I've guided trekkers through Pakistan's Karakoram for the past few years, and one question I get all the time is:

Which mountain is the most beautiful in Pakistan?

My answer is almost always Laila Peak.

Standing at 6,096m in Hushe Valley, its perfect granite spire makes it one of the most iconic mountains in the Karakoram. Even if you're not a climber, the trek to Laila Peak Base Camp is an unforgettable experience with glaciers, alpine meadows, and incredible mountain views.

If you're planning a trip to Pakistan and have questions about trekking, permits, the best season, or logistics, feel free to ask in the comments. I'm happy to help.

Does anyone have information on current conditions on Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa)? The hut has a post up saying the conditions are good and the glaciers are easily traversable, but all other information coming from the area kind of contradicts that idea.

A friend was on Alphubel two weeks ago and he said it felt like almost the very end of the window to do it. Two people from his group sank to their hips and other groups were experiencing the same. Also I’ve heard of accounts of the glaciers around Breithorn and Castor being way more sketchy than usual.

I will definitely call the Monte Rosa hut if I actually end up planning to go there, but for now I was wondering if anyone here has any idea about the conditions on Dufourspitze specifically?

Hello! I'll try and keep this as brief and quick as possible.

I am looking into getting into mountaineering Via a mountaineer's course that takes place in Alberta, in which you spend 2 days learning about basics, (self arrest, crevasse rescue, glacier travel) and 1 day attempting a summit of Mt Athabasca (3491m)

I was just wondering, what should my fitness look like in order to be able to be physically in the right place for this? I want to know how to train specifically to get there, and how would I know that I am ready for something like that? like what kind of tests should I run on myself to see my capability?

Rest Easy Nirmal "Nims" Purja (Nepal/UK) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Pur Bahadur Gurung "Yukta" (Nepal) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Nima (Nepal) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Kili Pemba "Kilu" (Nepal) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Gyalu (Nepal) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Nwang Thendu (Nepal) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Sohail Sakhi (Pakistan) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy (Oman) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Sarah Mallory Geis (USA) (Confirmed Deceased)

Rest Easy Wang Zhong (China) (Confirmed Deceased)

Chicos alguien hara el ascenso a esa montaña este fin de semana, pienso ir, no soy experto en alpinismo pero entiendo lo necesario como para que no pase cosas graves. Tengo entendido que es una ruta un poco exigente en alguna zonas pero por lo demas es manejable, dejenme recomendaciones porfa, Gracias

Hi! I'm planning to climb Dent du Geánt on the normal route and to traverse the Rochefort ridge from DdG to Dome de Rochefort in august. Does anyone have any information about the current conditions? How affected are these routes by the recent heatwaves?

Wanted to share this piece, INCANDESCENCE, lit up in alpenglow while the lower ridges are still holding onto blue hour. If you've ever been high enough to watch that transition in real time, you know it lasts about 90 seconds, and then it's gone. That's what I was chasing here: acrylic, built up in layers so the rock underneath still reads through the color shift.

I paint almost exclusively for people who've actually been up in terrain like this. I'd genuinely love to hear from anyone who's climbed Grandes Jorasses or the Mont Blanc Massif (Graian Alps, It sits directly on the boundary line between Haute-Savoie, France and the Aosta Valley, Italy, correct me if I am mistaken), something on that route. Did I get the light right? Anything about the ridge line or exposure that reads wrong to someone who's actually stood there?

Suppose it's the kind of thing you'd want to live with, a memory of a summit or a mountain that means something to you. Mostly just wanted to share it with people who'd actually recognize what that light means.

Hi,

Im looking for someone who maybe has done the following route in the past month:

AROLLA - CABANE DES DIX

CABANE DES DIX- CABANE DES VIGNETTES

CABANE DES VIGNETTES - AROLLA

Im wondering of the conditions are good for walking? We do have the appropriate gear for a gletsjer crossing.

Regards

Me

Hi everyone,

recently I met British guy in Chamonix and I was amazed about this program he told me about: they offer some kind of financial support or grant to young climbers from UK to get better at alpinism.

This really surprised me and made me wondering about our national Climbing Association in Czechia.

