Annapurna Winter Attempt. Two Japanese climbers, Yoshitomi Okura and Masaaki Kukushima, found in their attempt on the French 1950 route on Annapurna that climbing alone without a fixed rope was more than they could manage on difficult ground swept...
Zarya Vostoka, First Ascent and Traverse, and Chorku Peak, First Ascent. There is still a part of the Pamir that remains practically terra incognita for mountaineers: the eastern part of Zaalaisky Range, which has several peaks over 6000 meters. T...
On December 30, Jay Jensen and I made a one-day new route up this 1500-foot pillar. At five A.M. we left the valley floor in unusually mild winter conditions, using four-wheel drive to reach a roadhead at 9000 feet. By the time we began technical ...
Storm Point (10,100). Traversed on August 13th, by Ranger Frank Smith and the writer. Climbed from east and north; descent made toward west and southwest into Cascade Canyon. The sharp needle between Storm Point and Symmetry Spire was also traversed.
Shishapangma. Our Swiss expedition was organized and led by Markus Itten. The others were Peter Bärtsch, Henrik Rhyn, Marcel Rüedi, Hansruedi Staub, Peter Weber, Diego Wellig, Stefan Wömer and I. We got to Base Camp at 5100 meters on September 7. ...
First Ascents, 1991-1993. Aside from some pleasant repeats with Chilean climbers, I made several first ascents in the upper Río Negro and Río Colorado basins in Central Chile. Isolated and with only medium-sized peaks, these areas seldom attract v...
Cordillera Blanca. Dr. Duane Ewers made two ascents in the Cordillera Blanca, the exact identification of which is not altogether certain. With François Mégard of the French Embassy in Lima, and the Peruvian porter, Eugenio Angeles, he climbed a p...
Phantom Pinnacle, Center. In early May 1965, after several futile starts, Joe Faint and I made a new route up the center of Phantom Pinnacle. We began from a large ledge at the bottom of the face. A short section of direct aid brought us to a thin...
Pacokeuta, South Face. It was reported that Marite Perez (Venezuela), Harold Shoemaker (Holland) and guide Juan Villarroel made the first ascent of a direct route on the South Face of Pacokeuta (5520 meters). The 350- meter route sported snow clim...
Elephants Perch, Southwest Face, Sawtooth Range. On August 9, 1977, Ried Dowdle and I completed a very fine route on the prow of the “perch”, where it turns from a south into a west face. The route follows the large corner system located on the pr...
Crazy Peak, North Face. On June 13, Paul Richer and I hiked into Big Timber Canyon to climb the north face of Crazy Peak. Access is through Half Moon campground (24 miles northeast of Big Timber). Two and a quarter miles of easy hiking brings one ...
Mesahchie Peak, Northwest Ridge. On June 18, 1978 my brother Gordon and I completed this 1400-foot rock climb. The approach route traversed the Mesahchie Glacier from the east; then made a rotten, exposed scramble to reach a prominent notch on the...
FALL ON ROCK, NUT FAILURE, NO HARD HAT California, Yosemite ValleyJohn Jinishran and Joe Bryant were climbing the North Buttress of Middle Cathedral on June 23 when Jinishran, who was leading, fell. He had just placed a nut and was testing it. It ...
Devils Tower. El Matador route on the west face was first climbed in September, 1967 by Eric Bjornstad and me; it ranged from one to three columns south of the McCarthy route. We followed a south-facing vertical dihedral for two serious pitches an...
Northwest Chugach. The northwest Chugach is separated from the main range by an 8950-foot untraversed pass between the Marcus Baker and Matanuska glaciers. This elliptical segment of mountains measures 50 miles east to west and 25 miles north to s...
Chacraraju, East Face, The Shriek of the Black Stone. 1999 was an El Niño year in Peru, and climbing conditions were very poor. Andrej Markovic and I were members of a Slovenian expedition. Our main goal was to open a new route on the east face of...
Eldorado Canyon. Left of C’est la Vie, Christian Griffith and Pat Ament climbed Pointe Sauvage (80 feet, 5.11a R), a vertical face protected by bolts drilled from stances. The climb joins C’est la Vie at the base of the corner. Starting off the lo...
Rocky Ak-Su, North Face, Various Ascents. Out of the six teams that entered the Technical Class of the Russian Mountaineering Championships, four decided to climb the north face of Rocky Ak-Su (5217m) in the Lailak region of the Pamir Alai. The ch...
Mount Sir James MacBrien, Logan Mountains. In July Jim McCarthy and I made the first ascent of the southeast arête of this mountain, highest in the entire region. We had hoped to make a multi-day route of the neighboring Lotus Flower Tower, but th...
Shisha Pangma, Second Ascent. An expedition of the German Alpine Club’s Mountain and Ski School was led by Dr. Manfred Abelein and Günter Sturm and further composed of Manfred Sturm, Fritz Zintl, Michael Dacher, Otto Wiedemann, Sigfried Hupfauer, ...