n August 2026, Alaskan Alpine Club members Ethan Berkeland and August Franzen teamed up with Vitaliy Musiyenko for a climb on Pakistan’s remote and challenging Ogre I. They turned around just a few pitches below the summit, nearly completing the first alpine-style ascent of the coveted southeast buttress. The Ogre (a.k.a. Baintha Brakk, 7,285m) is one of the most difficult and storied mountains in the world—it has only been climbed three times in nearly 50 years. The trio nearly made the fourth ascent but descended after a frigid unplanned bivouac beneath the peak’s final headwall. Their remarkable survival story includes a 40-foot fall at 7,000 meters, an unplanned bivouac at 7,200 meters, and frostbite.
This is the first time The Cutting Edge has featured an alpine climb that failed to reach a planned summit. In this special episode host Jim Aikman unpacks the value of summits and how we measure success in the mountains through conversations with Ethan, Vitaliy, and AAJ editor Dougald MacDonald.
Listen to an account of this incredible climb on the American Alpine Club’s Cutting Edge Podcast: