The Prescription – March 2022

Surviving El Gigante

Mark Hudon and Jordan Cannon

Jordan Cannon and Mark Hudon are headlining the AAC’s Annual Benefit Gala in Denver on March 26, sharing stories of their unique and productive climbing partnership. (Tickets are still available for both the in-person and streamed events—get them here!) We asked these big-wall experts and close friends to share stories of near misses they’ve experienced, and Jordan shared a wild tale from El Gigante, a huge wall in Chihuahua, Mexico.

In January 2019, Jordan and Hayden Jamieson attempted Logical Progression, a 28-pitch 5.13 on El Gigante that’s typically approached from above, by rappelling in and climbing out. Jordan and Hayden stashed gear for two bivouacs on their way down the wall and then started climbing back out. The first two days went well, as they worked on the crux pitches and bivouacked eight pitches up….

Photo by Hayden Jamieson

“Day 3 was where things took a turn for the worse,” Hayden wrote in a story at the Gnarly Nutrition website. “I was woken at sunrise to the unwelcome sensation of light rain on my face.” The two continued up the wall, aiming for their next bivy cache at the top of pitch 17. But the rain kept getting stronger, and by pitch 14, they were in trouble. “We had nearly no food, very little water, we were still 200 to 300 feet below our next stash of food, the rain was getting heavier, and our clothes were saturated with water down to our underwear… Several microwave-sized blocks were blown off the wall from above and narrowly missed both of us.” The two 5.13 climbers found it impossible to climb run-out 5.11. They were stuck.

In pounding rain, they set up their portaledge and rigged their haul bag on bolts above them to guard against rockfall. But they were already soaked. “That night was certainly the longest, coldest, and most terrifying night of either of our lives,” Hayden wrote. “We shivered uncontrollably and spooned each other for warmth as the storm raged all around us.” Luckily, the clouds cleared in the morning, and they made their way up the rock by any means necessary, refueled at their food cache, and pushed to the top, 16 hours after leaving their bivouac.

Happy to be alive. Photo by Hayden Jamieson

LESSONS LEARNED

Says Jordan: “I think we were very close to dying of hypothermia, waiting it out in a poor position with inadequate gear. All of which could have easily been avoided if I had taken a note out of Mark Hudon’s book on big wall preparedness! Thankfully, I learned my lesson and even picked up some more wall tips from Mark during our time climbing together after that trip.”

Here are some of the things Jordan has learned about preparing for storms on big walls:

1. Never bring down sleeping bags (or down jackets, if you can help it). Always synthetic, because it will keep you warm even when it’s wet.

2. Always bring a bivy sack. Even when you think you won’t need it. (We, stupidly, decided to leave ours on the summit before we rapped the wall.)

3. Make sure your rain fly is in good condition. Ours was old and had holes in it, so it leaked.

4. Always bring some sort of emergency kit consisting of a rain jacket, rain pants, base layers (top and bottoms), hat, gloves, and warm socks. You likely won’t use any of it, but if you do, you'll be glad to have it!

5. Bring an inReach or some kind of satellite phone, especially if the wall is remote.

6. In the face of bad weather, it’s better to hunker down before a storm rather than waiting for it to hit and getting wetter than necessary in the process.

Mark Hudon (top) and Jordan Cannon in Zion National Park. Photo by Samuel Crossley

“Don't underestimate the seriousness of big wall climbing and the threat of inclement weather, especially on a remote big wall in Mexico in the dead of winter. (But in Yosemite, too!) Even if it is just ‘big wall sport climbing,’ that doesn't mean it’s will be casual. Always be prepared for the worst!”

Mark Hudon has been climbing big walls since the late 1970s and has compiled some of his expertise into excellent downloadable PDFs at his website. And remember, you can see Mark and Jordan together at the AAC’s Annual Benefit Gala on March 26. Don’t miss it!

