“I want to do a climb that takes the ultimate—and still succeed.” —Royal Robbins in Mountain 18. Embick begins: AFTER last summer’s climbs in the Kichatnas (see American Alpine Journal, 1977 and Climbing Jan..Feb. 1977) Mike Graber went back ...
Stu McAleese, Mark Thomas, and I (from Wales, U.K.) spent three weeks in May completing a new big-wall aid route on a previously unclimbed formation in Baffin Islands Stewart Valley. I had spotted the line in 1999 when Jerry Gore, Shaun Hutson,...
Mount Russell, West Chimney, The west face of Mount Russell is one of the finest big walls in the Sierra Nevada. In early September, after descending from another route on the peak, Steve Porcella and I stood under this face and spotted a steep ch...
Nutarmuit Island, Ullukkut. Originally I had wanted to climb a formation on Qaersorssuaq Island, however on the July boat ride there we saw that my topo map was not entirely accurate. So a quick change in plans, and Donny Alexander and I were on t...
North Face of Mount Maude. On June 16, 1957 John Rupley, Fred Beckey, Herb Staley, and I made the first ascent of the 4000-foot wall on the north side of Mount Maude, a prominent 9100-foot peak in the North Cascades, situated between the headwater...
EVERETT L. DARR 1907-1981Everett L. Darr died June 21, 1981, at the age of 74. He had been active in the mountain climbing and skiing scene around Mount Hood for over 50 years. He started his Mountain Shop in Portland, Oregon, in 1937. Later, afte...
Uddin Zom, First Ascent. In July and August, a team of four visited the little-explored Hindu Raj in northwest Pakistan. Adam Thomas, Phil Amos and Simon Woods from the U.K. and Jock Jeffery from New Zealand departed on July 3 from Chitral to the ...
North Face of Higher Cathedral Rock. No one had ever really looked at this face with the thought of climbing it without using many bolts, but Robert Kamps and Charles Pratt returned from reconnoitering with some hopeful news. They had spotted a va...
Orvin Fjella Mountains, Holsttind (2,577m), north face, Pilier de Choudens-Renard; Ulvetanna (2,931m), southwest ridge, attempt; Clara Peak; Klevetind; Little Klevetind; Unnamed Pillar. Flying via Cape Town and the Russian base of Novolazarevskaya...
FALL ON ROCK, PLACED NO PROTECTION, WEATHER, NO HARD HAT Washington, Northeast CascadesOn July 5,1986, Dan Ferguson (31), Jeffrey Skinner (30), and Kevin Wood (30) set out for an ascent of Bonanza Peak from the Mary Green Glacier, which is a Class...
Japanese Exploration in NepalI. EXPLORATION OF THE TORBO DISTRICT, EAST OF KANJIROBA HIMALJiro KawakitaOur party of eight members, J. Kawakita, leader, M. Ogata, K. Nishoika, O. Namikawa, Y. Sonehara, R. Taka- yama, S. Iijima and S. Omori, had tw...
A new low pass in the Canadian Rockies (4,250 feet) is reported by Prentiss N. Gray in The Geographical Journal for August, 1932 with a good map. It crosses the continental divide about seven miles to the northwest of Mt. Ida in the Jarvis Pass di...
Summary of activities. A total of 68 climbers attempted 4,897m Vinson Massif, including seven women. Unusually poor weather was experienced in the second half of the season, one reason that only 55 climbers reached the summit, to give a success ra...
We demanded a lot from Stephen Wilkins, Australian owner and skipper of the yacht Xplore, which delivered us to the Peninsula. It was not just the quantities of food and drink we consumed, but also the number of drop-offs and pick-ups we req...
Yosemite Speed, Patagonian SummitsExploring Chouinard’s maxim four decades onby Timothy O’NeillThe imploring yell, “Go, go, go!” echoes from above. My jeans pockets bulge with keys, coins and paraphernalia; I’ve been in the Valley for one week. We...
A Belayer's Thoughts …. Yosemite Valley, Spring 1952. Yo- semite again! The transition period between winter and spring brought its compelling force into play, drawing us to the bleak rockface barring the way to the Tree up on the face of El Capit...
RECENT GROWTH OF GLACIERS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWESTApproximately 90 per cent of the total area covered by glaciers in the United States is found in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Altogether, Washington’s glaciers cover a cum...
FALL ON ROCK, NUT PULLED OUT, NO HARD HATNew Mexico, Sandia MountainsOn September 16, Jim Ladd (40) and John Wright (39 had underestimated the time for approaching the South West Ridge route on the Needle (they had left the car at 1100) as they we...
Annapurna, Solo Autumn Ascent, 1990.1 approached Annapurna in May of 1989 but did not make a real attempt to climb the mountain because of bad weather. In the autumn of 1990,1 returned. I flew to Jomosom and continued on with seven porters to the ...
Mt. Kongur, Attempt. Our group this year tried to climb Mt. Kongur (7719m) in the Kashgar Range. The extremely bad weather did not allow us to even approach the summit tower. The route (Bonington, 1981) is very long and indirect. We dug our last s...