History
Aiguille Noire de Peuterey: Climbing Stories of the Black Needle
From the first guided ascents of the 19th century...
Unicorns: What They Were, and How Their Horns Were Used as Cure-Alls
Unicorns have a deeply rooted association with purity, young...
Remembering Elizabeth Hawley, the Sherlock Holmes of Himalayan Summits
Elizabeth Hawley was born in Chicago on Nov. 9,...
The 1973 Chivruay Pass Mystery: What Really Happened to the 10 Skiers Who Died in the Soviet Arctic
In January 1973, 10 students from the Kuibyshev Aviation...
How Escaped Convicts Found Freedom — and Family — Among Australia’s First Peoples
Australia was, for many decades, the open-air prison of...
Remembering Wolfgang Gullich, Who Redefined Sport Climbing
Today, German climber Wolfgang Gullich would have turned 65....
The Hard Side: A History of Climbing Cho Oyu From Nepal
The sixth-highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu is...
Why Author Herman Melville Was ‘The Man Who Lived With Cannibals’
When you think of Herman Melville, you probably think...
Marc-Andre Leclerc’s Solo Climb of Mount Robson’s Emperor Face
Marc-Andre Leclerc loved mountains for the adventure, not for...
Flashback: Vladislav Terzyul’s 2004 Disappearance on Makalu
In the 1980s, Vladislav Oleksandrovych Terzyul of Ukraine emerged...
Looking Back: The 1988 Ascent of Everest’s Southwest Face
In the autumn of 1988, a team of Slovak...
We Still Don’t Understand the 1916 Shark Attacks That Inspired ‘Jaws’
The year 1916 was a fantastic summer on the...
50 Years Ago: The First Ascent of Everest’s Southwest Face
On Sept. 24, 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston...
How Arab Traders Hid the Secrets of Cinnamon from Europe
At this point, it's fairly common knowledge that the...
The 1874 Rocky Mountain Locust Plague That Blotted Out the Sun
In the late 19th century, settlers pushing into the...
Medieval Manuscript Adds More Proof That Shroud of Turin is Fake
The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen...
Where Was the Lost Kingdom of Punt? New Clues Point to the Horn of Africa
Ancient Egyptian pharaohs, including the famous Hatshepsut, sent sea...
Pobeda: The Snow Leopards’ Most Dangerous Summit
Pobeda Peak (7,439m), also known as Jengish Chokusu or...
Great Tales in Mountaineering History: Ulugh Muztagh, 1985
Ulugh Muztagh (6,973m) is an extremely remote peak on...
Ahnenerbe: The Nazi Obsession with Pseudo-Archaeology
Steven Spielberg's portrayal of the Nazis in the Indiana...