El Cap Stories

As Jordan Cannon says, you don’t have to be in a remote canyon in Mexico to get into serious trouble when a storm hits a wall. The pages of ANAC have reported many such incidents from El Capitan over the years. Here are two examples:

• In September 1991, “the first winter storm of the season moved into the Central Sierra, dropping 4.5 inches of rain at lower elevations with snow level reaching 4,000 feet.” Two pairs of very experienced climbers ended up getting rescued from hard El Cap routes: One had been trapped in a run-off waterfall on the Sea of Dreams route, and the other was nearing the top of Native Son when one of the climbers got hypothermia.

 • In late May 1993, two climbers were trapped at Camp 5 on The Nose after heavy rain fell all day, causing mild hypothermia. Rescuers were able to lower about 800 feet from the rim to their position, give them dry clothes, and help them jumar out.  

A survey of 41 years of ANAC reports on The Nose (from 1974 to 2014) found that about one-quarter of all accidents involved weather and stranding. The “Danger Zones” article from ANAC 2015 focused on the major accident causes on the Nose: Read it here!

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The Sharp End: Deadly Avalanche

In the latest Sharp End, Ken Wylie, author of the book Buried, recounts a horrific accident near Revelstoke, British Columbia, in January 2003.

The Sharp End · Buried By Ken Wylie (Ep. 74)

If you’re a Sharp End fan, don’t miss the AAC’s Annual Benefit Gala on March 26. Ashley Saupe will be hosting a live interview for an upcoming show. In-person and streaming tickets are available here!

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The monthly Prescription newsletter is supported by the members of the American Alpine Club. Questions? Suggestions? Write to us at accidents@americanalpineclub.org.

The Prescription - October 2021

Cleaning The Fury, the route highlighted in this incident. In order to prevent her swing from pulling the belayer of her feet, this climber has clipped in direct to her lowest draw and then unclipped the belayer’s side of the rope. Once the belayer takes up slack, the climber can clean the draw without causing the belayer to swing. Photo by Johnny Nowell

The Prescription - October 2021

Kentucky, Red River Gorge

Cleaning Error – Belayer Dragged By Climber

My partner (49) and I (33) are very experienced climbers. I had climbed at the Red River Gorge several times, and though it was my partner’s first time here, he has climbed and belayed plenty of steep routes. My background is multi-pitch trad, and his is all sport. We are about the same weight.

On September 8, my partner led The Fury (5.11c sport) at Bibliothek in the Muir Valley. I was tired and didn’t feel like climbing the route, so we decided he would clean it while lowering off. He was clipped into the belayer’s side of the rope with a quickdraw (a.k.a. tramming), as is standard practice when cleaning overhanging routes. At the last quickdraw he said, “You’re going to swing,” so I weighted the rope as much as I could before he cleaned the lowest draw.

I was prepared to swing a few feet, but when he removed the last draw from the route, he was still clipped into my side of the rope. This caused both of us to swing about 20 feet backward. I slammed into a small boulder lying on the ground and then hit a tree. I made contact with one leg just above the ankle, and I think I hit my foot, too. It all hurt right away. I was able to stand and walk slowly, so we hiked out.

I could barely walk for two weeks, and it took months before I was back to climbing. It was not fractured, but likely a severe bone bruise and tendonitis. (Source: Amanda Friedman.)

ANALYSIS

Cleaning the last draw while lowering from an overhanging route is always potentially hazardous, as the climber generally will swing out from the wall. To avoid pulling the belayer into a swing as well, the cleaning climber should completely disconnect from the belayer’s side of the rope before letting go from the wall. The belayer can then brace for the swing before the climber unclips the lowest bolt.

Another option is to leave the first draw on the route while cleaning and then remove it from the ground with a stick clip. (There are video tutorials online for how to do this with most types of stick clips. Here’s a demonstration of quickdraw removal with the popular Betastick Evo.) Muir Valley even has a few stick clips available for climbers to borrow, located underneath the awning by the parking lot. (Source: The Editors.)

This report appears in the 2021 edition of ANAC, where you’ll also find a Know the Ropes feature article describing the ins and outs of cleaning steep routes. ANAC 2019 described a similar cleaning incident in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Read it here.

