FALL ON ROCK, MISCOMMUNICATIONNevada, Red Rock Canyon NCA, The GalleryIn late November, this incident arose from belayer error and miscommunication. The climber’s belayer was deaf, while the climber could hear. They had some form of sign language ...
Kamet, southeast face, Samuri Direct. One of the outstanding climbs of the year was the first ascent of Kamet’s previously unattempted but much admired southeast face, by the Japanese couple Kazuya Hiraide and Kei Taniguchi. They left advance base...
JOHN NORMAN COLLIE1859-1942Professor Collie, an Honorary Member of the American Alpine Club, was born on September 10th, 1859, and died early in December, 1942, at Sligachan, Skye. He was buried at Struan beside his old guide, John Mackenzie.Colli...
High Altitude Pulmonary EdemaNew horizonsby Robert B. Schoene, M.D., The University of WashingtonOver the last three decades, increased awareness and education have lessened the instances of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) encountered by othe...
Jirishhanca. The members of our expedition were Felix Kuen, Werner Haim, Adi Sager and myself as leader, all climbing guides in the Austrian Army. We arrived by sea at Lima on May 7 and on the 18th drove by private bus to Chiquián. With 23 donkeys...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, PROTECTION PULLEDOUT, NO HARD HATCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, Cookie CliffOn May 26, Stephen Ross (32) was mortally injured in a fall while leading Beverly’s Tower, a one-pitch 5.10a route at Cookie Cliff.Bever...
Factory Butte, Clarification. I was a interpretive park ranger at Capitol Reef National Park from June, 1992, through October, 1994. During my time there, I set my sights on a prominent monolith called Factory Butte.Rumors among the locals were th...
Kongur East (7,300m ), ascent to 7,300m and proposed name for highpoint on east ridge of Kongur (7,719m). Kongur is the main summit of the Kun Lun range, in the southwestern part of China. It is a complex massif with a long span of elevations over...
The Magic PillarA pure alpine-style first ascent of the west ridge of Jannu in NepalSergey KofanovThe impossible is possible. There was a time when man thought that flying was impossible. There was a time when I thought it was impossible for two m...
The Rocky Mountains of the United StatesHoward PalmerALTHOUGH the Rocky Mountains constitute perhaps the most important topographical feature of the western United States, few people realize their true extent, or the vast congeries of peaks which ...
True ValueFinding beauty and danger on the first alpine-style ascent of Torre Egger and a new route on Cerro Fitz Roy, Patagonia.Tim O’NeillI blindly struggle to find a small foothold on life. Exposure looms like a vulture circling fresh road kill...
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...