Paine Group and Dickson Glacier. The Mountaineering Association of Nagano Prefecture was divided into a Paine party of Akira Miyashita, Yoshinori Adachi, Tatsunda Matsuzawa, Kazuo Shirokura and Yoshimichi Kohata and a Dickson Glacier party of Yoshimasa Takeuchi, expedition leader, Takeo Takahara and Kiichi Shirokura. A shepherds’ hut on the northern end of Lago Grey served as Base Camp for the Paine group on January 4. On the 7th Camp I (5000 feet) was established on the left bank of the Olguín Glacier under the west wall of Paine Grande Norte. Adachi and Kohata attacked Paine Central (8990 feet) but severe storms drove them back after two bivouacs. (The first ascent was done by Chileans in 1955 and the second by Italians.) The others began a route on the wall, which they hoped to climb to the col between Paine Norte (9055 feet) and Paine Grande (10,007 feet). The wall is 2500 feet high; the key is a 1000-foot perpendicular rock wall. They fixed ropes to the top of the wall. Miyashita fell 100 feet and had to be evacuated. He had only light bruises and was soon back. On January 17 route making was begun again on the west wall. On the 19th Miyashita, Matsuzawa and Shirokura attacked virgin Cerro Olguín (7546 feet) and climbed it. (This is hard to identify. There is a Cordon Olguín on the map. — Editor.) Two pairs made unsuccessful attempts of several days on the wall but were driven back by bad weather. On January 29 Matsuzawa and Kohata set out in weak wind and no snowfall. Though the weather began to change, they climbed the wall to the fourth snowfield, where they bivouacked. On the 30th they traversed the fourth snowfield and in three pitches gained the fifth. The storm grew more furious. The ice under the crest was very hard. At two P.M. they reached the crest and easier climbing. Then the crest changed into a steep ice wall. The summit was a 65-foot mushroom of snow. At 6:30 they completed the first ascent of Paine Norte. They bivouacked on the descent and got to Camp I after the first day of fine weather on the mountain. They made 50 rappels. On February 1 Adachi and Shirokura set out for Paine Central, inspecting the fixed ropes. Finally on February 3 the two made the third ascent of Paine Central. The Dickson Glacier party meanwhile had reconnoitered that glacier. There were colossal seracs and rains and strong winds. At times they could see Cerro Cubo (9596 feet) at the end of the glacier through stormy clouds. Cerro Cubo appears like an inversed bucket with steep walls all around it. As they climbed higher the glacier grew worse with big crevasses and building-sized ice pinnacles. Camp V was established on a rock island. Two attacks were beaten back. A last attempt on January 29 was forced back 1000 feet from the top. At any rate, they were satisfied with the first reconnaissance and brief surveying with a transit and photographs.

Ichiro Yoshizawa, Japanese Alpine Club and A.A.C.