else trying the route break this into two or maybe even three shorter pitches.

'We then angled across a steep snow slope to the base of another wall that led up towards the arête. The lower section of this pitch involved some interesting moves pulling through a series of chockstones – one of the moves was apparently quite entertaining to watch and resembled a good "donkey spanking". Then it was onto the arête proper and briefly back out into the sun. The top of the arête flattened out a bit before leading to the final headwall below the summit ridge. This was tackled via a large powder-filled corner, the top of which was completely blocked with a jumble of chockstones forming a daunting overhang. Thankfully, there was a hole we could squeeze through onto easier ground that led to the ridge. All up, we climbed about 6 pitches.

'We topped out below and to the south of Single Cone's summit, just below the standard descent rap chutes, and had an awesome view of the setting sun as we made our way back to the base building via Wye Saddle. All in all, an absolute ripper of a day out!'

'Stairway to Methven' (M5), on the south face of Single Cone. Ben Dare's recent solo effort 'Fire in the Sky' is on the left of this face.

Steve Leake sets off on pitch two of 'Stairway to Methven'.

Ben Dare climbed what he believes is another new line on the upper Remarkables on the 9th of May. Ben wrote the following to Mountainz.

'Got in my first decent mixed/ice climb of the season, so pretty happy with that and stoked winter is here! The route is tucked in between the established routes on the west face of Double Cone and south face of Single Cone, so I guess it'd be on the south-west face. The west, south-west and south faces on Double and Single Cone all kind of merge together, especially the west and south-west faces; however, there is a bit of a buttress between the two. The transition around the corner to the south face of Single Cone is definitely more pronounced.

'The line I took went up the middle of the south-west face and topped out between the notch at the top of the Grand Couloir and the summit of Single Cone. It was about a 270m vertical gain.

'The climb starts up the snow/scree slope at the base of the face and then goes through a couple of rock steps, broken by snow and ice covered slabs. The lower sections of these were iced up, with some vertical sections 3–4m in height; ok to climb but too thin to get screws in. There was a tight little chimney just below half-height where I had to take my pack off to squeeze up. The upper third of the route has the most technical and sustained climbing – blank slabs with not much in the way of holds and vertical steps, with the crux being a couple of small overhangs. I free soloed the bottom two-thirds then rope soloed a couple of pitches through the upper section to the ridge, and then scrambled up to the summit.

'While rapping back down to clean my gear on the upper pitches, I got an awesome view of spindrift and cloud whipping off the summit of Double Cone, catching the sunlight. It looked like a big trail of sparks so I have called the route Fire in the Sky.

'The photo showing the route was taken the following weekend. It’s kind of hard to tell if the line is exact as I was surrounded by thick cloud during much of the climb.

'As for a grade, I'd say the upper half of the route is M4–M5, with a few easier and harder sections thrown into the mix. The toughest bits involved at least half a dozen moves to get through the overhangs; it wasn’t a case of being able to reach up and over an overhanging lip. Perhaps a crux grade of M6 would be more applicable, as the definition of M5 doesn't mention overhangs. It’s hard to make a call as I don't have much experience with the M system and it's hard to get a feel for a grading system without having a few decent climbs under your belt.'

Ben Dare was recently given a pair of second-hand rock shoes and celebrated with a couple of rope solos in The Remarkables. The first was on Indian Summer (18) below the Telecom Tower and the second was a possible new route on the south face of Single Cone.

(Rope soloing usually involves fixing one end of the rope to an anchor at the bottom of a pitch, climbing the pitch while letting the rope flow through some sort of belay device, fixing the other end of the rope to an anchor at the top of the pitch, abseiling back down the pitch to collect all the protection, and then reascending the rope. It is obviously a labour-intensive style of climbing that requires some practice.)

'On Indian Summer, I started off in a whole bunch of cloud and I couldn't get a view of the whole route so it was hard to tell exactly where I was. It all went well until I tried to get clever and do a variant finish on the last pitch through a couple of overhangs – as is often the case, it all looked much easier from below. I got through the first overhang okay, but then I had to bail on the second one and rap back down. It was a shame not to finish it off, but it was good rope-soloing practice.

'As far as the south face of Single Cone is concerned, I am not sure what has been done there in the past, but there is only one other full-height route in the guidebook (South Face Classic), so my climb might be a new line. It was a pretty sweet climb, probably going at about grade 17 with a few easier bits thrown in along the way. However, I got a bit of shock when I discovered that the top half of the face was plastered in snow and ice – you can't see the top from the bottom so I didn't really know what I was in for. That made things a bit sketchy in a few places as I only had rock shoes. I was just stoked that I had my ice hammer with me to bang in pitons as it came in handy to clear holds and for a bit of one-handed dry tooling.

'The line I took is a bit further left than South Face Classic. I started out on the far side of the large scree fan in the centre on the face and went more or less straight up on solid rock until reaching the snow ramp around half-height. The ramp was just frozen rubble with a coating of snow and was pretty dodgy to cross in rock shoes, so I decided against following it – although if I had been wearing boots and crampons it would likely have made for a much quicker and easier way up. After cutting across the snow ramp, I started up the more compact rock again, which steepened and turned out to be the crux section. This was the only section I ended up pitching. The left-hand photo was taken on my way up and the middle photo was taken back at the bottom of a pitch as I was about to start ascending back up the rope. Above this, the terrain eased off a bit and I was really just scrambling over steep snow-covered blocks (right-hand photo). Toward the end, I cut across onto the arête that separates the south and west faces to avoid some loose-looking crap and topped out just below the last step in the ridge leading to the summit of Single Cone.

'I didn't bother continuing up to the summit as it had completely clouded in and there wasn't going to be much of a view. There was a group trying to descend from the top via the standard rap shoots without a rope, so I helped them out for a bit before wandering home.'

Graham Zimmerman and Mark Allen are in the Ruth Gorge tackling new routes on giant Alaskan mountains. They have started with a new 29-pitch route, Vitalogy, on the south-east face of Mount Bradley. Listen to their reports direct from the mountains or read the transcripts below.

2 April 2010

We retreated yesterday after about seven pitches on the south-east face of Bradley so we did not continue up and bivy.  As we were coming down the route from our high point, our ropes got stuck and we had to resort to some alpine trickery to get our the ropes back, and then we had to hang out on the wall for an additional hour in a cave while the heat of the day threated the stability of some loose snow slopes. Once everything cooled down we could safely walk back to our skis and ski back to camp.

So we're back here now... just chilling, our pirate flag is still up.  Now, we're going to go right back up onto the wall but we're going to have a different strategy.  Instead of leaving at 3am, we're going to leave at 3pm (Friday). And then climb through the cold of the day and then through the night and hang out in the heat of the day (Saturday) for our bivies.  We'll get about nine hours of climbing and bivy in the sunshine, and then come off the next day.  We're going to go for the same route. (Listen to the podcast for the full route description – the route is about 500ft of steep snow up a ramp, leading to a 5.10 offwidth crack in a cave, and then pops out of the cave to the crux.)  We figured out how to get through the crux – we needed to bring rock shoes. So we're going to bring rock shoes this time and we think we'll be able to finish the route in this style.  We're still psyched and conditions are improving every day.

