FRANCYS DISTEFANO-ARSENTIEV 1958-1998SERGUEI ANATOLIEVICH ARSENTIEV 1958-1998About five years ago, Francys Distefano, a long-time member of the Telluride community and a rapidly improving high-altitude climber, arrived home with Serguei, her guide...
To begin, Keith (Spencer, 45) and I drove up to Cody on Thursday, New Year’s Day. Having recently soloed Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest peak, Keith was practically voluble. He talked more in that seven-hour drive than I’d heard him say in the ...
FALL ON ROCK, PROTECTION PULLED OUT, PLACED INADEQUATE PROTECTION, NO HARD HATWashington, Peshastin Pinnacles, Lightning CrackOn May 31, 1992, Bob Renz (40) was climbing Lightning Crack. He placed protection at the beginning of the climb and then ...
Dingjung Ri South (6,196m), first known ascent. Kenro Nakajima and Hiroki Yamamoto made the first authorized ascent of Dingjung Ri South. On March 7 they established base camp on the Meluka (Pangbuk) Glacier at 4,970m. They then placed a high camp...
Rakaposhi, by Mike Banks. 238 pages, 36 photographs, and three drawings. Foreward by Sir Gerald Templer. Appendices by F. R. Brooke and E. J. E. Mills. London: Secker and Warburg, 1959. Price 25s.This book is unusual in that it describes not one e...
Idaho Alpine Club. The club became increasingly active during 1991 in climbing access issues. Friends of City of Rocks, which is operated primarily by club members, published several newsletters funded by both the Access Fund and T-shirt sales. Th...
Lotus Flower Tower, Free Ascent. In early August Mark Robinson, Sandy Stewart and I completed the first all-free ascent of the McCarthy-Frost-Bill route on the Lotus Flower Tower during a three-day spell of clear weather. Several days earlier, we ...
Devil’s Thumb and. Mount Burkett. On May 21 Michael Bearzi and I began skiing up the Baird Glacier. We reached our airdrop at the base of the southeast face of the Devil’s Thumb (9077 feet) on the 24th and established Base Camp. We then had a go a...
Neacola Range. On May 4 Peri Chickering, Todd Denman, Jon Stevens and I were the first climbers to enter the Neacola Range of central Alaska. We were greeted by a compact and severe range that offered numerous opportunities for short difficult alp...
Churup Oeste, Alpamayo, Cordillera Blanca. A Japanese expedition from Waseda University made three first ascents in the Cordillera Blanca. These were Churup Oeste (18,022 feet) on July 18 and Huanamripa (17,225 feet) on July 19, both above the Que...
Mount Index, South Norwegian Buttress. Mount Index is an impressive three-summited rock peak in Washington’s west central Cascades. It rises sharply 3000 feet above heavily timbered and bushy glacial valleys. The Index massif was formed by a large...
Dhaulagiri 1973Louis F. reichardtFormation of the expeditionTHE 1973 American Dhaulagiri Expedition’s conception and initial momentum were a legacy of Boyd Everett’s tragic 1969 expedition to the same peak. After the avalanche which killed Everett...
East of Illampu and Ancohuma. The eastern cirques formed by Illampu and Ancohuma, two great 6000-meter peaks, and the vast ridge that connects them was so remote that it seemed best to share the benefits of group travel and a common Base Camp. C...
Soviet Ascents. Reports from Moscow indicate that Russian climbers continue to be active. One 21,650-foot peak in the Pamirs in Tadzhikistan was climbed for the first time and named for the cosmonaut Titov. Another mountain in the Tien Shan near C...
Kang Guru Attempt and Hiunchuli Middle Peak. One of our groups attempted the northeast ridge of Kang Guru (23,000 feet), northeast of Manang, but was prevented from getting to the summit by heavy snow storms. Another group did climb to the middle ...
Mt. McKinley, Zanto’s Riches. Torrey Riches and I summited the North Peak of Denali on May 15, via the Northwest Buttress. We spent 11 days acclimatizing on the West Buttress and three days climbing the Northwest Buttress. Our original plan was to...
While planning a trip to remote Tower Peak (11,755'), on the northern border of Yosemite National Park, my interest shifted to an unnamed subpeak ¾-mile north, locally called the Watchtower or Watchtower Peak (10,820'). My research found no ...
Climbing: The Complete Reference. Compiled by Greg Child. Facts on File, New York, 1995. 264 pages, 60 photographs. $39.95.This is a schizophrenic encyclopedia. It seems, at first glance, to be a valuable collection of fascinating and relevant mat...
Dhaulagiri IV. Unsuccessful post-monsoon parties have sometimes, while blaming the bad weather for their failure, explained that virtually no gap occurred between the ending of the monsoon and the onset of the winter snows. Certainly the weather i...
Lidanda Peak, on the Northeast Ridge of Himalchuli. The expedition of the Royal Netherlands Alpine Club consisted of a trekking group and a mountaineering party. Its original aim was to climb P III (“Dakura”), the last elevation of the long east r...