Outside Magazine

The climb was scheduled to begin at dawn, but at dawn there was nothing to climb, just a tiny hump of land on the horizon. We were still miles away, chugging along on the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Over the next few hours the hump grew larger, transforming into the cone of a volcano. From the boat I could see cliffs, a lava-rock seashore, and dense jungle rising to grassy ridgelines that crept upward like veins to a heart. Dark clouds obscured the summit. It looked like a place that could swallow you whole.

Our group consists of 11 American climbers, one Brit, and six porters from the nearest population center, Saipan, 248 miles to the south. Saipan is part of a little-known U.S. territory called the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the top of the volcanic island we’re approaching—called Agrihan—­happens to be the territory’s highest point. At just over 3,000 feet, it’s nothing special as mountains go. But as far as anyone knows, it has never been climbed. Fifteen years ago our expedition leader, John Mitchler, decided that he wanted to be the first. Since then, no one has been able to talk him out of it.