7 April 2010

April 5th at 4pm we summited Mount Bradley via a new route on the south-east buttress. This 4600ft buttress of sustained mixed climbing required 29 pitches, 19 of which are M5 or WI4 or harder. After sixty-six and a half hours including three on-the-route bivies, Vitalogy, Alaska grade V, M6+, WI5, 5.9R, A1, was opened.

On the evening of April 2nd we left camp and after regaining our highpoint from the first attempt on March 31st, we establish five new pitches before our midday bivy that day. The 1500ft of climbing included sustained 5.9 rock, an A1 tension traverse, M5 mixed, and a transition from boots to rock shoes and back on lead.

We encountered cooler temperatures the next afternoon and began a beautiful ice ribbon, 1000ft in length, averaging WI4 with cruxes of M5+ and WI5. This was by far the most enjoyable climbing on the entire route. Then, we continued up a steep, blocky ridge. This was when one the first of three storms hit. We climbed in full conditions to the base of a large 1000ft granite tower, the second major crux of the route. The storm broke while we pushed seven pitches of sustained mixed climbing until we were spent.

Graham Zimmerman at the third bivy Photos by Mark Allen

We spent the night on an exposed ledge perch bivy, and then we finished the tower and simulclimbed to the summit on steep exposed snow slopes and spines. When we topped out, there was much rejoycing and we saw two ravens circling us before they joined us on the summit. This was the first sign of wildlife we've had the entire trip. We had perfect weather when we summited and it was awesome climbing through the storm. We spent about thirty minutes on the summit and finished our food and found that the normal descent was out this season.

So we were forced to rappell into undiscovered country, 1500ft down the headwall to a glacier and then descend 1000ft of icefall to the valley (backside) glacier and an ice-cave bivy. That's when the second storm hit and it brought twelve to twenty inches of new snow in places, pinning us down for a day without food and little fuel. Then the next afternoon during a clearing we were ready to start wading through seven kilometres of new snow over the entire backside glacier, back around 747 pass and then down into the Ruth Glacier to gain our camp. A third storm hit, requiring us to navigate in a whiteout, in the dark, to find our camp.

We finally got back to camp after 99 hours. It was an extremely challenging endeavour and we're super psyched to have completed the line – it's a beautiful feature on the peak.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) announced yesterday that the use of poo pots will become mandatory for all climbers in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park from October 1, 2010. Poo pots are plastic containers that are typically used with a cornstarch bag so that trampers and climbers can carry out their personal waste from the mountains. They were first trialled in 2004 in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park and have been used on a voluntary basis since.

However, DOC says that the uptake of poo pots by climbers has been disappointing. A survey of 133 climbers who went into Aoraki Mt Cook National Park during the 2009-2010 summer climbing season found that only 3% carried poo pots.

The mandatory use of poo pots will only apply to mountaineers in the park and not to tourists using the tracks around the village such as the routes to Mueller Hut or Red Tarns. Climbers will be expected to carry the pots on climbs and walk-ins for which they reasonably expect to be away from a hut for 2 hours or longer. DOC will monitor the scheme by requiring climbers to present poo pots when signing in or out of the park. There will also be occasional spot checks at track ends. Non-compliance will result in a $200 fine.

DOC says that the scheme will be reviewed at the end of the summer climbing season, and may be extended to other national parks the following summer (2011–2012). The scheme will not apply to climbers in Westland National Park, which borders Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, this summer.

To prevent climbers circumnavigating the system, poo pots sold by DOC will have serial numbers and any container being used for such purpose in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park will require a serial number from DOC before it is taken into the mountains.

Hurrah! It's the annual (or so it seems) Mountainz world climbing news, showcasing incredible climbs done around the globe in the last 12 months, including technical FAs in Antarctica, the first winter ascent of Makalu, and a winter suffer-fest in Russia's Greater Caucasus mountains. We also look at the controversial bolting of monster mixed routes in Norway and the 2009 Piolets d'Or awards. Put the jug on and grab some bikkies.

Let's start with the good sauce – winter climbing on 8000m peaks...

'To thrive in our hearts, when we can't feel our hands'

Polish climbers Artur Hazjer and Robert Szymczak and Canadian Don Bowie attempted Broad Peak (8047m) in the Karakoram, Pakistan. Broad Peak is part of the Gasherbrum massif and is near K2.The team established base camp just before Christmas 2008 and enjoyed temperatures of around –35°C at Camp 2, at 6300m.

None of the 8000m peaks in Pakistan have been climbed in winter. Italian Simone Moro has attempted Broad Peak twice in recent winters, with Pakistani climbers Shaheen Baig and Qudrat Ali. In early March 2008, Moro and Baig reached around 7800m but chose to turn back in fading daylight.

The Polish-Canadian expedition ended on February 25 this year, after the team spent 70 days – 70! – trying to pass their high point of Camp 3 at 7000m. Constant winds had battered the camps and supplies at BC were running low.

Don Bowie wrote the following post on his website on January 26.

'Many people would hate all this winter climbing stuff: cold hands and feet, biting wind, no refuge, plus the icy, windblown slopes of our objective looming above…waiting. The winds have been howling now for over two weeks straight, the constant roar through the clouds reminds us that base camp is the only survivable place right now. Our skin is dry and cracked around our fingernails. Our clothes are dirty and stinky. Everything is covered with ice. Yet somehow I find comfort here, feeling relaxed and appreciative, despite all the discomforts.

'It is not enough for me to merely endure these experiences, or that they ... remind me of the "good" things – like the warm, fed, comfortable, rested, content times spent with family and friends. If this were the only benefit of enduring hard times, to remind us of the good, explorers and adventurers might be best described as those affected with a most severe form of Attention Deficit Disorder, or at very least, slow learners ... I believe that it is in the explorer’s nature to not merely endure or survive, but also to thrive. I think that we all possess a measure of this "thrivability", and most people have more of it than they will ever know, or will perhaps come close to finding out. Here, I find myself on another adventure, rife with its own brand of suffering, but I count myself among the fortunate who are able to test their thrivabilty.

'To thrive in our hearts, when we can’t feel our hands.'

Bowie later described the last days of the expedition.

'On February 24, Amin, Ali (high altitude porters and climbers, Ali climbed with Moro on Broad Peak in '07/'08) and I again made a push for Camp 3, attempting to make the climb there and back in a single day. Secretly I hoped that a weather window would open on the 25th and 26th, and our last foray up the mountain would turn into a fast summit push. But the forecast on the 23rd told us to expect the typical high winds, making our final climb a clean-up mission.

'... Above Camp 2 the winds were astonishingly high, and due to 3 days of snowfall, visibility was at times zero. On the boiler-plate ice slopes below Camp 3, we paused every 20 meters or so to warm our hands.

'Eventually we reached Camp 3, where we found our depot literally hanging by a thin chord of 4mm rope over the edge of the abyss. The winds had blown the 60kg "gear burrito" 30 meters from where we had left it, and only a short piece of fixed line had prevented it from being blown into oblivion. In the raging winds, we quickly stuffed our packs with as much as they could hold, then began the long series of rappels toward base camp.'

