The pair left their high moraine camp (4900m) at 6 a.m. on October 16. After encountering a pitch of sustained 80-degree mixed climbing, they followed 70-degree consolidated snow until just below the summit. This last pitch "was the most difficult with a lot of loose snow and little shelter from the elements," Beto Pinto said. Digging through loose snow, however, the climbers found cam placements in the underlying rock. They summited at 12:30 p.m. that same day, then returned to high camp via downclimbing and three rappels.

Later that trip, the pair climbed rock and ice to the summit of Urus West (5450m). They also became the first Peruvians to summit Palcaraju (6274m), one of the highest peaks in the range, after fixing 900 meters of rope.

Source: Beto Pinto Toldeo

"There is one book in particular here which we all felt as soon as we finished it, we would want to read again," Judge Chairman Phil Bartlett said of House's book in his prize announcement speech. "It is a book we feel privileged to have read, and proud to have been asked to judge."

Alpinist 28 contributor Jerry Auld's novel Hooker and Brown was shortlisted alongside Cairngorm John by John Allen, The Longest Climb by Dominic Faulkner, Revelations by Jerry Moffatt and Deep Powder and Steep Rock by Chic Scott.

Beyond the Mountain also won Best Book in the Mountain Literature category at the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival (read the November 4, 2009 NewsWire).

Source: boardmantasker.com

Graziani and Trommsdorff traveled to Nepal with hopes of climbing Manaslu (8156m). But after only three days of acclimatizing at 5200m, 5400m and 5600m on nearby ridges followed by 12 days of bad weather, the pair realized they would need to change their objective to a lower peak.

The result: a striking line on the south spur (ED+) that wove together "delicate snow ridges" and "fantastic gullies and mixed climbing" for 2400 meters, Trommsdorff said, climbed all free in alpine style.

Graziani and Trommsdorff climbed the spur over five days, October 11-15 (bivies at 5300m, 5800m, 6200m and 6500m), to the ridge at ca. 7000m. They descended without summiting and reached base camp at 10 p.m. on October 16.

Success depended on precise conditions, Trommsdorff said. Cold weather on their second day solidified the climbing and protected them from loose rock and ice. And still weather on their third day kept seracs quiet. On the fourth day, they found a "miraculous" hole that allowed them to cross the cornice ridge. However, the climb was not without incident, and on that same day a large chunk of ice struck Trommsdorff's helmet. While the injury was not serious, the shock affected Trommsdorff's climbing, as well as his physical and mental state.

But they continued on. On the 15th they reached the top of the face. Trommsdorff weak, and knowing a push to the summit would have required another high bivouac, the pair turned back. Trommsdorff experienced several moments of "absence" during the descent, he said, including a moment when he dropped Graziani's backpack. They bivouacked once on the return to camp.

Two days later, Graziani hiked up to the bergshrund, where he found his pack but no camera.

Trommsdorff added that despite the beauty, quality and sustained nature of the climb, "no pitches were as hard as the hardest ones on Chomolonzo or Pumari Chhish."

Source: Christian Trommsdorff

At the end of August, Canadians Joshua Lavigne, Craig McGee, Scott Everett and Carlyle Norman flew into the range and set up base camp on the Sunny Knob outcrop located on the south side of the upper Tiedemann Glacier. As a warm up, they climbed Skywalk Buttress (ED1: 5.9, 600m) then split into two teams. Lavigne and McGee were successful on a new route, Defiance (ED2: 5.12 A3, 1450m) on the relatively popular Mt. Combatant (3756m) via the Incisor. Meanwhile, Everett and Norman had planned a 1500-meter traverse from the Gnat's Tooth to Serra One, but retreated when warm temperatures caused significant rockfall on the upper mixed pitches.

Mt. Combatant has routes on all its major buttresses and is one of the area's gems, said Alpinist correspondent Don Serl: "It may be the finest of the peaks in the Waddington Range."

Lavigne and McGee began climbing on August 28. That day they completed the first seven pitches of the Incisor, sharing some terrain with the route Belligerence and finding "steep, technical climbing," Lavigne said, "including multiple 5.11 pitches that were loose and run out, and a crux pitch of intricate, thin crack climbing." They fixed their two ropes that afternoon and left their gear at the base of the wall. Two days later they returned and continued free climbing--save for one 20-meter section of A3, the route's only aid--to just below the summit of Incisor, 15 pitches up. The next day, September 1, they found eight pitches of rock along the Jawbone that was "loose and dangerous and at times completely terrifying," Lavigne said. This took them to the base of Toothless Tower, where they found excellent rock that led them to the summit of Combatant.

