Years after a supermarket billionaire went missing near the Matterhorn in the spring of 2018, nobody expected him to come back — so much so that a court in Cologne, Germany eventually declared him legally dead. But a new investigation shows not all may be as it seems. Karl-Erivan Haub was 58 when he visited the famous peak to train for a ski mountaineering race. On the morning of April 7, 2018, he quietly boarded a ski lift alone and ascended toward the peak. Haub leaves his hotel on the morning of April 7, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of Swiss police   That was the last time anyone saw him. Re ..read more

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of several ritual Stone Age murders across Europe. Although the victims were in different locations and their murders spanned at least 2,000 years, all died in the same strange way. Their necks were tied to their legs, which were bent behind their back. Known as incaprettamento, the victims would have strangled themselves because of the position they were tied in. The new study is based around a tomb at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in southern France. Anthropologist Eric Crubezy discovered the tomb, containing the remains of three women, two decades ago ..read more

Another Pole is skiing down two more 8,000m peaks this spring. After doing Manaslu in 2021 and Broad Peak last year, Anna Tybor is now aiming for Dhaulagiri. Then in June, when the season switches from Nepal to Pakistan, she’ll try Nanga Parbat. No woman has ever skied either Dhaulagiri or Nanga Parbat before. Tybor’s Broad Peak descent was also a female first. (Other women may have preceded her on Manaslu.) On both mountains, she went without supplementary oxygen. Anna Tybor on Manaslu in 2021. Photo: Anna Tybor/InstagramDream lines Tybor is an elite skimo racer with the Polish team. In the ..read more

The route through the Khumbu Icefall has finally opened. With this, dozens of heavily laden workers are heading up to build Camps 1 and 2. Yet the route through the Icefall is more treacherous than usual, and everyone is advised to spend as little time as possible there. Ice Doctors on the upper sections of the Icefall. On the left, the seracs of the West Shoulder. Photo: SPCC   Ice Doctors Ang Sarki Sherpa, Dawa Nuru Sherpa, Pemba Tshering Sherpa, Ngima Tenzi Sherpa, Ngawang Chimmi Sherpa, Dawa Chirri Sherpa, Dawa Jangbu Sherpa, and Mingma Gyaljen have worked hard on the route. It took ..read more

Burial mounds in coastal Croatia could help rewrite the history of the Ancient Greeks’ Mediterranean conquest as they rose to regional power. That’s after archaeologists digging at an extensive site near Zakotorac unearthed a bounty of rich effects, including a Greco-Illyrian helmet. The relic, researchers later estimated, dates to about the 6th century BC. That’s about a century before the Golden Age of Greece, when Aristotle, Plato, and the rest flourished. The helmet, and the site at large, could reveal secrets about the hierarchy of Ancient Greek society in an era when bloody power strug ..read more

Since our last roundup, very little has occurred in the ocean rowing world. At the moment, just two soloists are attempting to cross the world’s oceans. Both are trying to complete human-powered round-the-world journeys. Louis Margot: Margot is circumnavigating the world by cycling and rowing. He started by biking 2,400km from his home country of Switzerland to Portugal. From there, he embarked on his first rowing leg — a 10,800km paddle from Portimao to Columbia. His first attempt ended after five days due to bad weather. He restarted on Nov. 6 and rowed to Gran Canaria where he resupplied ..read more

Last year, ultrarunner Tyler Andrews of the U.S. went to Nepal and discovered a promising arena for speed records. This spring, he plans to speed up the difficult Pumori, then Lhotse, with partner Chris Fisher. If they have time and energy, they’ll try Makalu at the end. We spoke to Andrews and Fisher before they headed to Base Camp. Tyler Andrews after his record Ultra Everest run. Photo: Chris FisherRecord Everest run After a fruitful running trip to Chile’s Atacama Desert, Andrews and Fisher flew to Nepal. Shortly after arriving, Andrews started by winning the Ultra Everest Race. It was 70 ..read more

Yesterday, polar guide Eric Larsen returned to Colorado after another disappointing North Pole season. The Barneo ice station near the North Pole was slated to run this year for the first time since 2018. Larsen was the only Western outfitter willing to risk the uncertainties of the new route through Russia, despite the U.S. State Department’s Level 4 Travel Advisory. He had five clients — two from the U.S., one from Canada, one from Spain, and one from South Africa. All had signed up and paid years before, when Barneo was a regular and reliable feature of the arctic expedition season. They h ..read more

In a sighting so rare it has only been witnessed half a dozen times before, two male blue whales were filmed competing for a female. The three whales off the southeast coast of Australia sped through the water in a rarely seen courtship ritual called a racing group. The racing group consisted of two females and one male. Both males chased the female while also racing each other and slamming their gigantic bodies into one another. This contest to become the female’s escort happens quite regularly with humpbacks, but witnessing the same thing with blue whales is incredibly rare. Since blue whal ..read more

We’re already in the second half of April and no one has set foot on Everest’s higher camps yet. That’s late. The situation is particularly tense on the South Side, where Base Camp swarms with impatient climbers, wondering why the route to Camp 1 isn’t ready. Amid the uncertainty, there’s one simple reality: the difficulty that the sherpas face every year finding a way through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. Tension rising The climb on the South Side of Everest should have started at least two weeks ago. Climbers, especially those without bottled oxygen, should be already rotating to Camp 2 a ..read more