HAROLD L. PINSCH 1917-1999The mountain rescue community, and in particular Olympic Mountain Rescue (OMR), lost a strong advocate and well-respected friend with the passing of Harold on August 30. Harold was a really unique person; no one but he wo...
On November 20, as my friend Chris Pruchnic (42) and I walked early in the morning to our original destination, the Black Lake Slabs or West Gully ice climbs in RMNP, we talked at length. Chris, about running—a 100 mile race which he had complet...
Conspiracy of FoolsThe second ascent of La Conjura de Los Necios reveals plenty of adventure between the holts on El Gigante.Andrej GrmovsekIn the spring of 2002 my fiancé Tanja Rojs and I drove from Colorado to Chihuahua’s Canon de Candamena. Our...
Highest Peaks in the Arctic and AntarcticFor some years Mt. Forel (11,100 ft.), climbed by a Swiss party in 1938, was the highest known point in Greenland. In 1930 the late Gino Watkins saw from the air a group of peaks in Lat. 69°, Long. 30°, abo...
Topoz (Yak, 4,600m), Inek (4,560m), first ascents. On the drive from the Torugart-Too [see Littlejohn report, above] to At Bashi, we visited one of the most important historic sites in Kyrgyzstan: the Tash Rabat Caravanserai, a fortified “castle” ...
California, Royal Arches, Yosemite—On April 3, 1955 Donald Tocher (28) was a member of a four-man climbing party. All were experienced and able climbers who had climbed various routes on the Royal Arches previously. The party was roped and properl...
Over the Col de Balme in 1883CHARLES FRANCIS JUDSON1DURING the years of 1882-84 it was my good fortune to be a a pupil of Sillig’s School, located at Vevey-la Tour on Lake Geneva, conducted by Mrs. Edwin and Edouard Sillig. A pleasant feature of t...
FALL ON ROCK, PLACED INADEQUATE PROTECTION, PROTECTION PULLED OUT, TRYING TO LOOK GOOD California, Donner Summit, Nova ExpressOn June 16, 1993, I was attempting to lead a route which I had tried twice before but had never led. I’ve been climbing t...
Have you ever dreamed of a comer of paradise and then, in the realization of the dream, found it to be truly immense? So it befell us for one month in the heart of Madagascar. In the southeastern part of the island, in the Andringitra National Par...
Khangri Shar (6,811m) is one of many unclimbed peaks in the Nepal Himalaya opened for climbing by the Nepalese government in the fall of 2002. It is located west of Pumori in the Khumbu Himal in northeastern Nepal. The Changri Glacier flows into t...
DON COOK JENSEN1943-1973Don Jensen was killed in November 1973 in a bicycling accident in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he was spending the year with his wife Joan as a visiting lecturer in mathematics. He was thirty at the time of his death.Don’s twe...
Sueños del TorreA 4,500-foot ice climb linking the south face and west ridge of Cerro Torre.Colin Haley“Goddamn it, guys! We gotta go climb some mountains!” Our friend Freddie Wilkinson threw the finished bottle of whiskey onto the ground and fell...
The Charakusa Valley is an alpine-climbing candy store, offering steep rock routes and technical mixed faces on some of the most beautiful peaks in Pakistan. Kelly Cordes, Kyle Dempster, and I trekked into the Charakusa in mid-August. After accl...
Miyar Glacier, Pangi Valley, Zanskar, Kishtwar, exploration; crossings of Kang La (5,440m), Poat La (5,500m), Dharlangwala Jot (5,086m), Shopu Pass (3,400m). For many years I have been trying to connect the entire length and breadth of the Himalay...
Central Peru, Various Ascents. My first campaign centered around the Rajuntay group of the Cordillera de la Viuda, inland from Lima and north of the sources of the Rimac River. From the railroad station of Chinchán I managed to reach the Rajuntay ...
FALLING ICEWashington, Mount Rainier, Kautz Ice CliffOn July 20 Mount Rainier communications received information relating to a 911 call from a climbing party on the Kautz Glacier route. The reporting climber Greg Prothman of Seattle Mountain Resc...
Pumori, Southeast Face, and Other Ascents. The Czech Mountaineering Expedition Spring '96 engaged in alpine-style climbing without a Base Camp and made ascents of Island Peak (6160 m) via the normal route, Ama Dablam (6812 m) via the south face (s...
Washington, Cascades, Big Four Mountain. On 23 August Robert Byhre and Grant Byhre were ascending a rock gully intending to climb Big Four mountain and Halls Peak. Robert Byhre had ascended each by nearly the same route four times. Route ascended ...
In September 2000 Rex Wolters and I climbed a new 1,500', IV 5.10 A1 line on the north face of Mt. Silex in the San Juan Mountains. It follows an arête/buttress to the right of the large dihedral on the western side of the north face.John Kelley
FALLING ROCKCalifornia, Mount Shasta, Avalanche GulchOn July 18, Scott Eisenbarth (25), a guide for Shasta Mountain Guides (SMG), was descending with two clients on the Avalanche Gulch route at 1015 when he was struck on the side of the head by a ...