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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.

Pumari Chhish East, a nearly 7,000-meter peak in the Karakoram, had been the goal of at least six expeditions over the last 15 years. In late June, the French-American trio of Christophe Ogier, Jérôme Sullivan, and Victor Saucède finally pulled it off. In the rapidly warming Karakoram, an effective strategy was key. In this episode, AAJ editor Dougald MacDonald speaks with Ogier and Sullivan about why they chose to approach the mountain a month earlier than other teams, why they avoided the peak's easiest lines, and how climate change is transforming alpinism around the world. 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 1976, Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker from Great Britain climbed the west face of Changabang (6,880m) in India, the most technical climb at this altitude ever done at the time. In May of this year, 46 years later, the team of Dan Joll, Kim Ladiges, and Matt Scholes, from New Zealand and Australia, finally made the second ascent. In this episode, we first speak with eminent climbing historian and AAJ senior editor Lindsay Griffin about the impact of the 1976 ascent, and then with Joll and Scholes about their climb this spring. The trio spent nine days on the bitterly cold mountain, and even though equipment and techniques have advanced immeasurably in the past half century, they still found plenty of challenge on this legendary route. 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.

In late March, Clint Helander and Andres Marin climbed the direct east face of Golgotha in Alaska's Revelation Mountains. The new route, Shaft of the Abyss (4,000', VI AI5 R M5 A0 90°), had been the goal of four expeditions by the two men, starting in 2016, and was the culmination of Helander's remarkable career in the Revelations, where he has completed 12 expeditions and numerous first ascents. AAJ assistant editor Michael Levy spoke with Helander and Marin about the long history of the route, the life-threatening avalanche that cut short their first attempt, and the mysterious case of the missing tent. 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.

On November 6, three Ukrainian climbers—Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail “Misha” Fomin, and Viacheslav "Slava" Polezhaiko—summited Annapurna III by the southeast ridge. This towering ridge line, following a knife-edge of loose snow and even looser rock to a 7,555-meter summit, had been a coveted goal of elite Himalayan climbers for 40 years. The three men spent 18 days on their extremely complex alpine-style ascent and descent. AAJ assistant editor Michael Levy spoke with Balabanov and Fomin just one week after their return to Ukraine to get the complete story of this remarkable climb. 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.

Archil Badriashvili has completed a number of wild new routes in Nepal in recent years, and this fall, the 31-year-old from Georgia and regular partners Giorgi Tepnadze and Baqar Gelashvili mounted an impressive expedition to the Hindu Kush in far northwestern Pakistan. After warming up with a new route to a 6,800-meter peak, the trio made the first ascent of the highest unclimbed mountain in the area: 7,303-meter Saraghrar Northwest. They spent five days climbing a granite headwall at over 6,500 meters, followed by a tenuous traverse to the summit. The full climb took nine days round-trip. In this episode, Archil speaks with AAJ editor Dougald MacDonald about growing up and training in the "Little Himalaya" of the Caucasus mountains, the difficult climb of Saraghrar Northwest, and the motivating power of Georgian folk songs on difficult ascents. 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.

This year, alpinist Chantel Astorga realized a long-held dream: a solo ascent of the classic Cassin Ridge on Denali, climbing 8,000 vertical feet from the bergschrund to the summit in 14 hours and 39 minutes. An avalanche forecaster based in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, Chantel has been guiding and climbing on Denali for well over a decade. As you’ll hear in Episode 44 of the Cutting Edge,, Chantel applied all of her experience on Denali to plan and execute the first female solo of the Cassin, including a complex approach down Denali’s Seattle Ramp to reach the base. (Possibly the first time this route has been skied.) She then carried her skis up and over, descending the upper West Buttress to return to her high camp. Speaking with the AAJ’s Lauren Miller, Chantel describes her tactics and decision-making for the Cassin Ridge in great depth. It’s a peek inside the mind of a Denali master. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Lowa Boots, Polartec, and Gnarly Nutrition. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Vitaliy Musiyenko fell in love with California's High Sierra in his early 20s. A decade later, at age 34, he is among the most prolific and accomplished explorers of the Range of Light, having climbed well over 100 long new routes. For much of this time, he has dreamed of putting all this experience to the test on a massive traverse of the Sierra Crest: by far the biggest technical traverse ever attempted in a range celebrated for its challenging linkups. Vitaliy made his first attempt on what he came to call the Goliath in 2016, doing the complete Evolution Crest, from Piute Pass to Bishop Pass. But something told him if he kept going that time, he might never make it out alive. His ultimate goal would add an extended version of the Palisade Traverse, including some sections that had never been done. In early August of this year, with a good forecast and eight days of food, he started out again. For episode 43 of the Cutting Edge, Lauren Miller, herself a longtime Sierra climber, spoke with Vitaliy about his extensive preparation and the physical and mental challenges of this Goliath traverse. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec, Gnarly Nutrition, and Lowa Boots. This show is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Our guest this episode is the Czech climber Marek Holeček, among the most successful alpine climbers of the past two decades. Holeček has climbed new routes all over the world, from Kyrgyzstan to Patagonia, Antarctica to Afghanistan. Two of his biggest successes came in the past five years, when he was already in his 40s: new routes on Gasherbrum I in Pakistan and Chamlang in Nepal, both of which were honored with Piolets d’Or. His new route up 7,162-meter Baruntse in Nepal, climbed in late May with Radoslav (Radek) Groh, is of similar stature. Holeček and Groh climbed the west face of Baruntse, 10 kilometers west of Makalu, in four days. Near the top, a fierce storm arrived a day and a half earlier than expected, and they had to fight to the summit, where they were pinned down for four nights. Finally, on their ninth day out from base camp, the storm let up enough for them to descend about 1,000 meters. After one more night, strung out and threatened by avalanche danger, and with no one left in their tiny base camp to help them out, they were picked up by a helicopter and flown off the lower mountain. Holeček said the route was the hardest he'd climbed yet, out of more than 40 expeditions. AAJ editor in chief Dougald MacDonald interviewed Holecek in late July. Since most of Holeček's interviews and videos are in Czech, this is a rare opportunity for English speakers to hear directly from one of the great alpinists of our time. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker (Hilleberg.com), with additional support from Polartec, Gnarly Nutrition, and Lowa Boots. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Ines Papert from Germany accomplished many of her greatest climbs while raising a small child. In this special episode, Sarah Hart interviews Ines about the challenges of combining motherhood with intense ambition as a climber, about forging new paths for women, and about climbing with your romantic partner. Ines and her partner (now husband), Luka Lindic from Slovenia, just finished a trip to Alaska, where they climbed a hard new route on Mt. Huntington. In part two of this episode, Lauren Miller speaks with Ines about the Alaska trip and their beautiful new route. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional Support from Gnarly Nutrition, LOWA Boots, and Polaretc. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

