First ascent Archive - Adventure Mountain

23. October 202531. October 2025

Russian team opens new route on eight-thousander Manaslu

Manaslu (l.) and Pinnacle East (r.) in spring 2007 — Manaslu (left – in 2007)

Classic alpinism is alive and well! For me, this is evident in the fact that I can hardly keep up with reporting on all the extraordinary climbs this fall season in Nepal.

Like this one: According to Anna Piunova from the Russian mountaineering portal mountain.ru, Andrey Vasilyev, Sergey Kondrashkin, Natalia Belyankina, Kirill Eyserman, and Vitaly Shipilov reached the summit of the 8,163-meter-high Manaslu in western Nepal yesterday, Wednesday, at around 1 p.m. local time.

The Russian team opened a “new alpine-style route on the immense, uncharted Southwest Face,” Anna wrote on Facebook. Andrey sent her a short message from the highest point: “(We) Made the summit, just got back to the tent. It was brutal. The wind up there was insane.”

22. October 202523. October 2025

Berg, Barmasse, and Bielecki – New route on the nearly-7000er Numbur in Nepal

Hervé Barmasse, Felix Berg, and Adam Bieleki (from right to left) at the summit of Numbur

Once again, there has been a great achievement of true alpinism in the Himalayas in Nepal: by “the three Bs.”

Felix Berg from Germany, Hervé Barmasse from Italy, and Adam Bielecki from Poland opened a new route through the approximately 1,000-meter-high South Face of the rarely climbed 6,958-meter-high Numbur in the Rolwaling Valley, not far from Mount Everest – and they did it alpine style: without bottled oxygen, without fixed ropes, without fixed high camps, and without Sherpa support.

“For me personally, it was nice to be able to do some alpine climbing again after recently being busy leading and guiding (commercial) tours,” says Felix Berg, managing director of expedition operatur SummitClimb. “I have to say, it’s one of my highlight tours in Nepal.”

19. October 202522. October 2025

Vedrines and Jean succeed in first ascent of Jannu East

Benjamin Vedrines (l.) and Nicolas Jean (r.)

“Sometimes an ascent can change your life. I think this one did,” writes Benjamin Vedrines on Instagram.

The first ascent of the 7,468-meter-high Jannu East is “undoubtedly the greatest achievement of my mountaineering career,” said the 33-year-old Frenchman after his coup in eastern Nepal, which he accomplished together with his 27-year-old compatriot Nicolas Jean.

“Climbing such a challenging, long and difficult face in alpine style, on a summit that had never been climbed before, had a profound effect on me. It was a dream that Nicolas and I achieved together.” When they reached the highest point, tears flowed, said Benjamin.

11. July 202411. July 2024

Czech climbers succeed in first ascent of the 7000er Muchu Chhish

One more alpine highlight, one less blank spot on the world map of mountains. The Czechs Zdenek Hak, Radoslav Groh and Jaroslav Bansky achieved the first ascent of the 7,453-meter-high Muchu Chhish in the Karakoram in northern Pakistan – without bottled oxygen.

Previously, it was considered the second highest unclimbed mountain in the world, but the highest accessible: the 7,570-meter-high Gankhar Puensum on the border between Bhutan and China is closed to climbers. In Bhutan, the mountains are considered the abode of the gods and are therefore not allowed to be climbed. Since 2004, only trekking has been permitted in the Himalayan state.

2. May 20242. May 2024

60 years ago: First ascent of Shishapangma

“A few steps more and we emerged on the very highest point of the mountain, a triangular ice-and-snow-covered piece of ground, about five square metres, commanding a panoramic view to the farthest horizon. A head wind hit us with full force.” This is how Hsu Ching (other spelling Xu Jing) , the leader of the Chinese expedition, described the moment exactly 60 years ago today when people first set foot on the summit of Shishapangma. It was 10.20 a.m. Beijing time on 2 May 1964 when the first of a total of ten climbers arrived at the highest point at 8,027 meters, reported Hsu.

This was the last of the 14 eight-thousanders to be climbed – 14 years after the first ascent of the first eight-thousander, Annapurna I, by the Frenchmen Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal. Shishapangma – translated as “crest above the grassy plains” – is the lowest eight-thousander and the only one that lies entirely on Chinese-Tibetan soil.

10. November 202310. November 2023

Paul Ramsden after another first ascent of a six-thousander in Nepal: “Anything but alpine style is cheating”

Ascent and descent route by Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller on Surma-Sarovar in western Nepal

Paul Ramsden and Tim Miller have done it again: the two Brits managed another first ascent of a six-thousander in Nepal this fall – in alpine style (without bottled oxygen, without Sherpa support, without fixed ropes and without fixed high camps) and on a difficult route. Paul and Tim climbed the North Face of Surma-Sarovar in the far west of the country. The 6,574-meter-high mountain is located in the Salimor Khola Valley in the Gurans Himal, close to Nepal’s border with Tibet and India. “Possibly the most remote location I have ever been to, and we managed to climb a great route,” Paul wrote to me after his return from Nepal. He and Miller have thus achieved yet another feat of alpinism.

I had actually sent Paul some questions three weeks ago on the occasion of the Piolets d’Or award ceremony in Briancon on 15 November. Paul’s wife then informed me that he and Tim were still in Nepal. Ramsden and Miller will receive the “Oscar of Mountaineering” – as reported – for their first ascent of the 6,563-meter-high Jugal Spire in Nepal last year. Paul is the first mountaineer to be awarded the prestigious prize for the fifth time. Here are the answers from the 54-year-old top climber from Yorkshire in northern England.

Congratulations, Paul, on the fifth Piolet d’Or of your mountaineering career. What does the award mean to you?