RAPPEL FAILURE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, NO HARD HATNew Mexico, Sandia MountainsLeo Sandoual (17) and Lloyd Hriunak (18) were injured in a 60-foot fall from the practice cliffs on La Luz trail on August 6. They were demonstrating rappelling to friend...
Nanga Parbat, Illegal Bulgarian Ascent, 1993. In AAJ, 1994, pages 264-5, the report of a Bulgarian climb of Nanga Parbat was given. Apparently this was illegal. The Pakistani liaison officer with an Anglo-Polish expedition reported on his return f...
Grey Beard, North Face. On a one-day excursion on May 9, my brother Carl and I climbed this face. The route begins up the obvious central couloir to gain Grey Beard’s lower snowfield. Climbing up and left, we found a hidden gully which allowed acc...
Maria Parbat II, Ascent. A ten-member team Korean expedition led by Min Kyu-Chung operated in the area during the months of August and September. The high camp was established at 6200 meters, from which point the attempt was made. B.R. Cho and J.K...
FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING UNROPED, INEXPERIENCE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENTAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Vimy MountainOn July 30, 1982, three young men were climbing the face of Vimy Mountain. They were unroped and poorly equipped and dressed. One man slipped ...
King Peak, Call of the Wild. From June 18-19, Joe Josephson and Steve House made the first ascent of Call of the Wild (VIWI6, 7,500') on the southwest face of King Peak. A full account of their fast and light ascent appears earlier in this journal.
Wallaby, North Face. On June 24, Andy Selters, Chuck Sink and I completed a four-pitch route up the north face of Wallaby on Kangaroo Ridge. We entered the face from the west on scree and began roped climbing at a ledge with whitebark pines. The r...
El Capitan, Atlantis; Porcelain Wall, House of Cards. In the fall of 2005, just left of Block Party (which I established in spring ’05), I completed my second new line on El Capitan, in the alcove area of the southeast face, naming it Atlantis (VI...
Sierra Nevada Section. This was another active year for the Sierra Nevada Section, which continued to welcome many new members. Adhering to the adage of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” the Section again hosted the full slate of its annual “Cli...
Nanda Devi. Our five-man, six-woman team left the road at Lata on August 12 and walked in the rain for a week to reach Base Camp at 16,400 feet on August 22. We were Misses Chandraprabha Aitwal, Sushama Mahajan, Rekha Sharma, Bharati Das, Dr. Kuku...
Mt. Chephren, Leftover Rib, New Route. The east face of Mt. Chephren, a graceful pyramid with a multitude of rock ribs sweeping down from the summit, towers nearly a vertical mile above the Icefields Parkway. It received its first ascent in the su...
Khangchen Gyao, 1982. A 33-man Indian Army team was led by Major Vijay Singh. The summit (6889 meters, 22,603 feet) was reached on October 12, 1982 by Captain J.W. Varma, NaikSubedar Ratnam, Havildars Burra Ram, Harbans Singh, Naik Balwant Singh a...
FALL ON SNOW, UNABLE TO SELF-ARRESTWyoming, TetonsThe Koven route on Mount Owen is one of the most popular due to its easy access from the Teton Glacier. From the glacier, the route climbs over moderate terrain to the Koven Couloir, a narrow 45- t...
FALL ON ROCKWashington, Snowqualmie Pass, Chair PeakOn September 8, Chad Engstrom (23) tumbled about 600 feet down a 45- degree rock slope while climbing with his uncle, who saw the accident. Rescuers ran out of daylight and planned to return to t...
Swiss Makalu Attempt. Two of the three team members, Daniel Anker and Martin Fischer, reached their high point of 7600 meters on the southeast ridge of Makalu on October 13. After they went back to Base Camp for a rest, they were struck by the bli...
RAPPEL OFF ROPENew York, ShawangunksOn August 2, 1984, a woman (20) rappelled off the end of her rope on Jackie (5.5) and fell five meters to the ground, fracturing vertebrae. (Source: Tom Scheuer, Senior Ranger, Mohawk Preserve)AnalysisThis kind ...
Wolverine Peak, North Buttress, 1988. James and Franciska Garrett and I climbed a new route at the head of the northeast cirque of seldom-visited Wolverine Peak on July 14, 1988. The buttress is spectacular with sound rock and good pitches. There ...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, NO HARD HAT California, Yosemite ValleyOn the morning of June 28,1986, Erik Goukas (23) and Douglas McDonald hiked to the base of Higher Cathedral Rock to attempt the first continuous free ascent of the Pratt/K...
Broad Peak North, First Ascent, Solo. My wife Goretta and I left Skardu with 32 porters on May 12. After only four days of walking, our liaison officer felt so ill that we continued on alone without him. We reached Base Camp at 16,400 feet on May ...
Abasraju to summit ridge, Moonlighting. On July 7 Tony Barton (U.K.) and I climbed a new route (Moonlighting, 11 pitches, TD) on the west-southwest face of Abasraju (5,550m). There is only one other route on the face, and it goes up to the left of...