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...
Sierra Register Committee. To carry on the work started in 1987 (see AAJ, 1988, pages 137-8), Mark Hoffman and I between February and April met with Dave Brower, Dick Leonard, Jules Eichorn and Hervey Voge to discuss problems which threatened the ...
Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and Broad Peak, Ascents. A strong 20-member Japanese Gunma Mountaineering Association team and an equally strong team of 12 Nepalese Sherpas scaled the three Pakistani 8000ers, Gasherbrum I and II and Broad Peak, one a...
Kichatna Spires, mystery routes. Widely reported, including to the AAJ, were that three presumably new ice/mixed/snow couloir routes were climbed somewhere in the Tatina Glacier area of the Kichatna Spires, by U.K. climbers Mike “Twid” Turner (lea...
K2, South-Southwest Ridge Attempt. A strong, rather massive French expedition nearly climbed K2 by its very difficult south-southwest ridge. The leader was Bernard Mellet, the deputy leader, Yannick Seigneur and the others were Maurice Barrard, Pi...
Mountain Paths, by H. E. G. Tyndale. Edited with an introduction by Arnold Lunn for “The New Alpine Library.” x + 208 pages, 15 illustrations. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1948. Price 12/6. This book is the final record of more than four decades...
Waiparous River Valley, Cryophobia. In February 2001 Shawn Huisman and I completed the first ascent of Cryophobia (V M8+ WI5+), the name meaning “fear of ice,” located in the remote Waiparous River Valley near the Ghost. We began working on this p...
WILLIAM B. ROSS1938 - 1969William Ross, along with six companions, was killed in an ice avalanche on the southeast ridge of Dhaulagiri on April 28, 1969 He was an inspiring companion, a kind physician, and a promising climber.Bill was born August ...
A New Route on Devils Tower. On September 6th John Durrance brought a party of four to Devils Tower, Wyo., to attempt the climb made a year before by Wiessner and House, and on meeting the park superintendent, Mr. Newell M. Joyner, was told that t...
Baffin is a landscape of frozen fjords, exotic wildlife, massive big walls, and sea ice as far as the eye can see. I went to the island in early April and did not leave until the second week in June, having the experience of a lifetime along...