Against the Wall. Simon Yates. Jonathan Cape: London, 1997. Distributed in the U.S. by Trafalgar Square, North Pomfret, Vermont. Color photographs. 176 pages. $35.00.Okay, let’s get this over with: Simon Yates is the guy who cut the rope on Joe Si...
Mazamas. During the year The Mazamas of Portland, Oregon, started 128 climbs on 45 different peaks in their regular climbing schedule. In addition, club outings added many new peaks to the collective mountaineering experience of The Mazamas. The g...
Himalchuli North Tragedy. Germans Dr. Wolfgang Weinzierl and Peter Wauer and South Tirolean Günther Einsendle set out for Camp I on October 15, hoping to pitch Camp II on the southwest ridge at 6500 meters. The only survivor, Siegfried Reiter, doe...
Jethibohurani or Nampa South Attempt. Yasuo Ohsumi led eight climbers from Nagoya University. Their aim was to climb Jethibohurani or Nampa South (22,802 feet). They placed Base Camp at 12,300 feet on its west side. They reached 20,175 feet on Oct...
Duivelsei, first ascent. Intending to ascend an unclimbed mountain in the southern Suriname jungle, Gerke Hoekstra, Ronald Naar, and I traveled to Paramaribo in September. We chartered a small plane that flew us to an isolated airstrip south of th...
Explorers Club of Pittsburgh. ECP enjoyed another active year in 1980. Membership has remained at about 150 (in line with the concept that “small is beautiful”). There was no snow or ice to speak of in western Pennsylvania. Energies normally devot...
Bhagirathi I, West Ridge. Two separate New Zealand expeditions climbed in the Gangotri region. Geoff Gabites, Mark Gabites, Dave Stephenson and I reached the summit of Bhagirathi I (6856 meters, 22,493 feet) alpine-style via the west ridge on Sept...
AVALANCHEWashington, Mount Rainier, Ingraham GlacierOn October 24, climbers Aaron Koester and Matt Little contemplated a summit ascent from their high camp at Cadaver Gap, but due to a late start the pair instead decided to train and explore and t...
Tsaranoro, various climbs and new routes. Dave Kenyon and I arrived at Camp Catta on September 19. Our first three days were spent repeating the excellent existing routes, Alien II (350m 6b), Croix du Sud (300m 6b+), and Pectorine (250m 6b/A0) on ...
Makalu’s West Pillar. Kitty Calhoun Grissom’s article on this first female ascent of Makalu appears earlier in this volume.Makalu. The Japanese Research Center of High Mountains organized a lightweight expedition composed of leader Dr. Makoto Hara...
Hand of Fatima, first complete link-up (in a day). From mid November to mid December, I had the extreme pleasure of being part of a North Face–sponsored expedition during which we explored the surreal sub-Saharan dream-world of Mali as we ventured...
Condoriri and Huayna Potosí, Cordillera Real. Our expedition, Dr. Rudolf Fürst and his wife Dorothee, my wife Else and I, drove on July 4 to Tuni Lake and continued up the Condoriri valley to camp at Khauan Khota (lake) at 14,600 feet. Next day we...
100th Anniversary of the Planinska zveza Slovenije. The American Alpine Club congratulates the Planinska zveza Slovenije (the Slovene Alpine Club) on the 100th Anniversary of its founding. Slovene mountaineering has a long history. The first ascen...
FALL INTO CREVASSE—SNOW BRIDGE COLLAPSEWashington, Mount RainierOn August 27, 1989, around 0830, Park Ranger Nina Burnell (26) and her climbing partner Mark Ross (28) were descending the Disappointment Cleaver Route from the summit of Mount Rainie...
Annapurna IV Attempts. Two French expeditions were unable to reach the summit of Annapurna IV (7525 meters, 24,688 feet). A group of twelve led by Hervé Thivièrge reached 6600 meters on October 13. Ten climbers under the leadership of Bernard Clém...
PARTY SEPARATED ON SUMMIT – WHITEOUTWashington, Mount RainierOn May 4th, two climbers left Paradise at 9:00 p.m. with the intention of doing a single-push summit climb and skiing back down the mountain via Fuhrers Thumb. In the afternoon, the park...
Mount Thor, Southwest Face and Ridge. On August 2, Claude Berubé, François-Guy Thivièrge and I climbed the southwest face of Thor to the saddle of the summit ridge and up the summit ridge to the top (5.9, A2, 40 pitches). The rock was very solid w...
FALL ON ICE, UNABLE TO SELF-ARREST, CLIMBING UNROPEDWashington, North Cascades, Glacier PeakOn June 30, 1991, elated veteran mountaineer Steve Studley (27) stood above the clouds at the 10,568-foot summit of Glacier Peak in the North Cascades Moun...
Ak-Su, Pamir-Alay. From June 28 to July 21, fifteen Yugoslavs from various parts of the country led by Lazar Popara of Vojvodina climbed in the Ak-Su area of the Turkestan Range, one of the most difficult climbing regions in the USSR. Wild and har...
A Swiss expedition was active in the Himalayas this summer (1939). A small party consisting of André Roch and Ernst Huber with the guides Fritz Steuri and David Zogg made several noteworthy climbs in Garhwal and surveyed the mountains around the K...