Artur Hazjer also reported from his website, '8000m Karakoram summits remain still unreachable during winter. Climbers have been trying at least for 20 years. Will anyone success in the future?' (sic)

At last, Makalu goes in winter!

On February 9 this year, Italian Simone Moro and Kazakh Denis Urubko made the first winter ascent of Makalu (8463m), the world’s fifth-highest peak, and the last of the Nepali 8000m peaks to be climbed in winter.

Makalu had been attempted many times in winter by some of the most successful Himalayan climbers in history, including Renato Casarotto, Reinhold Messner, and Krzysztof Wielicki. In 2006, Jean Christophe Lafaille disappeared during a summit push above his final camp at 7600m. Last season, Urubko and fellow Kazakh climbers attempted the peak, along with an Italian team.

Moro and Urubko reached the summit in just 19 days from the ABC, without porters or supplementary oxygen. They short-roped, carrying everything in their rucksacks, and only went to Camp 2 twice, with only one trip to Camp 3 before the summit.

Approaching the summit of Makalu in winter.

Moro was interviewed by PlanetMountain.com in early February.

What was the hardest moment?
'Perhaps waking up at 3am on February 9, making breakfast and beginning the climb. The cold was indescribable. We slept in –9°C sleeping bags (comfort) to be lightweight but it was at least –40°C. Terrible! We started off with a rhythm of 30 steps, short roping, and we reached the summit with a rhythm of 20 steps after 8200m, short roping all the way. There was a real battle against the wind, between 90 and 100 km/h. The gusts slapped us unexpectedly, stunned us and slammed us onto the ground. Often we remained gripped to our ice axes so as not to fly away.' (sic)

And the best moment?
'The strangled shout on the summit! I was with my best friend on a summit of a dream, which for three decades only the best mountaineers in the world had dreamt of. I'd tried to be the best and failed, but I had reached the summit.'

Czech Manaslu attempt

In December 2008, a three-man Czech team attempted Manaslu (8163m) in Nepal, which was first climbed in the winter of 1984 by a Polish team. The Czechs established Camp 1 at 5750m in temps of –30°C. They did not use oxygen and stated that they had only two Nepali 'mates' waiting for them in BC.

On their website, the team had written, 'The main goal of our climbing expedition to Manaslu is to attempt a first Czech winter ascent to 8000m. We ask ourselves why some of the much more experienced Czech climbers have never tried such a thing. We want to experience for ourselves the winter conditions in Nepal.'

The team attempted the Japanese route and spent several days among seracs and icefalls between C1 and C2, with high avalanche hazard in the form of a surface metre of 'sawdust structure' snow. This, and the fact they did not have ladders for negotiating monster crevasses, limited them in choosing an optimal route through the slots and seracs. After spending 4 days trying to negotiate the difficult terrain, with seracs and avalanches coming at them, the team concluded there was no safe route between C1 and C2. On December 26, 2008, they returned to C1 to pack and descend.

The Poles and Nanga Parbat: the saga continues

There have been 10 attempts on Nanga Parbat (8126m), Pakistan, in winter. Half of them by Polish teams. None of them successful.

In late December 2008, a Polish team abandoned the latest winter attempt on Nanga Parbat after reaching Camp 1. The team, which did not use porters and had only medical oxygen at BC, reported unreasonably dangerous conditions, with deep snow covering the mountain.

Now we take a look at summer climbs...

Technical FAs in Antarctica

Rock towers rise from the ice in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. They are the tops of a mountain range, of which the highest summits have pierced the kilometre thick continental ice sheet to form spectacular granite mountains. The highest of these mountains are Ulvetanna (2931m, 'wolf tooth') and the slightly lower Holtanna (2650m, 'hollow tooth').

In December 2008, Germans Alexander and Thomas Huber and Swiss Stephan Siegrist spent six weeks on the ice, making an ascent of Ulvetanna and the first ascent of the west face of Holtanna.

Describing the west face of Holtanna, Alexander Huber said, 'It’s an extreme Big Wall, 750m high, altogether more than just vertical.'

The Huber Brothers climbed the west face but were unable to free climb because of the glacial temperatures.

'It was very, very cold but despite these extreme conditions our first ascent of the west face was a gem,' Thomas Huber recalled. Eiszeit ('ice age'), 24 pitches, 5.10+, A4.

A week later, the climbers made the first free ascent of Holtanna via its north buttress.

'Even though the difficulties were fairly moderate, the beauty of the route Skywalk, 7– (roughly Australian rock grade 20), cannot be matched,' raved Thomas Huber.

Good weather toward the end of the expedition saw the brothers make a two day ascent of Ulvetanna via the northwest buttress.

'The first ascent of Sound of Silence 5.11–, A2, was the cherry on the cake of what we think is our most beautiful expedition to date. Judged from the outside, we might have not been able to realize our goal – a difficult free climb in Antarctica – one hundred percent, but with an air temperature of –20°C, a seven becomes a nine and a nine becomes virtually impossible. And most of the time it was even colder than that!'

Also in December 2008, a French expedition from the Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne (GMHM) – an elite alpine squad of the French army – climbed a new route on the granite tower Holstind in Queen Maud Land.
The team climbed a 19-pitch new route on the north pillar of Holstind, the northern summit of the Holtanna massif. The route was named Pilier de Choudens Renard (650m, A2/A3) after two GMHM members killed during an expedition to Shishapangma in 2003.

Three of the group also attempted a new route on the south arête of Ulvetanna. After making the first ascent of the Bouteille ('bottle') via nine pitches of aid climbing, they later jugged fixed ropes to the top of the Bottle, and then climbed eight pitches of rock and mixed ground along a sharp arête pocked with enormous huecos (hollows or cavities). They stopped about three steep pitches short of the summit in rising winds and snowfall, returning to base camp 36 hours after leaving.

Members of the group also skied to the King Olaf Mountains, where they reportedly ascended four previously unclimbed peaks.

Second solo of the Supercanaleta (a.k.a. Super Couloir) on Fitz Roy, Patagonia

On January 7 this year, 24-year-old Patagonia enthusiast Colin Haley, from the US, made a solo ascent of Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina. Haley climbed the Supercanaleta, an ice and mixed line that splits the mountain’s west face. Haley's progress was slowed by accumulations of rime and he completed the ascent in just over 14 hours from the bergschrund to the summit. He had previously done the climb in December 2007, with Frenchman Maxime Turgeon.

This is the second known solo ascent of the Supercanaleta (1600m, TD+, 5.10, 90° ice), according to Patagonia historian Rolando Garibotti. American Dean Potter soloed the route in early 2002 in six and a half hours from the base of the climb (TD+ is a French alpine grade loosely equivalent to NZ Mount Cook grade 5+).

At one point, Haley encountered a dead body on the climb. He wrote on his blog:

'Pulling over a bulge of steep ice onto a lower-angled section, I was suddenly confronted with Frank, half-exposed from the ice. Other than doctored bodies in coffins at funerals, I had never seen a dead body before, especially one that had been exposed to the elements for years. I must admit that I felt sick to my stomach and thought I might vomit. More than anything else, seeing Frank was a grim and sobering reminder of the consequences if I made any mistakes – Frank fell while attempting to solo the California Route, and has been frozen on the Supercanaleta ever since.'

