Kula Kangri Central and East, first ascents. In spring a joint expedition comprising 11 Japanese (leader, Yoshitsugu Deriha) and eight Tibetans (leader, Tseden Jigmy) made the first ascents of Kula Kangri Central (Kula Kangri II; 7418m) and Kula K...

Shisha Pangma Medical Expedition. The Academic Alpine Club of Kyoto and the Kyoto University Medical School sent a medical expedition to Shisha Pangma. We had 32 Japanese and two Chinese members. There were 13 medical doctors, two clinical laborat...

We planned to climb the northeast ridge on Pokharkan, but the arrival of a violent wind, with gusts of 80-100 km/hour at 6,000m, forced us to find a route that was more sheltered. Nevertheless, heavy snow, the cold (-15°C or lower), and strong win...

At the end of September Denis Burdet (Swiss), David Lama (Austrian), Stefan Siegrist (Swiss), and American photographer Robert Frost made the second ascent of Cerro Kishtwar (6,155m). This area of the eastern Kishtwar Himalaya, untouched by the mo...

This is the thirty-second issue of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, and the third that has been edited and published jointly by The American Alpine Club and The Alpine Club of Canada.Canada: About nineteen mountaineering accidents from ...

FALL ON ROCK, ROPE PARTED—FRICTION DEVICENorthwest Territories, Baffin Island, Mount ThorIn mid-July A.G. (30) began a solo attempt on a new route on the 3800-foot granite west face. The lower two thirds of the face are vertical and the upper thir...

Cerro Stanhardt, East Face, Attempt. Spaniards Simon Elias and Josu Merino attempted to link up Tomahawk and Exocet on December 17, 1996, but were forced to retreat after climbing the Tomahawk variation (400 m, WI6 Al) due to fatigue and poor ice ...

Monument Basin, Meemohive, Captain Pugwash. Dave Levine and I visited Monument Basin in April and, after attempting to free the short but steep aid section on the Meemohive, found a devious traverse to the right into an easier crack system. This t...

AAC, Northern Rockies Section. As an AAC representative, a board member of the Boise Climbers Alliance, and an Idaho local, Doug Colwell participated as a member of the Climbing Management Plan (CMP) for Castle Rocks State Park, which adjoins the ...

Makalu, West Face Attempts, Pre- and Postmonsoon, Makalu II (Kangchungtse), and Makalu solo. Both before and after the monsoon the Pole Wojciech Kurtyka and I, plus respective friends, were involved in two attempts to climb Makalu’s west face. We ...

Mt. Johnson, The Escalator, New Route and Tragedy. On May 17 and 18, in warm and unsettled weather, Seth Shaw and I climbed what we believe to be a new route on Mt. Johnson. It started on a 50-degree ice runnel on the east face, left of the promin...

P 5800 (Goodwill Peak) and Chottukay (P 5823), Muzkol, East Pamirs, Tadjikistan. No sooner did the helicopter drop us in Muzkol than the Tadjiki government closed all the borders. Of course we did not know that at the time. We then made two first ...

Mt. Blakiston. A cairn was found on the summit; no details of first ascent. From camp beside Blakiston Brook (6.30 a.m.) through trees by river cross and ascend side valley past a waterfall into a high corrie. Turn right above waterfall and procee...

Mount Lees, Purcells and Ibex Peak, North Cascades. A change in the weather forecast for the Purcells moved Fred Beckey, Eric Bjornstad, and me to turn north to Cranbrook, B.C. Fred’s memory banks of climbing objectives came up with the fine north...

FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING UNROPED Wisconsin, Devil’s Lake State ParkOn May 9, 1980, James LeSuer (21) stated that he had been climbing without a safety rope and fell 20-25 feet of the small of his back. LeSuer said he landed about ten feet from where...

VARIOUS FALLS ON ROCK, INADEQUATE BELAYS, NO OR INADEQUATE PROTECTION, NO HARD HATNew York, Mohonk Preserve, ShawangunksThere were 28 climbing-related accidents reported this year. Eighteen involved leader falls, six involved top roping or secondi...

Mount Iliamna. In June Neil Davis, Pete Isto, Mat Nitsch, Roger Waller, and Keith Hart attempted the unclimbed volcano Mount lliamna (10,100 feet) in the northern Aleutian Range. Bad weather forced us to abandon the climb after reaching 7500 feet ...

Ultar Sar, Attempt. Masami Hasegawa, whose husband Tsuneo Hasegawa died on Ultar Sar in an avalanche in 1991, attempted the 7388-meter peak via the southwest face, the same route that claimed her husband. It is unclear how high she reached. She ma...

Colorado Climbs. In February Jeff Lowe, Charlie Fowler and I did a ten- pitch climb in Ouray. The ascent is mostly ice up to W15 with some hard mixed climbing as well. The name is Bird Brain Boulevard. On the limestone cliffs of the Big Horn Mount...

Watkins Mountains, Various Ascents. A seven-member expedition left Iceland on May 24 and was landed in the Watkins Mountains by Twin Otter ski plane. Following a day’s ski touring to Base Camp, all seven members made the 20th ascent of Gunnbjoms F...