South Georgia, 1989-1990. Our expedition spent three months on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. It was jointly led by Stephen Venables and me; the other team members were Brian Davidson, Lindsay Griffin a film-cameraman Kees’t Hooft. The...
Macabre Tower, South Pillar, Cascade Range, British Columbia. In July, Steve Must, Jai Condon and I climbed the south pillar of Macabre Tower in Cathedral Provincial Park. I had tried the route in 1991 with Rob Harris but we were halted by lack of...
Hungchi, attempt. Recently brought on to the permitted list, this 7036m mountain on the Nepal-Tibet watershed south of the Nup La had never received an official attempt before last autumn. Takatsugu Shiro’s six-member Japanese party from Osaka att...
Nuptse East, South Buttress Attempt. Christophe Moulin, Gérard Vionnet, Patrick Berhault and I hoped to climb Nuptse East in the post-monsoon. The south (central) buttress is imposing with 1000 meters of rock at the foot of the 2600-meter face. Be...
Greenland Icecap, South to North Unassisted Crossing. It was reported that on June 13, Norwegians Rune Gjeldnes and Torry Larsen, who had made the 540-mile west to east traverse in 1994, became the first to traverse Greenland south to north, a 1,6...
FALL ON SNOW, DESCENDING UNROPEDAlaska, Chugach State ParkOn the evening of August 7, 1978, Mark Figura (24), Bob Mintz (27), and Ralph Duerre (35) were enroute from Eklutna to Girdwood on a glacier trek. Figura was descending the 700-foot Raven H...
EQUIPMENT FAILURE—ASCENDERS CAME OFF ROPE, FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE SELF-BELAYCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, El CapitanOn May 27, Robert Jatkowski (30) was cleaning pitch 28 of the Shield, while his partner, Uwe Reissland (38) waited at the belay ab...
Pologongka, First Ascent. It was reported that Britons Mike Ratty, Richard Law and Trevor Willis, plus their LO, Narindar Chakula, made the first ascent of Pologongka in August, 1997.Ratty had been granted permission for the peak in 1995 only to h...
Chilean Patagonia, Various Ascents. Michael Pennings, Scott Lazar, and Cameron Tague reached the south summit of Torre Norte via a variation of La Ultima Esperanza on January 13, 1996. Our route was 1,500 feet, eight pitches, and 5.11 Al. On Janua...
Wheeler Crest, Stormy Petrel Route. Quite prominent among the line of granitic walls and towers between the desert floor and the top of Wheeler Crest is a pink-toned cliff on the left flank, above Wells Peak. Mike Warburton and I had tried a line ...
Robert Model Jr. 1973–2009I have still not quite come to terms with the truth that Bobby Model is dead. I knew Bobby for almost 20 years, traveled five continents with him, and tied in with him for hundreds of climbs. Bobby saved my life on a coup...
The Mountain of Storms—Dhaulagiri, 1960Norman G. DyhrenfurthLook here, Maurice, it’s absolutely unclimbable, that Dhaulagiri! It’s fiendishly difficult!“* Those were the words of Lionel Terray in 1950 as he reported the results of his reconnaissan...
The Valley Climbers, Yosemite’s Vertical Revolution. John Long, editor. Stonemaster Press, 2011. 99 photographs, most in color. 168 pages. Hardcover. $54.95.A coffee-table book with photos from improbable places, The Valley Climbers is organized a...
I’ll Call You in Kathmandu: The Elizabeth Hawley Story.Bernadette McDonald. Foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 2005. 24 pages of black & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS, 2 MAPS. 256 PAGES. HARDCOVER. $24.95.For nearly five deca...
Clyde Minaret, Southeast Edge. After much consulting, Joel Richnik and I were pleasantly surprised to find no recorded ascent of the beautiful line that runs just right of the southeast edge proper of Clyde Minaret. The route begins near the base ...
Glacier National Park, Mt. Jackson, Shades of Gray and Alpenglow. Visiting, with limited time, Anna Jansen sought to climb a mountain over the weekend. Excited by high pressure, we made for Glacier. The following day our friends Jeff Shapiro and G...
Shivling, East Pillar, and Bhagirathi II Tragedy. On May 7 ten of us, from various parts of the world, met in Delhi en route to the Gangotri. We were Georges Bettembourg, French, Greg Child and Rick White, Australians, Mervyn English, New Zealande...
FALL ON SNOW, UNABLE TO SELF ARREST, EXCEEDING ABILITIESWyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Mount MoranJoseph Boots Allen, Justin Watsabaugh and Micha Thompson left a camp in a snow cave near the base of the Skillet Glacier on Mount Moran (12,605 ...
AVALANCHE, CLIMBING ROPEDOregon, Mount HoodOn Monday, May 24, 1982, a Mazama climbing party left Timberline Lodge (2000 meters) at 0030 for a climb of the Leuthold Couloir Route. The group consisted of leader Bob Williams (34), assistant leader Ba...
Mapping McKinley’s Southeast ApproachesBRADFORD WASHBURNFew living persons have enjoyed the privilege of spending a month in the magnificent Great Amphitheater or Basin of Ruth Glacier. Lying between the vertiginous granite crags of the Great Gorg...