The Super Couloir was first climbed in alpine style in early 1965, by Argentineans Carlos Comesaña and José Luis Fonrouge. Theirs was the second ascent of Fitz Roy and took two-and-a-half-days to complete.

Two new routes on Pakistan 8000ers in 3 weeks

Russians Valery Babanov and Victor Afanaseiv climbed a new route on Broad Peak (8047m) in July 2008.

On the fifth day of their climb, the two made camp at 7500m, just under a huge 45-degree slope. That night it began to snow. Babanov wrote the following account on his blog.

'The first avalanche hit us at 3.00am. Our tent resisted but still we got slightly scared. We decided to dress ourselves. Then avalanches started falling every 15–20 minutes .... This nightmare didn’t stop 'till the morning. Then the snow was not falling that hard anymore and we got the possibility to dig in a bergschrund. On that day it was out of question to go up, down or anywhere.' (sic)

The following day, the two climbers managed to traverse to C3 on the classic route. 'Only' a couple of avalanches were triggered during their traverse. After a rest day and catching up with friends in camp, the two pushed on with their new route, reaching the summit at sunset.

'It was an unforgettable scene. Can something be better than such a moment?' Babanov recalled.

Babanov described the new route, saying, 'It goes through a beautiful pillar clearly drawn out of the relief surrounding the western wall of Broad Peak. I wondered why no one had tried this route, though it’s not unlikely that potential climbers were scared by the huge overhanging serac in the middle of the wall.

'From time to time, huge pieces of ice were breaking off it and crashing down, reminding us that a hanging glacier is still "alive", but during our first days in base camp we had carefully observed the wall through binoculars and found a safe route through this hanging, hundred-meter high ice barrier.

'My inner voice was telling me that we had chosen the right way and that everything would be all right.

'Characteristics of our new route on Broad Peak: 3000m, VI, WI5, M6, 90° ice.' (VI is a Russian grade which equates to Australian rock grade 25.)

The next goal for Babanov and Afanaseiv was a new route on the southwest face of Gasherbrum I (G-I), in alpine style. They left BC on G-I on July 25 and began climbing to the Hidden Peak.

In the early hours of July 31, the climbers were asleep at 6900m. Suddenly, a falling rock ripped through their tent, hitting Victor in the head and leaving him with a severe cut and bleeding.

'Happily, the bone was not touched. We were really lucky – the damn stone could have caused far worse consequences.

'I can only add that my partner showed outstanding courage by his decision to continue the ascent. Finally, tired but happy, we were standing on the summit on August 1. Victor and I had managed to climb Broad Peak and G-I by new routes in 3 weeks.

'The new route starts from a bergschrund at 5800m and continues up to 7600m, where it meets the 1978 Yugoslavian route. 2300m, VI, WI4, M5, 80° ice.'

Two-man, two-day FA of Beka Brakai Chhok

Before making the first winter ascent of Makalu, Italian Simone Moro bagged the first ascent of Beka Brakai Chhok (6940m), in the Karakoram, Pakistan, with Italian Hervé Barmasse. This is the mountain that eluded Kiwi climbers Pat Deavoll and Lydia Bradey in 2007. Deavoll returned to the mountain in June 2008, to make a second attempt with Brit Malcolm Bass.

Moro and Barmasse arrived in the region in July 2008, hoping to attempt Batura II (7762m), one of the highest unclimbed peaks in the world. However, the presence of a large Korean expedition on the mountain stifled their ambition. After an acclimatisation climb on another peak, Barmasse and Moro decided to look for a new goal.

After sitting out 13 days of bad weather below the mountain, Barmasse and Moro climbed the peak from the south, climbing more than 16 hours on the first day before arranging a 'bivouac' (with no tent, sleeping bags, or stoves) in a small crevasse at 6500m. A ridge traverse on the upper mountain was extremely difficult and tenuous.

Moro reported, 'Beka Brakai Chhok is really a beautiful mountain. Hervè and I decided to avoid the 8000-ers this summer – too many people – and try something different in a wild area.

'We started our climb at 5am from the base of the face. We climbed in pure alpine style. No tents, sleeping bags, stove, nothing…. We climbed all day on difficult sections of vertical ice and mixed ground. At 9:30pm, we reached 6500m after a super delicate traverse on thin and exposed ridge. We decided to organize a bivouac and we jumped in a small crevasse under a serac. The next day, we waited for the sun to warm up and then we continued our climb to the top. The last part was very difficult and we climbed on rock and mixed terrain, using all our abilities and experience.'

The pair topped out mid-afternoon the following day and began to descend immediately.

'We are of course very satisfied with our climb. Fast, in super-light style and on a virgin high peak, exactly what we were looking for,' said Moro.

We conclude with a Russian winter suffer-fest, monster mixed routes and the ensuing bolting controversy in Norway, and the Piolets d'Or (annual golden ice axes awards)...

A hardcore winter FA in Russia

In January this year, a quartet of Russians made the first winter ascent of the north ridge of Mizhirgi East (4927m) in Russia's Greater Caucasus mountains. Mizhirgi East is a satellite of Europe’s second-highest mountain, Dykhtau (5204m). The north ridge on the far left side of the Mizhirgi–Dykhtau wall, first climbed by a Russian team in August 1952, had never been attempted in winter.

Sasha Gukov, Alik Izotov, Sergey Kondrashkin, and Viktor Koval left base camp on January 2 and crossed the bergschrund the following day. In stormy weather, they climbed the north buttress over five days. They reached the summit of Mizhirgi East on January 8 and traversed to the higher western peak, before descending to the south and traversing around the mountain over the next two days.

The following is an extract from team member Viktor Koval's report on www.mountain.ru, telling of the vicious winds, technical terrain and avalanches the team dealt with. It has been edited for clarity only.

'The north ridge is considered to be a strong 5B (Russian alpine grades start at 1B and go up to 6B, a 5B route normally takes two-plus days to complete), but it isn’t a special sports achievement itself. After the Mizhirgi glacier icefall, we stopped on the middle moraine of the glacier and made a path to the beginning of the route.

'We started to ascend the ridge. Suddenly a river of snow began to flow from the top of overhanging rock. For several seconds it was a small stream then it turned into a full-flowing river. We clung fast to the slope, trying to seek shelter behind rocks. When the stream stopped, we continued to move up the ice-covered slope. Within 15 minutes everything repeated. We clung fast to the slope again… and all day long like this.

'The weather became really bad on the third day. The wind blew stronger, the snowstorm rose. Visibility was only several meters. We passed the ice part of the ridge and reached the base of the pre-peak wall of Mizhirgi East. Two hours of work with ice axes and we had a place for our tent. All our clothes were covered with snow on the outside and on the inside as well.

'That night, the snowfall became stronger, burying our tent and pushing it around. We spent the night in the sitting position, every hour one of us went outside to clear the snow.

