Local northwest resident (when he's not climbing internationally) Steve House, along with Vince Anderson of Ridgway, CO, completed a bold new line on Nanga Parbat's infamous Rupal Face. Though Steve had tried the route last year with Bruce Miller, much of the upper portions of the route were still very much unknown.  In the usual Steve House, style they both climbed for 6 days through treacherous rock bands and frozen corners dripping with water ice with a bare minimum of gear. Their final summit push was a 24 hour sufferfest of which was made worse by stuck rappels and a close call while descending back to their high camp. Both of these amazing climbers tell their stories online, so be sure to check out Steve's and Vince's reports.

Apparently, while they climbed through the night with their headlamps on, local residents of the valley were able to watch the pairs progress up the face. After the recent highly publicized rescue of Tomaz Humar of Slovenia, interest in the face had increased greatly for the locals. Some residents were even able to share their summit moment while watching through binoculars in the valley town Tarshing since that day was so clear. Upon their return, they were greeted with flowers and a ceremony where the mayor and head school masters all gave speeches to commemorate the climb.

At over 4000 meters tall, the Rupal face has long been considered the world's tallest wall and it has a history that goes to the roots of Himalayan climbing. First summited by Hermann Buhl in June of 1953, Nanga Parbat has had a history of deadly tragedies. The Rupal Face specifically was the location of the controversial first Ascent by Reinhold Messner. It was in the descent of this route, via the Diamir Face on the west side, that Reinhold's brother Günther was allegedly swept away by an avalanche.