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THE ROCKY TALKIE SEARCH AND RESCUE AWARD

Photo of YOSAR in action by Drew Smith

The AAC has partnered with Rocky Talkie, makers of climber-friendly two-way radios, to highlight search and rescue teams engaged in outstanding missions during 2021. The Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award will distribute a total of $25,000 to four nonprofit teams from the U.S. or Canada whose stories from 2021 demonstrate their skill, passion, and dedication. Either SAR teams or rescued individuals can apply; applications are due by January 31, 2022.

The four finalists will be chosen by a committee of Rocky Talkie, AAC, and SAR professionals, and the climbing community will then vote on the ranking of the final stories. The top vote-getting team will earn $10,000 to support their operations! The finalist’s rescue stories will be described in the 2022 edition of Accidents in North American Climbing.

Nonprofit search and rescue organizations perform many of the rescues covered each year in ANAC, and we are happy to help highlight their stories and raise some money to support their vital missions.

Learn more and apply for the Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award here!

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BACKCOUNTRY SKI REPAIR: A QUICK REVIEW

Ski touring and winter mountaineering season is right around the corner, so now is a good time to review your repair kit for extended backcountry outings. The sub-three-minute video shown here, featuring IFMGA guide Joey Thompson, offers a quick review of the repair gear he carries and some basic ways to use it. For a deeper dive into the topic, check out this online video and article from ski guide and avalanche forecaster Matt Schonwald. Matt wrote the featured Know the Ropes article about spring and summer avalanches in ANAC 2020. If you missed it, you can read it here.

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TWO ROPES CUT YET THE LEADER SURVIVES

The brand-new Sharp End podcast features a terrifying fall on a long route in El Potrero Chico, Mexico. Rockfall on the ninth pitch of a 5.11 bolted route cut both of the leader’s ropes, leading to a very long fall that fortunately ended on a ledge. The climber, Foster Denney, wrote about this incident in ANAC 2019, and now he has spoken about the fall and his rescue with Sharp End hostess Ashley Saupe.

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The monthly Prescription newsletter is supported by adidas Outdoor and the members of the American Alpine Club. Questions? Suggestions? Write to us at accidents@americanalpineclub.org.

The Prescription - July 2021

The Prescription - July 2021

ACCIDENTS BOOK PUBLISHED IN SPANISH

¡Bienvenido a Accidentes de escalada en Norteamérica!

With the generous support of adidas Outdoor, the AAC has translated the 2020 edition of Accidents in North American Climbing into Spanish. Since 1949, our goal has been to help readers become safer climbers by sharing stories and lessons from accidents throughout North America. Now, with this first-ever translation of the Accidents book, we will share these lessons with Spanish-speaking climbers throughout the world.

Accidentes de escalada en Norteamérica was translated by a team of volunteers. Bernardo Beteta, a Mexican-born climbing guide now in Boulder, Colorado, explained his interest in helping with the translation: “Climbing is a growing sport in Latin American countries, and there's a fast-growing Spanish-speaking population in the United States. It’s important to make climbing literature available to them.” Molly Herber from Lander, Wyoming, an ANAC regional volunteer and translator, said, “We're all safer and better climbers when we pool our knowledge and experience to learn from others, and making Accidents available in Spanish is one part of that important effort.”

Since Mexico is part of North America and has long been included in our reports, the translators chose the climbing terms and phrases commonly used by Mexican climbers. These terms may be different in other Spanish-speaking countries and regions, and in the future we plan to develop an international glossary of climbing terminology. We hope this publication will be useful to climbers all over the Spanish-speaking world and perhaps will inspire similar educational efforts in other countries.

The 114-page PDF of Accidentes de escalada en Norteamérica is available now and can be downloaded for free. Please share this book with your friends, climbing partners, and climbing organizations.

We welcome corrections and suggestions. Contact us at accidents@americanalpineclub.org.

¡Descarga el libro aquí!

Este PDF se puede descargar de manera gratuita. Favor de compartirlo con amigos y cordadas.

Download the book here!

The PDF is free to download. Please share it with your friends and climbing partners.

