First ascent of the Mustagh Tower, Northwest Arête. Under the leadership of John M. Hartog, the British Baltoro Expedition 1956 made the first ascent of Mustagh Tower, 23,860 feet. The other members of the party were Ian G. McNaught-Davis, Joe Bro...

FALL IN CREVASSE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, INEXPERIENCE British Columbia, Rocky Mountains, Mount RobsonC.C. and W.R. were descending Mount Robson (3955 meters) on August 5, 1993, after climbing the Fuhrer Ridge. As they were crossing the Robson Glaci...

Quo VadisHenri Sigayret, Groupe de Haute MontagneTHE NUMBER 26,247; does this mean anything to you? No? I must correct you since it corresponds in feet to the mystic altitude of 8000 meters. But the metric system is not used all over the world. No...

TONI HIEBELER1930-1984ALEŠ KUNAVER1935-1984It is unusual for the A.A.J. to publish obituaries of non-members, but in 1984 we have suffered the loss of three very close collaborators of our journal. Toni Hiebeler, his wife Traudl, Aleš Kunaver and ...

The Vertical World of Yosemite is a fine collection of personal climbing accounts by Yosemite climbers. It brings together the ways and motives of men who climb, the technical and ethical developments accompanying climbing advances, historical bac...

Namcha Barwa. The Japanese Alpine Club has permission to try this remote peak in a joint expedition with the Chinese in 1991. In November and December, a reconnaissance party of 4 Japanese and 6 Chinese led by Tsuneo Shigehiro explored the west-no...

GEORGIA ENGELHARD CROMWELL 1906-1986Born in New York City, November 19, 1906, Georgia was an adept photographer, her father having achieved considerable prominence in the field. She practiced her profession for various commercial entities, on both...

Diran, 1991. On page 252 of AAJ, 1992, mention was made of a Spanish expedition to Diran, but details were lacking. The expedition was composed of Lluis Bancells, Pere Gelis and Alex Serra. They reached Base Camp at Tagaferi at 3625 meters on Augu...

Peaks around Ruth Glacier, Ski Ascents. Our members were Karl Schott, leader, Alfons Steinsberger, Günter Forchthammer, Dr. Herbert Forster, Heinz Strobach, Günther Bühler, Heinz Rückert, Hanno Maier, Manfred Golla, Alexander Kofler and I. We were...

Ellesmere Island, “Our Peak,” and Other Activity. Although mountaineering was not our sole reason for visiting Northern Ellesmere Island National Park, it was certainly one of the things that Howell Martyn and I intended to do while there. Physica...

Tarke Kang. On October 15, Sepp Hirtreiter, Rolf Thorenz, Andi Kern, Bernhard Hron, Alban Griesmair, Christoph Markowski and I got to the Gangapurna Base Camp at 4800 meters. On the 17th, we began carrying loads to establish two camps on the north...

Vertical Margins: Mountaineering and the Landscapes of Neoimperialism. Reuben Ellis. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.240 pages, paperback. $21.95.Reuben Ellis’ goal is both an admirable and daunting one: “to understand the world w...

Footloose in the Himalaya. Mike Harding, Michael Joseph. Viking Penguin, New York, 1990. 242 pages, 6 sketch maps, numerous color photographs. Hardbound. $29.95.The book’s jacket tells us that Mike Harding is one of the United Kingdom’s “leading e...

WALTER SHERMAN GIFFORD, JR.1917-1944Walter Sherman Gifford, Jr., was born on 15 December 1917 at Washington, D. C. He was educated at Buckley School, New York City; The Fessenden School, West Newton, Mass., where he made a record by being the head...

FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING UNROPEDOregon, Rocky ButteOn August 19, Larry Anglin (31) was free climbing an 80 foot practice cliff, fell, and sustained critical head injuries. Subject was not wearing a helmet, but it is unlikely that a helmet would have...

Peaks on the Cashan Ridge and Other Peaks, 1980. Ascents of Allpamayo and Kitaraju with James O’Neill prepared me for late-season soloing in August, 1980 after the departure of my partner. Reconnaissance of the west face of Huantsán from the Quebr...

Angels’ Landing, Swiss-American, One-Day Ascent. In October, Fly’n Brian McCray and I climbed the Swiss American route (VI 5.9R A4) on Angels’ Landing in a 19-hour push. I believe this was the first one-day ascent.Burt Arend, unaffiliated

Ultar Attempt and Tragedy. A 5-member Japanese expedition led by Ken Takahashi tried to climb the entire south ridge of Ultar (7388 meters, 24,240 feet) from the village of Altit. On August 9, Yozaburo Kurosaki fell to his death when at 6900 mete...

Mount Spurr. Doug Van Etten, Skip King and I made a winter ascent of Mount Spurr (3566 meters, 11,070 feet) on March 7. Low clouds forced us to land on a glacier south of Chakachamna Lake, 18 miles from where we had planned to start. The route too...

Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Symmetry Spire. On August 2, Barbara Tihen (23), Frank Gutmann, and Jerry Halpern were just completing an ascent of Symmetry Spire when Miss Tihen slipped on a rock causing her to fall about 2 ft. She fractured ...