'In the morning the temperature fell again. We put on everything we had but it wasn’t enough, and traversed to the beginning of the ice couloir. The crux section of the route was 'the ice room' – a vertical 40m crack with ice. Sergey climbed half of the 'room' and made a belay on a small ledge in its middle part. I lead from here. The snowfall and wind became stronger, with snow flowing into the crack and very low visibility. We had to climb without mittens, in thin Polar gloves. I finished my pitch in twilight and the guys made a ledge in the middle of the crack. The night was again spent in the sitting position.

'In the morning, several mixed pitches and some ice saw us on the peak ridge. Visibility was zero, it was snowing and there was a strong wind. We found a place where we could pitch our tent and dreamed about warm countries. Alik had frozen fingers, Sasha had frozen toes.

'At last good weather came and the Central Caucasus could be seen. We took summit photos. Moving to the western peak, we discovered the two last pitches of the ridge were like a sharp snow saw. There were no belays. From the northern side it was nearly a hurricane wind, covering the face with ice and snow.

'We reached the bridge between Mizhirgi West and the south ridge and began to descend into the night. Abseils were done automatically – our bodies were asleep, only the part of mind responsible for the rope and figure-8 manoeuvre was alive. Around 3am, we pitched the tent and fell asleep.

'Two hours later, I tried to say it was time for getting up. No one supported this idea. Under the pressure of my persuasions, we were sitting and drinking tea when a strong gust of wind threw our tent with 4 ice axes and us about 5m down the slope. The next gust shredded our Marmot tent and, like two ballistic rockets, Sergey and Sasha's rucksacks disappeared into space. We lay on our remaining gear to wait for the next gust.

'On the descent from the Cella Glacier, wind gusts reduced but the snowstorm began. Near Jangi-Kosh cabin, a silent avalanche appeared, slightly touching Sasha. He was knee-deep in snow and managed to free himself.

'In the morning the weather was sunny and calm and we were on the home stretch. Suddenly, the slope above us began to stir, sweeping Sergey into the glacier. We threw off our rucksacks and ran to the debris, digging with our ice axes. Sergey was in the border of the avalanche buried only half a meter deep. We dug out our friend and looked at the break line. The fresh snow was more than a meter thick.

'We arrived in camp that night and feasted with friends. We had expected that the activity wouldn’t be easy for us, but the mountain turned to be unexpectedly severe, showing us its difficult nature. But stronger was the feeling of satisfaction. Isn’t it the reason for all of us to return to the beloved mountains?'

Bolting of new big wall mixed routes in Norway condemned

In February this year, separate teams of Norwegian, German, and Swiss climbers established gigantic new ice routes on Norwegian cliffs the size of the south face of Mount Cook.

Two new routes were climbed on the 1000m Kjerag massif directly above the open sea in Lysefjord, southwest Norway. A 30-minute boat approach is required to access the base of the wall. Norwegians Bjorn-Eivind Artun and Stein Ivar Gravdahl climbed Strandhogg (800m, M5+ WI6+ A0) in a single long day, topping out just before midnight. The only aid was a short pendulum around a corner to reach an ice dagger. Most people would probably spend at least a week blobbing after such a feat, but two days later, Artun and Annelin Henriksen climbed Pin-up (600m, WI6).

Meanwhile, German climber Robert Jasper made two separate trips to Norway to climb three massive ice routes. First was the new route Into the Wild (900m, WI6 X) in Gudvangen, climbed with Swiss Markus Stofer. The 'X' in the grade is a seriousness rating related to the availability of protection, and means that a fall will likely result in death or serious injury. Jasper said the actual route length was closer to 1300m, possibly making it the longest waterfall-ice climb in the world.

At Eidfjord, the two climbers then tackled free-hanging icicles on the south face of Mabodalen to create Landplage (240m, WI7–).

Jasper and Stofer then returned to Gundvangen with the aim of climbing a steep line they had spotted earlier. On their first attempt they climbed the first 300m but found the ice too brittle. They changed their plane tickets and tried again two days later but the mixed pitches took longer than expected and the ice was even more brittle. After climbing two-thirds of the 800m face, they conceded and rappelled.

Jaspar couldn't get the line out of his head and returned a week later with Swiss climber Robert Schäli. In one long day, in freezing temperatures ideal for plastic ice, the two climbed Fosslimonster (800m, M8+ WI6+), with the total route length at 1000m.

'Such a perfect line of water will hardly cross my path again. For me, it was a wonderful combination of modern ice and mixed climbing. And at this length, it was a new step, a great adventure,' said Jaspar.

The placement of five protection bolts and nine anchor bolts during the first ascent of Fosslimonster upset many climbers in Norway, prompting he Norwegian Alpine Club to issue a statement urging visiting climbers to respect Norway's bolt-free ethic for mountain routes, saying:

In Norway, the alpine climbing community treasures very highly our code of ethics summed up in "leave no trace". It is generally considered unacceptable to add bolted anchors on ice and mountain routes, to make it easier, safer and more convenient to climb the routes. The same applies for adding bolts on parts of the pitches.

The Norwegian Alpine Club considers natural protection an important and integral part of ice and mountain climbing. We aim at preserving the potential for adventurous climbing in the Norwegian mountains for future generations of climbers. Our code of ethics thus makes it necessary to wait for the right weather conditions and acquire the necessary skills, instead of adding bolts. This is the only way to ensure the full, unspoilt adventure remains for everybody to be explored, and not just for the first ascentionists.

Furthermore, the Norwegian Alpine Club finds it totally unacceptable for climbers to claim a right to choose their own style and ethics when climbing in Norway. We find that this is not unique for Norway, but also applies for other countries, such as the UK, regarding grit climbing and Scottish winter climbing.

The Norwegian Alpine Club welcomes foreign climbers to Norway, and invite everyone to come and explore one of the few remaining truly wild ice climbing havens in Europe and the world. However, we take for granted that climbers follow our code of ethics. Norway is one of the last places for climbers wishing to discover the magic of natural lines that demand the full range of alpine skills.

Jaspar responded by claiming to have seen 'bolted routes on ice and rock, for example in Sedesdal, Rjukan and Hemsedal' and 'artificially drilled hooks' on mixed lines during his previous climbing trips to Norway. He also said that local ice climbers, whose advice he had sought, had never mentioned the strict Norwegian ethics to him.

Jaspar also claimed that Norwegian climbers have bolted belays in remote areas such as Antarctica and Baffin Island and said that, on the basis of this and the other reasons given, he 'didn't assume there was such a strict ethical guideline, and I am sorry about this!'

Jaspar went on to say, 'Ethics have always been a very important matter for me and I always attempt to avoid bolting as far as possible. In any case Fosslimonster is a very dangerous route – climbing it without our bolts would seem irresponsible to us, but obviously everyone is free to climb the route without them. Regarding the climbing ethics, I feel everybody is responsible for them, but at the end of the day one must also adhere to them and not only talk or write about them. Ethics are not only for others but mainly for ourselves!'

Bjorn-Eivind Artun, whose recent FAs in Norway were of similar length and difficulty, responded via Climbing magazine's online forum.

