Longs Peak, The Diamond. On June 2, Cameron Tague and I climbed Jack of Diamonds on Longs Peak’s Diamond in 12 hours. We feel the route is 5.9 A2+, not 5.9 A4 as stated.Doug Byerly, unaffiliated

Annapurna III (7,555m), first ascent of the southwest ridge. On November 6, Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell, both from the UK, and myself completed the first ascent of the ca 2,400m southwest ridge of Annapurna III. The route had been attempted in 199...

Ascent of McKinley, 1948. On 13 July 1948 five students from the University of Alaska, led by Walter Gonnason, climbed the S. peak of Mt. McKinley. They left Fairbanks or McKinley Park Station (the account is not clear) on June 18th, crossed to th...

Pangong Range reconnaissance; Peak 6,342m (Mt. Maan). The Pangong Range is just a one-day drive northwest from Leh, crossing Chang La (5,250m). This range includes more than 10 peaks over 6,000m, some of which are still unclimbed. The one problem ...

Chimborazo, New Route. On August 12, 1995, Fabián Marino and Raul Paz, from Ambato,opened a new route on the north side of Chimborazo (6267 m). This route runs between the Reiss and Spruce glaciers; it is only moderately difficult, but in its lowe...

K-2, The 1939 Tragedy. Andrew J. Kauffman and William L. Putnam. The Mountaineers. Seattle, 1992. 224 pages, 15 pages of black-and-white photographs. $19.95.The story of the 1939 American K-2 expedition aroused such controversy for years that many...

Changwatang (6,130m), east spur and northwest ridge. The Limi Valley, in a hidden corner of northwest Nepal, is an exotic place. It has a community comprised of three ethnic Tibetan villages—Jang, Waljie, and Til. These villages are difficult to r...

Yosemite Valley, Russian Climbing Championships. The 2000 Russian Rock Climbing Championships took place in Yosemite Valley from August 15-September 10. All participants had that time period in which to climb as many routes as they could. Two team...

FALL ON ROCK, PROTECTION PULLED OUT, NO HARDHATCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, Middle Cathedral RockOn June 16, around 1330, Tyler Gregory (18) started up Pee Pee Pillar, a one-pitch, 5.10a thin crack, belayed by Casey Hyer (19). He scrambled 10 feet...

FALL ON SNOW, AMSAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressThe Denali Ski “Challenge 1999” expedition from Italy included skier Mauro Rumez and photographer Franco Toso. Their plan was to climb Denali by the West Rib and have Toso photograph Rumez as h...

Phari Lapcha, second ascent of north face, Japanese variant to Bonfire of the Vanities. Fumitaka Ichimura and I climbed the north face of Phari Lapcha (6,017m). In the lower section we followed new ground but traversed to the original French route...

The Nithi GorgeOn the flanks of Mt. Kenya, just above the heather and chaparral vegetation zone, climbers walk right past some of the country’s finest cliffs.Bobby ModelThe eastern approach to the main peaks of Mt. Kenya follows the stunning Chogo...

Denali National Park, Mountaineering Statistics. Most weather forecasters will attribute the strange 1998 climbing season facts to El Niño: the Park saw a 100% success rate this past year for winter ascents of Mt. McKinley, and a 36% success rate ...

Mountaineering in Antarctica: Climbing in the Frozen South. Damien Gildea. Éditions Nevicata, 2010. 192 pages. 200 color photos, 12 maps. Hardcover. $49.95.In the last three decades, private ski planes and chartered sailboats have rapidly opened A...

Sam Ford Fjord, New Routes and Various Activity. Four Norwegian climbers, Bjarte Bo, Halvor Hagen, Torkel Roisli, and I, visited the Sam Ford Fjord in May and June. Arriving in the fjord in the evening of May 6, we decided on a line that started u...

Possessed by Shadows. Donigan Merritt. New York: Other Press, 2005. 239 pages. Hardcover. $22.00.Some alpine climbs are so visionary that regardless of their success or failure, by expressing a concept worthy of realization or by posing a problem ...

While skiers had fun, lingering snowpack and unstable early season weather meant a late start to the 2008 climbing season. Many access roads did not open until well into June. July was not a great month for climbing, and the first reported new alp...

The Burgess Book of Lies. Adrian and Alan Burgess. Cloudcap, Seattle, 1994. 463 pages. $30.00.The Burgess twins, known to all as Aid and Al, became renegades shortly after their joint entrance into the cruel world. During the mid-1960s these tall ...

After a season of work for the Alaska Outward Bound Center, seven O.B. staff and three others spent 18 days, from August 18 to September 5, in the Arrigetch peaks. Our group was Nettie Pardue, Tina Woolston, Robert MacKinnon, Jared Coburn, Mike Mo...

North of MonarchJOHN L. DUDRATHE last unknown area in the Canadian Coast Range which has been largely ignored by mountaineers is situated northwest of Mt. Monarch (11,720 ft.) and south of the headwaters of the small Bella Coola River tributaries....