Sierra Nevada de Mérida. A stay in Mérida revealed that the long active Club Andino Venezolano has been disbanded. Presently there are three small clubs in the city. The most active seems to be Club Cóndor, Carlos Reyes, Presidente, Calle 24 #8-25...
In early December Dawa Steven, Nanga Dorje, and Pemba Tenzing inaugurated a new approach to the Kyajo Glacier, and made a rapid, quasi-winter ascent of Kyajo Ri's standard route on the southwest ridge. The normal approach is via Mende and the va...
Table Mountain, Southeast Couloir. In early July, 1980, Jack Tackle and I climbed the prominent couloir on the south side of Table Mountain. Above the snow in the lower portion it was a fairly sustained climb on good rock for about 600 feet. The m...
Baboquivari Peak, Various Ascents. In March, I soloed a new route on the east face of Baboquivari Peak. Freak of Nature (VI 5.10 A5a) starts 40 feet left of Cradle of Stone and climbs straight up a blankish golden wall left of the black water stre...
RAPPEL FAILURE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, NO HARD HAT, EXCEEDING ABILITIES Colorado, Mt. RoyalOn Monday, July 2, the Summit County Rescue Group (SCRG) rescued the second fallen climber in nine days from Mt. Royal.Ron Swett (21) and two companions, Bri...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAY–ROPE TOO SHORT and NO KNOT IN ENDCalifornia, Yosemite National Park, Guppy DomeOn September 7, Scott Davidson (54) led a short pitch, fixed an anchor and had his belayer lower him (with an ATC). The rope (50m) was to...
Jugal Himal, Big White Peak. The objective of our expedition, which was under the sponsorship of the Federation of All Japan Mountaineering Unions, was the Big White Peak (23,240 feet). The reason why we prefer this name to Löngpo Gang, suggested ...
FALL ON SNOW, FALL INTO CREVASSE, CLIMBING UNROPEDBritish Columbia, Purcell Mountains, BugaboosOn August 17, 1981, Robert Howard (age about 25) and Bruce Kay were ascending the broad snow gully leading to the Snowpatch-Bugaboo Col. Near the top, K...
HAPEAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressAt 1000 on May 27, Richard Gustafson (34) and William Ross (45)—clients from two separate expeditions—were experiencing symptoms of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE). Gustafson was with Alaska Denali Gui...
Attempt on Mount Blackburn, Wrangell Range. On June 24 Jack Wilson flew Don Houseley, Jim Scott and me from Chitina and landed us on the Nebesna Glacier at 7300 feet. From there on the north side of Blackburn (16,523 feet) we climbed the lower sec...
FALL ON ROCK, PROTECTION FAlLED—ROCK BLOCK, FAILURE TO TEST HOLDAlberta, Jasper National Park, Hidden ValleyOn May 19, Peter R. (49) and Jack W. were climbing a single pitch route in Hidden Valley, a quiet climbing area east of Jasper. While leadi...
Tahu Rutum, Biafo Karakoram. Tahu Rutum is a rock tower which rises to 21,820 feet at the very head of the Biafo Glacier southeast of Kanjut Sar. Our expedition was composed of Hirotoshi Miyagawa, Katsuo Matsumura, Kazuto Obata, Yoshinobu Tanaka, ...
Sunchuli Pass Area, Ascent. On June 9, Yossi Brain (U.K.) and I climbed the northwest face of an unnamed peak just northeast of the Sunchuli Pass. This face is located between what are named Cuchillo II (5450m) and P. 5450 on the 1993 Paul Hudson ...
Mount Sergeant Robinson, Chugach Range. In April, 1968 Bob Spurr and others attempted this mountain via Gravel Creek and Assassination Glacier. They failed when an icefall on the glacier proved insurmountable. In August, 1969, the Germans Georg Gr...
Torre de Pangal, Rancagua Andes. From Base Camp at 9000 feet at the head of the Cajón de Flores in the Andes above Rancagua, my wife Irene and I climbed the 4000-foot face to the southeast of us to reach an untrodden glacier, the Torre de Pangal’s...
Ngozumba Kang Attempt. A joint expedition of four Frenchmen, two Belgians and three Sherpas led by Guy Cousteix attempted the south face of Ngozumba Kang (7806 meters, 25,610 feet). After establishing three camps, they abandoned the climb because ...
A.A.C., Sierra Nevada Section. Membership in the Sierra Nevada Section remained nearly constant at 82; however, the percentage of younger climbers showed an encouraging slight increase. We held four meetings during the year. George Oetzel discusse...
On a cold day in February, Jeff Collins and I snow-machined in to Mosquito Pass and climbed a narrow, 1,700' sinuous couloir (with some WI2 and M3) on the wall of gneiss to the west of Mosquito Pass.Ian McRae
Bivouac Peak, South Face. In September Juris Christiansen and I climbed a new route on the south face of Bivouac Peak. The route begins under a large gray overhang capping an alcove just to the left of the huge pedestal in the center of the face a...
Dragontail Peak, Northwest Face Variant. On June 19, after a cold storm, Robert Cotter and I climbed Dragontail Peak in icy conditions. We ascended ice runnels and snowfields and a long rock pitch onto the northwest-face route to Ball Bearing Amph...