From December 8–14, we shared glimpses of Conrad Anker’s life through images and short stories via the Alpinist Community project. Anker has authored first ascents in the Great Ranges for nearly two decades, includes new routes in the Alaska Range, Patagonia, Antarctica, the Karakoram, and the Himalaya.
The story of Cochamo can start anywhere. But since the trail is where all climbers now begin their adventures, that is where this story will begin. The path was likely cut by the Mapuche, “People of the Land,” or by their ancestors, some of the first known human inhabitants of Northern Patagonia.
I’ve been on the move for four hours. My first summit, strapped in winter snow, falls further behind me. I step off the ridge into a west facing couloir. Boot skiing and heel plunging morphs into log jumping and running.
Canadian alpinists Jon Walsh and Michelle Kadatz, both from Calgary, Alberta, recently visited the Storm Creek Headwall.
Coffee is as essential to climbers as ropes, sticky rubber and excuses why they don’t climb hard. Whether it’s trad climbing at Joshua Tree, alpine starts in the Tetons, or iced-coffee afternoons at Tonsai, coffee is essential fuel for climbers. The problem is that camp coffee methods are often sloppy and cumbersome.
