Prologue: The Gym
Mandatory warm-up
"Complete training on Tenzen."
Must be done in Prologue. Restart required if missed.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Complete all tutorial exercises. The chest to the left of the stone wall opens only after finishing all training.
Serious training
"Open the box in the gym room."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
After the tutorial, do not leave yet. Open the locked box located to the left of the climbing wall.
Leave no trace
"Compost 10 trash items."
Easy to miss. Do this before leaving the gym.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Pick up the coin on the gym floor. Open inventory, hover over trash items (like plastic wrappers), and hold the Recycle button to make chalk.
Honest heist
"Collect wild honey from the wall."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Climb the large arched rock formation above the gym. The beehive is hanging in the center. Rappel down from the top to grab it.
Anytime after Prologue
Picture for Chris
"Use the photo mode."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Open the Photo Mode from the pause menu once.
Siesta
"Enjoy a nice outdoor nap."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
At a Bivouac (camp), choose the "Nap" option during the afternoon hours.
Bag maniac
"Organize inventory."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Open your backpack and manually rearrange items (Tetris style) for a few seconds until it pops.
Don't stop me now
"Climb 30 meters without using a piton."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Climb a vertical distance of 30m without placing a piton. Use chalk and buffs. Marco's Cave is a good spot for this.
Engineer
"Craft 15 pitons from scraps."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Recycle broken/used pitons to get scraps. Craft 15 new ones at a Bivouac.
Herbalist
"Cook the ultimate infusion."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Recipe: Plant + Water + Plant + Plant.
Doped up
"Combine effects of burst, grip, focus, etc."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Drink the "Ultimate Infusion" (see Herbalist) and immediately use Chalk to stack all buffs.
Waterfall / Village Area
Moment of cool
"Take a break at the waterfall."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Unmissable as Aava showers at the waterfall.
Just a bit too late
"Fall while planting a piton."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Wait until stamina is depleted (shaking), try to plant a piton, and intentionally fail the QTE.
Those who come back down
"Meet a broken climbot."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Unlocked when you find the broken robot early in the climb.
Master chocolatier
"Cook up an easter egg."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Recipe: Chocolate + Water + Egg. (Egg is found in the cave above the broken robot).
Light up the sky
"Shoot fireworks."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Use a Firework item at any "Red Stone Pile" (Fast Rest spot).
Red Rope Club
"Make an alcoholic cocktail."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Recipe: Alcohol + Herb.
Spotted!
"Find Marco with the binoculars."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
At the Cable Car station, look back at the broken carriage with your binoculars until dialogue triggers.
Hungry like a wolf
"Loot food from a corpse."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Loot the food item from the body near the Cable Car station.
Ain't scared
"Jump from ground and latch onto wall."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Sprint jump towards a wall and grab a hold mid-air.
Waterfall Specifics
Kami sashimi
"Catch a fish."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Interact with the pool inside the Waterfall Bivouac cave to catch a fish.
Close call
"Survive a near-deadly fall."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Survive a fall that leaves you with critical health or unconscious. Farm this at the Waterfall Bivouac exit.
Leap of faith
"Run and jump into void while on rope."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Attach rope to an anchor, sprint off a ledge, and let the rope catch you.
Lactic acid
"Recover stamina by shaking arm 50 times."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Cumulatively shake your arm 50 times to recover stamina.
Not even a scratch
"Survive a 15m fall."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Fall 15 meters and survive. Ensure full health before attempting.
Grizzly woman
"Survive the bear encounter."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
In the Bear Cave (lower right camp), avoid the bear. Do not use your headlamp. Sneak past to the exit.
Interloper on the wall
"Meet Marco."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Automatically unlocked when meeting Marco.
Everything else disappears
"Witness the aurora."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Unlocks at the end of the Terrace section.
Village & Caves
Aava Porter Bridges
"Deliver Rody's letter to the shepherdess."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Find the letter in the Village cave. Deliver it to the Shepherdess located in the vertical crack on the left (follow candles).
All that glitters
"Find glow-in-the-dark gloves."
Route is difficult with few save points.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Located in the Crystal Cave (Village). Climb up the dark shaft with glowing crystals. Essential for night climbing.
The Child
"Find first guardian's troglodyte piton."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Guardian Piton 1/3. Located in the cave that looks like a Giant Statue's Mouth.
Meteorologist
"Assemble the 3 doll pieces."
Very difficult. Do not retrieve the mid-way anchor piton on the route or you will get stuck.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Collect 3 fragments located at: The Child, Standing Stone, and Vault areas.
The Ancient
"Find second guardian's troglodyte piton."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Guardian Piton 2/3. Slide down below the bridge in the Bear Cave area. Ensure bag space for the Large Water Bottle.
The Secret
"Find third guardian's troglodyte piton."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Guardian Piton 3/3. Located in the green-lit indoor area in the hidden section.
No thanks
"Interrupt Marco."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
When Marco talks too much during the story, use the prompt to interrupt him.
Nurse
"Tape your fingers 20 times."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Use tape/bandages to heal fingers 20 times. You may need to scavenge for extra tape.
Lick responsibly
"Become woozy from licking a frog."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Find a frog in the cave above the "White Frame" cave and lick it.
Heartbeat
"Find an Edelweiss."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Located in a high vertical chimney in "The Needle" section.
Bird's eye
"Check your route from the remote view mode."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Toggle camera mode (L1+Triangle or Keybind).
End of the Rope
"Reach the furthest extent of the rope."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Rappel down or climb away from an anchor until the rope is fully stretched.
One day, I'll be rich!
"Bring all crystal shards to the crystal-cutter."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Deliver 4 crystal shards to the Hunter above Camp 6.
Neither a success, nor a failure
"Meet Damas Al Fatri."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Unmissable.
Cliff & Summit Area
One hell of a night
"Wake up on the mountain in top shape."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Survive the dehydration event.
In Memoriam
"Place the origami in the shelter."
Extremely difficult and long achievement.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Collect all Origami (including the Lynx in The Blades) and place them in the hidden sanctuary past the tombs.
Return to Source
"Catch a weird salamander."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
In the white cave entrance, go UP and LEFT to find the glowing lizard.
I did it!
"Reach mini-Kami summit."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Summit the "Miniature Mountain of God" located near the 3rd Guardian Piton.
Love birds
"Let loose Rody and Johanna's Kite."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Find the kite on a platform near the bridge/rest point (slide down to reach it).
Upstream
"Survive the avalanche."
Water management is critical here.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Story related. Ensure you have the Thermos and Large Bottles filled before this event.
Part of a whole
"Reach Kami's summit."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Ending 2 (True Ending): Successfully climb to the peak of Mount Kami.
Luxurious grip
"Compost coins."
Easily missed in Tutorial.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Recycle a coin from the vending machine (Tutorial area) or broken robots.
Home
"Go back down with Marco."
Requires reload or new game for other ending.
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
Ending 1: Choose to descend with Marco at the end.
Your story
"Watch your completed ascent."
Cairn achievement Walkthrough
After credits, select "Replay Ascent" from the main menu.