Long mountaineering challenges

If I had a year to roam I would pack up the van and just relax out west.  peak bag and crag. move on when the mood comes to us. Not big on crazy sceduals and contrived goals. I take the mountains one at a time and enjoy them.. 

Presidential traverse, Pemi-loop, northern AT section hike, long trail in VT, 14ers and 4 pass loop in CO, John Muir(‘s appropriated) trail, maybe even more of the PCT, probably go north to BANF. I realize these are more backpacking than mountaineering, but hey it’s all steep hiking unless u rope up.

Six great north faces of the Alps.

Move to Chomonix France for a few months, winter or summer. It was my most rewarding experiamce of a long alpine climbing life. Every type of climbing you want is right in your backyard includeing easy access to the mountains Switzerland, and Italy.

I would second moving to the alps, you'll get more done than anywhere else in the world. 

Miss Catwrote:it’s all steep hiking unless u rope up.

Alternate title to Free Solo?

The Smiley's Project was pretty cool. They tried to climb the 50 classic climbs of North America. Someone can correct me but I think they did everything except Hummingbird Ridge on Mt. Logan since they thought they were going to die.

What about Puncak Jaya & Trekking Peaks of Nepal and India ? 

P. W.wrote: The Smiley's Project was pretty cool. They tried to climb the 50 classic climbs of North America. Someone can correct me but I think they did everything except Hummingbird Ridge on Mt. Logan since they thought they were going to die.

They never climbed Hummingbird Ridge, Middle Triple Peak, or the Abruzzi Ridge on Mt. St. Elias.

If you're in Colorado, the centennial peaks are awesome. The tallest 100 peaks in the state. it has all the 14ers and some really awesome 13ers that are rarely visited. 14ers are cool too, but most of the ones near the front range are absolutely overrun by people. 

One of my climbing partners made the second ascent of the Full Palisades Traverse, 8 miles of climbing between Southfork Pass and Bishop Pass. Another of my climbing partners made the first ascent of the Evolution Crest Traverse, 16 miles of climbing between Bishop Pass and Piute Pass. It would be ridiculous, if logical, to want to link those together. We were planning it when other priorities took over

Every 4000 in the Alps
Every 4000 in France
Every 4000 in Switzerland
All the biggest north faces around Chamonix
Then do it again in winter conditions...

It should keep you busy for the next few years :)

What happened to the other thread with the same title? Someone recommended the cascade volcanoes which is a good suggestion.

Challengers being accepted ;)

Good stuff in Co, despite the choss.

Top 10 in both North and South America.

Another one might be the tallest summits in every country in North and South America.  

Sierra Peaks Section (SPS)

If you're looking for a multi-year project with significant technical challenges then the Canadian Rockies 11ers come to mind. There are about 50-60 of them. No-one's sure of the exact count since the surveys aren't very accurate. The current record is 5 years.

Or you could try to do the top 10 peaks in N America, or all N American peaks above 5,000m (11-12 of them, but again the surveys aren't very accurate). I don't believe that's ever been done. Most of them are very remote peaks in the St Elias range, and some haven't been climbed for years.

Do not base your goals on what someone else thought were the top classics.  Make your own list.

Martin le Rouxwrote: Or you could try to do the top 10 peaks in N America, or all N American peaks above 5,000m (11-12 of them, but again the surveys aren't very accurate). I don't believe that's ever been done. Most of them are very remote peaks in the St Elias range, and some haven't been climbed for years.

Gerry Roach did it, finishing in the year 2000. As far as I'm aware, he's the only one. It's a proud list for sure.

Source: http://www.climb.mountains.com/transcendent/aboutg.htm#:~:text=In%201997%2C%20he%20summited%2026%2C360,16%2C000%20feet%20in%20North%20America.&text=Gerry%20is%20also%20an%20accomplished%20rock%20climber.

Edit: You can't do it right now because climbing Popocatepétl (rank #5) is illegal because you might get literally blown up if you summit on the wrong day.

Dylan Colonwrote:

Gerry Roach did [the 10 highest peaks in N America], finishing in the year 2000. As far as I'm aware, he's the only one. It's a proud list for sure.

Thanks, didn't know that. Good thing he went back and did Mt Bona. By some accounts it's Bona and not Steele that's the 10th highest (see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_highest_major_summits_of_North_America).

Edit: You can't do it right now because climbing Popocatepétl (rank #5) is illegal because you might get literally blown up if you summit on the wrong day.

One way to avoid that would be to redefine the top 10 based on 300' of prominence, which is the criterion used in Colorado. In that case the top 10 would be Denali, Logan, Denali N. Peak, five or six sub-peaks of Logan, Orizaba and maybe St Elias. Which all goes to show how arbitrary these lists are.