Hayden Kennedy and Kyle Dempster stormed the mountains of Pakistan this fall, making the first ascent of Hassan Peak, circa 6,300 meters.

"It was a good adventure with a good friend," Kennedy told Rock and Ice.  "There wasn't one pitch that was more fun than the others, it was just the whole experience of getting up and down the route safely that made climbing Hassan Peak special."

Kennedy wrote on the Black Diamond website, “The mountains of Pakistan are unreal and for an alpinist it’s a dream come true to get a chance to travel to the Karakoram.”

The climbing on their route up Hassan Peak involved a little of everything, from granite rock to WI5 to M5.  Dempster and Kennedy spent two nights and three days climbing the route and had both good and bad weather during their ascent.

Kennedy had traveled to the Karakoram Range with fellow alpinist Kelly Cordes.  Dempster, who had been riding his bicycle for seven weeks throughout China and Kyrgyzstan, joined the two in Pakistan's Charakusa Valley.  The trio climbed several established routes,  including Tasty Talking (III 5.10+, ca. 300m), on Nayser Brakk (circa 5,200m).  While Cordes was hampered by the six surgeries, including both a shoulder and knee reconstruction, that he has endured this year, he wrote on his blog, "I spent 30 days in the Charakusa Valley, an immaculate place that I’m psyched to have visited again (I was there in 2007 as well), along with young guns Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy. They’re both beasts, phenomenal all-arounders (man, I’m so impressed with the younger generation!) and great people."

Dempster, 28, recently made climbing headlines worldwide for receiving the 2010 Piolet d'Or award along with partners Jed Brown and Bruce Normand for their epic alpine ascent of China's Xuelian West.  To read more about Dempster's climbing adventures check out the Rock and Ice Spotlight in issue 186 here.

Kennedy, age 21, is an accomplished all-around climber.  He has sport climbed up to 5.14c with a repeat of Rifle's The Crew, led the run out Bachar Yerian (5.11c R) in Tuolumne Meadows, and made a ascent of Fitz Roy's Supercanaleta (1,600m, TD+ 5.10 90deg).  He is featured in the Spotlight section of Rock and Ice 197.