The Cutting Edge The American Alpine Journal

Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein from France have made first ski descents in many parts of Asia. But until 2022, Tiphaine had never been to North America. In May, she flew to Alaska with Boris to pursue a crazy dream: a ski descent of the Cassin Ridge on Denali. The two quickly realized this wouldn’t be possible (at least this year), but an alternate vision soon appeared: a ski line down the upper southwest face of Denali. On May 31, the two climbed to the summit and started down just to skier’s right of the upper Cassin. After descending about 1,000 meters, they made a long, terrifying traverse to join the West Rib route and continued down all the way to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The total descent was more than 3,800 meters. For this episode of the Cutting Edge, Tiphaine spoke with guest interviewer Brody Leven, a professional ski mountaineer himself, about the planning and execution of this bold descent.

Have you ever wondered how ordinary climbers manage to put together an expedition to the Himalaya? Our guests Ethan Berman and Maarten Van Haeren just made the first ascent of the northeast face of Khang Karpo (6,646 meters) in Nepal during their very first expedition to the mountains of Asia. In this episode, AAJ editor Dougald MacDonald interviews the pair about their beautiful new route, and then asks them to go into detail on the ins and outs of planning an expedition.

The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec, Gnarly Nutrition, and Lowa Boots. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

With only about a dozen ascents in nearly four decades, the Slovak Direct route on Denali's south face is one of North America's premier hard climbs. Sixteen years after the first ascent, Scott Backes, Steve House, and Mark Twight famously upped the ante by climbing the route in single-push style: bringing no tent or sleeping bags and climbing nearly continuously for 60 hours. Twenty-two years later, in the spring of 2022, the Slovak saw another round of single-push ascents, blazing up the route in less than 24 hours. For this episode, AAJ editor Dougald MacDonald spoke with climbers from all three of these ascents: Steve House, Matt Cornell, and Rob Smith. They talked about the progression in climbing gear and tactics that allowed such amazingly fast climbs, but also about universal aspects of challenges like this that have nothing to do with speed records.

The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker (hilleberg.com), with additional support from Lowa Boots, Polartec, and Gnarly Nutrition. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

In mid-September, American Colin Haley, 38, added another impressive solo ascent to his long list of ground-breaking alpine climbs (both roped and unroped). During an impromptu late-winter trip to Patagonia, in a round-trip of around 21 hours, Haley climbed the Supercanaleta route on Cerro Chaltén (Fitz Roy), the first time this 1,600-meter climb has been soloed in winter. And by solo, we really mean alone: Haley never saw another climber during his five trips into the high mountains. In this episode, Michael Levy quizzes Haley not only about the physical aspects of such a difficult, lonely climb, but also the psychological ups and downs of soloing in winter.

The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Gnarly Nutrition, Lowa Boots, and Polartec. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

In July, German climber Fabian Buhl and Will Sim from the U.K. reached the summit of a 5,800-meter rock and ice tower in Pakistan. Their first ascent wasn't particularly big or difficult. What made the climb extraordinary was their approach: After a leisurely breakfast in Karimibad, the nearest big town, they flew paragliders to the glacier at the foot of the tower, gaining about 2,000 meters in elevation. After climbing the peak early the next day, they rappelled back to their bivouac and flew back down to the valley. They were back in town for dinner. For this episode, AAJ assistant editor Michael Levy spoke with Fabi and Will about the new possibilities combining paragliding and alpinism—and the hazards of this new game.

The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec, Gnarly Nutrition, and Lowa Boots. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

5.13 M7 WI6. These are the kinds of numbers that catch climbers’ attention, especially when you’re talking about climbing a 6,000-meter peak in Peru. But numbers don’t come close to capturing all the challenges of a route like the one done by our guests Vince Anderson and Josh Wharton in July. In this episode, the Colorado-based climbers explain why it took four trips to Peru to complete their all-free, alpine-style line up Jirishanca. And why no one else had reached the summit of Jirishanca via the southeast face in nearly 20 years.

The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Lowa Boots, Polartec, and Gnarly Nutrition. Michael Levy conducted the interview for this episode, and Sierra McGivney provided editing support. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.