Chaukula, first ascent. On August 13 Chris Mothersdale and Trevor Willis made the first ascent of Chaukula (6529m) by the southeast ridge (Alpine AD). Chaukula is the highest of a group of mountains in the Rupshu area of the Ladakh Himalaya. It li...

The Climber’s Guide to North America. Volume I: West Coast Rock Climbs. John Harlin III. Chockstone Press, Denver, 1984. 358 pages, black and white photographs, drawings, route diagrams, maps, bibliography. $22.00.John Harlin has embarked on an am...

Island-in-the-Sky. Dave Madera, Bob Novellino, Jorma Hayes and Bret Sutteer climbed a virgin butte approximately one mile north of the Tombstone, establishing Rest in Peace (5.10) and Shallow Burial (5.10).

Pegish Zom I and Other Peaks. Our expedition, organized by the Bologna section of the Italian Alpine Club consisted of Dr. Achille Poluzzi, Gilberto Bertolani, Giovanni Calza, Benito Modoni, Alziro Molin, Guerrino Sacchin, Nando Stagni, Gian Carlo...

Cerro Torre, Cleaning of Fixed Rope. Discovering that over 1000 meters of fixed rope had been left during the filming of an ascent of Cerro Torre, Austrian Tommy Bonapace and a companion were helicoptered to the summit of the mountain. They spent ...

Z3, Zanskar. Italians led by Sergio Maturi completed the seventh ascent of Z3 (6270 meters, 20,570 feet). From Camp II, on August 15, Tiziano Cantalamessa, Franco Giansanti, Andrea and Stefano Di Lello climbed to the summit.Luciano Ghigo, Centro I...

FALLS ON ROCK, BELAYER DROPPED LEADER, RAPPELLED OFF END OF ROPE, FOOT AND LEG STUCK BETWEEN ROCKS West Virginia, New River Gorge and Cooper’s RockThere were reports of eight climbing accidents resulting in injury from the above areas in 1993. The...

Tien Shan Traverse. From August 6 to 20, a Soviet team from Kazakhstan of previous Everest and Kangchenjunga expeditions made an astonishing alpine-style traverse of the twelve highest summits of the Central Tien Shan. They spent 15 days on the hi...

Tibet restrictions, Everest bolting. Uncertainty about Tibet being open to climbers, indeed to any foreigners, led many to go to the Nepalese side of Everest, rather than wait in the hope of being granted permission to enter Tibet. Would-be Cho Oy...

FALL/SLIP ON ROCK, EXCEEDED ABILITIES—Oregon, Mt. Hood. David Mickelson (18) fell 700 feet to his death from the face of Castle Crags on Mt. Hood. Mickelson and Brian Miller (18) had started their ascent of Mt. Hood at 6 a.m. on September 9, and h...

Everest, summer attempt to ski and snowboard the mountain. There was only one expedition to the mountain during the summer and they planned a ski/snowboard descent. The two climbing members were Jimmy Chin, the skier, and Stephen Koch, the snowboa...

Grand Teton, Enclosure Visionquest Couloir, Tetons. A new route on the Enclosure, branching out to the west from the standard Black Ice Couloir, was pioneered on August 10 by Michael Stern and Stephen Quinlan. The initial 600 feet of the Black Ice...

Colorado, Pikes Peak, Near Bear Creek, Specimen—On May 24, about 17 members and guests of the Colorado Mountain Club were engaged in a scheduled climb of Specimen, a rock above Bear Creek. The route was short, ordinarily requiring about 60 feet of...

FALL ON ICE, PLACED NO PROTECTIONAlaska, Chugach State ParkOn April 21, John M. “Mickey” Hill (30) and Charles Head were climbing on “Ripple” a 200-foot vertical frozen waterfall (70°-90°) located in the Eklutna River Canyon. Mickey had led out so...

Torre del Norte, Hambre Es La Major Salsa. We arrived in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile on February 7, 1997. We planned to go to Campo Torres and try to get as much climbing in as possible via one-day blitzes, then explore the Paine area ...

Nuptse Attempt. A four-man Scottish expedition led by Malcolm Duff attempted a new route, the west ridge, hoping to traverse from the western summit to the main summit and descend into the Western Cwm. They failed on October 10 at 22,000 feet.Mich...

Rock climbing, brief summary. Working from south to north, this report mentions only sample highlights of New Zealand crag climbing. Starting with the Darrans, where a lot of activity focused on Babylon and Chasm Crag, Derek Thatcher made the firs...

Taulliraju, Southwest Buttress. Our climb of Taulliraju was not a new route but rather an alpine-style climb of the 1980 Italian route. Alex Lowe was my partner and it took us three days in June. The route is a real classic with difficult rock (ex...

Teepe’s Pillar, North Face. On July 21 Yvon Chouinard and Ken Weeks started this new route from the col between the Pillar and the Grand Teton, descending slightly on a ledge out onto the north face to a difficult overhanging block. To reach the m...

Pico Vértigo, South Face and Other Climbs. Attempting to gain experience in all kinds of weather and all kinds of terrain, Venezuelan mountaineers based in Mérida accomplished during 1985 the following climbs of note. Pico Abanico was ascended by ...