Mountaineering

Outside spoke with Christina Lustenberger about what it was like to ski the west face of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower

Every spring, hundreds of hopefuls make the trek to the world’s tallest summit and the surrounding high peaks. This is your base camp for all the news from the Himalayas.

‘Everest, Inc.,’ a new book from veteran outdoor journalist Will Cockrell, documents the mountain’s transformation, first by Western guides and climbers, and now by Sherpas and Nepalis

The renowned guide and climber founded one of the nation’s leading guide services and summitted Mount Rainier over 250 times

Lusti has built a career—and a life—on toughness and a preternatural ability to ski through puckering technical terrain. Her greatest challenge may be learning to let herself be soft.

Mountaineers now must haul their feces back to Base Camp in wag bags. We asked veteran guides how this shift will change life on the world’s highest peak.

The project has turned Townsend into a skilled ski mountaineer. He knows that skill isn't always enough to survive the lines that remain.

Neighbors Jeff Hashimoto and Langton Ernest-Beck dreamed up a crazy summertime challenge: climb Washington’s 100 highest mountains, and link the peaks by bike

China has suspended rescue efforts on the world’s 14th highest peak, ending the search for American Gina Rzucidlo and Nepali Tenjen Lama Sherpa

Two American women vying for the 8000er record and their guides were swept away by the slide on the famed Tibetan peak. One U.S. climber and a Sherpa guide are confirmed dead.

An evolving climbing world has new standards but shouldn’t tarnish historic achievements

Chris Warner’s historic achievement was claimed “just for the fun of it”

Max Lowe made a big splash in 2021 with ‘Torn,’ a documentary about the death of his famous father, alpinist Alex Lowe, and how it shook and shaped his family. These days, he’s forging ahead with ambitious projects—including a new film about the restorative power of climbing—in the next stage of his career.

The official explanation for the fee increase is rather macabre

Whether she’s setting mountain FKTs or working to bring attention to climate change, Hillary Gerardi is a force of nature

The duo completed the 8000-meter peaks in 92 days, breaking Nirmal (Nims) Purja's record by over three months

IFMGA guide Jed Porter walks us through the gear in his ski-mountaineering kit for North America’s highest peak

Visits to one popular Colorado fourteener have declined by more than half since 2020

The story of the deadly avalanche in October 2022 on India’s Draupadi Ka Danda II

Racing against the clock at high altitude takes a special set of skills.

There are two types of mountain athletes in the world

When veteran climber Mark Jenkins came up with a plan to witness a solar spectacle from the summit of a 20,000-foot peak, he had little idea what he was getting himself into

The ultrarunner and endurance skier is open to whatever the mountain gives her—she wants to experience a new adventure and inspire other women to do the same

The iconic film festival is celebrating its 45th year this weekend. Here are the documentaries we’re most excited to watch.

The 2023 death toll on Everest has already reached double digits—with multiple people still missing. And the climbing season isn’t over yet.

Why be stuck behind the masses at popular parks when you can wander some of the nation’s best with barely a soul in sight?

A guide from New Zealand says someone pilfered valuable supplies at Camp IV. Plus, hundreds of climbers are expected to push for the summit this week.

Retired doctor Jonathan Sugarman of Seattle died at Camp II on Monday, May 1

Dad and I had always planned to climb Africa’s tallest peak together, but cancer took away our chance. I knew he wouldn’t want it to take mine, too.

After finding himself in the middle of a disaster on Mount Everest, the mountaineer wanted to be the strongest version of himself

Indian mountaineer Anaug Maloo was stranded in a crevasse for three days, until a team of rescuers overcame improbable odds to save him

A veteran climber is dead, another is missing, and multiple others are lucky to be alive after a tragic few days in the Himalayas

Climbing permits are up, expeditions are welcoming more women, and new technology is changing the timeline for getting to the top. These are some of the storylines we’re following during the 2023 season on Mount Everest.

After close calls in combat zones and on mountaineering expeditions, the journalist is taking a very different kind of journey

When the love of her life died in the mountains, the pro skier learned that navigating loss meant accepting that things will be messy

When the mountain guide was caught in an avalanche, he was sure it was the end. But deep inside himself he discovered the will to live.

A scientist from the University of Colorado explains why the presence of human bacteria on the South Col represents a groundbreaking discovery

After this mother of seven miraculously survived a violent car crash, she found a new purpose in climbing high-altitude peaks

After the enormous earthquake in February, one group of Turkish mountaineers headed east, to help in any way they could

Basque climbers Amaia Agirre and Iker Bilbao were descending the peak when a wet slide swept them into a crevasse

The elite ski mountaineer was struggling mightily on an expedition. To get through it, he would have to get out of his own way.

