FALL ON ROCK, FAILURE TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONSUtah, Wasatch Mountains, Rig Cottonwood CanyonOn July 5, Karen Wilson, a student in an organized climbing course, took an unroped fall of approximately eight feet. Miss Wilson had completed her turn clim...
Cerro Bonete Chico, New Route, Central Andes. This mountain, with a revised height of 6759 meters, has been misidentified many times. Only with the new maps of a few years ago has the confusion ended. Bonete Chico (“Little Cone,” this because of t...
Chopicalqui, Northwest Ridge, 1980. In June, 1980, after climbing Pisco, a Czechoslovakian group led by Igor Norak and composed of Jakoslava Tallora, Sylva Talla, Zdenek Brebec and Josef Kada climbed the northwest ridge of Chopicalqui, pioneered t...
The Watchman, West Face, Central Pillar Watchman Direct, Previously Unreported. This new route (V 5.10 C1+ W.Y.A., 16 pitches, 7 bolts), climbed in September, 1999, by Eric Draper and I, begins dead center in the west face on a 1978 Scott Fischer/...
FALL ON SNOW, LOSS OF CONTROL, INVOLUNTARY GLISSADENew Hampshire, Mt. WashingtonOn March 11, Henry Dones (20) survived a spectacular 500-foot slide down the east slope of Mt. Washington. A Harvard student, he was one of ten members of an M.I.T. Ou...
Dirgol Zom. Six Japanese led by Kiyomi Katori are said to have climbed Dirgot Zom (6778 meters, 22,238 feet). No details are available at this time.
Nooksack Tower, Winter Ascent. Well, “the Devil had fallen,” but not the Demon. Nooksack Tower awaited a winter ascent. Dan Cauthorn and Bob Crawford had attempted it the previous winter. Seven stormy days inside their tent was the reward. However...
Thalay Sagar, Various Attempts. It was reported that Andrew Linblade (Australia) and Athol Wimp (New Zealand) attempted the north face of this peak in September, reaching 6350 meters before being turned back by continuing snow, extreme cold and in...
FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING UNROPED, INEXPERIENCE, FATIGUEAlberta, Practice Rock at Lake O’HaraTwo young Lake O’Hara Lodge staff members got up early on July 29, 1982 and climbed Mount Lefroy. They were down early and decided to do some practice rock c...
Mt. Alverstone, West Face, Pugilist at Rest and The Wilford Couloir. In May, Barry Blanchard and I set out to climb the west face of Mt. Alverstone. After flying in with Gulf Air to the Hubbard Glacier, we set up Base Camp. A few days later (appro...
Big Kangaroo, South Face. On October 4, Chris Copeland and I climbed the first three pitches of the 1984 Thomas-Kearney route, but instead of exiting from the corner, we continued up it. From a small stance in the corner, we climbed a left-leaning...
El Capitan, Lost in Translation. Seven years ago I was inspired by Leo Houlding to find a line on El Cap and do it in perfect alpine style, from the ground to the top, free in a day. I tried this many times, but we got shut down every time. On El ...
Alaska Section. The summer of 2011 saw the completion of the AAC’s newest hut, the Snowbird, located in the Hatcher Pass area of the Talkeetna Mountains about 50 miles north of Anchorage. The Section launched the Snowbird Hut project in 2005, when...
Api Attempt. A Polish expedition of eight, led by Stanislaw Rudzin- ski, attempted the northwest ridge in alpine style in the post-monsoon season but failed at 22,000 feet. Several members who were not in on the actual attempt did place two suppor...
The Bugaboos, Various New Routes and First Free Ascent. Between July 24 and August 16, Patience Donahue and I lucked onto a weather window and scored three new routes and one first free ascent. The most significant route is Cameron’s Pillar (5.11+...
Koktang, 1982. Thirteen of the 19-member team from the Territorial Army climbed Koktang (6147 meters, 20,167 feet) on the Sikkimese-Nepalese frontier by its southwest face. The leader Captain K. V. Cherian, Nima Tasho Derje, Flight Lieutenant P. N...
On August 24, 1982, Peter Miller (30) and Krag Unsoeld (26) were climbing the Guide’s Wall. Around 1300, Unsoeld was leading the “double cracks” pitch. As he climbed the pitch, he placed two nuts. He ran into difficulty climbing and attempted to t...
FALL INTO CREVASSE, WEATHERWashington, Mount Baker, Coleman GlacierRescuers reached two seriously injured climbers on Mount Baker and were bringing them down the mountain in difficult weather conditions Monday morning.The drama began on Sunday, Se...
Makalu Attempt. This five-man expedition from the Netherlands hoped to climb the Yugoslavian route on the south face of Makalu. After establishing three high camps, leader Edewin van Nieuwkerk and Joost Ubbink reached 7600 meters on May 4. Exhaust...
FALLS ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTIONNew York, ShawangunksOf the 22 accidents reported from the Shawangunks this year, 21 were leader falls, half of which were more than three meters in distance. Eighteen falls resulted in fractures, and most invol...