Ama Dablam, southwest ridge, tragedy. The southwest ridge of Ama Dablam, a beautiful peak often referred to as the Matterhorn of the Khumbu, is now one of the most popular routes in the Himalaya: commercial operators who run trips to Everest durin...
Cho Oyu is generally considered simple among the 8,000ers. For serious alpinists it has often been used as a place to get high-elevation experience. But in 2001 I happened to catch a glimpse of Cho Oyu’s southeast wall, with a logical line from th...
No SiestaThe first free (dry tooling) ascent of perhaps the hardest mixed route in the Alps, on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, France.Robert JasperNo Siesta takes an ingenious and psychologically demanding line through one of the great wa...
Crystal Crag, East Face, 1978. Chuck Calef and I climbed a route on the east face of Crystal Crag in April 1978. We began in a dihedral above a large pine tree just uphill from the Rowell-Clevenger route. The first pitches are steep. Then the angl...
Undercutting the Monarch. We have heard talk about a funicular on the Matterhorn. Now it is reported that this spring actual drilling will begin for a seven-mile highway tunnel, 50 ft. wide and 15 ft. high, through Mont Blanc. “The outlook is rosy...
Reese Martin 1955-2004 Reese Martin was a true contemporary Renaissance man. Growing up, he was a constantly moving “Air Force brat,” eventually expected to fill the shoes of his “Right Stuff” era test pilot father and his WWI pilot grandfather. I...
American Alpine Club Research FundThe American Alpine Club Research Fund was established in 1945 to promote scientific, literary, educational or historical research and publication related to mountaineering, geology or geography. The trustees of t...
Whitney Portal Buttress, Ghostrider. In June 2000, with Charles Byrne, I first attempted a new route on Whitney Portal Buttress between Satoris and Wonderwall. Alan Bartlett, who established these routes and acknowledged that both had lousy 1/4-in...
Plateriyayoc Group, Cordillera Urubamba. The Plateriyayoc group lies some 40 miles north of Verónica between the rivers Ocabamba and Yanatili. It is an extension of the Terijuay group, first visited by Fulvio Ratto’s Italian expedition in 1963. (A...
Fortaleza, Paine Group. The Fortaleza (Fortress) is a gigantic granite tower crowned by black sedimentary rock covered with ice and snow mushrooms. It was first climbed after a struggle with wind and technical difficulties in 1968 by a British par...
FALL INTO CREVASSE, WEATHER, HYPOTHERMIAWashington, Mount RainierA four-person climbing team had summitted Liberty Ridge on June 14 and became separated (two roped teams of two) during their descent of the Emmons Glacier in severe winds and whiteo...
No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s Highest 14 Peaks. Ed Viesturs and David Roberts. New York: Broadway Books, 2006. 368 pages. $23.95.The old adage about bold climbers and old climbers is hackneyed jargon to most of us, but in Ed Viestu...
Huamanrasu, Cordillera Chonta; Apucasa, Cordillera Huaytapallana Karu; Climbs in Cordillera Huaytapallana. I made four journeys in the mountains near Huancayo in the spring and early summer. I soon found out why no one climbs in Peru during the ra...
From 377 to 353 B.C., the city of Halicarnassus on the shores of the Aegean Sea was ruled by a king named Mausolus. During his reign he expanded his empire, seizing control of many neighboring cities and much of southwest Asia Minor. When he died ...
Mt. McKinley, Infinity Direct to Upper West Rib. Valeriy Babanov and I landed at Kahiltna International on May 23, with ambitious plans for new routes on Hunter and Denali. The weather was unsettled, so we figured our time would be best spent by a...
ILLNESS, COLD AND WINDY WEATHERColorado, Longs PeakOn January 1, 1983, Jimmy Shotten (44) and Randall Speck (24) left the Longs Peak trailhead in good weather for a six-day winter camping and climbing trip on Longs Peak. They spent that Saturday n...
LOOSE ROCK CAME AWAY—FALL ON ROCK, FAILED TO FOLLOW INSTINCTSCalifornia, Sugar LoafOn January 12, Jon Hanlon and I were enjoying a fabulous winter day of rock climbing at Sugar Loaf. We spent the morning on a couple of the area classics, and at lu...
Saser Kangri. Saser Kangri (25,170 feet) was unsuccessfully attempted by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation expedition. They set out from Panamik on June 12 and advanced up the Phukpoche river and glacier to Base Camp at 17,800 feet on June 14. ...
In The Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Galen Rowell. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1977. 326 pages, 165 black and white photos, 48 color plates and two maps. Price $18.50.The pleasant anticipation aroused in me by the title and the magnifi...
Bhagirathi II. Our all-women expedition was composed of Satuki Kobayashi, Takako Kubozuka, Kimiko Hurushima, Iseko Masuda, Mituyo Matumoto, Kumiko Hunamizu and me as leader. We made Base Camp at Nandanban at 14,100 feet on September 19. Camps I, I...