Saser Muztagh, Plateau Peak (7,287m), attempt. The name “Plateau Peak” is something of a contradiction: the mountain is massive and wears a permanent ice cap. Despite several attempts, by 2009 the peak still remained unclimbed. Our five- member In...
OVERDUE, DIFFICULTY FOLLOWING ROUTE, POOR CONDITIONS—SNOW, INEXPERIENCE, FROSTRITEAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Mount Edith CavellOn September 30, G. M. (30) and partner (39) climbed the East Ridge of Mt. Edith Cavell (3363 meters). The route was in p...
K2 Attempt. Wojciech Kurtyka and I had hoped to climb a new route on the west side of K2. We got to the normal Base Camp at 5100 meters on May 26. The route to Advance Base at 6200 meters is very long and we had engaged two porters to help carry t...
The 2005 Maitri (Hindi for Friendship) Karakoram Expedition was a joint venture of Indian and American climbers. The Indians were Ameya Chandawarkar, Surendra Anant Chavan, Rajesh Gudgil, leader Divyesh Muni, Vineeta Muni, Shripad Sapkal, and Cyru...
VARIOUS STRANDED CLIMBERSWyoming, Devils Tower National Monument, Devils TowerOn October 30th, rangers received a phone call from Crook County dispatch regarding a group of climbers who were stuck on the south side of Devils Tower with a rope caug...
Rimo I (7,385m), route unknown. In July-August, an Indian Mountaineering Foundation team led by Major K. S. Dhami claims to have reached the summit of Rimo I, a difficult peak in a side valley to the east of the Siachen Glacier. Bad weather and po...
Ghulam Tower, Giorgio Lorenzo. It was reported that the four-man team of Riccardo Milani, Adriano Selva, Andrea Spandri and Natale Villa made the first ascent of the Ghulam Tower (4720m), a rock spire on the west bank of the Gondokoro Glacier that...
Ispa Rid, Southeast ridge, Cordillera Carabaya. Travelling by car from Santiago, a Chilean group reached the base of Allin Capac’s sister peak, at times called Ispa Riti (5723 meters, 18,776 feet). A base camp was placed at 4200 meters in the Anta...
FALL ON ROCK, EQUALIZED SLING FAILUREOregon, Smith Rock State ParkOn June 7, a climber was being lowered by his partner after climbing the route, Easy Reader (5.6) at the Dihedrals in Smith Rock State Park.After descending about 15 feet, the ancho...
Cho Oyu from the North in the Pre-Monsoon. As in other seasons, there were numerous ascents of Cho Oyu by the west side from the north. The well-known Mexican climber, Carlos Carsolio, made a whirlwind tour in the pre-monsoon season and did two fa...
Mount Tyndall, Direct East Face. In September Steve Brewer, David Wil son and I made the first ascent of this 1500-foot granite wall. Two earlier routes follow gully systems on either side of the sheer wall that begins in overhangs above a permane...
Washington, Olympic National Park, Mt. Olympus. On September 3, a group of climbers had reached the summit pyramid. There was light rain and fog. One rope team was starting up the summit ridge with another rope team moving on the snow along the ba...
Bear Mountain, North Buttress, First Free Ascent. On July 20 and 21, Lowell Skoog and I climbed the north buttress of Bear Mountain. We followed the original ascent route, with the exception of the chimney, which we bypassed on the right. In recen...
Maine — Mt. Katahdin. On 28 October Mrs. Mower and Mrs. Ivusic climbed Mt. Katahdin via the Cathedral Trail and arrived at Baxter Peak at about 1:30 P.M. They started down the knife edge trial. Mrs. Ivusic decided to take a short cut while Mrs. Mo...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAY ANCHORArizona, Superior, Queen CreekI was climbing in Atlantis, Queen Creek, on a 5.10, which really has no belay spot directly below the climb, so my belayer set up on the other side of the creek bed, about seven me...
North Dome, Kings Canyon. During the weekend of July 4, 1986, Gary Hinton, Blaine Neely and I climbed a new route to the right of Dolphin Dreams. Freak Show is mostly free climbing with aid consisting of hooking, thin flakes and steep, flared crac...
Cerro Fitz Roy, Attempt. Americans John Catto and Pete Gallagher attempted to climb a new route between the Cassarotto and Devil’s Dihedral routes. Fixing ropes, they climbed nine pitches, but gave when they were confronted with continuous thin cr...
Trango Towers, South Face of the Chateau. Erik Decamp, Robert Wainer and I made the ascent of the south face of the first Trango Tower (also called the Chateau), a climb of 4000 vertical feet and 50 rope-lengths of which 30 were above UIAA Grade V...
Cordillera Blanca, clarifications and corrections. AAJ correspondent Antonio Gómez Bohórquez, a noted Cordillera Blanca climbing researcher, sent the following notes regarding reports in the 2002 AAJ. In writing us with these corrections and clari...
Mt. Donguz-Orun, North Face, Descent by Ski and Snowboard. Mt. Donguz-Orun (“Mountain over the Lake of Pigs,” 4468m), a spectacular massif southeast of Mt. Elbrus and with the Nakra-Tau (Cut Peak, 4431m) summit to the west, is covered with glacier...