OF General InterestTwo Anniversaries. The year 1949 marks the centenary of the birth of Albert Heim (1849-1937) and the 65th anniversary of the death of Arnold Guyot (1807-84), two of the foremost glacial geologists of the past century.Born at Zür...
FALL ON ICE, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, CLIMBING ALONE Alberta, Waterton National Park, Expert’s ChoiceOn February 10, a middle-aged male was attempting a solo ascent of the lower left pitch of Expert's Choice (WI4). He apparently was dragging a rope ...
A Polish Expedition composed of four climbers, Wojsznis, Szcepansky, Osieckj, and Parysky, made a number of climbs along the Chilean-Argentine frontier in the Province of Catamarca, among them, Ojo del Salado (6870 m.), Nevado Picis (6780 m.), Nev...
Manaslu. An expedition of four Swiss, two Netherlanders and a Frenchwoman was led by Swiss André Georges. On October 19, Georges and Swiss Armand Salamin reached the summit of Manaslu (8163 meters, 26,781 feet) via the northeast face. The Frenchwo...
WILLIAM JAMES BUCKINGHAM1936-1990Bill Buckingham was a striking exception to the folklore that American mountaineers come from the flatlands, that those who are bom and raised in the mountains seldom develop an interest in climbing them. Bom on Ju...
Good Morning Midnight: Life and Death in the Wild. Chip Brown. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. 300 pages. Hardcover. $24.95.A reviewer often struggles to separate his judgment of a book—the author’s work—from his personal feelings about the subje...
Aguja Guillaumet, Northeast Ridge and Other Climbs. Eduardo Brenner and Eduardo Moschioni (Centro Andino Buenos Aires) opened between January 3 and 25 a new route on Aguja Guillaumet. They climbed the northeast ridge, making a bivouac in the ascen...
Ten Japanese under the leadership of Hiroshi Fujii ascended unclimbed Chiring (7090 meters, 23,262 feet), which lies in the Panmah Mustagh on the Chinese-Pakistani frontier. The mountain had unsuccessfully been attempted by Japanese in 1986 and 19...
Sheep Rock, Main Dome, South Platte Area. The obvious thin crack on this beautiful dome previously had been an aid route (III, 5.8, A2). Steve Spaar, Don Cardinale and I, in May of 1982, freed the sustained second pitch at 5.11. We named it Charle...
AVALANCHENew Hampshire, Mt. WashingtonSunday, April 6, 1980, was a clear, relatively warm, late-winter day. A winter of light snow and seasonably cold temperatures had resulted in excellent ice climbing conditions throughout the White Mountain are...
Notes on logistics for climbers. Climbing permits for Sichuan Province are relatively easy to acquire. Contrary to previous reports, no one has ever been declined a permit. Certain parties just refused to pay the fee and hence were “denied.” The c...
Mount Everest in the Pre-Monsoon. Besides the May 10 tragedy on Mount Everest, a number of significant mountaineering accomplishments were achieved. Among the best were Hans Kammerlander’s 17-hour ascent of the North Col/North Ridge route and subs...
California, San Jacinto Mountains, Mt. San Jacinto. On 9 February, Jackson Jordan Sr. (47) along with four boy scouts ranging in age from 12 to 16 years, set out to make a winter ascent on Mt. San Jacinto (10,831) in the San Jacinto Mtns. of South...
Grand Teton, Alex Lowe Memorial Route. On October 5 Mark Newcomb and I climbed a new route on the north face of the Grand Teton. The route ascends about 1,000' of new terrain, beginning just left of the start of the 1936 route. A wet late summer a...
The Fin, Nanuq. From August 27 to September 7, Natxo Barriuso, Txus Lizarraga, Raul Melero and I, all from Basque Country, made the first ascent of The Fin in Sam Ford Fjord via the route Nanuq (VI 5.10 A3, 600m) on the wall’s west-northwest face....
Thunder Mountain, Northeast Face and Glacier, Bella Coola Area, British Columbia Coast Range, 1986. In September 1986, Reed Dowdle, Han Timmer and I approached by float plane from Bella Coola to Compass Lake. We hiked through tundra to a tarn bene...
FALL ON ROCK, PARTY SEPARATED, INEXPERIENCEAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Mount RundleOn the evening of August 3, 1983, two strangers, Hugh (26) and Dan, met at a campsite near Banff and arranged to scramble up Mount Rundle together the next day. The e...
Gangotri I, 1980. We climbed Gangotri I (6672 meters, 21,890 feet) by the northeast ridge, first climbed by British in 1952. We placed Base Camp at 14,750 feet at Rudugaira Kharak on September 15, 1980. Camp I was established on the 17th at 16,900...
Kangikitsoq Fjord Area, Exploration and First Ascents. In August, an Anglo-American team led by Jim Lowther explored the Kangikitsoq Fjord area. This fjord, which was previously unexplored by climbers, lies 25 miles east of Tasermiut Fjord. The te...
Ngojumba Kang Attempt. An 11-man Japanese-Nepalese expedition led by Kazumi Shigeto had hoped to climb Ngojumba Kang by its south or southeast face and then traverse to Cho Oyu by the east ridge of that mountain. Five of the members were Sherpas. ...