FALL ON ROCK, NO HARD HATNew York, ShawangunksOn November 22, while seconding a traverse on Rusty Trifle, a 5.3 route, a climber (24) fell about 20 feet and fractured his skull. He was wearing no hard hat. (Source: Brad Snyder)
RAPPEL FAILURE—ROPES TOO SHORT, STRANDEDNevada, Red Rocks Canyon NCAOn February 8, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department SAR unit responded to a call regarding a stranded climber on a rock face at Willow Springs. The victim (25) was rappell...
Mir Samir Attempt and Ascent of P 5000. After years when it was too dangerous to enter the mountains of Afghanistan, New Zealander Bob McKerrow and Englishmen Ian Clarke and Jon Tinker headed in 1994 for Mir Samir in the Hindu Kush. McKerrow is He...
Stuart Range. Several new routes were climbed in the Stuart Range. The west face of Colchuck Balanced Rock (Grade IV, 5.10, A2) was climbed in early August by Mark Twight and Mark Johnston. This steep wall is seen from the Colchuck Lake area. The ...
California, San Gabriel Mountains, Mt. Baldly. On December 5, James Chopp (19) and Thomas Richards (20) started up the south slopes of Mt. Baldy. The weather was cold with a gusty north wind blowing and climbing conditions were generally poor. Nei...
Dongrimo and Other Peaks In The Losar Valley, Various Ascents. The twelve-member team of the Rock Climbing School, Calcutta, India, led by Rajani Rakshit attempted many peaks in the Losar valley of the western Spiti. On August 14, Satyajit Kar, Bi...
Mt. Snoqualmie, Pineapple Express. On my third attempt this year, Roger Strong and I climbed the line of corners tracing up the longest part of the northwest face of Mt. Snoqualmie. We completed the climb on February 9, 2005. Located only an hour ...
FALL ON ROCK, NO HARD HATAlberta, Rocky Mountains, Mount LouisOn September 2, 1982, two climbers, both in their midtwenties, were ascending the standard route on Mount Louis. At the start of the final chimney pitches near the summit, the leader fe...
ILLNESS-PREEXISTING CONDITION NOT REPORTEDAlaska, Mount McKinley, West ButtressOn May 14, Chi-Hyeon Pack (27) was evacuated by helicopter from Mount McKinley due to symptoms of a gastrointestinal bleed. A few hours later he underwent surgery for a...
Witches Tower, North Face Dihedral, 1986. On July 30, 1986 Dan Nordstrom and I hiked in over Asgard Pass to test this sunless dihedral. We started in a white dihedral to the left of the main open-book. The next two pitches followed the main corner...
New England Section. In February our Section helped the International Mountain Climbing School sponsor the 18th annual Ice Fest in North Conway, New Hampshire. Our members answered the call for volunteers en masse. Tim Deroehn and Robert Castro ma...
Nanda Khat. This peak (6611 meters, 21,619 feet) in the Pindari region and on the Nanda Devi rim was climbed on June 13 by Samarendra Nath Dhar, Ranjan K. Mondal and Asoke K. Roy Chowdhury from a second bivouac at 21,200 feet, which was above thei...
Kanchenjunga, Solo Ascent. Hoping to climb the normal southwest route on Kanchenjunga, Hanns Schell and I, accompanied by Dr. Hermann Krüttner and photographer Franz Haigermoser, set off on March 16. After a 17-day approach, we set up Base Camp on...
Saraghrar. The Oxford Chitral Expedition was composed of P. S. Nelson, E. W. Norrish, F. S. Plumpton, W. G. Roberts, and N. A. J. Rogers. Liaison Officer, Major Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, joined the expedition at Dir. Cook, Ali Morad Khan, served also...
Konkaling Peaks, Southeast Tibet. In October and November I visited southeast Tibet with Sari Nicoll. We were accompanied by a film crew that included John Catto and Patrick Morrow. From the city of Chengdu we had three hard days of driving to the...
Kankar Pünzum Attempt. Although the Bhutanese government had granted a permit for the southeast or east ridge of Kankar Pünzum, it insisted that we approach the peak by going up the Chamkar Chu, a river system draining a cirque 10 to 15 kilometers...
Kangchungtse (Makalu II) Attempt. Swiss climbers Wilma Simonetta and Claudio Righeschi intended to climb the normal route on Kangchungtse. They established two camps and reached Makalu La at 7400 meters on April 29 before retreating to Base Camp f...
FALL ON ROCK/SNOW OR AVALANCHE, WEATHER, POOR POSI- TIONWashington, Mount IndexOn February 4, 1984, Philip G. White (27) and Eve Dearborne (34), both employees of the Marmot Mountain Works in Bellevue and Seattle residents, planned to make a winte...
AVALANCHENew Hampshire, Canon Mountain, Black DikeTwo climbers were up to attempt the Black Dike in the beginning of April. They weren’t really thinking about the possibility of an avalanche. It’s not clear how often anyone thinks of that small gu...
Mounts Wood and Queen Mary, Icefield Ranges, 1988. During the spring of 1988, the wardens of Kluane National Park made two training exercises. From April 22 to May 6, Rick Staley, Bruce Sundbo, Andrew Lawrence, Evan Manners, John Nidrie and I clim...