Feature Article AAJ
A Survey of American Ascents in the Alps in the Nineteenth Century

A Survey of American Ascents in the Alps in the Nineteenth CenturyIntroductionANY attempt to present the development of American mountaineering in the Alps must, of very necessity, be fragmentary. Records were inadequately kept, and much material ...


Feature Article AAJ
Aconcagua

AconcaguaCarles Capellas and Josep Paytubi, Servei General d’Informació de MuntanyaThe idea of a new map of Aconcagua was partly inspired as a continuation of the Cuadernos de Alpinismo (“Mountaineering Notebooks”)* and partly because of the diffi...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, Interior Ranges, Selkirk Mountains, Ascents in the Selkirk Range

Ascents in the Selkirk Range. A number of seldom-climbed peaks in the Selkirks were ascended by a geological field party under the leadership of J. O. Wheeler, and including David Norris from McMaster University and John Ricker, Hugh Naylor, Oz Se...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Washington, Summary of Activity

Washington, summary of activity. 2007 was not particularly rainy, but the Cascades never saw the usual settled periods in late winter or the typical eight or more weeks of summer sunshine. Even worse, dry weather invariably seemed to come midweek,...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Alaska, Ruth Gorge, Mt. Barille, East Face, Orgler-Bonapace, probable third Ascent

Mt. Barille, East Face, Orgler-Bonapace, probable third ascent. On June 21 Ken Sauls and I flew into the Ruth, where we made a second ascent of the 1988 Orgler-Bonapace East Face route on Mt. Barille. Just gaining the rock was tricky, involving a ...


Feature Article AAJ
False Dawn—Foraker

False Dawn—ForakerJohn Phelan, Whizzo ClimbersTHE MYRIAD REASONS and justifications for alpine climbing are as personal as the sweaty palms of the practitioner’s, but disappointment and despair were new to me as a driving force of alpinism. As we ...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Wyoming, Tetons, Fairhsare Tower, The Corkscrew

Fairshare Tower, The Corkscrew. A second route on the south side of this tower was made on July 25 by Steve Wunsch and Diana Hunter. The narrow, high-angle arête to the left of the steep couloir which divides the south face of Fairshare Tower was ...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Washington?Cascade Mountains, Chianti Spire, East Face

Chianti Spire, East Face. On September 8, John Culberson, Shaun Kelley and I climbed a route on Chianti Spire that begins directly below the summit. The climb follows a long left-leaning ramp up into a left-facing comer and an off-width crack. Thr...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, British Columbia–Coast Range, Pointer Peak, East Buttress

Pointer Peak, East Buttress. Pointer Peak, the Matterhorn of the White - mantle Range southeast of Mount Waddington, had only been climbed once, that being a solo undertaking by John Clarke in the 1970s. Although under 8000 feet, the peak makes an...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, Vampire Spires, Phoenix, Wallflowers to Near Summit

Phoenix, Wallflowers to near summit. On June 30 a tiny Hughes 500 helicopter dropped Amelia Patterson and me at the base of a stunning 2,500' granite face known as the Phoenix. It is the largest feature in the Vampire Spires group of the Ragged Ra...


Accident Reports ANAM
HAPE, Washington, Mount Rainier, Fuhrer's Finger

HAPEWashington, Mount Rainier, Fuhrer's FingerTim Hartman contacted Mount Rainier National Park at 7:08 a.m. on August 12 to report that his partner Neil Shriner (41) was very ill. Shriner’s symptoms included difficulty breathing, gurgling lung so...


Book Reviews AAJ
The Big Walls

The Big Walls, by Reinhold Messner, Translated by Audrey Salkeld. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. 144 pages. Price $19.95.The immediate impression is good. Here is a handsome book about some of the most interesting climbs on record, and a...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States, Kyrgyzstan, Pamir-Alai, Karavshin Region, Kara-Su and Ak-Su Valleys, Various Ascents

Kara-Su andAk-Su Valleys, Various Ascents. (The following account is a combination of three individual notes by Doug Byerly, Stephanie Davis*, and Patience Gribble*.) Jimmy Surette and I arrived at the Kara-Su fork of the Karavshin Valley in the P...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, coast Mountains, SourhWest British Columbia (Southern Coast Mountains and Canadian Cascades) Summary

Southwest British Columbia (southern Coast Mountains and Canadian Cascades) summary. The most notable event of 2005 was not a single ascent but rather an unusual winter. Bitter cold in early January was followed by a short rainy season and then tw...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Rock, Inadequate Equipment, Placed No Protection, Wyoming, Tetons

FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, PLACED NO PROTECTIONWyoming, TetonsOn August 4, 1983, at 1335, I received a report from Ranger Bob Irvine of an accident on the Jensen Ridge on Symmetry Spire. Irvine said the reporting party had just reached th...


Book Reviews AAJ
Alpe, Neige, Roc 1981

Alpe, Neige, Roc 1981, edited by Charles Spillmann. Lausanne: Librairie Marguerat, 1961. 160 pages text, 94 ills., including double-spreads and fold-outs.This excellent publication, which appears in German, French and Italian, contains short artic...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, California, Yosemite Valley, North Wall of Sentinel Rock

North Wall of Sentinel Rock, Yosemite Valley. The lure of the N. face of Sentinel began to be felt in 1936, when Morgan Harris, William Horsfall and Olive Dyer made a reconnaissance of the lower cliffs, hoping to find a route up the face. They asc...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Bhutan, Jichu Drake, First Ascent to the Main Peak

Jichu Drake, First Ascent to the Main Peak. After an unsuccessful attempt on the southeast ridge by Japanese ladies in the pre-monsoon season of 1983, Austrians climbed to the lower south summit by the southwest ridge (AAJ, 1984, pages 224-5). In ...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Peru, Southern Peru, Cordillera Chila, Ampato, Hualca Hualca

Cordillera Chila, Ampato, Hualca Hualca. A German expedition from Augsburg first visited the Cordillera Chila, which lies south of Chivay and north of Calloma. Expedition members were Engelbert Neumair, leader; Walter and Petra Siebert, Hubert Abe...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Peru, Cordillera Huayhuash, Siula Grande, South Face, Southern Discomfort; Other Peaks

Siula Grande, south face, Southern Discomfort; other peaks. In July Jay Burbee (Canada), Michel van der Spek (Netherlands), and I ventured to the eastern side of the Cordillera Huayhuash. Ten hours of dusty buses from Huaraz to Huallanca to La Uni...