The Atmosphere of DiscoveryEd WebsterFIRST IMPRESSIONS linger in the mind … the river rampages through the bottom of the canyon. Its roar is deafening. The blazing sun rises ceremoniously over the silent desert landscape. These two climbing areas,...
Bhagarathi III, direct southwest pillar, Stairway to Heaven. In 2000 and 2001 Walter Hölzler attempted the direct southwest Pillar of Bhagarathi III, left of the now quasi-classic 1982 Barton-Shaw Route (also called the Scottish Route). On the sec...
Early American Travellers in the AlpsDr. John Morgan’s Crossing of the Mont Cenis Pass, 1764DR. JOHN MORGAN (1735-89) served as a lieutenant in the expedition of General Forbes to Fort Duquesne. Resigning from the army in 1760, he went to London f...
The Tusk Attempt, Chigmit Mountains. In June Fred Beckey, Craig Martinson and I made an attempt on the Tusk, an impressive 1000-foot tower in the Merrill Pass area, about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. We turned back at about the same point as ...
Spindrift avalanches pass the door of our snow cave. A grin grows wide on Ben Gilmore’s face as he raises his fist triumphantly. Two thousand feet up the Wall of Shadows we discovered this crystal cavern to enjoy shelter from the storm. We stumble...
Overview. Climbing activity in the Indian Himalaya has decreased. The number of both foreign and national expeditions was reduced. Fewer peaks are being attempted, especially the more challenging peaks and routes. One important deterrent is the un...
HimalchuliMichael YagerAN HOUR AFTER we had set up the tent and crawled inside, the wind picked up. While Pema began to boil water for drinks and tukpa (noodles), and to prepare his special sauce—a mixture of garlic and chilis used by Sherpas to p...
SETH SHAW1962-2000Seth Thomas “ST” Shaw and Tim Wagner had successfully climbed a new route on the east face/southeast couloir of Mt. Johnson in the Ruth Gorge of the Alaska Range when, on an overcast rest day, the two set out for a bit of ice bou...
FALL ON ROCK – RAPPEL ERROR, FATIGUE, POSSIBLE HASTEWashington, Beacon Rocks State ParkOn July 24, Nathan Turner (30) and his partner were in the second rappel of “Jill’s Thrill,” a common descent route for the area. The first rappel placed the tw...
DANIEL UNDERHILL1874-1951Daniel Underhill died suddenly on 1 July 1951 at Jericho, L. I., in the house where he was born 77 years ago. He was a direct descendant of Capt. John Underhill (fl. 1630) and Halen Kreuger. He was a graduate of Friends Ac...
Mountain Sheep and Man in the Northern Wilds, by Valerius Geist, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975. 248 pages, black and white photos, charts. Price: $10.00Why review a book on sheep in an alpine journal? Because the author has something very...
Nuptse (7,864m), south face, Are You Experienced? (not to summit). October 11: Here I am again at the base of the south face of Nuptse. I see the superb line of gullies that cuts through the bottom of the wall for more than 300m, then fades into t...
Light Weight Camping Equipment, by Gerry Cunningham and Meg Hans- son. Ward, Colorado: Highlander Publishing Company, 1959. 127 pages, numerous diagrams.This short, easily readable book contains a truly wonderful store of knowledge about camping e...
Glacier National Park, Various Ascents. E1 Niño gave northwest Montana the unusual mix of cold weather and little snow in November and December. As a result, most of the park roads were kept open, giving climbers easier access to several remote ba...
The North Face of Mount GeikieJohn R. Hudson"I am sure you have given me all the heaviest stuff," said Frodo. "I pity snails, and all that carry their homes on their backs”T. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the RingIAPOLOGIZE, dear reader,for the...
Anderl Heckmair: My Life, Eiger North Face, Grand Jorasses and Other Adventures. Anderl Heckmair. Translated by Tim Carruthers. Foreword by Reinhold Messner. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books, 2002. 304 pages. $24.95.While best known for his role in...
TABLE IIINumbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved1951-761959-7619771977USACAN.USACAN.Terrain1Rock14281277026Snow8001104135Ice25391River6111Unknown10200Ascent or DescentAscent11071325525Descent94691458Unknown1458164Immediate CauseFall or slip on ...
Bandaka Group. The members of the Japanese R.C.C. II* Expedition were Shigeo Yasukawa, leader, Shiro Shirahata, Takeshi Ishii, Hiroshi Hotta, Gaiki Ohashi, Kunio Nagasawa and myself as deputy leader. Our advance party, Ishii and I, arrived at Kabu...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION—ANCHOR SLING KNOT North Carolina, Stone Mountain, The Great ArchOn May 25, I was climbing at Stone Mountain, NC. Hoping to do some sport climbing (I read that the routes were sparsely bolted) I brought only a li...
Shishapangma, first winter ascent. I was sick and tired of the extra-European alpinism I was doing; I did not find it as enthralling as 1 had imagined when as a young aspiring alpinist I read of the big undertakings on the great mountains of the E...