El Jefe

The Spanish edition of Accidents in North American Climbing was translated by a hard-working team of volunteers in three countries: Symon Ardila, Austen Bernier, Bernardo Beteta, Omar Gaytán, Néstor Y. Durán Nungaray, Alma Esteban, Molly Herber, and Jasna Hodzic. Climber and activist Tiffany Hensley played a crucial role in getting this project started.

Early in the project, Omar Gaytán emerged as a leader : He is a talented climber and candidate for a master’s degree in translation and interpretation, and was incredibly dedicated to the Accidents translation. He’s also co-creator of a cool Mexican climbing podcast, La Mera Beta. We asked Omar, el jefe of this project, to tell us a little about himself:

I’m Omar Gaytán from Juárez, Chihuahua, México. Thanks to my dad, basketball was all I wanted to do throughout my childhood, because my dad loves to play it and he’s also a huge fan of the sport. When I was 15, I discovered climbing—I’m 30 now, and I don’t think I will ever stop climbing. I just love it so much.  

I studied in Juárez until I went to college in El Paso, Texas. I majored in communications with a double minor in translation and French, then moved to Guadalajara to study for a master’s degree in translation and interpretation. The reason I chose this career comes from my very first trip to Hueco Tanks back in 2006. I was 15 and I remember looking at some smiley dirtbags working on their computers before spending the day climbing. Their smiles made me realize that I wanted to dedicate my time to something I love and at the same time make a good living—yes, that’s my personal interpretation of the American Dream.

I’ve been lucky to climb at many different areas in the United Sates, and in México I know pretty much all the major climbing destinations. The climbing I like the most is near my hometown, Juárez. The sport climbing here is amazing and still blooming. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about climbing, and that’s exactly the aspect of both my climbing and my career that I love the most: You never stop learning and growing. I’m becoming a better translator every time I translate documents, the same way I get better at climbing every time I send a project.   

I feel happy to have been able to collaborate with the American Alpine Club on this project. There is nothing better than working on something you love so much, and, on top of that, spread the word about safety in climbing. I am forever thankful for this opportunity, and I hope we only get better at this in the years to come.

STORIES FROM MÉXICO

Mexico is part of North America, of course, but it hasn’t always been a big part of Accidents in North American Climbing. One side benefit of this translation project, we hope, will be increased access to information about climbing in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas of North America, including Puerto Rico. In this way, we hope the AAC can help climbers learn more about both the opportunities and hazards in these beautiful areas.

The upcoming ANAC 2021 includes a single report from Mexico, a tragic story involving two U.S. climbers and an unusual accident on a big wall in Chihuahua. Here’s a preview.

Ledge Collapse | Severed Rope

Chihuahua, Basaseachic Falls National Park, El Gigante

On March 6, my best friend Nolan Smythe, 26, and I were on the second day of a free ascent of Logical Progression, a 28-pitch 5.13 big-wall sport climb on El Gigante. Nolan was leading pitch 14. The sun had just gone down, and we had two moderate 5.11 pitches to go before our next bivy. He made it about 80 feet into the pitch and then, after manteling onto a large ledge, the refrigerator-size block of volcanic rock dislodged from under his feet. As he was falling, the rope was cut by the huge block and he fell all the way to the ground.

I was left alone on the wall with a shortened lead line and a limited number of draws. A three-day storm was forecast to start the next afternoon. Below me was a sizable traverse that I wasn’t confident I’d be able to descend safely while keeping my bivy kit. On top of that, we had rappelled in to start the climb, and I didn’t know the walk-out exit for the canyon; this exit route also passes very near several poppy fields run by the local cartel.

Instead, I started roped soloing up to our planned bivy. I primarily used a stick clip, but on occasion free climbing was necessary. I alerted a good friend, Sergio “Tiny” Almada, about the situation via my inReach, and he started toward the wall with another Mexican climber, José David “Bicho” Martinez, planning to rappel in so I could jumar the last 1,200 feet to the top. They arrived as the rain started, and we left my kit behind to jug out quickly. We returned a week later, after the body recovery, and cleaned all of my gear off the wall.

