Makalu, southeast ridge integral attempt. In spring a 14-member British Services expedition hoped to climb the south east ridge integral and arriving at the usual 4,700m base camp on April 8, first investigated the south east glacier approach. How...
Project MayhemMastering the chaos during solo battles on “the hardest big-wall route on the planet,” Mt. Thor, Baffin Island.Jim BeyerAll my carefully laid plans are unraveling into chaos. It’s deep into my third night alone on Mt. Thor. Sitting o...
Kwangde Shar, northeast ridge, alpine style winter ascent. On December 8, Corean Alpine Club Technical Committee members Yu Hak-jae and Park Seok-hee established base camp about three hours below the north face of Kwangde, with plans to make the f...
Sentinel Rock, North Face Direct. On May 7, late on the third day of climbing, Tom Frost and I completed a new route on the north face of Sentinel Rock. The standard route goes up near the right margin of the face, while our direct route ascends i...
Number of Accidents ReportedTotal Persons InvolvedInjuredFatalitiesUSACANUSACANUSACANUSACAN195115221131952313517131953242712121954314131819553439286195646725413195745532818195832392311195942256231019219604746412378194196149961144510144196271190164...
Dead Lucky: My Journey Home from Everest. Lincoln Hall. New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2008. 309pages. $24.95.Dead Lucky enters into the already very crowded field of Everest disaster stories. In many ways the book follows the typical narrative arc so...
Mt. Slaggard Area, Various Activity. Ten of us spent June 28 to July 14 at a base camp five kilometers south-southwest of Mt. Slaggard on the uppermost eastern basin of the southeastern arm of the Anderson Glacier at an elevation of 3535 meters. T...
ONE NEVER KNOWS how things will end in this world. How could I have known, back in 1941, when I paired up with Andy Kauffman in the ice gullies of Mt. Washington, that our teamwork would end by my writing his obituary? In Andy’s junior (and my fre...
Rock Climbers in Action in Snowdonia, by John Cleare and Tony Smythe. London: Secker and Warburg, 1966. 127 pages; 39 plates; one map. Price: 35s.For the past twelve years hero stories have been filtering out of the British Isles. This information...
GUSTAVO BRILLEMBOURG1957-1993Gustavo Brillembourg was climbing the Northeast Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite on September 28. Having climbed the major difficulties of the route, Gustavo was leading the next to the last pitch when...
Nooksack Tower, south face. In July Ben Manfredi and I teamed up to try a beautiful new face in the Mt. Shuksan region. The face is the seldom-seen steep “back side”—the south face of Nooksack Tower. The route is directly above the East Nooksack G...
Yarupa and Other Peaks, Cordillera Raura. Our expedition was composed of Ottavio Bastrenta, Fiolin Gugliermo Bertino, Gian Battista Campiglia, Giuseppe Ferrari, Vittorio Lazzarino, Renato Lingua, Piero Malvassora, Corradino Rabbi, all instructors ...
Himalaya—The Next Twenty-Five YearsTrevor Braham, Alpine ClubWRITING IN LES ALPES IN 1934, the Swiss cartographer and alpine chronicler Marcel Kurz remarked that it did not seem unreasonable to apply the word congested when referring to the launch...
The American Alpine Club provides resources for climbers and explorers to attempt new challenges, conduct scientific research, and conserve mountain environments. The AAC gives out more than $35,000 annually, although the size and number of awards...
Above my head there’s a loud bang, as though a gigantic door is slamming shut. The snowy whirlwind condenses into foamy syrup. “The most important thing is not to breathe…don’t breathe!” I clutch my ice axe and press my head against the ice. A mas...
The Climb up to Hell, by Jack Olsen. New York: Harper and Row 1962. 212 pages, ills., Price $4.95.This is a well written account of the 1957 tragedy on the Eiger. In early August two parties set out independently to climb the north wall. Overtaken...
Miscellaneous Information Numbers Refer to Number of Persons InvolvedTerrain1951-611959-611961U.S.CAN.U.S.CAN.Rock 3033561Snow 19122260River 1010Unknown 0000Ascent or Descent(River crossing not included)Ascent 21615491Descent2429280Unknown 36160Im...
Cordillera Vilcanota. When William Whelen and I left New Zealand our plan was to join the 1970 New Zealand Andean Expedition climbing on the eastern side of the Cordillera Blanca. The earthquake prevented our making the planned rendezvous. Thanks ...
Grand Teton, The Golden Pillar and other new Teton free climbs. On July 11 Hans Johnstone and I opened a classic, flashable, hard crack line (V 5.12-) on the golden pillar of overhanging rock west of the normal North Face route on the Grand Teton....
LOOSE ROCK, FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTIONCalifornia, Yosemite ValleyOn June 11, 1981, Shift Supervisor John Daley received a report from climber Fred East that he had heard cries for help on El Capitan. East had been at the base of El Capita...