Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Peru, Cordilleras Vilcabamba and Urubamba, Salcantay, Cordillera Vilcabamba, and Huascarán Norte

Salcantay, Cordillera Vilcabamba, and Huascarán Norte, Cordillera Blanca. The objectives of the Jubilee Expedition of the Sektion Bayerland of the German Alpine Club (DAY) were changed by the earthquake of May 31, which prevented our climbing on P...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Utah, The Desert, Various Activity

The Desert, various activity. In 2003 Paul Ross and partners added 23 multipitch routes in the southwest desert, 18 of which were on the Eastern Reef Slabs of the San Rafael Swell. [Note: Only the longer routes are presented here, and route length...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Dhaulagiri II, East Ridge from the South

Dhaulagiri II, East Ridge from the South. A 10-man Japanese expedition from Nagoya was led by Yoshio Ogawa. Following the route attempted by other Japanese in 1975, they successfully made the second ascent of the mountain (25,430 feet) by this new...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Antarctica, Ellsworth Mountains, Various Ascents

Antarctica, Various Ascents. The Norwegian pair of Patrick and Vika Gustaffson spent 17 days exploring the northern part of the Ellsworth mountains. They climbed four virgin peaks; they also climbed Mount Gardner via the original route, running ou...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, Alaska, Foraker East Face

Foraker East Face. To acclimatize, Jaroslav Jaško and I climbed Mount Crosson. From there, we planned our route, which was to the right of the Pink Panther route on the east face of Foraker. For the climb we took five days of food, a Salewa Sierra...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, California, Sierra Nevada, Ballon Dome, Into the Pit and Netherworld; "Cat Wall," Heaven and Hell

Balloon Dome, Into the Pit and Netherworld; “Cat Wall,” Heaven and Hell. For the longest time I’ve wanted to do a route on this dome, which lies a few miles upcanyon from the Fuller Buttes. It sits in the San Joaquin River’s canyon, dead center of...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Annapurna Attempt

Annapurna II Attempt. A Polish expedition led by Jerzy Michalski unsuccessfully attempted a new route, the west ridge from the south, on Annapurna II. They were delayed by the late arrival of their equipment in Nepal. They established four high ca...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Chilean Patagonia, Torres del Paine National Park, Almirante Nieto, East Face

Almirante Nieto, East Face. Chad Peele and Jeff Brandner attempted a route on the east face of Almirante Nieto. The pair reported poor rock with no protection; the snow crossing was fine. From Las Torres Camp (820'), it took them 17 hours to reach...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, United States, California, Yosemite, North Peak, North Face

North Peak, North Face. Although a route existed up a gully on the north side of the 12,242-foot peak, Barry Hagen and I were quite surprised to find that the steep 800-foot north face proper was untouched. In July we began our route from the nort...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Annapurna III, South Face and West Ridge

Annapurna III, South Face and West Ridge. Our expedition was composed of Peter Melling, Robin Whittam, Alan Deakin, Eric Penman, John Whittock, my wife Linda and me as leader. We had hoped to make a new route on Annapurna III. We left Kathmandu on...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Dhaulagiri I

Dhaulagiri I. The first Belgian expedition to the Himalaya, led by Eduard Apts, climbed Dhaulagiri by the standard northeast ridge. They set up Camps I, II, III and IV at 16,900, 18,700, 21,325 and 23,625 feet on April 9, 12, 17 and 23 respectivel...


Book Reviews AAJ
Desert Rock: Rock Climbs in the National Parks

Desert Rock: Rock Climbs in the National Parks. Eric Bjornstad, graphics by Chris Becker. Chockstone Press, Evergreen, Colorado, 1996. 242 pages. $20.00.Comment: One of four titles in Bjornstad’s Desert Rock series, this one includes a subjective ...


Club Activities AAJ
Harvard Mountaineering Club

Harvard Mountaineering Club. The year 1965 was an outstanding one for the H.M.C., with members taking part in significant ascents on at least three continents. It was also a tragic year, with Ed Bernd, vice- president elect, and Craig Merrihue, a ...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, USSR, Pamirs and Tien Shan, 1970

Pamirs and Tian Shan, 1970. Soviet climbers continued making excellent difficult climbs, as reported in Alpinismus of January, 1971. Two extremely hard new routes were made on the highest peak in the Soviet Union, Pik Kommunisma (24,547 feet) in t...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Chile, La Fortaleza, Paine Group, Patagonia

La Fortaleza, Paine Group, Patagonia. A very strong British expedition made the first ascent on January 5, 1968 of La Fortaleza (9040 feet) in the Paine group. We are grateful to the leader, Ian Clough, for details of the climb. Clough was accompa...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
South America, Peru, Cordillera Blanca, Huascarán, Southwestern Summit

Huantsán, Southwestern Summit. On my suggestion, the Gallarate section of the Club Alpino Italiano chose to attempt the ascent of Huantsán (20,981 feet) by its south ridge. Members were Dr. Sandro Liati, leader and doctor; Carmelo di Pietro, Anton...


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow, Weather, Exposure, Moving Too Slowly, Washington, Mount Rainier, Liberty Ridge

FALL ON SNOW, WEATHER, EXPOSURE, MOVING TOO SLOWLYWashington, Mount Ranier, Liberty RidgeOn May 29, Mount Rainier National Park communications received a 911 cell phone call from a climbing team at St. Elmo’s Pass. They were requesting a rescue fo...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Pakistan, Baltoro Muztagh, Shipton Spire, Ship of Fools

Shipton Spire, Ship of Fools. Anders Lundquist, Mattias Jakobsson, Karl Ljung and I reached Base Camp on June 21. After organizing the equipment and admiring what is probably the most beautiful Base Camp in the Karakoram, we started ferrying equip...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Asia, Nepal, Shartse Attempt and Tragedy

Shartse Attempt and Tragedy. Erick Bourdais, Jean-Marc Perrot and I had hoped to climb Shartse by its south col and ridge. We established Base Camp at the foot of Island Peak at 5300 meters on October 14 and Camp I at 5600 meters after crossing th...


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
North America, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Assiniboine and Robson Variants

Assiniboine and Robson Variants. Slovenes Tomo Virk, Dr. Martina Zupan-cic, Tatjana Cerar and I did many ascents in the Canadian Rockies, Bugaboos and Squamish in September. On September 4, Virk and I climbed a new variant on the steep right side ...