In the last week and a half, we have done our best to present a list of the 10 best outdoor expeditions of 2024 among the hundreds we have covered at ExplorersWeb. We are aware we have probably failed at the task.
Setting a “best” among climbs, treks, polar expeditions, kayak adventures, and others, each of them unique, is difficult. We still publish the list every year, accepting that opinions will differ, as a way to congratulate those who’ve stepped out of the ordinary, inspired us to work harder, and excited us about our own future adventures.
Yet a list of 10 is so few. There are so many more we would have wanted to have on that list! The least we can do is to mention many more worthy projects that we couldn’t include — in chronological order, to avoid all signs of classification. It proves that adventure is far from over; there is still a lot left to do. We look forward to covering it in 2025.
Winter 2024
In January 2024, Jeff Mercier, Greg Boswell, and Hamish Frost completed several hard Scottish winter routes, following the philosophy of “the harder, the better.”
Jeff Mercier. Photo: Greg Boswell
January 31: Historic Dru-Droites-Jorasses Trilogy The winter feats started in the Alps, thanks to one of the prominent climbers of the year: Benjamin Vedrines of France. Together with good friend Leo Billon, he climbed the three big North Faces of the Alps — the Drus, the Droites, and the Grandes Jorasses — in winter, onsight, all free climbing in one continuous push without bivouacs on the wall, in just three days.
Benjamin Vedrines in the French Alps. Photo: Benjamin Vedrines/Instagram
February 13. Two weeks later, Guillaume Pierrel — somehow — skied down the north face of the Dru.
February 19. Great news from Patagonia: ‘Riders on the Storm’ on Torres del Paine was finally free-climbed. After 18 days on the sheer face of the Central Tower, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Nico Favresse, Siebe Vanhee, and Drew Smith free-climbed the legendary route 33 years after a German team first opened it.
The climbers shout in triumph on the summit. Photo: Drew Smith
After the feat, O’Driscoll still didn’t feel up to going home and returned to Torres del Paine and soloed the complete Skyline Traverse of the four Torres del Paine between February 22-25.
Spring 2024
May 17. Jim Morrison, Christina Lustenberger, and Chantel Astorga completed the first ski descent of the Great Trango Tower in Pakistan’s Karakoram. The famous granite spire (6,286m) draws big wall climbers, not skiers. Yet this team managed to find a continuous line of snow, waited for the right conditions in early spring, and sent it. A month later, Lustenberg and Guillaume Pierrel joined forces for a scary ski descent on New Zealand’s Aoraki/Mount Cook.
Christina Lustenberger during the climb. Photo: Christina Lustenberger/The North Face
May 24. During the height of the 8,000m season, news came of a new route climbed alpine style on a Nepalese 7,000’er. Charles Dubouloz and Simon Welfringer opened a beautiful new line on 7,029m Hungchi in the Khumbu.
A climber on one of the ice gullies on Hungchi. Photo: Mathurin-Millet
May 29. On Kangchenjunga, Bartek Ziemski of Poland made a complete ski descent after summiting without oxygen in difficult conditions. He teamed up with Oswald Pereira, who climbed on foot.
Summer 2024
July. During the summer, attention focused on K2, where alpine-style teams attempted new routes. Most of all, Kayuza Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima made an incredibly bold but ultimately fatal attempt on the West Face. In addition to climbing, paragliders Sebastian Kawa and Sebastian Lampart of Poland took off from Skardu and soared over K2 and Masherbrum.
Also in July, Micha Rinn and Christian Bickel made the first complete Skyline Traverse of all the summits in the Italian Dolomites.
Skyline Traverse. Route topo and names of all the points traversed. Photo: Micha Rinn
July 28. Also impressive was Benjamin Vedrines and Jean-Yves Fredriksen’s no-O2 summit of K2 and paragliding descent. Vedrines also set a mind-blowing speed record by climbing from Base Camp to summit in 11 hours. Liv Sansoz and Zeb Roche also flew down in a tandem paraglider.
During the flight, with the summit of K2 in the background. Photo: Jean-Yves Fredriksen
Professional paraglider Chrigel Maurer and mountain guide Peter von Kanel, both from Switzerland, climbed all 82 of the 4,000m peaks in the Alps in 51 days. They became the first to link all 82 peaks by paraglider.
