Yamada & Tani Summit Kangchung Nup from North Side

On 24 April Japanese climbers Toshiyuki Yamada and Takeshi Tani successfully summitted Kangchung Nup (6,089m) via a new route on the mountain's North-West face. This marks not only the first ascent of the face, but also the first time that the mountain has been climbed from its northern side.

The new line follows a similar route to that of a 2014 Czech expedition that was forced to retreat from ~5,900m due to dangerous conditions. The direct line on the north face was also attempted unsuccessfully in 2019 by Paul Ramsden and Jim Hall.

Video: Tom Livingstone and Matt Glenn on The North-East Pillar of Tengkangpoche

In October 2021, AC members Matt Glenn and Tom Livingstone made the first ascent of the North-East pillar of Tengkangpoche (6,487m) in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal. Mountain Equipment have now released a video of the ascent complete with an interview in which Tom explains the details of the line.

Laura Tiefenthaler Makes Solo Ascent of The Heckmair Route

On the 8 March 2022, Austrian climber Laura Tiefenthaler made an ascent of The Heckmair Route on the north face of the Eiger with Jana Möhrer. On the 25 March, she returned to the route on her own to make a solo ascent. 

Stable conditions across the Swiss Alps have lead to a lot of activity on the face and, having already climbed the Heckmair earlier this month, Laura was encouraged to attempt a solo ascent by Rolo Garibotti. She made her first attempt on the 24 March, but a routefinding error meant that she lost two hours and elected to retreat. She returned the next day, beginning at 1AM and topping out safely 15 hours later.

Writing on Instagram, Laura described her ascent: "With curiosity as my main motivation, and knowing that up to a point, I could get down, it felt safe to go explore. As I progressed, confidence grew. I rope-soloed all the hard pitches and some short sections. Reaching the Traverse of the Gods at 10am, I knew that time was on my side. I slowed down, prioritizing safety over speed, and topped out at 4pm, exceeding my expectations."

This is likely the second solo ascent of the line by a woman after Catherine Destivelle in 1992. 

Tom Livingstone Makes Probable First Free Ascent of ‘Voie des Guides’ on Les Drus

AC member Tom Livingstone has made what is likely to be the first free ascent of the Guides Route on the north face of Les Drus. Tom had already made two attempts to free the line earlier this year, but found success on the third time of asking with partner Tom Seccombe.

The crux of the route is believed to weigh in at around M8+ and the pair ended up on the face for longer than they had expected despite managing to onsight the hardest pitches. Writing on his social media, Tom commented: "Waking up, fresh snow worried us. We’d also run out of proper food since we didn’t expect (or want) 2 bivies. We ate a few boiled sweets for breakfast. Tom S. climbed the final hard pitch and I freed it on second"