ANALYSIS

All told, this seemed like a freak accident more than anything else. I recall rappelling past the same ledge earlier with a large haul bag. It looked concerning, but after giving it a thorough test, I deemed it solid. Nolan must have had the same thoughts during his lead. It had been snowing for three days before we rappelled in, and this accident happened three days after the snow stopped. It is possible that a freeze-thaw cycle contributed to the rockfall,  but there is no way of definitively knowing. Sometimes a rock that many people have pulled on has a day that it is going to release. Unfortunately, it released on Nolan.

Don’t underestimate Logical Progression because it’s a “sport route.” This wall is remote, large, and committing. The weather can be really bad. Be prepared. You are on your own out there—help in case of an accident isn’t as close as you think it is in Chihuahua.

We were prepared with bivy gear, a stick clip, extra draws, an inReach, and the knowledge to go up or down the wall safely on our own. Nolan and I were both well within our comfort level. We both had quickly dispatched the first 5.13 pitch on the route on the morning of the accident. Some accidents are simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Source: Aaron Livingston.)

The Optimist

Nolan Smythe’s journal from a 2019 trip to the Wind River Range. Photo by Drew Smith

Aaron Livingston, the author of this report, and Nolan Smythe free climbed a hard route up Mt. Hooker in Wyoming in 2019 and planned to return for their own new route in the summer of 2020. After Nolan’s death, Aaron returned to the Wind River Range with Jackson Marvell and Drew Smith and put up The Optimist, a.k.a. The Nolan Smythe Memorial Route (12 pitches, 5.12). Aaron’s story about this climb will be in the 2021 American Alpine Journal.

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The monthly Accidents Bulletin is supported by adidas Outdoor and the members of the American Alpine Club.

Buried Treasure

An all-time base camp in the Khane Valley of Pakistan. Photo courtesy of Konstantin Markevich

A personal guide to less-visible highlights of the 2020 AAJ 

By Dougald MacDonald, Editor

The American Alpine Journal is a 368-page book, and there’s probably only one person who reads it cover to cover: me. As editor in chief, I see and read everything multiple times, and each year a few parts of the book are particularly memorable—because of the quality of the writing or photography, because of the thrill of opening a folder of photos from little-known mountains, or because of the detective work that may go into a single sentence. But even if you did read every page, you wouldn’t see it all, because we can’t fit everything into the book—some of the coolest elements of the AAJ reside exclusively online.

Here, I offer an insider’s look at eight gems buried within the pages of the 2020 edition or hosted only at the AAJ website. In this guide, I’ve purposely skipped over the featured articles in the book. So, this is not a “best of” or an editor’s choice. Consider it a treasure map.

This special feature is made possible by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, lead sponsor of the AAJ’s Cutting Edge Podcast. 

TANGRA TOWER, PAKISTAN

The Krasnoyarsk Route on the southeast face of Tangra Tower (5,820 meters). Photo by Konstantin Markevich

The AAJ’s 6-by-9-inch format does not handle panorama photos well, and the stunning photo at the very top of this page had to be cropped tightly for the book. At full width, it must be one of the most enticing photos for alpine rock climbers that we’ve ever published. The 2019 Russian expedition to the Khane Valley in the Karakoram climbed three peaks, including glorious Tangra Tower and the south summit of The Thumb (mislabeled as Trident in the photo above).

By the way, the first expedition to publish extensive photos of the Tagas Group, as this area is known, was a Bulgarian team in 2010. Their report and more photos were in AAJ 2011.

MT. BREITENBACH, IDAHO

One of the simple pleasures of my job is learning about unfamiliar mountains and ranges—even those within a few hundred miles of my home in Colorado. Marc Hanselman’s report about a new route up the north face of Mt. Breitenbach in Idaho’s Lost River Range, was one of these. I’d never even heard of Breitenbach, but for climbers who can nail the timing for good alpine conditions (this ascent was right after the summer solstice), the north face is an impressive target. Marc’s new route, climbed with Paddy McIlvoy, was possibly only the second line up this rugged face. All other known parties have climbed the original route, the Grand Chockstone Couloir, first done back in 1983. Talk about hidden gems!

