Khunyang Chhish, attempt. Kazuo Tobita (61) led a four-member party for his sixth attempt on Khunyang Chhish (7,852m), which has been climbed only twice. In July he unsuccessfully attempted the south face. Over 14 years Tobita has explored the mou...
Peak 9265, (Possible) First Ascent. Peak 9265 sits just northeast of the intersection of the Anderson and Chitina glaciers, and only two miles from the Canadian border. On August 8, Gary Green of McCarthy Air flew me into a lake located at the con...
Studies Made During 1933During 1933 members of the American Alpine Club have made a number of valuable contributions to the study of North American glaciers. Several members from California have helped to form a Committee on Glaciers in the Sierra...
Elbrus Tragedy. From May 2 to 4, a terrible storm with high winds and frigid temperatures struck the highest peak of the Caucasus. Dozens of mountaineers and alpine skiers were caught in the summit area. About 20 climbers perished in the storm.
Menlungtse, Rolwaling Himal. Described by Chris Bonington as “one of the most beautiful and difficult peaks in the Himalaya,” Menlungtse has an east and a west summit separated by a 2-kilometer-long ridge. The lower west summit (7023 meters) was c...
Meru Central (6,310m), East Pillar (a.k.a Shark’s Fin). Americans Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk completed one of the most attempted and coveted lines in the Himalaya, when they reached the summit of Meru Central via the 1,400m east pil...
Priest, Beckey Route free, Castleton Area. In April, Chip Chace and I made an all-free ascent of the Priest by the original Beckey route. The lower two-thirds of the climb involves excellent chimney climbing of various widths, leading to a six-bol...
New Hampshire, Cannon Mountain—On August 23, Sidney Crouch (21) and Alfred Whipple, Jr. (20) started to climb the cliffs on Cannon Mountain to the left (south) of the Old Man. They apparently climbed undetected for several hours. Early in the afte...
FAILURE OF SLINGAlberta, Rocky Mountains, YamnuskaThomas Peiffer (22) was being lowered from Yamnuska on a rope by his belayer, who was below him, on 1 August 1978. The climbing rope had been passed through a nylon sling attached to the supporting...
Gorilla Peak, Ganesh, first ascent. Ganesh V (6,770m) lies at the eastern end of the Ganesh Himal, visible from Kathmandu. The northern flanks, technically in Tibet, were climbed by a large Japanese expedition in 1980, while later the south face w...
Crossing of the Hielo Patagonico Sur, and Various Ascents. I was invited to go with the Arved Fuchs expedition to try to cross the entire Hielo Patagonico Sur (HPS). Arved started from Canada in his sailboat, the Dagmar Aaen. He reached Valparaso ...
Mt. Evans, The Rusty Dagger. The Rusty Dagger was poised over our heads in a dead straight line. It seemed inconceivable to Cameron Tague and me that this compelling and pure feature could have been overlooked, since the rest of the cliff had rece...
Pisco, South Face, 1982. On June 25, 1982, from a 17,400-foot camp, Italians Nuzzo and Agostinis climbed a difficult route up ice flutes on Pisco’s south face. The part just below the summit was nearly vertical. The leader of the expedition was S....
Kolob Canyon, Nagunt Mesa, Cos the Boss. In late October and early November 2001 I did a new wall route in Kolob Canyon with Steve Gerberding and Scott Cosgrove. The formation is called Nagunt Mesa, and we made the first ascent of the east-northea...
South Face of Cutthroat Peak. This climb could well be done in a more leisurely fashion, but Don Claunch and Fred Beckey made this new route on a fall weekend from Seattle, approaching via Twisp River and Copper Pass. We found the actual climb not...
Ogre’s Thumb, South Face. It was reported that Italians Maurizio Giordani and Mauro Fonz, with D. Jonathan Hall, made the first ascent of the south face of the Ogre’s Thumb (5600 m) in the Latok group at the foot of the Ogre (Baintha Brakk). The f...
Mount Tuzo West Face. In July, Kevin Smyth and Jeff Marshall finally completed a new route on the west face of Mount Tuzo up a buttress on the west face which overlooks the Valley of the Ten Peaks. The line had been previously attempted. They took...
FALL ON ROCK–POOR POSITION, INADEQUATE PROTECTIONOregon, Smith Rock, ZebraOn June 23 Grant Pease (38) was leading Zebra, a 5.10a trad route rated three stars and requiring gear to three inches, according to Alan Watts’ Climbers Guide to Smith Rock...
El Gigante, Simuchi. In the Basaseachic Waterfall National Park, Chihuahua, Carlos García Ayala (Mexico) and Cecilia Buil (Spain) made the first ascent of Simuchi (“The Hummingbird,” VI 6c A4, 1000m) on the northwest face of E1 Gigante from April ...
Nanga Parbat Attempt. Our expedition reached Base Camp in the high meadow, Lathebow, in the Rupal valley at 12,000 feet on May 15, hoping to climb the southeast buttress of Nanga Parbat. The buttress was, however, snow-covered and avalanche-swept ...