Thui II Attempt. From Gilgit we drove in four jeeps to Yasin in the Thui valley. We hired 21 donkeys and subsequently 25 porters to reach Base Camp at 14,500 feet. Camp I on Thui II (21,401 feet) was established at 17,000 feet on a shelf overlooki...
Annapurna North Face Attempts. There were two unsuccessful attempts to climb Annapurna by the usual north-face route. Nine Spanish Catalans led by Oleguer Suñe reached a high point at 6200 meters on October 4. A second expedition of Catalans, also...
Lotus Flower Tower. Frenchmen Guy Abert and Jacques Fouques from August 25 to 27, 1975 made the fourth ascent of the southeast face of Lotus Flower Tower. They climbed mostly free, using aid on only a few pitches.
Ascents in the Mount Forel Area. Paul Walker and Tangent Expeditions made several climbs in the Mount Forel area. Walker flew his expedition in and out with a ski-mounted Twin Otter.On the flight to retrieve the Walker expedition, Douglas Cooper's...
GEORGE IRVING BELL1926–2000When George Bell, who made significant first ascents in the Andes and the Karakoram, died on May 28, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, from leukemia complications following routine surgery, it was a quiet end to a remarkable li...
Castle Dome, Silmarillion. In October Mark Menge and I put up a new route on the south face of this dome. The route takes a hard line in the main dihedral of the face. NCCS IV, F11.Jack Roberts, Buff Alpine Club
Haystack, Direct West Face. The smooth exfoliated west face of Haystack, as seen across Big Sandy Lake, is a landmark to climbers hiking in to the Cirque of the Towers area. It becomes increasingly steeper and harder as you move from the more slop...
White MountainsMt. Washington. The summer of 1942 marks the 300th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Washington by Darby Field. Looking for a route to the fur country, which was enriching the traders of Quebec, he had gone up the Saco River, c...
In Nepal’s geopolitical landscape, the West has a special place. West Nepal was one starting point of the Maoist revolution and forms a perfect example of the dramatic imbalance of economic development and tourism that exist within the country. Cl...
Half Dome, Peripheral Vision. On July 17, Karl McConachie and I completed the first traverse of Half Dome’s northwest face (VI 5.11c PDH). It is a line we had talked about since our ascent of Same as it Never Was in 1986, but just never got it tog...
LOSS OF CONTROL, VOLUNTARY GLISSADE—Washington, Mt. Shuksan. On a climb with the Mountaineers, Walter Swan (age unknown) lacerated his right thigh with the pick of his ice axe. “Whinney’s slide was icy and Walt ‘lost it’ part way down.” Injury res...
Bhagirati Parbat. The expedition of the Calcutta Climbers Club, led by Sujit Bose, made its base on the Basuki Tal (lake) at 16,200 feet south of the Chaturangi Glacier. On October 22 Bose, V. Govindraj, Amar Roy and the Sherpas Karma and Gyalbu m...
FALL ON SNOW, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, CLIMBING ALONE Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, Mount AliceOn August 29, David Ingersoll (40) left the Wild Basin Trailhead alone to check out possible routes on the East face of Mount Alice. Ingersoll sc...
The Parapet, South Face. Our unofficial naming of the imposing central crag of the Mount Bago jumble above Junction Meadow along Bubbs Creek came after a most enjoyable frolic on the solid rock of this formation. In May, Rick Nolting and I climbed...
AVALANCHEYukon Territory, Mt. Logan, Southwest ButtressJohn Lauchlan (24) and Jim Elzinga (25) were descending a snow face about 2,000 feet below the summit of Mt. Logan on 1 July 1979 after having climbed the southwest buttress. An avalanche came...
Castle Rocks, North Buttress of “Amphitheatre Dome.” A trip to the Castle Rocks in the western Sequoia area rewarded us when we found and climbed a fine face on the major peak in this compact group of granite summits, a mile south of better known ...
FALL ON SNOW, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, ASCENDING TOO FASTAlaska, Mount McKinley, West RibA ten-member British Army expedition “Summit to the Sea” checked into the Talkeetna Ranger Station for their briefing on June 2. Their original plan was to ascend...
Haizi Shan, 2003 and 2005 attempts. In October 2003 we traveled from Hong Kong to Sichuan by train. We were joined in Kanding by Neil Carruthers, Stephen Wai Wah Yip (Geordie), and Ron Yue, who arrived by plane.After renting a horse train from the...
Pisang Peak Ascent and Tragedy. In autumn a 20-strong Slovenian trekking group made the Annapurna circuit. Four members, all experienced mountaineers, decided to climb the Pisang Peak (6091 meters). The climb went smoothly and they reached the sum...
Sundance Peak, East Face. In late July Anne Ketchin and I climbed an interesting new route on the east face of Sundance Peak. Following a book crack that starts slightly left of center on the face we climbed five pitches to the top of the south ri...