Watch Conrad Anker Climb New Ice Route in Hyalite

Leading the life of a climber involves a tremendous amount of sacrifice and hardship, but for team athletes Conrad Anker and Kris Erickson, there’s no living without it.

In 1999, on an expedition in Tibet, they lost their good friend and exploration companion, Alex Lowe, to an avalanche that narrowly missed Anker himself.

To preserve Lowe’s honour, Anker and Erickson established the Nutcracker, a new route in Hyalite Canyon, Montana, next to the classic Winter Dance, which was first climbed by Lowe in 1997.

Lowe has been described as inspiring “…a whole generation of climbers and explorers with his uncontainable enthusiasm, legendary training routines, and significant ascents of rock climbs, ice climbs, and mountains all over the world…”

The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation honours his legacy.