Paddy McIlvoy on Cowboy Poetry (2,800’, IV 5.7 R AI2 50˚ snow) on the north face of Mt. Breitenbach (12,140’) in Idaho. Photo by Marc Hanselman

THE EIGER OF THE INYO, CALIFORNIA

Natalie Brechtel wondering what she got herself into as she completes the fifth pitch of the Northeast Buttress (1,300’, IV 5.9 R/X) of Pleasant Point. Photo by Richard Shore

AAJ colleagues know that I have an inordinate fondness for offbeat adventures (girdle traverses, kayak-and-climb extravaganzas, remote and arduous exploration, etc.). Climbing super-hard routes is impressive, but I also like to make space in the AAJ for creative climbing—even when the routes are highly unlikely to become classics. In AAJ 2020, a good example was Richard Shore’s exploration of “The Eiger of the Inyo,” the east face of Pleasant Point in the Inyo Mountains. Shore and Natalie Brechtel completed the first full route up the 1,000-foot wall of shattered limestone and dolomite. “[We] climbed what we deemed to be the ‘safest’ route on the far right side of the peak,” Shore wrote in his AAJ report. “Safe is a relative term on this cliff—torrents of climber-induced rockfall are inevitable, and the dolomite is so sharp that a fall by leader or follower seems likely to cut the rope. Steeper technical sections were interspersed with narrow alpine ridges, and most pitches took an hour or more to lead, due to navigational and protection difficulties in the choss. Soft-iron World War II Army surplus pitons proved to be most valuable—bolts were often worthless in the shattered mess, and hard steel pins would explode the rock into bits.” I can’t get enough of this stuff, and neither, apparently, can Richard Shore. He returned later the same year with Myles Moser for a harder, more direct line up the Inyo Mordwand.

JEBEL KHAZALI, JORDAN

Christian Ravier is a French guide who frequently works and climbs in Jordan (he also wrote the climbing guide to the Taghia Gorge in Morocco), and his report in AAJ 2020 brought us up to speed on some recent routes up the sandstone walls of Jebel Khazali in Wadi Rum. But it was his beautiful hand-crafted topos, complete with watercolor paintings (like this one of local guide and camp host Atayek Hamad), that really caught my eye. Christian’s unique topos weren’t suitable for our print edition, but three of these beautiful references can be seen with his report at the AAJ website. The rock looks pretty amazing, too!

LA GLORIA, MEXICO

We opened the Mexico section of AAJ 2020 with a scenic shot of La Gloria, a stunning mountaintop pyramid of limestone in the mountains west of El Salto in Nuevo León. As beautiful as Zach Clanton’s photo was, however, it didn’t convey the full allure of the climb: a 13-pitch 5.12 up the pillar splitting the south face. It’s an interesting lesson in the power of a route line drawn onto a photo—in this case, a photo that’s only available online. However you look at it, this is a fantastic piece of rock, which seems destined for popularity. Zach’s report at the AAJ website tells the full story of Rezando, the route he developed with Dave Henkel: “To me, the southern pillar of this peak was the Mexican Beckey-Chouinard, a line of perfect blue-orange limestone just begging to be the range’s first alpine sport climb.”

The south pillar of La Gloria (9,688 feet), showing the 1,500-foot route Rezando (13 pitches, 5.12). Photo by Zach Clanton

SIULÁ GRANDE, PERU

Luis Crispin leading out on the upper shoulder of the southeast ridge of rarely climbed Siulá Grande in Peru. Photo by Nate Heald

Nate Heald, a guide based in Cusco, Peru, has been a frequent contributor in recent years, climbing numerous new routes, mostly in the country’s southern ranges. In AAJ 2020, he reported on an ascent that was personally meaningful, in part because of the presence of his frequent partner Luis Crispin, who roped up with the teenage Thomas Schilter to become the first Peruvians to climb Siulá Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash—and by a new route: Peruana Supreme (1,000m, TD AI4). In recent years, the AAJ has reported many new routes and first ascents of peaks by “local” climbers, throughout Latin America as well as in Pakistan, India, Nepal, and other mountainous countries. Many of these climbers work as guides but increasingly pursue their own ambitions in their local mountains.