In late April, on their third trip to Alaska's remote and forbidding Mt. Neacola, Ryan Driscoll, Justin Guarino, and Nick Aiello-Popeo made the first complete ascent of the north face (a.k.a. the Medusa Face). The New Hampshire–based trio followed the line of a visionary 1995 attempt by Topher Donahue and Kennan Harvey until high on the wall, then added another full day of sustained climbing to top out, before descending the unknown east face. And this was only AFTER they had been avalanched out of their base camp earlier in the same month. It's a wild, wild story, and Ryan and Justin tell it in-depth, with Chris Kalman asking the questions. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Lowa Boots, Polartec, and Gnarly Nutrition. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

For more than a decade, Maryna Kopteva has been one of the world’s most accomplished climbers in a demanding style: big-wall first ascents on remote, high, and cold mountains. The Ukrainian woman has done new routes on Great Trango Tower in Pakistan, Tengkangpoche in Nepal, and the Golden Sentinel in India, among others. And what makes these climbs even more special is that they all were done with very small teams of women. For this reason, we interviewed Maryna for our special series called “In Her Own Words: Conversations with Female Alpinists.” This interview, led by Canadian climber Sarah Hart, not only gives insight into Maryna’s career, it also gives us a view into the climbing culture of Ukraine and other former Soviet states, where team cohesiveness and working together are often valued more than individual accomplishments. To a large degree, this approach helps explain why Maryna and her small teams of Russian and Ukrainian women have had such impressive success on high mountain walls. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Lowa Boots, Polartec, and new sponsor Gnarly Nutrition. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Our guest in episode 38 is the globe-trotting adventurer Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, who in February pulled off a mind-blowing feat of climbing: the first ever south to north traverse of the full Fitz Roy massif in Patagonia. This is the same spiky ridgeline that Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell traversed in 2014, but Sean did it in the opposite direction and he did all alone. And even though, as you’ll hear, he definitely wasn’t in any hurry, he took only two days longer than Tommy and Alex, despite carrying 10 days of food and self-belaying most of the climbing. The traverse entailed more than 4,000 meters of vertical gain, and except for the rappels, he did it all free, with pitches up to 6c (5.11). Chris Kalman interviewed Sean in El Chaltén, where he has been living for the past year. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec and Lowa Boots. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold need no introduction. Our show with them about the speed record on the Nose of El Cap (Episode 8) was by far the most popular we've ever done. Now they're back to chat with Chris Kalman about the CDUL Traverse: the Continental Divide Ultimate Linkup in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The two spent 36 hours in July doing 11 of the Park's most classic climbing routes and summiting 17 peaks. This traverse took place last summer, but the interview is brand new, and we also asked Tommy and Alex to reflect on their experiences climbing in the time of COVID, traveling vs. staying home, the opportunities for great adventures right in your own backyard, and what they're working on now. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from new sponsors Lowa and Polartec. This episode was also sponsored by Coros Vertix. The Cutting Edge podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club. Photo by Adam Stack.

Lynn Hill needs no introduction to the Cutting Edge audience: She is arguably the most ground-breaking female rock climber and big-wall free climber in the history of the sport. We asked Lynn to come onto the show not to talk about her climbs, however, but about her experiences as a woman climber, both at her peak as a professional (she free climbed the Nose of El Capitan in a day in 1994) and today. About the unconscious bias she and other women have faced in climbing, and about the challenges that remain. This episode kicks off a special series of the Cutting Edge called "In Her Own Words: Conversations With Female Alpinists." These interviews were conducted by Canadian climber Sarah Hart, who wrote a major article in AAJ 2020 about the state of the art of women's alpinism and a new system for increasing coverage of high-level women's climbs in the pages of the AAJ. As part of this project, Sarah interviewed several women about the unique challenges they have faced as leading female climbers. More episodes in this series will appear in the coming months. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club. Photo of Lynn Hill by Bob Carmichael.