I would have never attempted to lead this route, Barely Legal, had it not been for the support and enthusiasm of Alex Lowe. This was the route’s second ascent. Shoshone River, Wyoming. BRAD JOHNSON/PEAKS AND PLACES PHOTOGRAPHY
Myself, Barry Blanchard and Joe Josephson drying out after an attempt on the Emperor Face. Barry and Jojo are two of the most influential climbers to ever swing ice tools in Canada. Barry opened numerous hard alpine routes and waterfall pitches throughout the world in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Jojo, a U.S. citizen living in Canada at the time, brought an intense and obsessive energy to climbing steep, sustained pitches of ever-thinner waterfall ice which ultimately ushered in the era of climbing steep, bare rock with ice tools and crampons – now commonly known as mixed climbing. Mount Robson, British Columbia. STEVE HOUSE COLLECTION
Joe Josephson and I following a pitch Barry dubbed “the traverse of the stubbies” in reference to the short ice screws needed to protect it. This was the first difficult pitch of our ill-fated second attempt on Mount Robson’s Emperor Face. British Columbia. BARRY BLANCHARD
A view of the east face of Howse Peak the day Scott Backes, Barry Blanchard, and I climbed the route, which we named M-16. In 2002 Will Gadd, Scott Semple, and Kevin Mahoney climbed a route in the same vicinity continuing to the summit. They named their route Howse of Cards, a veiled parry to our choice of route name which Barry exploited by writing, “M-16 – twice as hard as M-8.” The original, and true, meaning of M-16 we kept to ourselves. Howse Peak, Alberta. BARRY BLANCHARD
Scott Backes leading below the section that became known as “The Pitch,” which goes from the top of the wide ice flow above Scott, traverses right, under the snow mushrooms, and then climbs straight up gray, partially visible ice into the steep black rock below the horizon line. Howse Peak, Alberta. STEVE HOUSE
Scott Backes and I approach the east face of Howse Peak. Our intended line is the dramatic waterfall right of center. The large waterfall to the left was unclimbed at this time, but was ascended by two strong young Canadians while we were engaged on M-16. Alberta. BARRY BLANCHARD
I lead though the crux of the first of three consecutive difficult pitches on the Slovak Direct route. The topo showed this section as having “100-degree” ice, which we were interested to see. We had been awake for 25 hours and climbing most of that time. Denali, Alaska. MARK TWIGHT
Denali from just below the summit of Mount Foraker. Visible, from left to right, are the Father and Sons Wall, the Washburn Wall, the West Buttress, the West Rib route, the Slovak Direct route, and Mascioli’s Pillar. I have climbed each of these routes at least once between 1993 and 2000. Alaska. STEVE HOUSE
Marko Prezelj and I bivied at 20,000 feet on the British-Sherpa route on Nuptse. In the morning we ascended to 22,000 feet in stormy conditions and then decided to return to base camp. In the race to descend before night fell, Marko captured this stunning image of Ama Dablam. Himalaya, Nepal. MARKO PREZELJ
I took this self-portrait on the summit of Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain, on September 27, 2001. I climbed from base camp to summit to base camp in 27 hours, breaking trail in boot-top to knee-deep snow for the last 3,000 feet. Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse are visible behind me. Himalaya, border of Nepal and China. STEVE HOUSE
The seldom-climbed, 25,660-foot Masherbrum viewed from the north. A joint Pakistani-American expedition completed its first ascent and put Willi Unsoeld and George Bell on the summit. The route ascended the heavily glaciated, and now extremely hazardous, south face in 1960. Karakoram, Pakistan. MARKO PREZELJ
Hajji Ghulam Rasool: guide, cook, and friend. We were traveling towards the glaciated, 18,000-foot Gondogoro Pass from our base camp north of Masherbrum. It was snowing and would be dark before we found that night’s campsite. Still, Rasool was smiling and laughing. Karakoram, Pakistan. MARKO PREZELJ
Marko Prezelj following the first difficult pitch on North Twin. This was an exceptionally high-quality pitch of climbing on perfect rock and set the tone for what was to come. Alberta. STEVE HOUSE
The pitch above the crux section of the Lowe-Jones route goes up a perfect limestone crack to the roof above me. I climbed out to the left towards the horizontal snow mushroom. The quality of the climbing on this difficult route was truly superb. North Twin, Alberta. MARKO PREZELJ
The last hard pitch before the “three-butt-cheek bivy.” With all my weight on my front points and my pelvis braced against the rock, I’m trying to set my pick into a thin seam. North Twin, Alberta. MARKO PREZELJ
The fourth day of our North Twin epic was tough. Marko had to lead everything because I had lost one boot shell. We had no water since the night before, and the weather was deteriorating. You can see the snow blowing down the rock as the climbing remained difficult to the very end. Alberta. STEVE HOUSE
Marko leads the last section up to where we exited to a long 50-degree ice slope. We climbed that slope in another 13 pitches to attain the bivy below the summit cornice. North Twin, Alberta. STEVE HOUSE
With only one boot shell, I follow one of the many pitches of moderate ice to the summit. If I had had my boot we could have climbed these 13 rope lengths in a few hours. Instead it took us most of the day. North Twin, Alberta. MARKO PREZELJ
K7 with its summit shrouded from view. The difficult climbing near the summit consisted of climbing through the steep sunlit rocks just below the summit cloud. The pinnacle to the left was appropriately nicknamed the “Mo-fo” by Conrad Anker and remains unclimbed as of 2009. Karakoram, Pakistan. MARKO PREZELJ
Looking down the crux pitch of K7 during my successful ascent. I have aid climbed the thin cracks below me to get to this point, where a short section of ice climbing leads to a rightwards traverse. The rope is feeding out of my small pack sitting on a snow ledge below me. Karakoram, Pakistan. STEVE HOUSE
As the sun casts a pink light across the Rupal Face on September 2, 2005, Vince Anderson speeds across a dangerous gully. You can see where the previous days’ avalanches have stripped off the snow behind him revealing gray ice. Nanga Parbat, Pakistan. STEVE HOUSE
Vince Anderson leading enjoyable mixed climbing at 18,000 feet just before noon on the second day. At this point we’ve gained over 6,000 feet since we left base camp and we have almost 8,000 feet remaining to reach the summit. On most big-wall climbs we would be at the top after that much vertical gain, or at the bottom with that much to go. In our case on the Rupal Face we are just approaching the middle. Nanga Parbat, Pakistan. STEVE HOUSE
