Cordillera Sarmiento in WinterJack MillerThe islands, fjords and mainland along the southwest coast of South America are legendary for collecting storms. Rolling off the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties of the South Pacific and Antarctic oceans...

ROLLIN THOMAS CHAMBERLIN 1881-1948When Professor Chamberlin was a student in Switzerland in 1900 he made his first ascent, the Titlis, alone. In 1939 he climbed Hungabee, a difficult peak of the Canadian Rockies. These are the boundaries of the mo...

Reo Purgyol (Leo Pargial). With a view to introducing gentlemen cadets to the high hills, the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, with the assistance of the Indian Mountaineering Federation and the Army Mountaineering Association, organized its ...

Early American Ascents in the Alps. Through the efforts of Mr. Oscar Houston, the A.A.C. has received an unusual inscribed alpenstock, the end of which is turned in the form of a chamois horn, though it is entirely of wood and continuous with the ...

FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING ALONE, NO HARD HAT, WEATHERWyoming, TetonsOn August 31, 1985, at 1100, John H. Sheppard (35) registered for a climb of the Skillet Glacier on Mount Moran. Sheppard intended to camp the night of the 31st in the drainage below...

FALL ON ROCK, PROTECTION FAILEDNew York, Shawangunks, BostonOn November 6, a climber (53) fell about 30 feet from the crux of Boston (5.4+ or 5.5, PG). A cam placed two or three feet below the point from which he fell failed (broke). The next pro ...

RAY GENET 1931-1979“What is the source of this man’s energy? He runs everywhere, even at 20,000 feet while I labor over every step. Above Archdeacon’s Tower it occurred to me that if I should stop for some reason, Genet could— and would—carry me u...

Ascent. The Spiritual and Physical Quest of Willi Unsoeld, by Laurence Leamer. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982. 392 pages, eight plates of black-and-white photographs, and N.G.S. pictorial drawing of Mount Everest. $17.50.This biography of a gr...

FAULTY USE OF CRAMPONS, EXHAUSTION, HASTE, INEXPERIENCEWashington, Mount RainierOn June 14, 1987, Sterling Thomas, and Paul McClelland, both members of the Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, were descending the upper Kautz Glacier with Joseph McNeill...

Punta Herron, Spigolo dei Bimbi, second ascent. On the evening of October 30 David Fasel, Ueli Steck, Ralph Weber, and I, all Swiss, set up base camp at the Campo De Agostini. It snowed like it was winter. The weather had apparently been nothing b...

The Eiger Sanction, by Trevanian. New York: Crown, 1972, 316 pages, $6.95This is an incredibly readable novel. Its crisp imagery and brisk style are the hallmarks of a great writer. Simple words and phrases abound at the proper times. “Mauve and p...

Mt. Shackleton, south face-west ridge; Wandel Peak, north ridge to summit mushroom. At the end of January 2006 we headed for the Antarctic Peninsula on board the yacht Le Sourire. Our Spanish TVE expedition comprised Sebastian Alvaro, Ester Sabade...

JOSEPH WILLIAM ANDREW HICKSON 1873-1956A member of our club since 1910, pioneer in the Canadian Rockies, and formerly professor of psychology at McGill University, Dr. Hickson died suddenly at his home in Montreal on April 22, 1956. Noel Odell, en...

Rakaposhi Attempt. A Slovene expedition led by Janez Skok headed in June for the Garhwal Himalaya through Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan up to the Indian frontier, where they were halted because the Panjab was closed. They waited for ten days...

Chicon III*, Cordillera Urubamba. This peak is the southernmost one of three forming Chicon, northeast of Cuzco. It is given as 5572 meters (18,281 feet). I climbed it from Urubamba on September 30 with the American Jeff Salz by the prominent snow...

FALL ON DESCENT TRAIL, WEATHERCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, North Dome GullyOn May 13, 1991, after having completed an overnight climb of the Royal Arches, Carter Phelps (49) and climbing partner Ron Merkes (23) attempted to descend to Yosemite Val...

The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest. Conrad Anker and David Roberts. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. 192 pages. $22.00.In 1924, it took ten days for the news to reach London that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had disappeared o...

FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAY ANCHOR/LOWERING ERROR – NYLON-ON-NYLONCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, Royal ArchesOn May 21, Curtis Rappe (24) climbed a single-pitch route near the base of Royal Arches while being belayed from below. At the top he thr...

New routes from 2006 and 2007. In October and November of both 2006 and 2007, James Garrett from the USA and Andreas (Res) von Känel from Switzerland (a mountain guide and brother of the late Jurg von Kanel) climbed a number of new routes in and a...

Cordón de Portillo. Climbers from the club Andinista Mendoza made a number of first ascents in this range, which also lies southeast of Aconcagua. These were Gemelo Norte, 17,700 feet, January 13, 1956, and Torre del Campanario, 17,050 feet, Janua...