The Needles, Magician Needle, Magic Dragon. In January Neil Carlos and I climbed this 13-pitch route. The first half of the route ascends directly up the spine of the huge buttress (Trojan Horse) which ends halfway up the rock. The long, unprotect...
Dhaulagiri Tragedy. On October 6, the well-known New Zealander Gary Ball died from high-altitude sickness on Dhaulagiri. He was 40 years old. He and Robert Hall led several commercial expedition to the Himalaya and elsewhere. These two were the fi...
FALL ON ROCK, INEXPERIENCE, FAILED TO THREAD ROPE THROUGH ANCHORSKentucky, Red River Gorge, Muir ValleyA male climber (31) fell from the top anchors of Rat Stew (5.10a). He landed two feet from his belayer after free falling approximately 75 feet....
Kang Karpo Attempt. Tom Hornbein, Robert Hornbein, Robin Houston, Brian Okonek, Robert Brown Schoene and I attempted Kang Karpo (Meili) in September. We followed the route we had previously explored in 1988 and established two camps above Base Cam...
California, Sierra Nevada—On June 28, 1956 John Brinkmann (15) was injured while climbing the NE ridge of University Peak. The party was led by Scoutmaster Jim Fairchild, who had had mountain experience with the Sierra Club; the climbing party con...
Peaks above the Kahiltna Glacier. Late in May, Margaret Young and I flew our Cessna 180 onto the Kahiltna Glacier and established camp among the group of granite peaks that lie inside the “great bend” of the Kahiltna. We explored the immediate vic...
Winter Ascents in the Cascades. The drought winter of 1976-1977 presented climbing conditions that had not been experienced in recent history and may not be seen again in the present generation. February was particularly calm, clear and warm. Ther...
FALL ON ROCK—Quebec, Val David, Mont Cesair. Joscelyn Valliere was leading the Valse Direct on Mt. Cesair at 11:30 a.m. on March 11, 1976. He fell when he was about six feet above his last runner, broke his right leg on a ledge, and slipped severa...
CLIMBING ALONE and UNROPED, DISTRAUGHTArkansas, Sam’s ThroneOn October 12, Chris Harris (23) was soloing at night on Instant Trauma (5.10a) when he fell 75 feet to his death.AnalysisHarris came out late in the afternoon, and was supposed to meet f...
Rocky Mountains of CanadaThe following data correct and supplement the 1940 edition of the Guidebook.Approaches to Mt. Assiniboine. This peak is 23 miles in airline S. W. of Banff, but considerably further by trail. Mt. Assiniboine (11,870 ft.) is...
Gul Lasht Zorn, Hindu Kush. After the Chogolisa expedition, I teamed up with John Kentish for a short visit to the Hindu Kush. We investigated routes on Tirich Mir. On October 2, we reached the summit of Gul Lasht Zom (6611 meters, 21,690 feet), r...
High Altitude Research on Mount McKinley. A research team from the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, studying the ecology of man at altitude, carried out a series of experiments on Mount McKinley during June and July. Testing camp...
FAILURE TO FOLLOW ROUTE, OVERDUEAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Mount AndromedaTwo climbers were two days overdue on the Skyladder route on Mount Andromeda.On March 7, the climbers started climbing at 0300 and were at the base of Skyladder by dawn. They...
Kamet and Abi Gamin Ascents. A Jat Regiment expedition of the Indian Army led by Major Sonam Thapa reached the top of Abi Gamin (7355 meters) on June 15, while Kamet was climbed by Hav. Kalam Singh, Hav. Vijay Singh and the leader. On June 16 Hav....
North Face of South Peak of Lone Peak. The first ascent of this face, often called the Question Mark Face because of a large question mark near the top, was completed by Fred Beckey and me on September 15. We went in a straight line up an almost s...
The Mazamas. Climbing activities, the prime activity of The Mazamas, are planned and supervised under the Climbing Committee, this year chaired by Bruce Coorpender. The summer schedule, May through September, included 191 weekend activities and 25...
Pico Sintana (Simmons), Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, North Face. Paul Thomas, Brian Wood, Tom Simpson, and I entered the range from the west side (San Pedro de la Sierra) and followed the same route that Tom Simpson and I took a year ago in our t...
Mont Blanc Chain, France. First Ascent of Dru Couloir Direct, Aiguille du Drus. (Grade ED Sup): Early in August Riccardo (Rick) Accomazzo and I climbed this prominent couloir in just over two-and-a-half days. Previous ascents had traversed to the ...
Huascarán Norte, Northeast Face and Oqshapallka, South Face, and Other Peaks, 1979. After acclimatizing on Yanapaqtsa, Pisco and Toqllaraju, all by their normal routes, Bruce Blatherwick and I climbed the north face of Ranrapallka by the 1975 rout...
ANDREW W. KRAMER1894-1993Andrew W. Kramer died at the age of 99. He lived at Lake Buff, Illinois. He had been a member of the American Alpine Club since 1945. He was known for his articles on nuclear science and engineering. Mr. Kramer was also an...