GMHM at 50: Twelve Milestones in the History of the French Army’s Elite Mountaineering Unit
Founded in 1976, the Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne (GMHM), the French Army’s elite mountaineering unit, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026. From major winter climbs in the Alps to polar expeditions, from 8,000-meter peaks to the world’s most technically demanding walls, the GMHM has followed—and sometimes anticipated—the evolution of mountaineering. Its story is also one of teamwork:...
“We Are Still a Long Way from the Limits of Human Climbing” Aidan Roberts, 9A Boulder Climber
At 28, Aidan Roberts is one of a select few climbers operating at the 9A bouldering grade. Yet beyond the grades of Spots of Time and Arrival of the Birds, the Briton is more interested in exploring movement and attempting sequences he does not even know are possible. Now based in California, near Yosemite, Roberts met us in Italy’s bouldering mecca, Val di Mello, during a gathering of Patagonia...
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Logan’s Other Summit #2: The Undertow
Deep in Logan’s magnificent vastness, the world below seems to fade away. But memories come back in waves. Little by little, the expedition becomes a space where grief seeks its place, in the...
Logan’s Other Summit #1: Journey to the End of My Night
I remain haunted by the apparent futility of mountaineering. In a world in disarray, where the search for meaning is a daily struggle, it is a brutal admission. Paradoxically, it took a personal...
French freerider Juliette Willmann killed in Patagonia avalanche
Chamonix-based freeride skier Juliette Willmann, 29, was killed in an avalanche on Tuesday 29 September on Cerro Crestón, near El Chaltén in Argentina. Her husband, Pierre-Idris Mehdi, was found...
Avalanche on Himlung: Sixteen Casualties at a Base Camp That Was Already Hit in 2014
An avalanche swept through the base camp of Himlung Himal, 7,126 metres, in Nepal’s upper Naar Phu valley on 27 September. Four Nepalese workers have been found dead and twelve people remain...
Adam Ondra climbs legendary routes in the Dolomites
In his new video, Adam Ondra focuses primarily on two generations of extreme climbing on the immense south face of the Marmolada, the jewel of the Dolomites. The Czech climber begins with the “Fish”...
Thierry Renault: A Tribute to a Master of Style
From the 1980s through the 1990s, Thierry Renault was one of France’s finest alpinists. He was also, quite simply, one of its best climbers: third at Bardonecchia in 1985, Renault freed major...
Eiger: Fay Manners and Roger Schäli Open Solar Eclipse, a New 33-Pitch Route on the North Face
Between July 27 and August 13, Fay Manners and Roger Schäli established Solar Eclipse, a new 900-metre, 33-pitch route on the north face of the Eiger. They spent eighteen days working on the...
Soline Kentzel, first woman to complete the free ascent of Darbellay on Petit Clocher du Portalet in Switzerland
After Golden Gate on El Capitan, Le Voyage at Annot and a solo ascent of The Nose, Soline Kentzel has added another historic line to her résumé. The French climber has just completed La Darbellay on...
Mont Blanc, The Impossible Mountain
It is a cruel irony. 240 years ago, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard reached the summit of Mont Blanc for the first time. On the 8th of August, 1786, after years of attempts, the impossible...
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The best trail running photos from the Red Bull Illume 2026 contest
A foot wrecked by 100 miles in the rain, two runners lost on the shore of a lake in the middle of the Australian desert, a runner floating above a sea of clouds in the Pyrenees: here are the 20...
From Everest to Depression : Cory Richards, His Journey To Calm The Chaos Within
He climbed Everest without oxygen, and completed the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II. A Nat Geo photographer and himalayist, Cory Richards is a survivor in more ways than one. His...
Painting the mountains, full movie
The Patagonian mountains attract the best climbers, but more rarely skiers, and for good reason: the tawny granite spires that streak across the skies of El Chalten are big walls where there is...
Ice climbing : the new guidebook for Briancon, the French Ice Climbing Mecca
350 pages, 850 ice and mixed routes: it’s been a long wait, but not in vain! Twenty years have passed since the previous topo, and now the new guidebook for ice climbing around Briancon,...
