Everest, West Ridge Attempt. Bad flying weather at Lukla prevented our beginning our approach march together. Jim Bridwell, our climbing leader, with Andy Politz, Randall Grandstaff, Greg Sapp, Kevin Swigert and Fletcher Wilson, got out ahead and ...
Watkins Mountains, two possible first ascents close to Gunnsbjorns Fjeld. Named by the Vikings “Hvitserk” or “White Shirt,” Gunnbjørns Fjeld stands as the Arctic’s highest mountain. Its 3,693m summit is not technically difficult to reach, but a go...
Number of Accidents ReportedTotal Persons InvolvedInjuredFatalitiesUSACANUSACANUSACANUSACAN195115221131952313517131953242712121954314131819553439286195646725413195745532818195832392311195942256231019219604746412378194196149961144510144196271190164...
Huantsan Sur, Death or Glory. The northeast buttress of Huantsan Sur is approached from the east side of the range. Unlike the heavily frequented west side, the east is another world. A four-hour bus drive dropped us in the quiet town of Chavin. W...
RAPPEL ANCHOR FAILURE, FAILURE TO TEST ANCHOR, INAD EQUATE PROTECTION, WEATHERWyoming, Middle TetonOn July 31, 1984, Daniel Meteer (30) and Christopher Page (32) were retreating from an unsuccessful climb of the North Ridge of Middle leton. In the...
RAPPEL FAILURE/ERROR–NO BACK-UP BELAY AND NO KNOTS ON ENDS OF ROPESWyoming, Devils Tower National MonumentOn May 17, Jacqueline Weimer (27) sustained fatal injuries after falling approximately 100 meters while rappelling adjacent to the popular El...
Governor Spotswood’s Tramontane ExpeditionA writer in the Alpine Journal, in a reference which now eludes us, once suggested that we had in America a predecessor of the Alpine Club in the Tramontane Club of Virginia, founded in 1716 with the purpo...
The Great Glacier and Its House. William Lowell Putnam. The American Alpine Club, New York, 1982. 224 pages, duotone photographs, maps, appendices, bibliography. $37.50.The hotel is gone and the passenger trains, now rarely on time, go by only onc...
All 14 8000-Meter Summits. There were successes for three men approaching their goal of summiting all 14 8000-meter mountains, Fausto De Stefani and Hans Kammerlander of Italy on Kangchenjunga, and a Spanish Basque, Juanito Oiarzabal, on Dhaulagir...
WEATHER, EXHAUSTION, HYPOTHERMIA, INADEQUATE CLOTHINGWashington, Mount Rainier, Muir SnowfieldAbout mid-day on Saturday, May 2, Tim Stark (57) and his nephew Greg Stark (26) set out from the Paradise (5,440 feet) to Camp Muir (10,100 feet) plannin...
From the foregoing review of alpine accidents in 1950, it is clear, as it was in last year’s report, that there is still a need for more training of the inexperienced and young, and that this training must continue to be organized and actively car...
FALL ON ROCK, FATIGUE, DEHYDRATION, OVEREQUIPPED,INEXPERIENCE ON BIG WALLS California, Yosemite ValleyOn June 4, 1988, at 1200, disptach received a call from Wesley Walton concerning an injured climber on Half Dome. Walton had talked with people o...
Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre massifs, various ascents. Between mid-January and early March a young team of Slovene climbers, including me, visited the Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre massifs, spending a total of 40 days accomplishing a series of important as...
Staunings Alps, East Greenland. Sir John Hunt kindly invited me to join his expedition to Greenland this summer. The expedition was sponsored by the National Association of Mixed Clubs and Girls’ Clubs in conjunction with the Duke of Edinburgh’s A...
FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, EXCEEDING ABILITIESCalifornia, Yosemite ValleyOn August 2, about noon, Matthew Tomlinson (28) fell while lead climbing Keystone Corner (5.8) at Five and Dime Cliff. He was flown by Helicopter 51 from the scene ...
Peak Gomiak, Third Ascent. Peak Gomiak (5013m) is difficult to get to without a helicopter. It takes two days and entails crossing two passes from the Karavshin Base Camp in the Asan- Usen region. Only two routes have been established on it: one, ...
FALL ON ROCK – SHORT FIXING WITHOUT A SELF-BELAY, INADEQUATE PROTECTION – FAILURE TO TEST AID PLACEMENTCalifornia, Yosemite Valley, El Capitan.On June 26, Degan (38) and Beth (32) were attempting a one-day climb of the Nose of El Capitan (Grade VI...
High PraiseCelebrating 52 magnificent books from the Club’s first century.David Stevenson“To this day mountain climbing remains the most literary of all sports. No other activity so compels its participants, from the international star to the week...
Cerro Gardener and Cerro Matacaballos. Argentines José Luis Fonrouge, Alberto del Castillo and his wife Paula Marechal with Australian Murray Inglis were active on the Glaciar Perito Moreno and the Southern Patagonian Icecap. They crossed the Braz...
Traverse of the Trans-Himalaya and Various Ascents, Previously Unreported. Over seven weeks in the summer of 1996, Irene Oehninger and I traveled by jeep, foot, yak and truck (for a short distance) as we made our traverse of the Trans-Himalaya fro...