Thors Land, Queen Lilliana, first ascent. John Burcham, myself and brother Andy, together with Shinichi Sakamoto again visited the fjords near Thor’s Land north of Tassilaq in East Greenland. The 200-mile boat journey from Tassilaq needed two boat...
Saraghrar Group. Kohichiro Umezu and Shiro Yokoyama of Niigata University left Chitral on June 27 and via Shagram and Washish reached Base Camp (13,750 feet) in the Ziwar Gol on July 4, in the same place where the Italians had established theirs i...
Arwa Tower, First Ascent and Arwa Spire, First Attempt. From May 7-14, Britons Mick Fowler and Steve Sustad climbed the Northwest Face (VI 5b A3 Scottish V/VI, 1000m) of the Arwa Tower (6352m), making the first ascent of the peak in the process. A...
FALL ON SNOW-DISLODGED ROCK, FAILURE TO TEST HOLDS, POOR POSITION, CLIMBING UNROPED AND ALONEOregon, Mount Hood, South SideWhile ascending the Hogsback on Mount Hood’s South Side route on September 30, Patrick Marcuson (63) dislodged rotten rock, ...
Papsura or Fabsor. After crossing the Sara Umga pass from the Tos Nallah to establish Base Camp on May 28, Flight Officer A.K. Bhatta- charyya, Havildar Lopsang and G.S. Malia of a 10-man Indian Air Force expedition climbed Papsura or Fabsor (21,1...
Don Bosco, South Face. The very difficult south face of Don Bosco (2150 meters, 7054 feet) was finally climbed by Italians. The expedition was composed of Giuseppe Alippi, Benigno and Ugo Balatti, Oreste Lafranconi, Afredo Passini and Luciano Spad...
FALL ON ROCK, MISCOMMUNICATION Wisconsin, Devil’s Lake State ParkOn April 17, 1987, Richrd Kelso (21) was climbing on East Bluff when he decided he wanted to be lowered. His belayer thought he had said, “Off belay.” Kelso fell, and his belayer was...
Gasherbrum II, Ski Descent. Our expedition was composed of French skiers and climbers Christian Muller, Christiane Drieux, François Labande, Dr. Dominique Dock, Patrice Bournat and me as leader and Swiss Wim Pasquier. We reached Base Camp at 5250 ...
Huascarán. In one of the commercially organized trips of Bepe Tenti, seven Italians, Romeo Colombo, Giancarlo Corbellini, Carlo Del Dot, Antonio Foi, Lodovico Gaetani, Giuse Locana and Francesco Maragnoli, and the Pervuvians Emilio and Macario Ang...
FALLS ON ROCK (16), FALLING ROCK (1), RAPPEL ERROR (1), INADEQUATE PROTECTION (10), PROTECTION PULLED OUT (4), INADEQUATE BELAY (3), NO HARD HAT (1)New York, Mohonk Preserve, Shawangunks, Various RoutesEighteen reports were submitted for 2008, wit...
Kula Kangri (Künla Kangri*). The Kobe University Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition to Tibet consisted of 25 Japanese, i.e. 12 climbers, eight scientists, three TV cameramen, a newspaper reporter and myself as leader, and 17 Chinese, i.e. fi...
Northern St. Elias Range. The Sierra Club’s St. Elias Expedition, led by Alfred W. Baxter, had as objectives the peaks at the head of the Wood and Brabazon glaciers: Mount Wood, 15,880 feet; Mount Craig, 13,250 feet, and several unnamed peaks betw...
Continental Towers, Wind River Range. In 1967, Fred Beckey and Bob Stevenson hiked up Little Sandy Creek and saw a set of worthy peaks perched on the Continental Divide near the valley’s head. They climbed the middle tower via gullies and chimneys...
Wyoming, Grand Tetons, Mt. Moran. On 13 August Doug Mains (18) and Jim Yeates (20) were down climbing the Chicago Mountaineering Club Route on Mount Moran following a hailstorm at 1430. They were unroped and Mains was leading. They were hurrying a...
FINGERS IN JUMAR ASCENDER, FAILURE TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONSColorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, Eagle Cliff MountainOn June 10, 1991, while participating in the annual rescue training session for RMNP seasonal personnel, Rescuer #1 (62) was desce...
Changtse Attempt. New Zealand guides Shaun Norman and Mike Perry with clients Dave Massam, Gordon Hassell and Barry Bridgeman attempted the Japanese route on the north face of Changtse in the pre-monsoon period. They reached a high point of 7100 m...
Oak Creek Canyon, Christopher’s Tower and Lucifer’s Tooth. On January 13, Dan Stih and I climbed a freestanding tower in Oak Creek Canyon, just north of Sedona, Arizona. The line involved two mostly aid pitches on a steep compact face following co...
AVALANCHES NEAR A CITY—Alaska, Chugach Mountains, Flattop Mountain and Kotoya Peak. During the Christmas-New Year week of 1973-1974, Alaska experienced unseasonable warm weather. In Anchorage on 26 December, a high temperature of 42 degrees F. (5°...
Gasherbrum II Attempt. A five-member French expedition led by veteran 61-year-old Pierre Mazeaud attempted the standard route on Gasherbrum II but failed in high winds. On August 2, François Matter and Laurent Lesueur got to 7900 meters.Xavier Egu...
NICHOLAS VANDERBILT1958-1984Nicholas Vanderbilt and his companion, Francis Gledhill, disappeared in August 1984 while attempting the Wishbone Arête of Mount Robson (12,972 feet), highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Repeated helicopter searches o...