Grivel G12 Crampons: Do-It-All Spikes
Anyone who has exited from the top of the Aiguille du Midi ice cave to descend the narrow ridge leading into the Vallee Blanche above Chamonix will agree: it has your full attention. To the left, the ridge drops away down the famous Frendo Spur, somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,500 vertical feet. To the right, 800 feet of 50-degree snow will drop you to the base of the Midi’s south face. So as I guide two guests down the steep and exposed arete, the last thing I need is my crampons balling up. Holding the rope tight between us, I wait for just the right moment, when all’s steady, to whack my boots with my axe and knock the snow from them. That’s it. I am buying new crampons, I tell myself. Tying yourself to people who are seemingly trying to pull you off of your feet every other step can make the cost of a new pair of spikes seem like chump change.
Manuel Cordova/Jonathan Trango on the McIntryre-Colton in Great Alpine Style
I live in Malaga in Southern Spain, not so close to the Alps, but on September 11, I received notice of good conditions and weather on the way. I had to work that day, reached home at 21:00, gathered my gear, and hopped a plane in Barcelona. I met my partner Manu at 02:00 on the 12th, then drove all night, reaching Chamonix at 12:00.
1931 Exum Ridge Video Showcases the Fourth Ascent, Not the Third
Alpinist’s first Weekly Feature, “1931 Exum Ridge Video,” states that the third ascent of the Exum Ridge was made by Paul Petzoldt, George L. Waters III (the cinematographer), Walcott Watson, H.M. Sherman, Chas. E. Logan and a Mr. Lasky of San Francisco. With help from www.tetonclimbinghistory.com and Renny Jackson, NPS employee and co-author of A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range, we discovered that this group made the fourth ascent, not the third. The 1931 newspaper clipping, which is excepted in the Weekly Feature, and other period sources had failed to realize that the second ascent was made by Paul Petzoldt, who soloed the Exum Ridge on the same day that Glenn Exum first climbed that famous route. In doing so, Jackson said, they had neglected “an important piece of Teton climbing history.”
Editor Weds!
Michael Kennedy marries Alpinist editor Christian Beckwith to Giovannina Anthony south of Wilson Wyo., Sept. 22, 2007.