This section is the result of cooperation on the part of many people in addition to the Editorial Board. We give our great thanks to all who have helped us. It would be impossible to mention all of them, but we owe special gratitude to Dr. Adolf Diemberger, Michael Cheney, Kamal K. Guha, Soli S. Mehta, Tsunemichi Ikeda, José Paytubi, César Morales Arnao, Vojslav Arko, Mario Fantin, Marek Brniak, Józef Nyka, Lucien Devies, Henri Agresti, Ken Wilson, Tim Lewis, David Edmundson, Ramon Bramona Rams and Anders Bolinder.

Mountaineering in Mount McKinley National Park. More poor weather than in recent years combined with several unusual incidents made the 1978 climbing season a noteworthy one. In 1976 and 1977 long periods of good weather were broken only occasionally by short storms. In 1977 four out of five climbers who attempted the West Buttress route on McKinley successfully reached the summit. In 1978 the weather returned to a more “normal” state and the success ratio dropped to 60%. Long periods of storm, especially at lower elevations, also made it difficult for climbers to be flown into or out of the mountains from Talkeetna. One party had to wait 18 days on the Tokositna Glacier before their pilot could fly them out. One of the glacier pilots had to spend nearly a week on the Ruth Glacier after he had landed to pick up climbers. All groups who plan to rely on aircraft are reminded that a Base-Camp food cache should be amply stocked. A serious and dangerous rescue from 17,200 feet on the West Buttress route was followed a week later by a request from the same spot for an unnecessary evacuation. In late June, a 13-member guided party led by a climber from Colorado made an unsuccessful attempt on the West Buttress route. This poorly organized and poorly led group had failed to obtain a permit to operate a guide service on Mount McKinley. For this, the National Park Service later cited the leader of the party for illegally operating a business within a National Park. A heavy bond was posted and forfeited. This party failed to reach the summit from 17,200 feet after one member, who had earlier lost his sleeping bag, became seriously ill with cerebral edema. The leader did not feel that his group could safely evacuate the ill

NOTE: All dates in this section refer to 1978 unless otherwise stated. climber; with bad weather threatening, he felt that several others could become liabilities. He therefore sent everyone but himself and the ill climber down to report the incident, while he waited for rescue. Bad weather precluded rescue for several days but finally a U.S. Army helicopter made a very rough landing at 17,200 feet and evacuated both climbers. Tricky winds and the high altitude nearly caused a crash, a harsh reminder that there is a very definite risk every time a helicopter is used in mountain rescue operations. A week later a radio call brought a request for yet another evacuation from the same spot. The caller would not identify the nature of the problem. Lacking knowledge of any specific incident, park rangers refused to initiate a rescue. The caller threatened legal action against the National Park Service and later used the radio in an unsuccessful attempt to convince a Talkeetna glacier pilot illegally to fly to 14,200 feet to pick him up. Only later was it learned that his only “problem” was that he had “a very important business engagement” in Africa and he did not have time to return to the landing strip and be flown out. He was forced to return there and had to wait for some days before the weather improved. In an incredible feat of strength, endurance and determination, two other climbers reached the summit of Mount McKinley 19 hours after leaving their Base Camp at Kahiltna Pass at 10,000 feet. They bivouacked briefly at 17,200 feet on the descent before returning to the base of the mountain. Their extreme exertion, the high altitude and the cold made tremendous demands on the climbers’ bodies and one of the two showed signs of high-altitude pulmonary edema on the descent. Eleven persons were involved in accidents requiring evacuation and a number of others were injured or became ill in less serious incidents. Two Japanese climbers were killed in an avalanche on Mount Foraker, the seventh and eighth Japanese to be killed on that mountain since 1976. No climbers of any other nationality have been killed on Foraker. In another avalanche accident two Swiss suffered broken legs on the West Rib of McKinley’s South Face after an avalanche carried them 1500 feet. High-altitude illness dramatically affected at least 13 other climbers. One, who had suffered from the illness previously, first showed signs of pulmonary edema at 8000 feet and was evacuated by fixed-wing aircraft. Two climbers from another party were evacuated by helicopter from Denali Pass at 18,000 feet with cerebral edema and acute mountain sickness. Their entire party had been taking the drug Diamox to help prevent mountain sickness until they ran out of it. Three climbers were injured in falls and at least eleven reported moderate to severe frostbite. However despite poor weather, accidents and unusual incidents, many parties climbed McKinley and other peaks in the park in a safe and sane manner. A total of 539 registered for mountaineering, 439 for Mount McKinley. There were 150 foreign climbers from 31 expeditions. As usual, the majority, 89, were from Japan; groups from Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia, France, South Africa, Sweden

and Great Britain also climbed in the park. Mount Foraker was successfully climbed by only one group of four, who did the southeast ridge. Mount Mather was climbed for the first time since the first ascent in 1952. A summary of climbing in the park follows:



Expeditions

Registered

Climbers

Successful

Climbers



Mount McKinley



West Buttress (unguided)

48

208

111



West Buttress (guided)

10

108

74



Muldrow (unguided)

8

52

40



Muldrow (guided)

1

17

10



Cassin Ridge

8

28

22



West Rib (unguided)

6

26

5



West Rib (guided)

1

8

8



East Buttress

1

8

0



South Buttress

1

4

0





84

459

270



Mount Foraker



Southeast Ridge

3

13

4



Northeast Ridge

2

4

0





5

17

4



Mount Silverthrone

6

24

10



Mount Mather

1

6

6



Mount Brooks

2

6

6



Mount Deception

1

2

0



Scott Peak

5

15

3



Other

3

10

7



As more and more people climb Mount McKinley, its well-publicized garbage problem continues. The very useful efforts of the “clean-up teams” and concern shown by many of the climbers themselves have helped improve the situation in the past. However, until all climbers learn to understand and appreciate the problem and make a strong commitment to remove all their trash, a problem will still exist. This year it appeared worse than in previous years.

Robert A. Gerhard, Mountaineering Ranger, National Park Service

Correction: Unfortunately there were two errors in Plate 23 in A.A.J., 1978. The photo was printed backwards. The arrow was omitted which would have shown how close Belmore Browne got.