Inspired by impressive photographs of Pik Granitsa, provided by Paul Knott, who visited this area in 2005 (AAJ 2006), Michal Kasprowicz, Wojtek Ryczer, and I attempted peaks around the head of the Fersmana Glacier in the central section of the Wes...
Mountain Names. Robert Hixson Julyan. The Mountaineers, Seattle, 1984. 233 pages, black and white illustrations. $11.95, Cloth; $8.95, Paper.Being a trivia buff, and a climber, I was very happy to receive a copy of Mountain Names for Christmas rec...
Nanga Parbat (8,126m), new route on Diamir Face. Of the five expeditions to Nanga Parbat, only two were successful and a total of 14 climbers reached the summit, bringing the total number of ascents of the mountain to 216 from 1953 up to its Golde...
La Barre des Écrins, by Henri Isselin. 229 pages, with bibliography, 2 orographie maps, 2 sketches, and 18 photographs. Paris 8c Grenoble: Arthaud, 1954.Henri Isselin says in his preface that his book is just a tale of the many ties which bind men...
K2’s West FaceTeruo Matsuura, Waseda University Alpine Club, JapanIn THE PAST, four parties have succeeded in climbing K2, three by the Abruzzi Ridge; only an American party climbed the northeast ridge, though they too traversed to the southeast r...
1951-20072008TotalTotalGeographicalNumber ofPersonsNumber ofPersonsDistrictsAccidentsDeathsInvolvedAccidentsDeathsInvolvedCANADA*Alberta5201421033British Columbia317119641Yukon Territory372877New Brunswick100Ontario37967Quebec311063East Arctic8221...
The Gunks Guide: Rock Climbs in the Shawangunks of New York. Todd Swain. Alpine Diversions, New Paltz, 1986. 318 pages, black and white photographs, sketch maps. $20.00 (paper).The Shawangunks is the finest rock climbing area in the Eastern United...
Khan Tengri, north face, ascent. From August 20 to 29 Pavel Shabalin and Ilyas Tukhvatullin made the first two-man ascent of the prestigious north face of Khan Tengri (6,995m) above the northern Inylchek Glacier. The pair climbed the central sect...
Sierra Club. This year Sierra Club climbers roamed many of the great mountain areas of the world in search of climbing. Foremost was an attempt on Rakaposhi (7790 meters) in the Karakoram by a British-American party, including Club members Richard...
Meru Central Summit (6,450m), an attempt on the Shark’s Fin. Conrad Anker, Doug Chabot, and I arrived in Delhi in late August on our way to attempt Meru’s conspicuous Shark’s Fin. Though this summit had been reached by the prolific Russian alpinis...
Bhagirathi III. Micha Miller and I climbed Bhagirathi alpine-style by the Scottish route, using no fixed rope, in nine days with perfect weather. We spent two more days rappelling the route. We had originally hoped to do the Spanish route, but poo...
FALL ON ROCK, ROPE PULLS THROUGH BELAY DEVICENorth Carolina, Hawksbill Mountain, Linville Gorge WildernessOn September 20, AG (26) and AA (30) were climbing at the “Fischesser Wall,”a little known sport climbing area on the upper wall of Hawksbill...
Desert Rock: A Climber’s Guide to the Canyon Country of the American Southwest Desert. Eric Bjørnstad. Chockstone Press, Denver, 1988. 453 pages, black-and-white photographs, topos, maps. $25.00 (paper). Those who have climbed in the American des...
Beka Brakai Chhok, attempt; Wahine (5,820m), first ascent. In June and July 2007, Lydia Bradey and I attempted the first ascent of Beka Brakai Chhok (6,940m) in the Batura massif. Arriving in Pakistan in early June, we spent four days walking into...
Tibet, tips on organizing a climbing trip. All peaks over 5,500 meters in Tibet officially require a climbing permit, which be issued by the Chinese Tibetan Mountaineering Association. CTMA is the government organization authorized to oversee moun...
After Thin AirThe legacy of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedyby Michael ChesslerYou already know the names of the mountain and the climbers. Climbing mania like this had never happened before. It started with what was supposed to be a routine guided ...
FALL ON ROCK, NO HARD HATCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, El CapitanOn August 16, about noon, Brian Biega (23) was leading the 6th pitch of the Salathe Wall, belayed by Andreas Zegers (24). Their goal was to make Mammoth Terrace in two hours. They had...
On January 24 a party of three had begun the first of pitch Ice Nine, a water ice Grade 6 route. One climber was leading, one was belaying from behind the curtain of the first pitch and the third climber was sitting on her pack watching the leader...
Annapurna I, south face, new route attempt. Ueli Steck of Switzerland wanted to complete a route on Annapurna I’s vast south face that had been started in the autumn of 1992 by French climbers Pierre Beghin and Jean-Christophe Lafaille. These two ...
Aguja Guillaumet, North Face. On December 8, 1996, Luca Maspes (Italy) soloed the complete northwest pillar (400 meters, 6 A1).