2022 Albert Mountain Award Winners Announced

The King Albert I Memorial Foundation have announced that the recipients of the Albert Mountain Award for 2022 are German climber Bernd Arnold, Belgian alpinist Sophie Lenaerts, long-distance hiker Nam Nan-hee from South Korea and The Society for Ecological Research in Munich.

The foundation, registered in Zurich, honours people or institutions that have achieved outstanding and lasting merit through their achievements in an area related to the mountains. The Albert Mountain Award is presented every two years.

The ceremony for the 2022 awards will take place on 23 September in the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern where there will also be the opportunity for attendees to view the current Korean exhibit: 'Let's Talk About Mountains'.

^{Nam Nan-hee}

^{Bernd Arnold}

^{Sophie Lenaerts}

Wrights Retreat from K7 Central

Americans Jeff and Priti Wright report that they were forced to turn back 100m shy of the summit of K7 Central (6,858m) after encountering difficult climbing that resulted in a number of lead falls and ate into their weather window. The pair told ExplorersWeb that the climbing above 6,500m weighed in at M5 and 5.11 with little solid protection.

Having decided to abandon their attempt, they retreated down the hazardous Central Couloir of the West Face, completing a 13.5Km round trip from their basecamp at 4,350m.

This was the first time that a team had attempted this unclimbed Pakistani peak.

Livingstone & Cesen Abandon Gasherbrum III Route at 7,800m

Writing on his Instagram account, Tom explained that the pair had been forced to abandon their attempt due to a combination of "cold, weather, fatigue and lack of reasonable options." The pair's chosen line tackled the mountain via its North face/ridge, an approach selected out of necessity due to strong winds.

Tom has written frequently, including in an essay for Alpinist, about his desire to see alpine climbing progress to a position where hard, technical climbing can be done at altitude. While he and Cesen were ultimately unsuccessful on Gasherbrum III, aspects of the experience appear to bode well for this approach. Tom writes: "We didn’t feel too terrible at (just below) 8000 metres, which is encouraging…"

Berg and Roberts Establish New Route on Jirishanca

Mountaineers Alik Berg and Quentin Roberts have climbed a new route on the east side of Nevado Jirishanca, often referred to as "the Matterhorn of the Andes", in Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash.

The pair have named the line 'Reino Hongo' and offered a grade of 5.8/90°/M7.

Writing on his Instagram page, Roberts described the route as "A line full of question marks. Steep complex snow, tricky mixed terrain, massive cornices, wild ice mushrooms, and a steep headwall at 6000m."