Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, 1986 was a big year for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s Mountaineering Section. At the beginning of the year we set out to accomplish a few things: increase membership, establish new trip leader and safety guid...

Absolute Zero on Longs PeakMark WilfordIN MARCH OF 1980, inspired by who knows what Bonatti, Messner or Kor epic, I set out for the 2000-foot east face of Longs Peak alone. The mountain wasn’t impressed with my dreams of grandeur. After 600 feet o...

Mt. Edgar, tragedy. In late May Colorado residents Jonny Copp, Micah Dash, and Wade Johnson lost their lives in an avalanche below the southeast face of Mt. Edgar (E Gongga, 6,618m). The face was a much talked about objective, which has received w...

Gepang Goh, Southeast Flanks. It was reported that an Indian Army team climbed a new route on Gepang Goh in July, 1997, via its southeast flanks. They gave the peak an altitude of 6088 meters; in the past, it has been given 5870 meters. (High Moun...

Sarapo, West Face. An Italian expedition led by Rodolfo Sinuello was composed of 13 climbers, a doctor and nine trekkers. The expedition climbed the west face of Sarapo, apparently to the right of the one pioneered by French in 1980. (See above.) ...

Wind River Peak, Tempest Tower, Second Ascent. It appears that Matt Flicek and I unknowingly managed to do a second “first ascent” of the Wind River’s Tempest Tower route in August. We set out on the ten-mile approach to the Deep Creek Lakes cirqu...

Tranquility Dome, Sierra National Forest. In August Mark Blanchard, Fremont Bainbridge and I climbed a six-pitch route on the central face of Tranquility Dome between Visions (A.A.J., 1977) and Blind Ambition (A.A.J., 1979). We named the route “Su...

Oregon, Mt. Hood. On August 28, Dean Smith (19) left Tiberline Lodge at 10:30 a.m. and arrived on the summit via the South Side Route. He crossed the big crevasse in the Chute on the left side apparently near the rock wall. Because of the icy cond...

FALL ON ROCK, PLACED NO PROTECTIONCalifornia, Yosemite ValleyOn April 8, 1980, Bunny Phillips (29) fell from the second pitch of Split Pinnacle. He fell a distance of 100 feet to a point below the belay ledge. His rope did not catch the fall, acco...

Yangmolong (6,066m), Dangchezhengla (5,830m), historical notes. Yangmolong is the highest of a small group of snow peaks in the middle of the Shaluli Shan, north of the Genyen massif and immediately east of Batang on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. Thr...

Haydon Peak Correction. On page 183 of A.A.J., 1985 Roach stated that he believed Barbara Stitt to have been the first woman to have climbed Haydon Peak. Actually, Betty Kauffman was the first, having made the ascent in 1946, when she also climbed...

Elephant Rock, Sixes Mountains, Southern Oregon Coast Range. On July 4, Wayne Wallace, Tim Olson and I climbed five pitches up the Elephant’s Trunk (as seen from the northwest) with a sixth pitch on the summit block, an incredible andesite plug. L...

Polemonium Pillar. Approaching Mt. Russell from the Whitney-Russell col, while dropping down toward Russell’s towering west face, the climber is stunned by the beautiful cracks, corners, and aretes that make up the south and west sides of the moun...

AVALANCHE, CLIMBING ALONEAlberta, Canmore, Mount Lady MacDonaldOn or about March 13, J.F (20) decided to make a solo scramble towards the summit of Mount Lady MacDonald. He was not one to follow the regular path and likely ascended directly toward...

Trisul. An expedition of the German Alpine Club’s (DAV) Mountain and Ski School, led by Franz Kellner, got 14 of its 17 members to the summit by the normal route.

Makalu Attempt. A group of nine Belgians led by Wounter Panis attempted to climb the normal northwest route on Makalu (8463 meters, 27,786 feet). They had five camps above Base Camp, including two Camps IV, one at 25,425 feet and the other, after ...

Denali National Park and Preserve, summary. In 2010, notable new routes and rapid repeats continued [see below], as did the inevitable rescues and tragedies. Thirty-five climbers were stricken with injuries or illnesses that required medical inter...

Ama Dablam South Ridge Attempt. After a 13-day walk-in, we arrived at Base Camp on September 17. Four members succumbed to illness. Ian Barton suffered a retinal hemorrhage, leader Martin Mandel contracted glandular fever, Mac Battersby was debili...

FALLING ROCK, POOR POSITIONWashington, Sahale MountainOn June 24, 1984, Rick Jali (50) was climbing the south side of Sahale and was 20 meters below the summit, watching another member of his party climbing directly above when a dislodged rock str...

Langshisha Ri Attempt. Nine Japanese led by Kosuke Shiota attempted to climb Langshisha Ri by the southwest ridge. A high point of 6100 meters was reached on October 19 by Akihiko Yagi, Sugiyama Yoshiaki and Kirken Sherpa and then the climb was gi...