Pavel Kovar and Misha Logvinov made the first ascent of the northeast ridge of Mount Clarence King (IV+ 5.7), in Kings Canyon National Park, September 15 through 17. Their ascent was marked by 10,000-plus feet of vertical gain — hiking almost 30 miles — and one-and-a-half days of technical climbing. This new route includes 16 pitches, plus simul-climbing/soloing over half the ridge via sustained and exposed traverses. Their new route marks one of the last ascents of a quickly dwindling number of unclimbed technical ridges in the area, a remote canyon in central California that in one spot reaches 8,000 feet deep. The pair had attempted the ridge over three days, on two separate occasions, earlier this September.
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