Nanda Devi East, Ascent. A four-member Korean expedition, led by Jeong Jeon-Mo summit- ted Nanda Devi East (7434 m) on September 1 via the south ridge. Summitters included Jeong Jeon-Mo, SuJin Lee, Nati Sherpa and Mingma Sherpa. The south ridge ro...
FALL ON ICE, INATTENTIONBritish Columbia, Kootenay National Park, Haffner CreekHaffner Creek is a popular ice climbing area with a number of new mixed climbs. On December 13, a group of mountain guides were doing some training. While ice “boulderi...
Mt. McArthur, South Face, Fred Said Buttress. It was reported that in mid-June, Canadians Rick Clements, Chris Kettles, and Troy Jungen, under the watchful eye of Fred Beckey, spent three days climbing the Fred Said Buttress on the last prominent ...
P 5000, Chilkoot Inlet, Coast Range. John Brainard and I decided to attempt the first known ascent of this beautiful and oft-viewed peak above the eastern shore of Chilkoot Inlet, 2½ miles southwest of Sinclair Mountain. On July 1, we met at the l...
Victor Curt Mahler, 1932-2011Victor passed away following a bout of pneumonia, on September 7 in New York City. An incredibly brave man, he refused to be knocked down by the loss of his sight and a stroke and continued to attend the New York Secti...
Dhaulagiri Solo. On June 2 the Japanese Hironobu Kamuro completed an alpine-style solo ascent of Dhaulagiri without oxygen on the northeast ridge, the normal route. Kamuro was supported by Dr. Makoto Hara’s High Mountains Research Institute of Nag...
Squamish Chief, The Fortress. In September, Hamish Fraser and I completed a new free route on the Sheriff’s Badge, a 1,000-foot formation on the northern section of the Squamish Chief. This was the last of the three main walls to go free. The Fort...
Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Mountains, Second Edition. Joe Kelsey. Chockstone Press, Evergreen, Colorado. 400 pages, pocket-sized, softcover. $20.00.Comment: This out-of-print classic, formerly published by the Sierra Club, is thoroughly...
Mounts Moore and Woollard, 1984. These two peaks are isolated nunataks which rise about 1000 feet above the surface of the West Antarctic Icesheet 150 miles west of the Ellesmere Mountains. Chuck Kroger and I made the first ascent of both peaks on...
Ruth Gorge, Mt. Wake, east face. The high pressure that centered over Alaska for three months brought clear skies and superb climbing conditions. Two weeks earlier in the Ruth, I attempted to solo Shaken Not Stirred on the Moose’s Tooth, while J.J...
Ama Dablam. A British-Italian Himalayan expedition spent two months in the Everest region in October and November, 1958. During October an attempt was made on Ama Dablam (22,800 feet), by its southwest ridge, from base camp at 16,000 feet and two ...
In early July, Chris Trimble and I had the brilliant idea of climbing the prominent north ridge of Hayden Spire’s East Pinnacle, which looks great from high on Trail Ridge Road—except that it’s a long way away. We convinced ourselves it wo...
Mt. Qungmomanze, First Ascent. It was reported that a Sino-South Korean team made the first ascent of Mt. Qungmomanze (23,123’) in Tibet. Eight members of the joint expedition left Camp 3 at 10:40 a.m. on October 7; they were joined at 2:20 p.m. b...
Cerro Astillado. Armando Aste, Mariano Marisa, Fabrizio Defrancesco and I moved into the mountains of the Hielo Continental from Lago San Martín. On January 17 we began to reconnoiter the north side of Cerro Astillado, but the rock was rotten. On ...
Ganesh Himal IV (Pabil). Our members were Stanley Kent, Dr. Lawrence Dunn, Gordon Seibel and me. Our approach took eight days through an area new to Americans. We had planned to take twelve days on the approach, as had the Koreans and Japanese bef...
Walther Penck, Ojos del Salado Region. Walther Penck, near Ojos del Salado, is one of the world’s highest volcanoes. In February, a group led by Jaime Surez climbed a sub-summit: Volcan de los Arianos (6562m). This was perhaps the first ascent of ...
VARIOUS FALLS, OVERDUE, LOST, AND TWO MEDICAL EMERGENCIESCalifornia, Mount ShastaWith above normal snowpack, climbing conditions remained fairly good through most of the season (May-September). This was the third year with no fatalities and decrea...
Puscanturpa Chiquita, Burro Loco. From July 10-13 Patrik Barjak and I climbed a new route on the north face of a small virgin tower in the Puscanturpa Sur massif. We called the route Burro Loco (Crazy Donkey) and the 5,066m tower Puscanturpa Chiqu...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION California, Yosemite ValleyOn May 5,1986, Yasuhiro Fujira (21) from Kyoto, Japan, fell to his death from the belay ledge of a climb called “Catchy” on Cookie Cliff. He had completed the climb, as had his partner...
Manaslu Attempt. Only the Poles Krzysztof Pankiewicz and Ludwik Wilczynski did any serious climbing. The expedition leader was the Pole Wojciech Szymanski and there were also two Czechoslovaks and a German doctor. The Polish climbers first made ac...