On July 20, Mike Pond, Matt Van Biene, Brianna Hartzell and Eric Dalzell were dropped by helicopter just south of Mt. Desire (2606m), where the four established base camp. Supported by an AAC McNeill-Nott Award and a Mountain Fellowship grant, the team planned to climb Desire's east ridge, a moderate but unclimbed and immense swath of stepped rock and snow. The team scouted their entry point to the ridge that same afternoon and decided to try the route the next day, in a push.

Scrambling brought the two rope teams to fantastic knife-edge rock and snow climbing with wild exposure. Rappels into a notch led to the base of a chossy headwall; Hartzell and Dalzell descended from this point while Pond and Van Biene continued on 5.8 terrain to the summit. The summit team returned to camp via the west to a col, where they rappelled to the 'schrund.

The team spent three more days in the area. During that time, Pond and Van Biene climbed two more new routes on nearby summits: Menergy Ridge (III 5.8) on a peak they named the Gail Needle and Wanderlust Traverse (5.10, 3 pitches) on Wanderlust Peak, which they also named.

Sources: Joshua Lavigne, Don Serl, americanalpineclub.org, briannabananarama.blogspot.com, mattvb.blogspot.com

Air Zermatt pilot Robert Andenmatten and climber and rescuer Simon Anthamatten, along with a Nepalese captain, spotted Humar's body from the air this morning after three hours of search. Anthamatten was dropped at the site via a 25-meter static line; Humar's body was fixed to the line and flown to base camp; the pilot then returned to pick up Anthamatten.

The body was located at 5600 meters on the south wall of Langtang Lirung, about 700 meters lower than expected. It is unclear whether Humar took a second fall on the face.

"We may never know exactly what happened," Slovenian rescue coordinator Viki Groselj told 24ur.com. "The first reviews of the body showed that he had a broken leg. We assume that he died sometime on Monday night, no later than Tuesday."

Efforts are under way to bring Humar's body to Kathmandu.

Sources: Gerold Biner, Menno Boermans, Ang Tshering Sherpa, 24ur.com

Climbing and helicopter search teams are expected to mobilize again tomorrow. The Swiss rescue team Air Zermatt will fly two helicopters to base camp on Saturday to support rescue operations.

"The plan is to fly a mountain rescuer with a 50-meter longline to the location on the mountain where Tomaz Humar is supposed to be," Alpinist correspondent and Air Zermatt team member Menno Boermans wrote in an email.

An aerial search on Tuesday and ground searches by four Nepalese climbing sherpas on Wednesday and Thursday were unsuccessful, however, and reports of Humar's last communication suggest his condition is dire.

Dawa Sherpa of Asian Trekking told ExplorersWeb details of Humar's communications in an email: "On the evening of November 9th, Asian Trekking received an emergency call from BC crew member Jagat: Tomaz had had an accident at approximately 6,300m and requested immediate rescue... [Tuesday] at 10:00am was also the last time Tomaz called Jagat. The conversation was very short. Tomaz seemed to be in a very critical condition and his voice was very weak. He said: 'Jagat, this is my last!' There was no further contact with Tomaz after that."

Alpinist will post more rescue information in NewsWire as it becomes available.

Sources: Menno Boermans, mounteverest.net

On Monday, Humar used a satellite phone to notify a friend in Slovenia that he was injured. A Sherpa rescue team subsequently mobilized, fixing ropes today up to ca. 6300m, where Humar is thought to be. But the climber has not been found.

Tomorrow the rescue team will continue searching for Humar with the support of a spotting helicopter.

Rescuers and coordinators have heard nothing more from Humar and have been unable to reach him via satellite phone.

Local news sources speculate that Humar has a broken leg and broken ribs.

Rescue coordinator and fellow Slovenian climber Viki Groselj has called the situation very serious. He added that Humar's exact location and health is unknown.

The Swiss rescue team Air Zermatt is en route to Kathmandu in hopes of supporting the rescue.

"Our biggest challenge will be to arrange the permit for our pilot to fly an Nepalese helicopter," said Gerold Biner, Air Zermatt's chief pilot.

Humar is one of the most recognized high-altitude solo climbers. He was rescued from Dhaulagiri in 1999 and Nanga Parbat in 2005.

Alpinist will post more rescue information in NewsWire as it becomes available.

Sources: Menno Boermans, mounteverest.net, 24ur.com, b92.net

Representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and the United States attended the August meeting. They named Kika Bradford as part-time executive director and formed a steering committee of volunteer activists from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Spain and the United States.

Access PanAm hopes to improve climber relations and the general climbing environment in countries throughout Central and South America, particularly Brazil, Cuba and Mexico. Access activists in Latin America often face a dizzying web of mining and energy companies, disputed ownership and even gang activity.

