Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Chile, Northern Patagonia, Cochamo, Cerro Trinidad Central, Las Manos del Dia

Cerro Trinidad Central, Las Manos del Dia. In early January, 2012, with support from the AAC’s Mountaineering Fellowship Award, Chris Kalman and I set off for Valle Cochamo, determined to open a new route in the increasingly popular “Yosemite of S...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Ice, Avalanches, No Radio, Alaska, Mount Johnson

FALL ON ICE, AVALANCHES, NO RADIO Alaska, Mount JohnsonOn April 14, 1989, Jim Sweeney (33) and Dave Nyman (31) flew to the base of Mount Dickey to attempt climbs of the Moose’s Tooth and the Elevator Shaft, a steep ice couloir on the north side of...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Rock, Handhold Dislodged - Fall on Rock, California, Sierra Nevada, Palisades Region

FALL ON ROCK, HANDHOLD DISLODGED – FALL ON ROCKCalifornia, Sierra Nevada, Palisades RegionAt 0700 on July 13, J.C. (47) and B.Y. (47) set out from camp at 10,000 feet at Brainard Lake on the South Fork of Big Pine Creek intending to climb the Nort...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Argentina and Chile, Southern Patagonia, Argentina, Chalten Massif, Desmochada, Golden Eagle

Desmochada, Golden Eagle. On January 29 German Alexander Huber and I went from Bridwell Camp to Campo de los Polacos, directly below the west face of Aguja Desmochada. The next morning at 6 a.m. we started up the lower slab to the beginning of the...


Accident Reports ANAM
Stranded, Exceeding Abilities, Bad Weather

STRANDED, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, BAD WEATHERAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Front Range, Mount AbrahamOn June 9, 1991, D.M. and O.M. began a climb of Mount Abraham, 2820 meters, along David Thompson Highway, at 0630. This is a long day’s rock climb up a b...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, China, Gongka Mountains, Mt. Reddomain, First Ascent

Mt. Reddomain, First Ascent. Not a few virgin 6000-meter peaks still remain in Sichuan, China. One photograph, taken by a Japanese trekker in 1998, attracted our interest. Reddomain (6112m) rises fifteen kilometers north of Mt. Gongka Shan. The fi...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow — Ski Mountaineering, Alaska, Mount McKinley, West Buttress

FALL ON SNOW - SKI MOUNTAINEERINGAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressOn June 28 at 1315, a climber (32) fell while skiing down from the fixed lines on the way to the 14,200-foot camp. National Park Service Ranger Dave Weber and a Volunteer-In-Par...


In Memoriam AAJ
South America, Argentina, Southern Patagonia, Chalten Massif, La Silla, El Bastardo

La Silla, El Bastardo. Stephan Siegrist, my brother Alexander, and I returned to Patagonia with the same ambitious target in mind: the traverse of the Cerro Torre massif. When we arrived in mid-January 2008 the Torres were completely covered in ic...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Pakistan, Karakoram-Hushe Region, Denbor Brakk, West Face, Against the Grain

Denbor Brakk, west face, Against the Grain. During August I traveled to Pakistan with Damien and Elise Kelly, Jim Martinello, and Jason Sinnes, all from Whistler and Squamish, British Columbia. The party of four left me in the small Balti town of ...


Book Reviews AAJ
Give Me the Hills

Give Me the Hills, by Miriam Underhill. Riverside, Connecticut: The Chatham Press, Inc., in association with the Appalachian Mountain Club, 1971. 271 pages, 72 pages of photographs. First American Edition.This substantially enlarged edition of Mrs...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan, Western Kokshaal-Too, Sarychat Glacier, Various Ascents

Sarychat Glacier, various ascents. On August 11 and 12 Martin Jones, Edward Lemon, Jacob Wrathall, and I, from King’s College London Alumni Mountaineering Club, achieved first ascents of five peaks on the western side of the Sarychat Glacier.We ar...


Book Reviews AAJ
Étoiles et Tempêtes

Étoiles et Tempêtes, by Gaston Rébuffat. 146 pages, 37 photographs, 6 sketches. Paris: B. Arthaud, 1954. Price, 850 Fr.“A guide loves difficulty, but detests danger. … Great dreams are better than souvenirs. … In climbing, one’s companion is as im...


Accident Tables ANAM
Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III

1951-071959-0520082008USACAN.USACAN.TerrainRock445352877Snow233635531Ice267153River1431Unknown22100Ascent or DescentAscent299458782Descent227337129Unknown249131OtherN.B.700Immediate CauseFall or slip on rock352229067Slip on snow or ice101020713Fal...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Tadjikistan, Central Pamir, Upper Fedchenko Glacier, Possible First Ascents and Tragedy

Upper Fedchenko Glacier, possible first ascents and tragedy. Our expedition comprised eight current and former members of the University of Bristol Mountaineering Club. Four of us had climbed in Bolivia in 2003; for the others this was their first...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Rock, Arm Lacerated by Carabiner, North Carolina, Pilot Mountain State Park

FALL ON ROCK, ARM LACERATED BY CARABINERNorth Carolina, Pilot Mountain State ParkOn September 25, Bennet Harris (30) and Tom Drewes (34) were climbing Arms Control (5.11c). Tom was about to pull the final roof. I was watching him climb extremely c...


Feature Article AAJ
The Tree of Life Los Tepuyeros and the Jungle Messiah at the birthplace of humanity. A first ascent on Tepui Autana, deep into Venezuela.

José Luis Pereyra, bearded, wearing a coarse poncho, stands beside the Merced River. Equal parts prophetic shaman and mathematician, extreme athlete and major slacker, he pushes his bare feet into the granular beach, takes a breath, and begins to ...

| Published N/A | Author Tim O’Neill


Accident Reports ANAM
Stranded, Hair Caught in Rappel Device, Exceeding Abilities, Etc., Vermont, Smuggler's Notch

STRANDED, HAIR CAUGHT IN RAPPEL DEVICE, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, ETC.Vermont, Smuggler’s NotchOn September 11, 1993, at 1400, Stowe Hazardous Terrain was dispatched to Smuggler's Notch to assist one or more reportedly injured rock climbers. Upon arriv...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Southeast Asia, Korea, Towuangseong Falls, Korean ice Climbing Overview

Towuangseong Falls, Korean ice climbing overview. For climbers in the Seoul area, the usual place to practice rock-climbing is Insu Peak on Bukhan Mountain. No one is exactly sure when the sport of ice- climbing was introduced to Korea, but long-t...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Langtang Lirung (7,227m), Solo Attempt and Tragedy Asia, Nepal, Langtang Himal

No one knows what caused the death of Tomaz Humar on the south face of Langtang Lirung. On November 7 the 40-year-old Slovenian started up a wide couloir leading leftward and then diagonally up toward the south ridge. He bivouacked on the ridge at...

| Published N/A | Author Elizabeth Hawley, Lindsay Griffin


Accident Reports ANAM
Washington, Olympics—Mt. Constance

Washington, Olympics—Mt. Constance—On June 30, Robert T. Ives (27) and five other climbers were sitting on a ledge 10 feet directly below the summit of Mt. Constance waiting for climbers ahead of them while eating lunch. Visibility was poor with l...