While completing the classic trek from Skardu up the Baltoro Glacier and over the Gondokhoro La to Hushe, Anis Hussain, Raza Meer, Zakir Hussain Sadpare, Fida Ali Sultanpa (all Pakistan, the first a guide), and Carlos Penalva (Spain) climbed...
Searching for a part of the Karakoram that might offer solid rock and had rarely been visited, I decided on the Solu Glacier. Only a few expeditions had ever gone there, most peaks were still untouched, and parts of the valley featured some of ...
Approaching from Chalt through Bar and Baltar, Italians Florian and Martin Riegler, accompanied by photographer Monika Mehlmauer and Christoph Mohl (Austria), attempted the ca 1,000m rock wall that forms the southwest face of Darwo Chhok on ...
Led by veteran Himalayan winter mountaineer Krzysztof Wielicki, a small Polish expedition arrived at Broad Peak base camp on January 23 and began establishing camps on the normal route. At 5:15 a.m. (dawn) on March 5, Maciej Ber...
Although difficult weather conditions shut down all but one expedition attempting 8,000m peaks in Pakistan, a Spanish pair succeeded on the lower Laila Peak above the Ghondogoro Glacier. Laila (6,096m), well seen on the standard trek...
The idea of climbing the Mummery Rib accompanied me to Nanga Parbat in 2008. Retracing the line attempted by the British legend Alfred Mummery would have been unsporting in anything but alpine style, and in 2008 this was not possible. Inst...
The complete Mazeno Ridge of Nanga Parbat was undoubtedly one of the most famous unclimbed lines on the great peaks of the Karakoram/Himalaya, having been attempted many times, and by some of the world's greatest mountaineers. It is arguably th...
During climbs of Koh-e-Rank in the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Pat Deavoll from New Zealand photographed the little-known Shayaz Massif, across the border in Pakistan. (This massif should not be confused with the much higher Shayoz Zom, ...
In 2013 the Pakistan Government continued with existing peak royalties. To recap, these are: (1) no peak fee for mountains below 6,500m; (2) only 10% of the normal peak fee for any mountain situated in Gilgit and Ghizer, except Spantik; (3) 5%...
On August 15 four experienced climbers were climbing the south face of Mt. Geikie. This is a remote, alpine-style rock climb located at the western portion of the Rampart Mountains in Tonquin Valley. They were climbing roped in teams of two, bo...
On July 30, Lloyd Ramsey (70), a local climber well known to the park staff and climbing community, was found dead at the base of the Foreign Trade Zone/Bat Out of Hell area. He had fallen a distance estimated at 50 feet by authorities. He was...
The accident occurred on August 2 during a descent from the shoulder of Rambler Peak, heading toward El Piveto Mountain. This was day two of a planned six- day mountaineering traverse of the Wolf-Cervus Divide, and all members had full packs. D...
In 2012 the section enjoyed a record number of local AAC events, from informal climbing-video nights and first-aid and climbing safety classes to full-on banquets. Let it be said at the outset that all of these events were possible only throug...
On July 8, Eric Metcalf (19), Ian Rogers (19), Addison Guranious (25), and Mitchell Martishius (23) began bouldering around 11 a.m. They planned to finish the day by rappelling Sentinel Buttress, a prominent 200-foot feature near the central pa...
The Mid-Atlantic Section participated in the AAC’s 2012 membership drive at two New Jersey climbing gyms. Michael Feldman manned a table at the Gravity Vault in Chatham, while Barry Rusnock greeted climbers at the New Jersey Rock Gym in Fairfie...
On May 26, my partner Amanda (24) and I (Ryan, 20) started the day with the intent of climbing Catholic School Girls Direct (5.11), but after completing the first pitch we decided to switch to the Original Route (5.10d), which I’d done before. ...
If you mention “New York Section” in AAC circles, people will invariably associate it with our annual black-tie dinner. While the definition of “black tie” has evolved over the last 33 years to include forms of attire scarcely acceptable years a...
On April 14 I was climbing Hominey (5.8) on the Vittles Wall, a 25-foot crag near Hammond Pond. I’ve been climbing for five years, and although I have easily completed routes rated more difficult than this, I have struggled and fallen repeated...
In February our section helped the International Mountain Climbing School sponsor the 19th annual Mt. Washington Valley Ice Fest in North Conway, New Hampshire. On Friday night, Will Gadd showed his short film, “Ice Revolution.” Saturday’s apre?...
Three-hundred and thirty-seven participants were greeted with extremely mild temperatures and a lean ice year at the 2012 Michigan Ice Fest over the first weekend of February. Participants traveled from as far as Kentucky and Colorado to Muni...