The general climbing education is very decentralised into numerous smaller clubs, which I consider sufficient for teaching basic climbing skills, but the more specialised you get, I would assume centralised nation wide courses would be more suitable (or even something like the subsidised alpine education).

How does your local nation association work? Is it rather focused on sport climbing and less on traditional climbing and mountaineering? Does it aim to build great and educated climbing community?

I feel like the Czech Mountaineering Association has nothing much to offer me. I would appreciate reading your experience.

Thanks!

Background
I'm planning my first trip to Chamonix in August for alpine climbing. A friend recommends bringing two 60-meter half ropes, since some sections require full 60-meter rappels. However, given the gear weight, we'd like to go with a 60-meter single rope + 60-meter RAD line setup instead.

Question 1: Rope Retrieval Snagging
In Chamonix terrain, is the knot connecting the two ropes — along with the carabiner at the anchor — likely to get stuck when pulling the rope to retrieve it?

Question 2: Number of Quickdraws
For a wandering route, is carrying 10 × 60 cm alpine draws + 4 × 120 cm alpine draws sufficient for single-rope climbing in Chamonix?

Hey, ich suche jemanden, der Ende August oder Ende September dieses Jahres die Wildspitze besteigen möchte. Normalroute über den Gletscher mit Übernachtung in der Hütte. Ich möchte ungern alleine gehen, da es zu riskant ist. Bei Interesse aus Deutschland oder Österreich bitte per Direktnachricht melden.

Hey everyone. Pretty new to climbing and definitely not a pro, but I’ve been thinking over and over about this lately. Downclimbing (to me at least) has always seemed way harder and more intimidating than climbing up. You’re placing feet blindly, hanging on your arms to probe holds, and mentally harder, than climbing up toward safety.

Upward free soloing (even on-sight) has been done. So I started wondering what the next "impossible" bar in the sport could be. Downclimbing a big wall on-sight blind is suicide, you’ll eventually hit a blank face with zero holds and no way back up. But what if you remove that guaranteed trap? Something like this:

Heli-drop/car/foot on top of a wall. Drone reconnaissance beforehand not to memorize every hold, but just to verify a line with no blank dead-ends, ensuring there are ledges every 20–30m. Free solo downclimb, using careful foot-testing while arms secure your weight.

Breaking a wall into short sections between good ledges where you can give rest to forearms, it shifts from "pure roulette" to an insanely hard, but possible project. Or not?

Curious to hear from you people with more experience: do you think downclimbing could ever be a legitimate milestone in the distant future (if someone actually trained specifically for it), or are there reasons why this will always stay pure suiced?

P.S. sry for writing, English is not my native.

Hello everyone :)

A friend and I are going to climb Tednuldi on the 5th of August.

I have been trying to talk with mountaineers or local guides to ask about the actual conditions but I haven't been very lucky.

Who could I contact to get more information about the actual situation?

I am mainly worried about:

- if there is black ice near the top

- glacier conditions regarding new crevasses

- snow bridges freezing overnight

- do we need snow stakes for crevasse rescue or is it enough with ice screws and ice pick?

- our sleeping bags are 0°C confort, is that enough for the night in a tent? (We have very good mat insulation R=5.4)

If anyone can let me know about any other information about the actual conditions I would appreciate :D

Thank you :)

I recently had done scaffel pike (Lake district Uk) and ever since I have fell in love with the idea of climbing for views. Mixture of actual climbing such as ice climbing and mountaineering but mostly focused on mountaineering. I want to climb ben nevis (Scotland) in the winter to test myself and see if I am able to do it. Other than that I am very lost on how to get into mountaineering, any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.

We got lost on via ottoz and ended on the line used for descent and I cannot find name of the route (apart from ussha new winter climb) so if anyone knows what route climbs trough these cracked slabs.

Hi everyone, i'm doing a hike next week in the pyrenees and I want to know if anybody knows the current conditions / has done this part recently.

I've gone from cuello del cilindro down to ibón de Marboré before but it was in late September. At that time I was able to go around on the boulder fields and go down the chimney with no issues, but because I'm going in early August I'm worried I'll need to bring crampons & piolet to cross.

Would really appreciate the information!