Annapurna’s West-Northwest Spur, Attempt and Tragedy. Between Annapurna I and Varah Shikhar (Fang) lies a summit of over 7700 meters from which a prominent spur descends to the valley of the Miristi Khola. Our expedition, consisting of Michel Drap...
Mount Everest, Altitude Survey. In the spring of 1999, Boston’s Museum of Science, the National Geographic Society and a number of very generous individual donors fielded a scientific expedition to Mount Everest, with five basic objectives.To dete...
Acopan Tepui, Perdidos en Venezuela, and Piedra de Culimacare, Conio Crack. December 2007: Two weeks into the Venezuelan Amazon by bongo boat, Matt Othmer, Brazilian climbers Daniel Guimaraes and Eric Silvestrin, and I blazed a trail through dense...
Sickle Moon, South Face and Southeast Ridge, Brammah Massif, Kishtwar. Our expedition consisted of Corinne Pesenti, Véronique LaPlante, Félix Brunod, Claude Yard, Bernard Teiller, Hervé Spuytte and me as leader. From the roadhead at Putimahal just...
SLIP ON ICE-DISLOCATED SHOULDERWashington, Mount Rainier, Kautz GlacierOn June 30, Dallas Baker (27) sustained a dislocated shoulder while descending the upper ice pitch of the Kautz Glacier near 11,800 feet. He was facing the glacier slope with h...
Shkurigal Valley, Bashgal, Central Hindu Kush. Peter Ball, John Davies, Robert Junkison, Ali Kellas, Barry Smith and I had as aims a new route on a 6000-meter peak and first ascents of 5000-meter peaks in the Bashgal valley area. Base Camp was set...
Carstensz Pyramid. In the very last years, aside from a few Indonesian climbers, only a few rash mountaineers have attempted Carstensz Pyramid because of political and safety problems. In 1987, the first Swiss to make the climb, Markus Itten and D...
From March 8 to 15, 2009, the Norwegian Alpine Club (Norsk Tindeklub, NTK) invited nearly 40 climbers from all over the world to Lofoten, for a “come-as-you-are” climbing meet. The event was organized by Marius Morstad, and the philosophy was simp...
Last summer I had to work almost every day to finance my studies, but the sun is up all night, so I was able to climb five routes on Blammanen, all free.Magnus Eriksson, Thomas Meling, and I began in June with a second free ascent of Ultime Thule ...
FATIGUE, EXPOSURE, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, HYPOTHERMIA, SLIP OR FALL ON SNOWWashington, Mount RainierOn May 8, 1989, Larry Duin (26), Peter Derdowski (26), Richard Mooney (31), and Steven Newell (27) left Ipsut Campground for a summit climb of Mount ...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAY – UNFAMILIAR WITH BELAY DEVICE Utah, Maple Canyon, Minimum CragOn July 13, Paul R. (47) fell 50 to 60 feet while climbing “49” at the Minimum Crag. His belayer was using an Edelrid Eddy. He was using a 9.2mm rope, wh...
Uja Tirche. This 20,344-foot peak was climbed by the Indians Bidijut Sarkar, K.K. Khannna and Manik Banerjee and Sherpas Kani and Kusang on October 15. After climbing a gendarmed ridge, they reached a rocky saddle some 150 feet lower than the summ...
FALL INTO CREVASSE, INADEQUATE BELAY, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENTWashington, Mount RainierOn May 15, 1991, James Tuttle (43) and 'Lester Spross (37) checked in at Paradise Visitor Center for a climb of Mount Rainier via Fuhrer’s Finger. At the center the...
The Colorado Mountain Club. 1999 was a busy year for The Colorado Mountain Club. The Club graduated 258 students in its technical climbing schools and led three international expeditions of note. Basic Mountaineering Schools graduated 216 students...
Faded GloryTwo weeks of committed aid climbing on El Gigante’s fractured andesite.Brent EdelenIt took me a year to find Mexico’s El Gigante. Carlos Garcia and Cecilia Buil, the first-ascent team, made a point of keeping its whereabouts a secret. F...
Colorado Climbing NotesThe principal event last summer in Colorado Mountain Club activities, was the School of Mountaineering which the Club held in lieu of their usual summer outing. This school, held in the Rocky Mountain National Park, gave ins...
Jamantau and Fergana ranges, crossings and first ascents. On the 5th of July Katya Ananyeva, Dmitry Martynenko, and I left Osh, heading to explore the Jamantau and southern Fergana ranges. Neither place had any record of previous climbing activity...
SLINGSHOT BELAY ANCHOR FAILURE, FALL ON ROCK FALLING ROCK Arizona, Superstition Mountains, Bark CanyonOn November 11, 1993, a small group went into Bark Canyon to do some climbing. All but one of the group had six months to two years of scattered ...
Everest, first ascent by a blind person. The most remarkable of all the summiteers in the spring was the 32-year-old totally sightless American climber, Erik Weihenmayer. On his return to Kathmandu he said “I spent two and a half months getting th...
On June 18, Bruce Stover (19), Sherri May (18), John Rothwell (23), Kip Brennan (15), and I (Shawn Shea, 30) arrived at Little Blue Mountain about 1:00 p.m. to do some top roping and lead climbs. Bruce was leading a 5.10 climb called “A-Okay” ...