'A few important things to remember: (1) There is an established ethical awareness in Norway, it is time to tell the climbing world about it to avoid any misunderstandings; (2) It is a fact that there are very few bolts in our Norwegian alpine environment, and that we want to keep it that way; and (3) We expect visitors to be able to see the difference between sport climbing on designated crags and alpine climbing in the mountains.

'NTK (the Norwegian alpine club) has a history dating back more than 100 years. NTK is representing the alpine climbing community in Norway and their statement is fully backed by the vast majority of the climbers. There are a few hand drilled bolts on big wall aid climbs on walls like Kjerag, these are more of an exception than a general trend. The Norwegian tradition talks against the use of drills and lots of bolts in the alpine environment.

'Are 14 bolts on an 800m climb something to be worried about? Yes, when the bolts are placed on the most interesting part of the climb, greatly reducing the challenge it represents, and Norwegian tradition is to be conservative and refrain from bolting in the mountains as far as possible.

'Another important aspect is that the Gudvangen area where Fosslimonster lies was totally clean before Jasper's arrival. The whole area did not have a single route with bolts on, small or big, ice or rock. Jasper and friends changed the character of the area very rapidly. Jasper has failed to comment on all the other bolts he drilled on Into the Wild and Landeplage in addition to the totally unnecessary abseil anchors drilled on an established line in Maaboedalen.

'Rjukan, Hemsedal, Oppdal and Gol are sport climbing areas with designated crags where bolting is ok. Setesdal is slab climbing bolted by visiting German climbers in a low altitude valley. It has nothing whatsoever to do with alpine climbing in the mountains. I find it strange having to explain the difference between sport climbing and mountaineering to an experienced climber like Jasper. I know of only one big ice line in Norway with bolts on it, Moerkemannen in Laerdal, put up by Will Gadd some years ago.

'Norwegian ice climbers have been eyeing these lines in Gudvangen for years, climbing some of them as well as gathering momentum and power to try the most difficult of them (Fosslimonster) in good style. Climbers have backed down from this line because conditions and psyche were not ideal. This line would have been climbed many years ago, if Jasper's ethics had been in line with Norwegian tradition.

'Two statements from Jasper to defend his actions, followed by some facts regarding these.'

1. In Lofoten some years ago, I asked the locals and they said it was ok to bolt.

'Jasper has not mentioned who he talked to, but the fact is the community in Lofoten represented by Lofoten Alpine Club and the local climbing school at Kalle are against bolting in the mountains, the only exception being designated crags for sport climbing. In this case, Jasper and co. even bolted outside their line for their film crew and the locals where not happy with this.'

2. I talked to Norwegian climber Marius Olsen before going and he did not mention any ethics to me.

'Marius Olsen talked to Jasper, who asked about conditions. He helped Jasper with accommodation and told him where he should go. Jasper did not ask whether it was ok to bolt! It is very arrogant then to try to blame Marius, suggesting that he approved of his bolting. One would expect Jasper to be concerned about his behaviour and take responsibility himself.'

And the 2009 Oscar for alpinism goes to....

Now in its 17th year, the revamped 2009 Piolets d'Or (golden ice axes) was announced in Chamonix on April 25, with three awards given for distinguished climbs in the categories Spirit of Exploration, Commitment, and Technical Difficulty.

Spirit of Exploration: First ascent of the southwest face of Kamet (7756m, India)
Kazuya Hiraide and Kei Taniguchi (Japan) completed the first ascent of the southwest face of Kamet in alpine style, between September 26 and October 7, 2008. They were the first climbers to set foot on this face and they completed the climb on their first attempt. Kei Taniguchi is the first woman to win a Piolet d’Or.
Name of route: Samurai Direct
Length: 1800m
Difficulties declared: M5+, AI 5+

Commitment: New route on the north face of Kalanka (6931m, India)
In September 2008, Fumitaka Ichimura, Yusuke Sato and Kazuki Amano (Japan) climbed a new route on the north face of Kalanka, which had never been ascended in one go, in alpine style. When two-thirds up the face, they were trapped for three days by a snowstorm. Instead of descending after the storm, they continued to the summit.
Name of route: Bushido
Length: 1800m
Difficulty declared: M5

Technical Difficulty: First ascent of the north face of Tengkampoche (6500m, Nepal)
From April 21 to 24, 2008, Ueli Steck and Simon Anthamatten (Switzerland) made the first ascent of the north face of Tengkampoche, in alpine style. This was the hardest route climbed at high altitude in 2008.
Name of route: Checkmate
Length: 2000m
Difficulties declared: M7, AI 5, 6a/A0

A new category was also created to celebrate a notable climbing career. Italian Walter Bonatti, who pioneered technically difficult routes in the Alps, Himalaya and Patagonia in the '50s and early '60s, was awarded the first ever Piolet d'Or for Lifetime Achievement.

Austrian Peter Habler, a member of this year's Piolets d'Or jury, who with Reinhold Messner made the first ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen, stated, 'What counts is the style. Today, even if the summit hasn’t been reached, the expedition can be honoured if it is innovative.'

Other climbs nominated for the Piolets d'Or were:

New route on the south face of Nuptse I (7861m, Nepal)
Stéphane Benoist and Patrice Glairon Rappaz (France) climbed a route on the south face of Nuptse
I in alpine style from October 27 to 30, 2008.
Name of Route: Are you experienced?
Length: 2000m
Difficulties declared: M5, 90° ice

First complete ascent of the east face of Cerro Escudo (2450m, Chile)
Dave Turner (US) climbed the route solo in 34 days (!!!!) on one of the most difficult big walls in the
world, the east face of Cerro Escudo. He began his climb in December 2007 and finished in January 2008.
Name of Route: Taste the pain
Length: 1200m
Difficulty declared: A4+

Link up of technical routes on Denali (6194m, Alaska)
Fumitaka Ichimura, Yusuke Sato and Katsutaka Yokoyama (Japan) succeeded in linking up the
Isis Face, the Ramp descent route, and a climb back up the Slovak Direct route in one trip,
from May 11 to 18, 2008.
Lengths: 2350m (Isis Face) and 2900m (Slovak Direct)
Difficulty declared: Alaska grade 6

Thanks, grazie, danke and takk to Simone Moro, Colin Haley, Bjorn-Eivind Artun, Alexander Huber and Ueli Steck for supplying the fantastic photos.

There are two "easy" routes on Everest - the Western Cwm route on the south side climbed from Nepal (that's the way Hillary and Tenzing went up) and the north ridge climbed from Tibet. And as everyone knows, China controls Tibet and regards it as part of their territory. Anyway, these are the two routes that the guiding companies and most climbers use to gain the summit. Every other route is a fair bit harder. Okay, you probably all knew that.

China announced that there would be two torches used in the Olympic torch relay. Actually, there is a whole swagger of back up torches, but for symbolic purposes there are two. One running through Beijing friendly cities such as Paris (not sure what the Chinese were thinking there - France is one of the few countries ever to recognise Tibet) and the other to be taken to the summit of Everest via the north ridge. They were lit separately in Olympia in Greece and sent on their way. Obviously the climbers on Everest aren't actually climbing with a lit torch; they'll just relight one of their stash of 16 torches when they get to the top.

