From February 23-27, 1997, Alexander Ruchkin and Andrey Puchinin established the North Face Direct route (6A A3 +, 900m) on the north face of Free Korea Peak (4740m). The route takes a direct line up a weakness in the wall between the Bezzubkin an...
TAM Sur, Cordillera Huayhuash. On August 8 Hidalgo Arbaiza, Rómulo Carascal, Julián Velásquez, Federico Livia, and Victorino Basilio of the Club de Andinismo Cordillera Huayhuash of Chiquián climbed TAM Sur (18,192 feet) by its northeast ridge.Joh...
Salcantay, North Face, Cordillera Vilcabamba. From June 19 to 21, Peruvian Alberto Callupe and I made a new route on the north face of Salcantay. We approached in three days from Mollepata to the north side of Paso Palcay. The southeast and the ea...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAYCalifornia, Yosemite ValleyOn October 20, 1985, about 1000, Ken Byers (41) was leading Catchy (5. lOd) on the Cookie Cliff. J. Farmer was at base on bottom belay using a Sticht plate. At 1130, Byers reached the “crux”...
Nanga Parbat, Rupal Buttress Attempt. Our expedition was composed of Yannick Seigneur, leader, Jean Afanassieff, Bernard Prud’homme, French, Bernd Neubaur, Michael Hoffmann, Rainier Pickl, Siegfried Wirth, Thomas Nuber, Germans and me, Swiss. We t...
Utah: Salt Lake City. (Although not a mountaineering accidebt, this is reported because of its tragic lesson.) On a graduation picnic, in the late spring of 1949, Glen Daw (17) fell to his death from a cliff on Storm Mountain, in Big Cottonwood Ca...
La Huasteca still has many walls to explore, and this 500m south-facing wall of limestone, just 15 minutes from Monterrey, had two routes and an unfinished project. David Tirado (Mexico), my wife Marisol Monterrubio (Mexico), and I started with...
HAPE, CE, ASCENDING TOO FASTAlaska, Mount McKinleyDuring May and early June, members of three separate foreign climbing teams were diagnosed as having High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE).Victor Grosley and Thomas Jannik (46), Yugoslavian climbers...
Pumori Attempt. Six climbers of Korean ancestry, although two are American citizens and one a Canadian, were led by Kim Ki-Hwan. They attempted the first-ascent route on the northeast ridge. After a three-week struggle on the east face, they gave ...
P 9070. On April 20, David Barlow and I made the first ascent of P 9070, southwest of Mount Hunter. We made a glacial approach to the west of a small icefall on the north side and then an ascent to the col separating this peak from Thunder Mountai...
FALL ON ROCK, UNSAFE POSITION, FATIGUEAlaska, Skagway, Black LakeOn June 14, Karl (28) was climbing an unnamed, single-pitch sport route rated at 5.9 near Skagway. Just below the top of the route, he had clipped into the final bolt and was prepari...
Wisconsin Hoofer Mountaineers. During the past year the WHM were again active in midwestern climbing. Our Sunday trips to Devils Lake and other nearby climbing areas were well attended during the spring and fall. A smaller group was also active in...
Annapurna II Attempt. An expedition of six Spanish Basques led by Jesús Bereciartua tried to climb Annapurna II up the north face and along the west ridge from Annapurna IV. They set up Camps I, II and III at 4800, 5500 and 6300 meters on March 28...
Noshaq. The Bulgarian Hindu Kush Expedition, led by Petr Kavrkov and composed of D. Petkov, K. Aleksiev, I. Vasilev, K. Dimcev, A. ZahaHriev, H. Džambazov, P. Georgiev, R. Savov, J. Stojanov, K. Petrov and D. Jirov, had a tragic fate. They were in...
Cerro Marmolejo, Senda Real and The Nook. Austrians Harald Berger and Albert Leichtfried established a wild ice route on the south face of Cerro Marmolejo (6,100m, about 20 km from Baños Morales) in the Cajón del Maipo in January 2006. Their line,...
Dhaulagiri, South Ridge. It was the goal for Jean-Noël Roche and me to climb the south ridge or spur of Dhaulagiri with no support whatsoever. The route had been climbed by a heavy Japanese expedition in 1978. A film crew of Philippe Lallet and An...
Southeast Ridge of Middle Teton, August 15, 1954. Bill Buckingham and Virgil Day, using several pitons for protection, climbed the more easterly of the two south ridges.
Nojin Kansa, Ascent. In the spring, Masakazu Okuda led a three-member Japanese expedition that made an ascent along the ridge between Togulon (ca. 6800m) and Nojin (Ningqing) Kansa (7206m), continuing to the summit of Nojin (Ningqing) Kansa via th...
Colorado Mountain Club. The club’s rapid growth continued, with an increase of 20% during the year to over 4200. The 12 local groups undertook some 1100 one-day and weekend climbing and hiking trips. Interest in winter mountaineering and camping c...
Imjatse, Southwest Face, 1989. Italian Carlo Stratta and Dawa Lama climbed a new route on the southwest face of Imjatse (Island Peak). They climbed the 4000-foot route in seven hours to reach the southwestern summit. They continued the traverse to...