Accident Reports ANAM
Rock Ledge Broke Off — Falling Rock Hit Climbing Partner, Alberta, Kananaskis Country, Mount Yamnuska

ROCK LEDGE BROKE OFF – FALLING ROCK HIT CLIMBING PARTNERAlberta, Kananaskis Country, Mount YamnuskaOn May 22,JK and A were climbing the Necromancer route (5.10a, eleven pitches) on Mount Yamnuska. JK was leading the second pitch and stepped on a l...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Argentina, Ojos del Salado

Ojos del Salado: Omission from the 1937 AAJ Article. Inadvertently credit lines and complete captions were omitted from the pictures opposite page 83 in Volume X, Number 2 of the American Alpine Journal, 1957. The upper picture was taken by Juan S...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Annapurna IV

Annapurna IV. A German expedition under the leadership of Heinz Steinmetz, consisting of Dr. Manfred Bachmann, Harald Biller, Fritz Lobbichler and Jurgen Wellenkamp, successfully ascended 24,688-footAnnapurna IV, which was climbed in 1950 by H. W....


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, Canadian Rockies, South Twin, King Edward and Sundial

South Twin, King Edward and Sundial. In July and August I spent 18 days alone around the headwaters of the Athabasca River. Seeing the view from the top of Wooley Shoulder, I hoped to climb the regular route on Mount Alberta. Two days later in a s...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Pamir Alai – Karavshin, Liayliak Valley, Pik Blok, West Face

Liaylak Valley, Pik Blok, west face. From July 28 to August 6 Belorussian Alexander Maximenja made a solo first ascent on the west face of Pik Blok (5,239m). The new route lies parallel to and left of the Valiev Route, was graded Russian 6A, and h...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Tien Shan, Western Kokshaal-Too, Kizil Asker, New Route Attempt

Kizil Asker, new route attempt. In July and August, Guy Robertson and I made two attempts on the most compelling alpine ice route either of us has ever seen: the 1300m virgin southeast face of Kizil Asker, the highest peak in the Western Kokshaal-...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Manaslu Traverse

Manaslu Traverse. A strong Soviet expedition from the Ukraine with 20 members, 16 of them climbers, was led by Dr. Vladimir Shumikhin and Sergei Bershov. They had hoped to ascend the still unclimbed east face of Manaslu (8163 meters, 26,780 feet)....


Notes AAJ
Note on Cerro Yagán

Note on Cerro Yagán. In his account of the New Zealand 1970-1 Expedition to Tierra del Fuego (see A.A.J., 1974, p. 202) Michael Andrews says, “The peak named Cerro Yagán by Shipton and said by him to be the same as that named Luigi di Savoia by de...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Antarctica, Solo to the South Pole

Solo to the South Pole. Norwegian Erling Kagge set off solo from Bergkner Island on November 17, 1992 for the South Pole, dragging a 125-kilo sled. Without any resupply or other assistance he skied the 1310 kilometers to the Pole, which he reached...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Washington-Olympic Mountains, Mount Constance

Mount Constance. Jon Olson and I made the first ascent of the north face via Crystal Pass. We placed two bolts; protection was precarious. The route begins 200 yards to the north of the Red Dike route at the base of three prominent cracks, below a...


Accident Reports ANAM
Slip on Steep Snow, Climbing Alone, Climbing Unroped, Inadequate Equipment/Clothing, Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, Longs Peak

SLIP ON STEEP SNOW, CLIMBING ALONE, CLIMBING UNROPED, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT/CLOTHINGColorado, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Longs PeakOn July 22 at about 1300 hours a 68 year-old solo climber notified RMNP Dispatch that he had taken a 30-foo...


Accident Reports ANAM
Washington, Mt. Rainier National Park (1)

Washington, Mt. Rainier National Park (1)—On July 20, 1956 Jake Brettenback (21) fell into a crevasse at about 13,000 feet elevation while on a summit climb of Mt. Rainier. The snow bridge collapsed under his weight, and the other climber, not hav...


Book Reviews AAJ
Surviving Denali, A Study of Accidents on Mount McKinley

Surviving Denali: A Study of Accidents on Mount McKinley 1903-1990. Jonathan Waterman, with an Introduction and chapter on Mountain Medicine by Peter H. Hackett, M.D. Second Edition, Revised. American Alpine Club Press, New York, 1991. 67 pages of...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Alaska, Chigmit Mountains

Chigmit Mountains. Flying by float-plane to Chakachamna Lake on August 10 gave Mark Moderow, Margit Breski, my wife Rowi and me breath-taking views of the previously unexplored peaks of the northern Chigmit Range. Rain and alders spiced our approa...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, India, Indian Himalaya, Overview

The online version of these reports frequently contains additional photos, maps, topos, and extended text. Please visit aaj.americanalpineclub.orgIndian Himalaya, overview. If you pardon the cliché, whenever God closes a door, he opens a window. T...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow and Ice and No Belay – Alberta, Morraine Lake, 3-4 Couloir

FALL ON SNOW AND ICE AND NO BELAY—Alberta, Moraine Lake, 3-4 Couloir. Alison Clough and Dave Charlebois were descending the couloir from the Graham Cooper Hut on a rope at 8 a.m. on July 3, 1977 as part of a larger party. The first rope, which was...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Greenland, West Greenland

West Greenland. The Royal Military Academy Expedition spent some six weeks in West Greenland from the end of July to early September. Its members were 2nd Lieutenant R. M. Johnston, Officer Cadets A. F. Davidson and E. C. Walshaw and myself as lea...


Accident Reports ANAM
Unknown, Climbing Unroped, Placed No Protection, Failure to Turn Back, Weather, Alaska, Mount McKinley, West Buttress

UNKNOWN, CLIMBING UNROPED, PLACED NO PROTECTION, FAILURE TO TURN BACK, WEATHER Alaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressOn June 2, Karl Jendryschik and Jurgen Bruhm of the German expedition Saxonia 96, were separated from each other at Denali Pass. At...


Book Reviews AAJ
Herrliche Alpentiere

Herrliche Alpentiere, by Bartholme Schocher. 4 to., 134 pages, with many illustrations from photographs by the author. Zürich: Rotapfel-Verlag, 1939.The author is a professional photographer of Pontresina, who inherits from his father (an ardent h...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Pakistan, Baintha Brakk (Ogre) Attempt and Tragedy

Baintha Brakk (Ogre) Attempt and Tragedy. Our expedition hoped to climb the south buttress of Baintha Brakk. We were Swiss Phillip Groebke, Germans Michael Wärthl, Jochen Haase, Ansgar Baving, Florian Köfferlein and I. We got to Base Camp at 4500 ...