Read Denali's Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America's Wildest Peak Online
Authors: Andy Hall
Denali's Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America's Wildest Peak
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Copyright © 2014 by George Andrew Hall Jr.
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eBook ISBN 978-0-698-15712-5
Maps copyright © 2014 by Jeffrey L. Ward
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To Melissa, who believed in me when I didn’t, and to my father, who knew that putting more people at risk would not save those who were already gone.
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
FROM A CREVASSE TO BROTHERHOOD
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
FOUR MONTHS BEFORE AND 15,000 FEET BELOW
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
EPILOGUE
THE WILCOX EXPEDITION
*
JOE WILCOX,
twenty-four years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Provo, Utah
O
CCUPATION
:
Graduate student studying mathematics
E
XPERIENCE
:
More than fifty ascents above 10,000 feet; Mount Rainier National Park Rescue Team rope leader; snow, glacier, and crevasse training; participant in several rescue operations
S
UMMITS
:
Tooth of Time, Clear Creek Mountain, Baldy Mountain, Touch-Me-Not Mountain, Wheeler Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, Mount Olympus, Mount Timpanogos, Mount Nebo
STEVE TAYLOR,
twenty-three years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Mount Prospect, Illinois
O
CCUP
ATION
:
Graduated May 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in physics
E
XPERIENCE
:
Snow cave building, mountain-rescue techniques class, member of Brigham Young University Rescue Team, outdoor survival class, first aid training, ice climbing experience, instructor for BYU Alpine Club winter mountaineering school
S
UMMITS
:
Mount Timpanogos, Mount Nebo, Mount Rainier
MARK MCLAUGHLIN,
twenty-four years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Eugene, Oregon
O
CCUPATION
:
Part-time student
E
XPE
RIENCE
:
Cross-country and alpine skiing; Eugene Unit Leader, Mountain Rescue and Safety Council of Oregon Alpine Club; Climbing Committee chairman, Eugene, Oregon, Obsidians club
S
UMMITS
:
Mount Olympus, Middle Olympus, Mount Rainier, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Hood
JERRY CLARK,
thirty-one years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Eugene, Oregon
O
CCUPATION
:
Electrical engineer
E
XPER
IENCE
:
Thirteen years’ climbing experience; two six-month stints in Antarctica—duties included climbing and ice-safety instructor for the United States Antarctic Program; mountain leader, Purdue Outing Club; University of Oregon Alpine Club; University of Wisconsin Hoofer Mountaineering Club; Eugene Oregon Obsidians Club Rescue Team
S
UMMITS
:
Grand Teton, Mount Owen, Hagerman Peak, Medicine Mountain, Symmetry Spire, Pinnacle Peak, Middle Teton, Mount Moran, Mount Oldenburg, Gannett Peak, Mount Oliver, Pingora Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Jefferson, North Sister, Mount Adams, Mount Hood
ANSHEL SCHIFF,
thirty years old
H
OMETOWN
:
West Lafayette, Indiana
O
CCUPATION
:
Assistant college professor of engineering sciences
E
XPERIENCE
:
Backpacking and scrambling western US mountains; Sierra Club Rock and Snow Climbing School; rock climbing at Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin, and Mississippi Palisades
S
UMMITS
:
Grand Teton, Tahquitz Rock, Fingertip Traverse, Pingora Peak
HANK JANES,
twenty-five years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Portland, Oregon
O
CCUPATION
:
Teacher
E
XPERIENCE
:
Climbed several of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks; winter camping and ski mountaineering; experience in technical ice climbing; Mountain Rescue and Safety Council of Oregon
S
UMM
ITS
:
Shadow Peak, Longs Peak, Mount Hood, Capitol Peak, Mount Sneffels, Mount Adams, Three Fingered Jack, Crestone Needle, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Grand and Middle Tetons
DENNIS LUCHTERHAND,
twenty-three years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Madison, Wisconsin
O
CCUPATION
:
Graduate student studying geology
E
XPERIENCE
:
Mountain leader, University of Wisconsin Hoofer Mountaineering Club; snowshoeing, backpacking, and winter camping near Lake Superior
S
UMMITS
:
East Lester Peak, Middle Lester Peak, West Lester Peak, Jackson Peak, Ice Point, Mount St. John, Disappointment Peak, Teewinot Mountain, Cloudveil Dome, Buck Mountain, Rockchuck Peak, Gannett Peak, Mount St. Helens, Mount Sacagawea, Winifred Peak, Fremont Peak, Wilder Freiger, Grossvenediger, Rainer Horn, Schwarze Wand, Hoher Zaun, Kristallwand, Mount Rainier
WALT TAYLOR,
twenty-four years old
H
OMETOWN
:
West Lafayette, Indiana
O
CCUPATION
:
Student; completed his second year of medical school and simultaneously working on a master’s degree in philosophy
E
XPE
RIENCE
:
Three years as a technical climbing instructor at Ashcrofters mountaineering school; extensive alpine skiing experience
S
UMMITS
:
Hagerman Peak, Disappointment Peak, Mount Owen, Grand Teton, Capitol Peak, Middle Teton, Pinnacle Peak, Lincoln Gulch Split Rock, Snowmass Peak
JOHN RUSSELL,
twenty-three years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Auburn, Washington
O
CCUPATION
:
Logger
E
XPER
IENCE
:
Two-week solo hike in the High Sierra; carried one-hundred-pound loads above 10,000 feet; assisted in mountain-rescue operations
S
UMMITS
:
Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, Mount Hood, Mount Whitney, Pillars of Hercules, Mount Yoran, The Tooth
HOWARD SNYDER,
twenty-two years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Boulder, Colorado
O
CCUPATION
:
College graduate; studied geography and geology
E
XPERIENCE
:
Led twenty-four climbs on Longs Peak; climbed thirteen other 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado; numerous winter climbs above 14,000 feet; winter camping, snowshoeing, ice climbing, and glacier travel experience; climbing leader for Colorado Mountain Club Canadian Outing
S
UMMITS
:
Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc, Aiguilles de Triolet, Mönch, Jungfrau, Eiger, Mount Brazeau, Charlton Peak, Mount Unwin, Orizaba, Popocatépetl, Iztaccihuatl
PAUL SCHLICHTER,
twenty-two years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Lakewood, Colorado
O
CCUPATION
:
US Air Force cadet
E
XPERIENCE
:
Extensive climbing on Colorado’s 14,000-plus peaks, US Air Force one- and four-week survival training; US Army Mountain Troops Climbing School training student, US Army Mountain Troops Climbing School instructor
S
UMMITS
:
Longs Peak, Middle Teton, Orizaba, Popocatépetl, Iztaccihuatl
JERRY LEWIS,
thirty years old
H
OMETOWN
:
Boulder, Colorado
O
CCUPATION
:
Army veteran; college student studying electrical engineering
E
XPERIENCE
:
Rock climbing, snowshoe travel, and ice climbing experience; cold-weather camping in Greenland; climbed several of Colorado’s 14,000-plus peaks
S
UMMITS
:
Navajo Peak, Longs Peak, Snowmass Peak, Boulder Flatirons