I’ve not been climbing in the mountains that long, and although I’d visited the Caucasus, Crimea, Tien Shan, and Khibiny peaks of the Kola Peninsula, I’d been fascinated by mountains outside the former Soviet Union. After training in summer 2008, ...
Nanga Parbat, Variant of the Schell Route. Our expedition was made up of Oscar Cadiach, Pere Benaiges, Narcís Serrat, Jordi Homs and me as leader. After delays caused by a blocked road, we finally arrived on July 4 at Base Camp at 3550 meters belo...
Lofoton Islands, Vagakallens Great Pillar. We always intended to visit Norway, inspired by the Troll Wall and pictures and reports from the Lofoton Islands, which lie 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Somehow Norway always slipped down the lis...
AIRBORNE FIRST AID IN THE AUSTRIAN ALPSIn 1953 the efficiency of helicopters in high-mountain rescue work was first demonstrated in the Alps on a large scale. Experience derived from that freak winter, which by reason of its unprecedented heavy sn...
The Saryshitcharv River flows south 20km from the Shakhdara Range to meet the Oxus River at the village of Shitcharv, directly opposite the Raij Jurm Valley in Afghanistan’s High Hindu Kush. Its head is enclosed by a horseshoe of summits: Pik Mosc...
OVERDUE, OFF ROUTE, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, POOR POSITION, WEATHERWyoming, TetonsOn July 27, 1989, I (Ranger Scott Berhenfield) noticed that Harry Barcalow (28) and Michael Volkov (31) were overdue from their climb of the East Ridge of the Grand Teto...
Manaslu’s Unknown FacePierre Beghin, Groupe de Haute MontagneCURIOUSLY, THE WEST face of Manaslu has always remained sheltered from the sight of climbers while other comparable faces, such as the south face of Annapurna, those of Dhaulagiri and Na...
New Zealand ExperiencesHenry S. Hall, Jr.THE Mt. Cook district in the Southern Alps of New Zealand might well be said to resemble closely the mother Alpine range of Europe on a three-fourths scale, just as the Caucasus impresses one as a four-thir...
3,000m, Pofigo. In June, Heidi Wirtz and I made a first ascent at a climbing area known as Kupol-Stol, in the remote Barun Valley of the Sayan Mountains, just west of the southern end of Lake Baikal. We were the first Americans to grace the Siberi...
RAPPEL ANCHOR FAILURE, FAILURE TO FOLLOW ROUTE, INADEQUATE PROTECTIONWashington, Mix Up PeakOn August 15, 1991, I was climbing with Lindsay Berly (26) on the East Face of Mix Up Peak in the North Cascades. As we descended, it grew dark. It was alm...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAY - ROPE PULLS THROUGH BELAY DEVICEColorado, Eldorado Canyon State ParkOn December 14, a female climber (27) was lowered off the end of her rope after leading the first pitch of Over the Hill (5.10). Drew Wojcik was in...
FALL ON ROCK, TRIPPED ON ROPE, NO HARD HAT California, Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point ApronOn September 26, 1993, at 1350 Gleed Toombes (41) took a 25 foot leader fall while climbing a route called the Green Dragon on the Glacier Point Apron. Toom...
EXPOSURE, DEHYDRATION, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT (Rope, Altimeter, Compass, Clothing), PARTY SEPARATED, EXCEEDING ABILITIESAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressA group of thirteen Taiwanese were training for an Everest expedition. Twelve of the group f...
The Golden Pillar: SpantikAnthony Victor Saunders, North London Mountaineering ClubIN THE HEART of the Karakoram, in the ancient Mirdom of Nagar, lies a little known mountain. Although the Karakoram Highway passes no more than 20 miles from it, th...
Mt. Hunter, North Buttress, The Knowledge, New Route. Britons Jules Cartwright and Ian Parnell climbed a new route, The Knowledge (Alaska Grade 6), on Mt. Hunter from May 25- June 6. The route shares some pitches with the Moonflower Buttress route...
Garden of the Gods. 1983 inspired the development of hard new lines and freeing old aid lines by Bob D’Antonio and me. I was responsible for 99% of the drilling, most of which was done on lead, and some on rappel. The reason for rappel-placed dril...
RAPPEL FAILURE, DRUGSNew York, ShawangunksOn April 5, a male climber (age unknown) fell to the ground while trying to rappel from a climb called Minty. The climber was too stoned to walk or write and refused first aid. (Source: Brad Snyder)Analysi...
Gaurishankar Attempt. Rosa Fernández, Javier Alonso, Juan José San Sebastián, Ignacio Miró and I established Base Camp on September 25 at 15,900 feet, at the site of previous expeditions’ bases. We immediately climbed the intervening ridge to 17,0...
Mounts Outram and Erasmus, North Faces. Tom Thomas and I ascended the Glacier Lake Trail, fording the river just downstream from the lake. An excellent goat trail led us to timberline and we followed the main north ridge extending from the east sh...
Dharamsura Tragedy. Three Japanese from Hitotsubashi University started out to climb Dharamsura in mid August. When they did not return by September 15, as they had planned, an unsuccessful search was undertaken.