Mt. Ritter, South Ridge. As we climbed the Southwest Ridge of Mt. Ritter, Ben Craft and I were amazed at the dramatic ridges dropping off to the west and south from the summit. After doing some research, it appeared that the section from Ritter Pa...
AVALANCHE, FAILURE TO FOLLOW ADVICE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, POOR POSITION, INEXPERIENCE Colorado, Pyramid PeakOn January 28, a party of four climbers headed up Maroon Creek Road south of Aspen during a heavy avalanche cycle, following a major snow ...
During the spring a British expedition comprising Angela Benham, Chris Drinkwater, Titch Kavangh and Andrew Phillips gained permission to attempt Mt. Edgar (aka E Gongga: 6,618m), in the northern sector of the range. (J. Huston Edgar was archaeolo...
Thunder Ridge, West Buttress, Mount McKinley. Bill Holton, Stan Olsen and I left Kahiltna Base with plans to climb a new direct variation between 12,000 and 16,000 feet on the West Buttress proper, a steep section of ice and rock. We set up camp a...
Mount Rainier, North Mowich Face. The Mowich face can be divided into three distinct sections: the south side (on the right) which is basically a smooth steep snow and ice slope its whole length, the central portion which is another smooth steep s...
Right Twin Brother, Los Banditos. In May, Luke Miller and I climbed a new aid line on the Right Twin, 100 feet to the right of Peyote Dreams. The independent line, Los Banditos (VI A4 5.8R), climbs three 60-meter free pitches of varying quality to...
Mount Cooper, Selkirks. Mount Cooper (10,135 feet), the highest peak of the Southern Lakes Group of the Selkirks, lies 10 miles due west of the north end of Kootenay Lake. The Spokane Mountaineers made two exploratory trips in 1961. The chief prob...
Boston Brooks-Traleika Expedition, Alaska Range. Having selected such a grandiose name, our group consisting of William Bousman, Earl Hamilton, William May, Hallam Murray and me set forth to attempt the peaks around the Brooks and Traleika Glacier...
Fail Falling. Royal Robbins. California: Pink Mountain Press, 2010. 190 pages. Paperback. $19.95.Royal Robbins is writing his life story, and what a story it is. The whole project will stretch over eight chronologically ordered volumes. This one g...
Grand Teton, Black Ice Couloir. Almost everyone who has climbed the Grand Teton has been impressed by the great drop-off on the north side of the Upper Saddle and below the Crawl pitch on the traditional route. Though three routes from this genera...
Howse Peak, East Face, M-16. On March 23-27, Barry Blanchard, Scott Backes and I climbed a new route that follows the exciting-looking ice formations on the east face of Howse Peak in Alberta, Canada. The route consisted of about 15 pitches and we...
Oregon Section. During the summer a project was undertaken on Mt. Hood to search for highly adapted anaerobic organisms known as extremophiles. These sulfur-based bacteria thrive within boiling geothermal geysers and deep inside rocks. The study c...
Scaling an icon is tricky. You have to climb through legend to grasp the stone itself. It took me years to see beyond the in-your-face northwest wall of Yosemite’s greatest icon, Half Dome. Sean Jones, though, is so over it he calls the northwest ...
The Mountaineers. The club, with over 14,000 members, is based in Seattle with branches in Bellingham, Everett, Olympia and Tacoma, Washington. It offers more than 1,000 trips each year in over 20 different outdoor activities, while pursuing a str...
Bugaboo and Vowell Groups. Our party made two minor first ascents in the Vowell group and variants on routes in the Bugaboos. On August 9 Leigh Andrews and I left Boulder Camp, crossed the Crescent-Bugaboo col, traversed the Vowell Glacier to its ...
South Chasm View Wall, The Black Hole. After years of longing gazes and idle dreaming, Jonathan Copp and I found ourselves looking up with apprehension at the vast leaning dihedral of The Black Hole (ca 2,000' V+ 5.12b). A wide crack, at first gre...
FALL ON ROCK—PROBABLY LOOSE ROCKSWyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Baxter’s PinnacleOn August 14 around 1745, Jason Coles reported an injured climber near the base of the rappel at Baxter’s Pinnacle. He stated the victim fell 120 feet and susta...
Franklin Spencer Spalding and the Ascent of The Grand Teton in 1898Francis P. FarquharTHE climb of The Grand Teton in 1898 was an outstanding event in American mountaineering, regardless of whether or not it is considered to be the first ascent. I...
Edited by Cameron M. BurnsDoug Coombs 1957-2006Doug Coombs died last spring in a skiing accident in the French Alps while trying to aid a friend who had fallen over a cliff. He was 48 years old. Many writers and magazine editors will recall that D...
Mt. Dickey, northeast face ice.Flying into the Ruth Gorge, I caught sight of an obvious drip of ice on the northeast face of Mt. Dickey. On May 20 Christine Byrch and I left our camp below the Don Sheldon Mountain House in the Ruth Amphitheater.We...