Increasing access concerns throughout the Americas spurred the organization's formation earlier this year.

President of the group, and a major force behind its formation, Armando Menocal (also Co-founder of the Access Fund) said an "international approach will require different tactics than a national approach... The issues vary, but they have a common core. No one solution fits. It will be up to local climbers to solve local problems. Our basic mission is to support local climber initiatives."

Menocal added that "sometimes the most important thing for a local organizer is just knowing that they aren't alone."

The group's primary objective is to dissuade damming projects in Chile's Valle Cochamo, the featured Area Profile in Alpinist 23. Legally unprotected, the massive valley is home to some of the world's longest granite rock climbs. Chile's Conservacion Cochamo is the leading local organization in this fight. Access PanAm will lend support by forging connections with media groups, advising on fund-raising tactics and providing a media plan to increase international awareness.

Learn more about Access PanAm at their website, accesspanam.com.

Sources: Armando Menocal, Daniel Seeliger, accessfund.org, accesspanam.com

Day pass fees for the scenic loop road would increase from $0 to $3 for bicycles and pedestrians; $5 to $7 for cars; $2 to $3 for motorcycles; and from $2 to $5 for each person on a commercial tour bus. An annual loop-road pass would cost $30 instead of $20. Campsites at the BLM site would cost $15 each per night instead of $10, and group sites would cost $40 each per night instead of $25. Though still free for drop-in use, reserving Red Spring Picnic Area would cost $40.

The draft is in the review phase. The bureau will accept public comment on the plan through November 16, 2009. The plan will be revised and could go into effect as early as March 2010.

Amenity fees have not increased at Red Rock's scenic loop road for more than 10 years, the bureau said, and the size of the conservation area has more than doubled since 1990.

BLM held two public meetings on October 22 to answer questions and accept comments. The land manager clarified that, by law, money raised from fee increases would be applied toward projects at Red Rocks. However, the BLM has not yet prioritized the money.

"This is your chance to let the BLM know what you would like to see the money go toward," a representative from the Las Vegas Climbers Liaison Council wrote on mountainproject.com. "For example, if you would like to see the money go toward trail maintenance, submit that information."

Comments on the draft plan should be emailed to redrockbp@blm.gov or sent by mail to: BLM / Red Rock Business Plan Comments / 4701 N Torrey Pines Drive / Las Vegas, NV 89130.

The business plan proposal comes amid discussion of the BLM's upcoming Wilderness Management Plan draft. Read more about that precedent-setting document in Alpinist's October 2009 High Camp.

Sources: blm.gov, mountainproject.com

Hersey, after being sick at Base Camp, was too ill to climb, so Deavoll, unwilling to abandon the mountain without an attempt, prepared to start solo. Feeling slightly better, Hersey accompanied Deavoll to ABC (4200m) with the intention of belaying her through the lower rock bands. However, upon reaching the rock bands, Deavoll and Hersey were able to ascend a gully, avoiding technical ice above the rock. Hersey followed Deavoll to High Camp and spent the night in a pack liner, then waited for Deavoll to return from her summit bid before returning to ABC.

On summit day, Deavoll climbed a rock band and consolidated snow before entering a labyrinth of exposed traverses and debris-littered gullies. At one point she was forced to descend 100m to traverse through poor snow to reach seventy-degree ice on the summit ridge. Summiting in good weather at midday, she retraced her route back to camp at 5100m--where she spent the night before returning to ABC.

Deavoll declined to grade the route, which had been attempted in 2007 by the Italian climber Ivo Ferrari.

"The main obstacle for me was route finding and the enormous size of the face, and I guess, having the confidence to go on by myself knowing my partner was not up to coming to look for me," Deavoll said.

Choosing Karim Sar as an objective was the result of two earlier expeditions to nearby Beka Brakai Chhok (6940m). In 2007, Deavoll was denied that summit when her team attempted a difficult route. It was on this expedition that she first spotted Karim Sar from a distance. In 2008, a seven-day storm shut down the team at 6000m, and conditions were so disastrous that they retreated from 6400m. Simone Moro climbed the peak later that season. This year, when Deavoll's planned expedition to the unclimbed south face of Kampire Dior (7000m) was canceled due to the Taliban's occupation of the nearby Swat Valley, Karim Sar seemed a worthy objective.

Sources: Patricia Deavoll, Paul Hersey, Asghar Ali Porik, Nazir Sabir, patdeavoll.co.nz

Editor's Note: This article was amended on November 16, 2009 to more accurately reflect Hersey's condition and support.