·The AAJ is the reference source for everyone planning anything new in the mountains, or venturing into remote ranges
·Nearly 200 pages of exciting stories about the most important climbs of the yearas told by the climbers themselves
·Nearly 300 pages of short reports about new routes in the worlds mountainsalso told by the climbers themselves
The lead stories for 2005 include the amazing exploits of a passel of American climbers in Pakistan, from Kelly Cordes and Josh Wharton on the massive Azeem Ridge of Great Trango (probably the biggest technical route ever climbed), to Steve Houses final solo success on K7, and several near-misses on Nanga Parbat. Peter Croft shares his binge of standard-busting new routes in Californias High Sierra. The huge Russian success on the north face of Jannu, the spectacular new route on Cerro Torre, and the bizarre "free" ascent of the Hallucinogen Wall, all highlight the best of 2004.