For an episode of our new podcast, ‘The Daily Rally,’ the professional skier talks about learning to get out of his own way while on an expedition in Alaska

In 1976, Nanda Devi Unsoeld, the daughter of legendary alpinist Willi Unsoeld, died while climbing the massive Indian peak for which she was named. Decades later, friends, family, and surviving expedition members offer insights into what went wrong during this controversial adventure, shedding light on an enigmatic young woman who lived without limits.

The American Alpine Club has chosen a new title for its annual honor, which was previously named after mountaineering pioneers Robert L.H. and Miriam Underhill

The Norwegian mountaineer explains why women deserve equal support on the world’s highest mountains

Expedition leader Philip Henderson takes us inside the first all-Black mission to climb Mount Everest, and explains why the group’s work didn’t end when they returned to Base Camp

When you gotta go, you gotta go. These make it easier no matter where you are.

The Norwegian mountaineer was unable to obtain an entry permit from China to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, putting her two peaks shy of the record

Adventurers Andrea Sansone and Andrew Hamilton trace their relationship back to a chance encounter on one of Colorado’s highest peaks. Now, the two are pushing each other to set speed records on the state’s famed fourteeners.

New details have emerged about the deadly avalanche that buried dozens of climbers in India on Tuesday

Guiding companies are abandoning the mountain after a third fatality in one week

A fall on Manaslu claimed the life of the legendary ski mountaineer this week

The death of Hilaree Nelson highlights a double standard that still exists with mothers in the adventure world

After going missing on Monday while descending from the summit, Nelson was found by a search and rescue team

Two days after Nelson went missing on Manaslu, details about the ski mountaineer’s accident are emerging

Harila has climbed 12 of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 meters. Now she’s asking for public assistance in obtaining a permit to enter China and ascend the final two.

Purja, 39, returned to the mountain on Tuesday, one day after a paragliding mishap. “I can laugh about it," he wrote on social media.

Mountaineers now agree on the location of the 26,781-foot peak’s highest point. More than 400 are expected to try and reach the summit this fall.

Jeff Long led a world-class team to climb the uncharted west face of Makalu. The attempt failed, and he was held responsible for an illegal act by an ousted member.

Each year, Big City Mountaineers changes thousands of kids’ lives by bringing them on their first outdoor adventures. You can make it happen for another.

Whether you love scaling big rocks or just watching others do it on the big screen, these films capture climbing at its best

The 20-mile ridgeline covers over 12,000 vertical feet and overlooks the Austrian city of Innsbruck

When mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja climbed K2 this year, he and his fellow climbers stumbled onto rancid food, tattered tents, and piles of human waste

The 36-year-old Norwegian is already ahead of Nims Purja’s schedule on the 14 peaks. She tells us her mission is to prove that high-altitude expeditions aren’t just a man’s game.

A group of high school sophomores set off on what was supposed to be a grand climb. Instead, it became one of the deadliest alpine disasters in North American history.

Communication can be the difference between life and death in mountaineering. Climbers Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger know that as well as anyone.

The “Savage Mountain” saw its busiest day ever earlier this week, as more than 100 climbers reached the summit

Nepali climber Sanu Sherpa is the first person to scale the 14 peaks above 8,000 meters twice

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s memoir about being the first Peruvian woman to stand atop the tallest mountain on earth is also a story about surviving sexual abuse and addiction and, ultimately, finding herself

This week, Outside Book Club host Elizabeth Hightower Allen spoke with author Silvia Vasquez-Lavado about her memoir In the Shadow of the Mountain, the Book Club’s May pick. On the one hand, the books is about Vasquez-Lavado journey to become the first Peruvian woman to summit Everest…

At the end of one of the most successful Everest seasons in years, we collected the most compelling stories about the peak and how it can bring out the best and worst in those who attempt to climb it

Amy McCulloch went to the Himalayas looking for adventure. She came back with an idea for an epic novel.

The beloved annual gathering is in person again in Telluride, Colorado, and screening some of the most exciting adventure films of the year

Dozens of expeditions took advantage of favorable weather to reach the world’s highest point on Thursday

The Robert and Miriam Underhill Award, given since 1983 to legends like Lynn Hill, Yvon Chouinard, Conrad Anker, and Alex Honnold, will be rebranded because of racist remarks made in the 1930s and 1940s by Robert L.H. Underhill, a major figure in the history of U.S. mountaineering

The best gear for staying comfortable and climbing on North America’s tallest mountain