The Chinese climbers are mostly students or ex-students from the Tibetan Mountaineering School, which is a school set up by the Tibetan Mountaineering Association (which controls all climbing in Tibet) and a Chinese equipment manufacturer called OZARK. Interestingly, technical assistance for the school is provided by the Federation Francaise de la Montagne et de I'Escalade, which is perhaps why the Chinese thought they could run the other torch through Paris. Other than that, I can find out nada about the background of the climbers involved. Are they good enough to summit Everest? Probably. Even though China has no elite Himalayan climbers, the north ridge on Everest isn't exactly tough by modern standards. They will be set up to give themselves three attempts at the summit. They put 17 climbers on the summit on May 9 last year in a trial run, although they were receiving technical climbing support from a Nepal guiding company.

Even the trial run last year was controversial. The Chinese team took over the base camp site with a military-style compound of fences and soldiers guarding the entrances. Police screened climbers as they approached Everest base camp or were sleeping in nearby villages. Several got kicked out of the country, including the Mayor of Prague for being too outspoken about Tibet. The worst situation was when two climbers spent two days above 8000m without water when the Chinese Olympic torch team ignored a request for their Sherpas to walk across to the climbers and give them a spare stove.

However, compared with this year, things were relatively normal back in 2007. Climbers and guiding companies were expecting to be climbing from both Tibet and Nepal in 2008. After the Chinese rounded up and killed 140 protestors in Tibet there was talk of boycotting the Tibet side (well, talk from climbers, not from guiding companies). But it ended up being a moot point. The Chinese weren't going to have anyone sabotaging the Olympic torch summit bid, so they closed the north side of Everest for the season. They also closed all of Tibet following the Tibet protests/riots. So perhaps one side of a mountain is small fry.

But the question was - how could you stop a protestor from climbing the other side, the south side of the mountain, and waiving a Free Tibet flag from the summit as the Chinese tried to get their summit shots? After all, Nepal is supposedly a democratic nation. It recently had its first elections since rejecting its monarchy. The country's constitution allows free speech.

Well, for some reason, China has a degree of influence over Nepal. The finger is pointing squarely at a 121 million Euro loan from China for a couple of Nepali power projects. Three days after this loan was announced, Nepal placed restrictions on Everest climbers. Probably doesn't help that the recent Nepal election was won by the Maoists either. Nepal is definitely on China's side.

So, let's have a look at these restrictions. We'll start with the milder ones. This was the notice given by the Ministry of Tourism to Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse expeditions early April:

1. The team shall not carry and exhibit anything like flags, banners, stickers, pamphlets or any audio visual devices that may harm bilateral relationship between Nepal and China.

The team must fully agree to allow the liaison officer to check anything belonging to the team he thinks suspicious. Likewise the team must fully agree to the fact that the liaison officer has the right to seize such materials and send back the team or any member of the team to Kathmandu.

The government may take action to those for violating / breaching the law of the land relating to bilateral relations between Nepal and its friendly neighbour.

2. The expedition team will report the daily attendance of members and helpers of the team to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation via the liaison officer.

3. The team will deposit all its electronic equipment for lock up in the police post at base camp until 10 May 2008.

4. Any member or helper of the team shall not proceed above camp II before 10 May 2008.

That's pretty much unedited. So, in summary, not only can't you talk to the world via satellite phone, you can't even carry a camera. Radio communications on the mountain were permitted for safety reasons but the liasion officer (the Nepali official looking after your expedition) had to listen in to make sure you weren't up to something. Eventually even radios were banned.

One independent climber did have a Tibet flag and got kicked off the mountain and banned from Nepal for two years.

The date, 10 May, is the date by which the Chinese Olympic torch team believes they'll have reached the summit. It'll probably be some time before then - if I don't type faster they may top out before I upload this report. The latest rumours were the Chinese had ropes fixed to 8300m and good weather was on its way. Expeditions on the Nepal (south) side of the mountain were allowed to climb to camp II and then in the last couple of days have been ordered back to base camp, indicating the Chinese were high on the north side. And that is where the south side expeditions are now - sitting in base camp waiting for the Chinese to finish. This doesn't suit the south side expeditions. The weather window for climbing Everest at this time of year may only last a couple of weeks, and if the Chinese use most of that time then there won't be enough time for the other expeditions to acclimitise before making an attempt on the summit. A major concern is that unacclimitised climbers are going to make a dash for the summit.

A bunch of unhappy climbers at base camp isn't good publicity, so Nepal then went and banned all media from base camp. And banned climbers from speaking to any media. Remember this is all against Nepal's own constitution allowing free speech.

Meanwhile on the north side, China invited a limited number of foreign journalists to visit the Tibetan base camp. This was largely due to pressure from the Olympic Committee. Not all journalists accepted the offer owing to the restrictions being placed on their reporting. The 11 foreign reporters who did accept were originally meant to follow the torch's overland journey to base camp. Instead they were held in Beijing until the torch actually left base camp on its way up the mountain. Then the reporters were quickly driven to base camp (there's a road all the way), from sea level to 5360m in three days, which is a bit of a health issue. So now they are waiting at base camp suffering from poor acclimitisation and no-one will tell them of any progress made by the Chinese climbers anyway.

So, China has the north side all tidied up - we expected no less - but what they have been able to do in Nepal is quite remarkable. Not only has Nepal got its own armed forces patrolling the south side base camp, they have let the Chinese army and plain clothed police patrol the base camp and Nepal territory along the border. There is an armed police post at camp II. Air flights within Nepali airspace have been greatly restricted.

And then we get to the big one.

Nepal's Home Ministry spokesman Modraj Dotel announced that police and soldiers "have been given orders to stop any protest on the mountain using whatever means necessary, including use of weapons", adding the use of deadly force was authorised only as a last resort.

Let’s say this again, Nepali armed forces are allowed to shoot climbers who are protesting.

Now, we need some perspective. Most of the reporting above was from the mounteverest.net website, which has been doing the best job by far of keeping up with the play. The comments from the Home Ministry were reported by Associated Press. Reputable enough. But we need some verification. Particularly, this "last resort" business. If a protesting climber is peaceful, but not able to be stopped (having slipped past camp II), will he or she be shot?

So I emailed every authority in Nepal I could think of, including the Home Ministry, Tourism Ministry, Tourism Board, and Mountaineering Association. Many times. I had a whole bunch of questions. I hinted strongly that my reporting would be read by hordes of Kiwi trekkers and climbers (they aren't going to know any different) about to embark to Nepal to spend wads of cash, but these tourists would be put off if Nepal came across in a bad light in my report, so it would be a good idea to give me a reply.

No answer. Either they know the page count stats for Mountainz (even I don't know the stats for Mountainz so they're pretty savvy) or they don't care. However, I unwittingly got put on the mailing list of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Apparently the peak fees in Nepal are going to drop quite significantly. Not surprising. But better than that I now had another email address to try for the Mountaineering Association. And this time I got an answer, which was they couldn't comment but they were aware of the same reports. Ever so slightly better than nothing.

In any event, there is a sniper chilling at camp II and at least one expedition leader has said his understanding is deadly force can be used against a climber simply trying to slip past camp II. So perhaps the message is clear enough.

