After an hour of getting nowhere, Peter called the NPS for help. The ranger taking the call asked if Peter could rappel or Prusik down and free the rope. Peter replied that he didn’t want to rappel and didn’t know how to Prusik. Ranger Scott obv...
Meru Attempt and Bhagirathi II Ascent. After a British group failed to climb the east ridge of Meru, Andrew MacNae and Gavin Thomas made a rapid ascent of Bhagirathi II (6512 meters, 21,365 feet) by its east face. Sudarshan Parbat Attempt and Thel...
Mount Washington, North Face. The extension of the Jefferson Lake road now makes this approach usable. In May Arnold Bloomer, Roy Harniss, Neil Jacques, Keith Spencer, Don Anderson, Richard Hebble and Jerry Koch made the first ascent of this face ...
Pokharkan, first ascent. Sherpa Panima Lama (51) and I (61) made the first ascent of Pokharkan (6,346m) on October 31. We climbed the north ridge via a route that is not highly technical. I selected this route because the south face is a difficult...
Snow Lake Peaks and Hispar Sar. New Zealanders Dave Bamford, Matt Comeskey, John Cocks, John Wild and I with liaison officer Major Arif Khan spent July and August climbing in the Lukpe Lawo (Snow Lake) region during a Biafo-Hispar traverse. We pla...
Owl Rock. Across the highway from Agathalan rises the red obelisk called Owl Rock. Harvey Carter and I studied a route that had already been attempted but the rock seemed sounder on the opposite, west side. We took the better part of two days, cli...
Thalay Sagar Attempt. A six-man Korean expedition led by Choi Byung- Soo attempted to climb the north face of Thalay Sagar in June. They were stopped at 6400 meters by bad weather.Harish Kapadia, Editor, Himalayan Journal
Piramide, Facig Uno. Dujan Debelak (Slovenia) and Aritza Monasteno (Spain) climbed what they believed to be a new route on the southwest face of Piramide (5885 meters) in 11 hours on July 13. They followed the gully on the left side of the wall, t...
FALL ON ICY ROCK, WEATHERWyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Grand TetonOn July 14, 1992, at 0430, three Exum guides left the lower saddle with seven clients to climb the Exum Ridge on the Grand Teton. The route was in bad condition because of rec...
Ama Dablam, state of the Dablam. The huge high serac known as “the Dablam” has remained active since November 2006, when a huge mass of ice falling from this large serac barrier hit Camp 3 and swept six climbers off the mountain. During the night ...
Chiquito Dome, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. On May 11, Conrad Van Bruggen and I climbed this route on the east face of this small dome located near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Start in the last right-facing book before the dome turns to brushy slab...
The Ship’s Prow, Bologna Pony. It was reported that Jim Redo and Pat Adams put up a new 500-foot line on The Ship’s Prow that follows the obvious overhanging arête on the formation. The Bologna Pony (5.12b/c) features thin crack climbing on the fi...
Mount Vernon Bailey, Southeast Face, Big Bend National Park. In March, Fred Pfahler and I began our ascent at the main couloir on the east part of the face. Three rope-lengths of moderate difficulty brought us to the upper of two diagonal ledges w...
Stauning Alper. We traveled from Mestersvig along Kong Oscar Fjord and Alpejord by rubber boat past the common front of the Gully and Sefström Glaciers to enter the Dammen, where we placed Base Camp. High Camp was at 3450 feet up the Sefström Glac...
The Titan, Sun Devil Chimney, First Clean Ascent. On March 20-21, Andy Donson and I made the first clean ascent of the Sun Devil Chimney (5.9 A3) on the Titan. We used tricams, small Aliens and hand-placed pins in existing scars and gave the route...
Shishapatigma main summit (8,027m), southwest face, solo in December with new variation. Over the years I had a simple idea in mind: to climb a big Himalayan route solo in the inhospitable conditions that typify winter in the Himalaya. During all ...
Mount Everest Massif. Jan Kielkowski. Explo Publishers, 1 Maja 40/6, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland. 1992. Climbing Guide, 201 pages, 9 maps, 97 illustrations, $18.50. Mountaineering Atlas, 21 pages, maps and indexes, $6.50 plus $2.50 postage for each.If ...
Gunsight (main summit), East Face. Gary Brill and I made this ascent on July 31. From a camp on the Blizzard-Gunsight Col we were able to circumnavigate easily to the east by way of the Blue Glacier. Choosing a line on the east face (left), we soo...
Climbs in Pinnacles National Monument. At least three routes were added to the monument this year. Cleaver Buttress (F6) lies on a formation above and behind the Machete Ridge. It ascends a water chute to the base of a chimney. The second pitch as...
FALL ON ROCK, RAPPEL FAILURE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT California, Yosemite ValleyOn May 22, James Waugh (27) and John Darsis (30) were on El Capitan climbing The Nose and were two pitches short of the Dolt Tower. Waugh fell, injuring his finger. They...