Yale Mountaineering Club. There were two significant aspects of the Club’s activity in 1963: the development of the west face of Ragged Mountain in Meriden, Conn., as a climbing area and the widespread accomplishments of the members during the summer months. The early history of Ragged Mountain included a handful of beginner, top-rope climbs on the small cliff on the south face and a few pioneering routes on the taller, wider west face. However, the approach was poor and mostly bushwhacking, but to the hardy few who ventured from the convenience of the practice rocks on the south, the west face provided a 100-foot face with a variety of vertical cracks demanding delicate bridging and often strenuous, awkward jamming. One of the hardy few has been John Reppy, who has almost singlehandedly made Ragged Mountain a major rock climbing area in the East. Reppy, YMC’s faculty advisor, has been responsible for a new, more direct path to and along the foot of the west face, the rehabilitation of the older classic routes, and the ascents of many new ones to bring the total established number to 21. A guidebook to Ragged Mountain is now being written and will appear in 1964.

In the summer several members worked for Vagabond Ranch in Granby, Colorado, teaching mountaineering to the boys enrolled there in summer camp. They took boys from the camp on climbs of Longs Peak, Chief’s Head, and Pagoda in Rocky Mountain National Park, and during a one-week trip to the Tetons climbed the north ridge of the Middle Teton, the Exum route on the Grand Teton, and the west face of Disappointment Peak. Besides climbs by other members in the Cascades and the Tetons, John Reppy and Hal May climbed the north face of the Grand Teton with a descent of the east ridge on the same day. They also ascended the south buttress of Mount Moran before returning home with a stop at Devils Tower to climb the Durrance and Wiessner routes. Sam Streibert joined the annual Cambridge University Mountaineering Club Alpine Meet at Arolla, Switzerland, after doing some wet climbs in Wales. Despite stormy weather in Chamonix, he ascended two routes on the Aiguille du Peigne, Mont Blanc, and the Rebuffat Crack on the south face of the Aiguille du Midi. Several climbs in the Dolomites included the north face of the Cima Ovest.

The Club held four dynamic belay practice sessions, discussed rescue procedures, and new members attended first-aid classes. The officers regard the year as a successful one and hope that with Ragged Mountain now fully developed, mountaineering and the YMC will be a significant part of Yale in the future.

Sam Streibert, Safety Chairman