Maurer and von Kanel celebrate. Photo: Chrigel Maurer and Peter von Kanel
This summer, an international team composed of Masha Gordon, Oswaldo Freire, Jack Sturm, and Joshua Jarrin made three first ascents in 30 days in the Shimshal Valley in northern Pakistan.
Mashallah Sarm, Shams Sar, and Pozeve Sar were climbed for the first time. Photos: Masha Gordon
August 7. In the Pamirs, Olga Lukashenko, Anastasia Kozlova, and Darya Serupova of Russia opened two new routes on the Ashat Wall in Kyrgyzstan’s Gissaro-Alai.
The Russian climbers. Photo: Expedition team
August 10. Philip de-Beger, Lorenzo Heis, and Aleksi Mujirishvili made the first ascent of 6,497m Virgerab Sar in the Karakoram.
Virgerab Sar, finally climbed! Photo: Philip de-Beger
August 13. Liu Yang and Song Yuancheng made the first ascent of the fourth-highest unclimbed mountain in the world: 7,221m Karjiang I on the Tibet-Bhutan border.
The route of the first ascent of Karjiang I. Photo: Chinese expedition team
August 17. Mike Keen pulled into Qaanaaq, North West Greenland, after completing the final leg of his 3,200km kayak along the Greenland coast.
Mike Keen in Greenland. Photo: Arina Kleist
Later in August, Zach Fritz and Taylor Rau paddled 4,400km from Fritz’s family cabin in Minnesota’s North Woods to Chantrey Inlet, Nunavut, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Zach Fritz, left, and Taylor Rau arrive in Gjoa Haven. Photo: Zach Fritz and Taylor Rau
Matteo Della Bordella, Symon Welfringer, Silvan Schupbach, and Alex Gammeter made the first ascent of Droneren, a remote 1,980m wall in East Greenland. But the climb was only part of the adventure. They spent 33 days in the Arctic, kayaked 450km, then climbed 35 pitches on a wall with difficulties up to 7b in pure trad style. They also had four encounters with polar bears.
Paddling amid the bergy bits. Photo: Matteo Della Bordella
In late summer, Matteo de Zaiacomo and Chiara Gusmeroli made the first ascent of 5,300m Sckem Braq, a technical granite tower in Pakistan’s Nangma Valley.
The route on Sckem Braq. Photo: Ragni di Lecco
September 7. Nicolas Roulx and Catherine Chagnon completed their mammoth 140-day journey across Canada from west to east. The duo cycled, canoed, sailed, and hiked the 6,900km.
Nicolas Roulx and Catherine Chagnon. Photo: Expedition AKOR
September 14. Veteran badass climbers Mick Fowler, 68, and Victor Saunders, 74, made the first ascent of 6,258m Yawash Sar in Pakistan. They climbed a new route on the northwest face in their usual elegant, alpine style.
The first ascent route on Yawash Sar’s northwest face. Photo: Mick Fowler
In October, Japanese teams made several notable ascents. One group from the Japanese Alpine Club made the first ascent of 6,524m Phungi near Manaslu. Another team from Himalaya Camp made the first ascent of 6,207m Sanctuary Peak in western Nepal.
Sanctuary Peak. Photo: Himalaya Camp
A few weeks later, two other Japanese teams succeeded in Nepal. Akihiro Oishi, Hiroki Suzuki, and Suguru Takayanagi made the second ascent of the northeast face of 6,673m Pandra near Kangchenjunga. Also in the Kangchenjunga region, Hidesuke Taneishi and Hiroki Yamamoto made the first ascent of 6,652m Pholesobi peak via a 1,500m ED+ direct line on the north face.
The first ascent route on Pholesobi. Photo: Hidesuke Taneishi and Hiroki Yamamoto
Adam Bielecki of Poland and Louis Rousseau of Canada went to the Hunza Valley in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. While they failed to climb their main goal (a first ascent of one of the area’s 6,000’ers), they completed two first ascents of nearby unnamed peaks during the acclimatization phase.
Poor conditions prevented Mykyta Balabanov and Mykhailo Fomin of Ukraine from climbing a new route on Makalu. Looking for a Plan B, they moved to Ama Dablam and pioneered a new route up the lonely West Face.
Mykita Balavaonv and Mikhailo Fomin of Ukraine after their successful climb of Ama Dablam. Photo: Mikhailo Fomin