Heald wrote in the Siulá Grande report: “I met Luis in 2011 on my way back to Cusco after a climb; he lives in a village at 4,300m below Ausangate and began assisting his uncle with tourist treks when he was 12 years old. He worked with me as I established my guiding agency, and since then we have done many climbs together. From my observations, Luis did not start climbing for any other reason than curiosity and camaraderie. He loves the natural world and has vast knowledge of it, and, at first, I think he just wanted to know what it would be like up there in the snow and ice. Luis and Thomas roped up together on Siulá Grande so no one could suggest they hadn’t made a purely Peruvian ascent of the peak.”

RAGGED RANGE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA

Amy Pagacz on top of a small peak in the Ragged Range after climbing Twisting Couloir (350m, AD). The high peak behind Pagacz is one of several mountains labeled Mt. Sidney Dobson on maps. This one is likely unclimbed. Photo by Wojtek Pagacz

Occasionally, AAJ editors get sucked down the rabbit hole of climbing archives. In AAJ 2020, we printed a short report about an interesting expedition to the Ragged Range in northwest Canada’s Logan Mountains—very few climbers have visited these mountains, which lie south of the popular Cirque of the Unclimbables, at the headwaters of the Fool’s River. The 2019 team climbed a few summits but couldn’t find a good approach to one of their biggest targets, which is labeled “Mt. Sidney Dobson” on many maps of the area. During the editing process, we realized that this Sidney Dobson had in fact been climbed way back in 1952 by an extraordinary expedition of Yale University students. The Yalies spent two and a half months in the area, built a log raft to cross a lake and access the mountains, and subsisted in part on game they shot and smoked, en route to summiting nine peaks, mostly first ascents. A great account of their trip is in the 1953 Canadian Alpine Journal.

Digging deeper, we realized that at least four different peaks in this cluster of mountains, all around 2,600m in elevation, have been called Sidney Dobson by various maps and publications. I spent hours attempting to determine which of the “Sidney Dobson” peaks might be the highest and whether it had been climbed, but the surveys are inadequate and the 2019 team couldn’t tell which was highest from their vantage points. Amy Pagacz’s expedition report and my attempt to unravel the Sidney Dobson mystery are both at the AAJ website. Unfortunately, the 2019 team found mostly poor rock on these impressive mountains and walls. But the first ascent of at least one Mt. Sidney Dobson may still be waiting.

MT. RORAIMA, GUYANA

Edward James lowers out on the Great Northern Prow of Mt. Roraima, watched by Troy Henry. The two men are from a nearby Akawaio community and had never worn a harness before the expedition. Photo by Matt “Pikey” Pycroft

Leo Houlding is a polished storyteller as well as a great climber, and his three-page story in AAJ 2020 about a new route on the northern prow of Mt. Roraima in Guyana is an excellent read. One of the highlights of this expedition was the role of Troy Edwards and Edward James, who live in the Akawaio village of Phillipai, the nearest settlement to the mountain. After guiding the British team to Roraima, the two accepted the Brits’ invitation to carry on up the wall, despite the fact that neither had ever climbed, jumared, or even worn a harness. In the end, they became the first people of Guyana to summit their country’s most famous mountain.

Sadly, we had to cut a full page and a photo from Leo’s story at the last minute, and three pages in the book didn’t come close to being enough for this tale. In fact, no article is as good as hearing Leo tell a story in person, so I highly recommend Chris Kalman’s interview with Leo for episode 27 of the AAJ’s Cutting Edge podcast. It’s great stuff.

The Cutting Edge and this AAJ year in review are both presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker. Visit their website to learn more about their famous tents and order “The Tent Handbook,” Hilleberg’s uniquely informative catalog.