Dartmouth Mountaineering Club. The DMC had several very active, enjoyable years in 1977 and 1976, with members climbing well and frequently in New England and elsewhere in the world. In New England, Dartmouth climbers made several first ascents, as well as repeating many of the harder established routes on rock and ice. Andy Tuthill has many first ascents and first winter ascents on Cannon Mountain to his credit. Notable are “The British Were Coming” (III, 5.8), “Meatgrinder” (I, 5.10), “Raven Crack” (II, 5.8), and first winter ascents of “Moby Grape” and “North-South West.” Mark Sonnenfeld spent the summer free climbing in the Dartmouth area, and made the first free ascent of “Manic Depression” (II, 5.11) on Mount Desert Island and a first ascent at Cathedral Ledges, “Talcum Power” (I, 5.10), as well as climbing such classics as “Women in Love,” “Lichen Delight,” and “Pendulum” at Cathedral, “Crack of the Woods” and “Screaming Yellow Zonkers” in the Kancamagus area and many 5.11 routes in the Shawangunks. In 1977 Peter Kelemen and Rob Gilbert made the first winter ascent of Owl’s Head Cliff in Glencliff, N.H., via a mixed route in the prominent gully to the left of the owl's beak. Numerous of our climbers climbed “The Black Dike” and “Faffner’s,” as well as the Whitney-Gilman Ridge, on Cannon Cliff in winter.

In the Alps this past summer Andy Tuthill, Josh Lieberman, Steve Saglio, and Peter Gilbert completed several fine climbs despite bad conditions and weather. Most notable were Tuthill’s climb of the west face of the Dru with Roger Martin (not affiliated) and all the Dartmouth group’s ascents, at various times during the summer, of the north face of the Plan. During the year other members climbed in the Boulder, Colorado, area, Yosemite Valley, and in Wales and Scotland. In both 1976 and 1977 there were expeditions to the Cordillera Blanca in Peru, both quite successful, as reported elsewhere in this Journal. It was gratifying to find how well undergraduate climbers, trained in the hills of New Hampshire, adapted to high-altitude alpine climbing. In 1976 seven members climbed seven peaks, including a first ascent of the west face of Quitoraju (6036 meters) by Rob Gilbert and Peter Kelemen. In 1977 a group of seven succeeded in climbing eight peaks.

Peter Kelemen