Carnets du Vertige. Louis Lachenal. Editions Guérin: Chamonix, 1996. Profusely illustrated with black-and-white photographs, maps, sketches. 378 pages. 324 French francs.Michel Guérin, a new Chamonix-based editor specializing in mountain books, ha...
Schweizerland, Tupilak north face, Lessons in Humility. Before we left, Al Powell, the ultimate expert on East Greenland, told us: “If you’re going to need fixed ropes, then leave the face up to someone who can climb it properly.” Al had made an a...
1951-001959-0020012001USACAN.USACAN.TerrainRock38444661108Snow2199330315Ice211118119River13300Unknown22800Ascent or DescentAscent243850111515Descent2080342325Unknown247502OtherN.B.0050Immediate CauseFall or slip on rock2678253903Slip on snow or ic...
Siula Antecima, Mis Amigos. In August Italians Silvano Arrigoni, Lorenzo Festorazzi, Eugenio Galbani, and Franco Melesi made the first ascent of what they have called Siula Antecima, the ca 5,550m rocky summit that stands immediately in front of t...
LIGHTNING, POOR POSITION-LATE STARTWyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Grand TetonOn July 26 at 1535, lightning struck and fatally injured Erica Summers (27) while climbing the Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton. This single lightning strike traveled d...
High Mountain Peaks in China—Newly Opened to Foreigners. Chinese Mountaineering Association. The People’s Sports Publishing House of China and The Tokyo Shimbun Publishing Bureau of Japan, 1981. 45 pages in English and 151 in Japanese, black and w...
Mlema 3, African Light, Second Ascent. In September, we left for South Africa with the aim of climbing in northern Mozambique. The rumors we had heard said something about magnificent granite domes scattered in the vast plateau of Nampula, Mozambi...
Chilean Patagonia, first ascents. Piloting his green Hilux like a rally car driver, Jim Donini told me, “I already have our first objective picked out. It’s the most impressive thing on this side of the lake.” The peak came into view, and I got th...
Climbs in the Lingti Valley, Spiti. The Lingti valley lies northeast of Kaza, west of Tibet’s Pare Chu valley and south of Ladakh’s Rupshu district. Without a trade route to Tibet or Rupshu, local villagers do not venture into this valley. In 1983...
FALL ON SNOW-UNABLE TO SELF-ARRESTWashington, Mount Rainier, Gibraltar LedgesOn June 10 about 0600, Mike Beery (29) and Ryan Tillman were climbing the Gibraltar Ledges route on Mount Rainier. Having just exited the ledges and entered Gibraltar Chu...
E-Gongga Attempt, 1982. Our team comprised Ivan Day, Roy May, Peter Thompson, Dr. Duncan Gray, Stephen Martin and me as leader. We arrived at our roadhead village, Xin Xin, on July 23, 1982. E-Gongga, our main objective after we discovered that Sw...
Felipe Gonzalez Donoso and I, both from Chile, climbed on the east face of Torre Norte in Torres del Paine National Park in January and February 2009. We climbed all new territory, following three main dihedrals and then through a large overhang...
FALL ON ROCKMontana, Glacier National Park, GendarmeOn July 3, rangers from Glacier National Park and wardens from Canada’s Banff National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park cooperated in the rescue of an injured climber. The climber, Denis Two...
Dirgol Zom Ascent and Tragedy. An Italian commercial expedition of 21 climbers led by Gianni Calcagno had as its main objective Tirich Mir West I. To acclimatize, they climbed Dirgol Zom (6878 meters, 22,567 feet). On August 6 the mountain was cli...
Appalachian Mountain Club. The Club carried out its usual activities during 1955: its 363 miles of trails in the White Mountains, on Monad- nock and Katahdin were cleared and new bridges built; its nine huts were open during the tramping season fo...
Cambridge Ecuador Expedition. The Cambridge Ecuador Expedition spent eight weeks in Ecuador between June and August. The geographers, John Russell, John Stone and Peter Hopley, carried out a land-use survey in the vicinity of Baños, a small town s...
Karavshin Region, Various Ascents. On August 5, Guy Edwards, Hermien Freriksen, Brian Webster, Kevin Christakos and I (Canada) flew from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, to Osh in the west, where our week-long epic approach to the mountains beg...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, NO HARD HATCalifornia, Tuolumne Meadows, Cathedral PeakOn July 1 Shannon (29) and Margie (28) climbed part of Matthes Crest and decided to finish the day with an ascent of the Southeast Buttress of Cathedral Pe...
Mazamas. The Mazamas, Portland, Oregon, mountaineering club since 1894, carry out a climbing school each spring as a public service as well as for in-service training. Surrounded by snow-and glacier-peaks as well as many rock-climbing areas that b...
Alaska, Mount Sanford. On May 12th Bjarne Holm (age 22), Jurgen Kienle (34), Earl Redman (24), and Jack Solomon (20) were flown to the 7,000-foot level of Mount Sanford’s Sheep Glacier, and that same afternoon they started up the glacier. They had...