North Jannu Success!

They did it! Rousseau/Marvell/Cornell summitted the North Face of Jannu. explorersweb.com/americans-…

Incredible!!

Hope Jackson and Alan are doing ok. Both are recovering in a hospital in Kathmandu currently. 

This article is a great read-  Which is cool considering it's just a local paper.   Conrad Anker and others are calling this one of the greatest achievements in the last 30 years.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/12/03/utah-climbers-help-solve-last/

Phenomenal climb from some of the best alpinists the US has ever seen, but Mark Synnott calling Jannu "the last great problem in the Himalayas" is just laughable.  

Russ Keanewrote:

This article is a great read-  Which is cool considering it's just a local paper.   Conrad Anker and others are calling this one of the greatest achievements in the last 30 years.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/12/03/utah-climbers-help-solve-last/

It’s good ‘cause John Branch of NYT wrote it:)  

Looks like a great climb! Well done lads! 

The Cutting Edge podcast just released an interview with all three of them. Great listen

Nick Niebuhrwrote:

The Cutting Edge podcast just released an interview with all three of them. Great listen

This was indeed a great listen. Such calm and humble attitudes all around. It was a real treat to hear them talk about their truly awe inspiring climb. 10/10. Thank you!

The New York times has a pretty good article about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/us/climbing-jannu-north-face.html?hpgrp=ar-abar&smid=url-share

I hope to read more in the 2023 AAJ

If you don't have the NYT  

Love this part, lol:  

“I have been asked a couple of times if I climbed the north face of Jannu to train to eventually climb Everest,” Rousseau said. He shook his head. “It’s a different sport than that sport.”

Balewrote:

Love this part, lol:  

“I have been asked a couple of times if I climbed the north face of Jannu to train to eventually climb Everest,” Rousseau said. He shook his head. “It’s a different sport than that sport.”

Based

Dallin Careywrote:

Phenomenal climb from some of the best alpinists the US has ever seen, but Mark Synnott calling Jannu "the last great problem in the Himalayas" is just laughable.  

The North Face hype machine at work... Synott has to do something to keep his $pon$orship with guys like this on the roster.

Mike Jwrote:

This was indeed a great listen. Such calm and humble attitudes all around. It was a real treat to hear them talk about their truly awe inspiring climb. 10/10. Thank you!

What I love in particular about this generation of alpinists, is that they are not trying to build a god-like cult following around them, nor are they trying to influence others to follow their and only their style. Loved the podcast!

I thought the last great problem was Link Sar? Wait, it wasn’t?! :))

The Jannu team explicitly stated they recognize there are still many many many 'great problems' remaining.

Managing crampons and ice axes around an inflatable ledge sounds extra "cruxy."

Alan wrote a great article about their trip. Such an incredible achievement, I'm so impressed and inspired!

https://alpinist.com/features/three-years-for-seven-days-on-jannu/

I think about my own simple, over night, winter climbs at low altitude (that are still inapprehensible to my colleagues   ) and these guys are doing it at 7500 meters and with way harder climbing..!

Steve House and Will Gadd discuss this climb on the Uphill Athlete podcast, "Voice of the Mountain."  

It's a greta conversation, and it seems that, at least according to these two, the Jannu was definitely "out there."

Will Gadd also says that there is another team that did not suceed and "really has an impoirtant story to tell"

Anybody know what/who is is talking about?

Bruno Schullwrote:

Steve House and Will Gadd discuss this climb on the Uphill Athlete podcast, "Voice of the Mountain."  

It's a greta conversation, and it seems that, at least according to these two, the Jannu was definitely "out there."

Will Gadd also says that there is another team that did not suceed and "really has an impoirtant story to tell"

Anybody know what/who is is talking about?

Do you have a link for that?

Bruno Schullwrote:

Steve House and Will Gadd discuss this climb on the Uphill Athlete podcast, "Voice of the Mountain."  

It's a greta conversation, and it seems that, at least according to these two, the Jannu was definitely "out there."

Will Gadd also says that there is another team that did not suceed and "really has an impoirtant story to tell"

Anybody know what/who is is talking about?

Will Gadd makes two references here. 1: He alludes to a conversation with a younger man on the Arc'teryx team who is an accomplished climber and guide. 2) He talks about the "two sets of Jannu guys." I cant help but wonder if he is referring to Sam Hennessey or Michael Gardner, both who are phenomenal climbers, guides, and Arc'teryx has picked up within the last two years. They have also made two attempts on the North Face of Jannu East and are heading back this year for a third. They are good friends with Matt, Jackson, and Alan (despite the media's attempts to portray some sort of rivalry after the two fast ascents of the Slovak Direct) so I don't think there is any sort of controversy or tea to spill surrounding Jannu. He could just be refereeing to the overall ongoing attempts on Jannu East as another potential cutting edge ascent. This is all speculation by me however. 

Mike Jwrote:

Do you have a link for that?

https://uphillathlete.com/voiceofthemountains/episodes/

Dallin Careywrote:

Will Gadd makes two references here. 1: He alludes to a conversation with a younger man on the Arc'teryx team who is an accomplished climber and guide. 2) He talks about the "two sets of Jannu guys." I cant help but wonder if he is referring to Sam Hennessey or Michael Gardner, both who are phenomenal climbers, guides, and Arc'teryx has picked up within the last two years. They have also made two attempts on the North Face of Jannu East and are heading back this year for a third. They are good friends with Matt, Jackson, and Alan (despite the media's attempts to portray some sort of rivalry after the two fast ascents of the Slovak Direct) so I don't think there is any sort of controversy or tea to spill surrounding Jannu. He could just be refereeing to the overall ongoing attempts on Jannu East as another potential cutting edge ascent. This is all speculation by me however. 

Hey Dallin, yeah, I wasn't suggesting at all that Will was tryiong to play up any rivalry.  

Instead, in the context of a discussion about risk in climbing, Will felt that the "other guys" on Jannu had some really powerful experiences that were worth sharing.  

More generally, I found the Gadd/House discussion really interesting and powerful. 

I'm in no position to judge how Jannu fits into the larger context of Himalyan alpinism, but my feeling from listening to this podcast was that this was a significant ascent.  I also got the feeling that the route name, "Round trip ticket" and the story behind that name, are the expressions of young men, perhaps necessarily so.