A new guiding operation will offer climbs of Mt Tasman with clients clipping into fixed lines. The Rarakiroa Guiding Company are offering climbs from November this year. Company director Steve Rainsbury says he and lead guide Bryan Anderson came up with the idea of fixed rope guiding in New Zealand when guiding in the Himalaya two years ago. "We were assisting clients on fixed lines on a freezing day on Makalu and grumbling how much more fun it would be to be doing it back home in the Southern Alps instead."

The company says it already has a number of overseas climbers lined up for the first climbs in November after they were granted permission by the Department of Conservation to run the service late last year. "Logistically, the service we are offering is a little different to conventional Southern Alps guiding. We needed permission for clients to be dropped off and picked up at the base of the route by helicopter, and more importantly to be allowed to drop guides, ropes and other equipment high on the mountain. Since we are fixing pretty much the entire length of the climb it is a lot easier to work our way down."

Clients will be helicoptered to the base of the Stevenson-Dick Couloir on the Abel Janszoon Glacier at about 2700m. They then ascend the couloir to gain the north-west ridge at about 3300m and then the summit at 3497m. Clients will clip into the fixed lines using a jumar and there will be guides stationed on the route to provide assistance. "The couloir is about 45 degrees, which is achievable for most people with the security of a tight rope, although it certainly takes some effort, and the final ridge to the summit isn't too bad for a ridge on Tasman and can be easily protected by our guides. By using fixed lines and helicopters, even those without mountaineering experience should be able to reach the top of an iconic New Zealand mountain in a few hours. We have essentially chosen a route that is direct and away from other climbers. We need our guides to have a route of their own to work on. We are offering a true mountain experience to people who would otherwise never wear a pair of crampons or swing an ice axe. The idea is that you don't have to be an elite climber to experience the best the mountains can offer."

Rainsbury says that although Mt Tasman was always their first choice for fixed line guiding in New Zealand they have also been looking at routes on Mt Cook. "Despite Rarakiroa (Mt Tasman) being the best climb in the park, there will always be a demand for Mt Cook."

So what have we missed? Perhaps least interesting in the grand scheme of things is that the Piolet d'Or, the world's most prestigious mountaineering award, was cancelled for 2008 (if you've been following past news reports you'll recall there was a backlash against it for various reasons, not least that climbs shouldn't be judged). But I mention the award because, in compiling this report, I realised I was judging the world's best climbing. It was great - I got to choose which were the best climbs. I got to throw in my opinions which I don't even have to justify. The only opinion that counts is mine. I don't even have to give the poor sods a prize. Welcome to the (inaugural) Mountainz kudos awards for alpine climbing for an arbitrary period of roughly the last six months.

Kudos for being cool Awards
Apparently, if you want to give the impression that you know the cool places to hang out you should go to Patagonia, because that is where all the kids are going. Either to climb on clean rock spires rising from pristine glaciers (which is impressive climbing and aesthetically stunning but falls into the category of alpine rock climbing so I am already bored) or to climb scary-arse ice-rock-powder monsters (which is way cool and I imagine gets you lots of girlfriends). This was the season of attempts to link-up Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre - the four summits of the iconic Torre group. Attempts were made by two teams in the same weather window, but neither was able to move onto Cerro Torre itself. Still, linking three out of four had only been achieved once previously. With the season's third attempt, Rolando Garibotti and Colin Haley completed the link up. You can check out the trip report and super photos - I would have nicked the photos for this report but Garibotti stuck heaps of copyright notices on them and people who do that tend to get a bit antsy about their intellectual property. But, seriously, they are essential viewing. Look at them now. Then keep reading.

Russian climber and BASE jumper extraordinaire Valery Rozov made the first jump from the upper tower of Cerro Torre - not much to say, obviously the guy doesn't have a fear of heights, and it makes for great photos. And in his flying suit (pictured) he is the closest we'll ever get to a real life superhero so he is definitely cool.

Almost as cool was Francois Bon falling down (otherwise known as speed flying) the south face of Aconcagua. It took him 11 days to climb the mountain and less than five minutes to get back down. We don't have pictures of the Aconcagua descent but here is a link to his previous speed flying descent of the Eiger.

Kudos for being at peace with oneself Award
I am going to give a special kudos award to Californian Dave Turner, for spending 34 days alone on a wall more than anything, but also for making the first ascent of the 1,000m overhanging east face of Cerro Escudo in Chile in the process. He climbed capsule-style and encountered difficulties up to A4+. Something for someone to try in the Darrans I think.

Kudos for showing that the best mixed climbing gets done by hard-nosed trad climbers in the UK and not gymnastic freaks in Canada Award
Anyone heading to the climbing meet in the Darrans this August should have a look at Dave MacLeod's eight pitch line on the Comb Buttress of Ben Nevis, UK. Don’t Die of Ignorance (275m, XI,11) has enough dry tooling, thin ice, undercling crack and roof climbing to get us amped for our own efforts this winter. It was MacLeod's sixth attempt in three years.

And North America? Well, the ice climbers in Canada went out and found more WI5/6 or M12 lines hundreds of metres in length. All pretty standard stuff over there. More interesting were a couple of big winter routes done in the Canadian Rockies on the north face of Mt Temple and the east face of Mt Chephren. If we think we are capable of putting up world-class routes in NZ then apparently not only do we need to actually go out and climb in winter but spend 2-3 days busting M6/7 moves on a mile high face and throw some aid into the mix.

Kudos for best use of an extended lunch hour Award
Just in case you were going to give it a go, the speed record for the north face of the Eiger is now 2 hours 47 minutes 33 seconds, with Switzerland’s Ueli Steck beating his previous record by more than an hour.

Interlude
Wow, I'm already up to page 2 as I type this in Word. So as reward for getting this far, here is a link to check out huge mountains that have never been climbed and don't have names. If you get your plane ticket quick I am sure you can find a nice easy snow slope to wander up to claim a 6,000m mountain. The images are from an expedition led by Japanese explorer Tamotsu Nakamura, who by all accounts is known for accessing mountain regions not previously visited by mountaineers. Most of his trips have been to Sichuan and Yunnan, which are provinces of China. And Tibet. Which is a province of Tibet.

The chief kudos Awards
But like all award ceremonies, we are leaving the best until last - winter attempts of 8,000m peaks. None were successful but they still deserve the most kudos. While we were sunning ourselves at the beach there were winter attempts on Broad Peak and Makalu, neither of which have had successful winter ascents. The Makalu expedition got caught in a hurricane that destroyed their camps and broke one team member's leg, and the team got plucked off the mountain at 6,000m in 100kph winds by a chopper (actually, maybe the pilot should get the award). Simone Moro and Shaheen Baig were close to topping out on Broad Peak, turning back about 250m or 2 hours from the summit after making slow progress on their summit day, not wanting to climb past their turn-around time and attempt to survive a night on the summit. The pictures at the top of this report are from the Broad Peak attempt (www.russianclimb.com).

Oh, and Slovenian Tomaz Humar soloed the south face of Annapurna in autumn, which is a pretty good effort. Perhaps a Certificate of Merit.