Mount Foraker, Ski Descent of the Sultana Ridge. On May 28, Julie Faure, Jim Hopkins, and I assembled at Kahiltna Base Camp to attempt to climb Mounts Foraker and Crosson and descend both on freeheel skis. Montecucco and Hopkins warmed up with an ...

FALL ON ROCK, PLACED NO PROTECTION California, Yosemite Valley, El CapitanOn May 16, 1992, while climbing the second pitch of “The Nose” route on El Capitan, Bruce Burns (37) fell about 60 feet while leading. He was injured, and was unconscious fo...

In one of the more remote valleys of that sub-arctic rain forest called the Canadian Rockies, there is a mountain wall which acts like a strong drug on the mind of the observer. So dark, sheer, and gloomy is the North Face of North Twin, like a ...

FALL ON SNOW, EXPOSURE, HYPOTHERMIA, HACE, FROSTBITE,INEXPERIENCEAlaska, Mount McKinleyOn April 27,1994, Pauline Brandon (33) and Richard Tyler (28) began their climb of the West Buttress of Mount McKinley. On May 5, solo climber Trigger Twig enco...

Minya Konka, eighth ascent and new route on nearby Eva Shan. If you love sunny places, Sichuan isn’t the area of your dreams. The climbers of French High Mountain Military Group went there last autumn to climb Minya Konka (or Gongga Shan 7,556m). ...

Seven Days on Huascarán’s East FaceFranz Six, Österreichischer AlpenvereinUNDER THE MOST difficult conditions we two Austrian mountain guides, Alois Indrich and I, succeeded in 1979 in making a new direct route in the central part of the east face...

Kaxkar Attempt. A 9-member Japanese expedition tried unsuccessfully to climb Kaxkar (6347 meters, 20,824 feet), which lies 15 kilometers south of what the Chinese call Tomur and the Soviets Pik Pobedy. They got to 5200 meters on the southeast side.

Purian Sar. Shinichi Hotta led the Kyoto Karakoram Club expedition to Purian Sar, after waiting for 20 days for a flight from Rawalpindi to Gilgit. They traveled through Imit and Bilhanz, to Base Camp at Bad Swat at 12,175 feet, which they reached...

BACK STRAINAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressOn May 11, Robert Gray of the “CFS” party twisted his back at the 14,200 foot camp on the West Buttress of Mt. McKinley. Gray’s condition deteriorated over the next several days, and by the 13th he c...

My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, By A.F. Mummery. 5 South Union Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts, 01843: Quarterman Publications, 1974. 360 pages, 31 illustrations. Price: $15.00.This reprint of Mummery’s famous book is an unabridged republicati...

The American Alpine Club is larger than ever, with more than 8,000 members, and has embarked on a broad range of new initiatives alongside its vital traditional programs, which include the 79th year of the American Alpine Journal.In early 2008 the...

ANDREW JAMES GILMOUR1871-1941As the years slip by and one’s erstwhile climbing companions pass over the Great Divide, it becomes increasingly difficult to pen one’s final tribute of respect and affection. A deepening sense of bereavement saddens t...

Stikine Icecap AscentsJames Balog, UnaffiliatedTHERE IS A MAGIC time on an expedition, months, maybe years, before you even set foot on a mountain. It is one of the finest times of the whole adventure: the night when, as you lay in bed with your h...

Holy Baffman!Speed climbing Mt. Asgard’s Scott and Porter routes, Baffin Island.Cedar WrightThree thousand feet and over 24 hours up the north face of Mt. Asgard on the second ascent of Charlie Porters visionary wall route, tears were streaming fr...

Snow Avalanche Activity, Upper Kahiltna GlacierAlfred C. Pinchak, Case Institute of TechnologyIntroduction. The avalanche observations described in this work were obtained by members of the 1968 Smith-Nash Mount McKinley Expedition as they approac...

Dibang Valley, retracing Bailey and Morshead’s journey to the Yonggap La. Few trekkers and explorers have been deep into the Arunachal valleys, due to difficulties and restrictions. The Dibang Valley in eastern Arunachal Pradesh is deep and thickl...

Mount Adams, Mazama Glacier Icefall. Just south of Battlement Ridge on the east face of this 12,207-foot peak, the Summit Glacier breaks off into two distinct icefalls. The icefall nearest to the ridge is that of the Klickitat Glacier. Farther sou...

Thalay Sagar— Northeast ButtressMichael KennedyANOTHER WAVE of spindrift washed over the darkened tent. Raw from the thin cold air, my throat tickled, contracted; swallowing, I tried not to breath too hard, but to no avail. Tentative at first, the...

LOOSE BLOCK PULLED OFF – FALL ON ROCKWyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Middle TetonOn August 9, a party of three was intending to climb the Buckingham Ridge on the Middle Teton. They were ascending the fourth-class approach slabs, unroped, when ...

Himalayan Assignment, by F. Van Wyck Mason. 282 pages, with sketch map end-paper. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday and Co., 1952. Price, $3.00.This is a lurid tale of a political mission to darkest Jonkhar (between Nepal and Tibet) by a strong, silen...