It seems that the summer of 2010 has been more dangerous for American climbers than previous years. Just off the top of my head, I can think of 10 separate climbing fatalities in Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, and New Hampshire.

Here in Colorado, climbers are talking about the eight deaths that have occurred on the Fourteeners this summer and calling that a lot of fatalities. Most of the state's 55 Fourteeners are fairly benign and safe hikes and climbs, with their greatest danger from lightning strikes. This summer, however, no one has died from lightning. Instead seven deaths happened from falls and one from rockfall, although rockfall played a role in one of the deaths.

In June a young man died in a fall from Little Bear Peak. In July a man died from rockfall on El Diente Peak; two climbers fell in separate incidents on Longs Peak; and two climbers from Texas were swept off the Ellingwood Arête on Crestone Needle during a severe storm. In August a young climber on the Maroon Bells traverse was hit with rockfall and knocked down a couloir and a climber fell down the North Chimney route on Longs Peak. Besides these deaths, there was a bunch of rock climbing accidents, including a fatality in June at Eldorado Canyon where a climber fell and his rope cut on an edge.

How will this year's climbing and mountaineering fatalities compare with those over the last decade? We won't know until next year after all the accidents and deaths are tallied but it appears that this year will not be exceptional.

During the last ten years, the most fatalities in a year were 35 climbing deaths in 2004, while 2001 recorded 16 or almost 50% less. Statistics from Accidents in North American Mountaineering from the last 50 years indicate that there are safe years and there are dangerous years. Like the last ten years, fatalities fluctuate tremendously year to year. Take 1976 when 53 climbers died in the United States--the most in the past 50 years. Yet in 1975 only 19 climbers died. The yearly average over the past 50 years is 25 deaths. The number of climbing fatalities has increased an average of one every 2.5 years over the last 50 years while the number of reported accidents has been declining.

When I look at the number of climbing deaths that I've recorded so far this year, the total number will probably come out around 30 or so fatalities or just above the annual average. There is undoubtedly more awareness about accidents and deaths in the mountains now than in the past, with the quick dissemination of information on the Internet through news stories and on-line forums on websites like 14ers.com.

The statistics from the past 50 years as well as from this year indicate that mountaineering is much more hazardous than rock climbing. If you go climbing in the mountains, it's more likely that accidents will happen. Climbers travelling across snow slopes and icy terrain account for a lot of accidents and deaths due to avalanches, falls, and falling objects. Mountains also have lots of loose rock, unstable slopes, and danger from weather.

Climbers can avoid mountain tragedies by using proper equipment like ice axes, helmets, and a rope; making smart judgments about weather and terrain; relying on self-rescue and self-reliance in dangerous situations; and understanding and appreciating the dangers of climbing, especially on mixed snow and rock slopes.

Photograph: The Maroon Bells are Colorado's most beautiful and most deadly mountains. Photograph © Stewart M. Green.

Yesterday I was up on Longs Peak, one of Colorado's most climbed Fourteeners or 14,000-foot peaks, and the location of The Diamond and the East Face of Longs Peak--the best alpine cliff in the United States. It was a clear but windy day, with sharp gusts swirling over the ridges and chilling the air.

Leaving from my truck at the Longs Peak Trailhead, I hoofed up the Longs Peak Trail to a cut-off spur which climbs into a huge glacier-carved cirque below the East Face. Nestled below the immense cliffs is Chasm Lake, a deep glacial lake. Beyond towered a vast, silent, and imposing amphitheater of granite and ice.

The 900-foot-high Diamond, with a million-square-feet of sheer granite, looms above the lake. The wall, looking northeast, rises abruptly from Broadway, a ledge system splitting the East Face, for almost 1,000 vertical feet. The Diamond offers rock climbers 35 major routes and a bunch of variations to climb during the short good weather window between early June and mid-September.

From the lake, I scrambled up the boulder-strewn south face of 13,281-foot Mount Lady Washington to make some photographs from its summit of The Diamond for a book I'm currently writing about Rocky Mountain National Park. From my lofty perch, I counted five parties climbing The Diamond, their shouts of "On belay" echoing across the gulf between us. I would have traded my Nikon at that moment for a harness, rock shoes, rope, and climbing partner high on the steep shaded wall.

It's not too late yet to get up and climb a route on The Diamond or trek up the spectacular Keyhole Route to the 14,259-foot summit of Longs Peak. As I descended back down the trail, I kept company in the late afternoon with dozens of footsore hikers and climbers. I just may get back up there to crank The Diamond yet this year.

Read more about Longs Peak:

Longs Peak: Highest Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park

Climbing Longs Peak: Keyhole Route Description

Photograph: The Diamond rises high above Chasm Lake in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. Photograph © Stewart M. Green

On April 26, South Korean mountaineer Oh Eun-Sun reached the summit of 26,247-foot Annapura, becoming the first woman to reach the summits of the fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, the world's highest mountains.

A controversy erupted afterward as to whether or not the 44-year-old Oh had actually reached the summit of Kangchenjunga in May 2009. The dispute was settled on May 3 when Oh met with Elizabeth Hawley, the official arbiter and record keeper of Himalayan ascents. Hawley, after questioning Oh, then approved Oh's Kangchenjunga ascent but marked it "disputed." Hawley congratulated Oh on becoming the first woman to surmount the 8,000ers.

Now Oh's claim is again in jeopardy but this time from her own countrymen. A few days ago a Korean Alpine Federation panel of six top South Korean climbers, after reviewing all the evidence, determined that not enough proof existed to validate Oh's claim to have summitted Kangchenjunga. The evidence included her testimony of events, her timeline, and the photographs supposedly taken on the mountain's summit.  Lee Eui-Jae, secretary general of the Korean Alpine Federation, said the panel felt that Oh's photographs did not "seem to match the actual landscape" and that they "agreed that Oh's previous explanations on the process of her ascent to Kangchenjunga are unreliable."

A photograph which Oh Eun-Sun claimed to have taken on the summit was particularly damning. The Korea Alpine Federation said, "The topography in the picture, which Oh claims was taken on the mountain, cannot be seen on top of Kangchenjunga." No convincing photograph exists of Oh on the summit since clouds obscured the views. A photograph of her that had been submitted as proof of ascent was later shown to have been taken somewhere below the summit. In that photograph Oh was standing on rock, while the summit of Kangchenjunga is snow.

This past Saturday night in South Korea, an investigative television program called "Want to Know" aired on Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS TV). The program offered more allegations that conflict with Oh's summit claims. The program showed that Oh carried a flag from her school to the summit for a photograph, but it was recovered, weighted down by four stones, about 150 feet below Kangchenjunga's summit by Jon Gangdal, a Norwegian climber who summitted the mountain 12 days after Oh.

Oh says that she lost the flag while climbing and doesn't know how it ended up where it did. The television program, however, showed the top edge of the flag protruding from inside Oh's coat in the photos supposedly taken on Kangchenjunga's summit. The program had the photos analyzed and experts confirmed that the flag in her coat appears to be identical to the one found by Gangdal. Oh refused to comment to the program producers about the flag.

Other evidence against Oh Eun-Sun including the contradictory testimony of the three Sherpas that led her up Kangchenjunga, One of the Sherpas, Dawa Wangchuk, says that the group stopped about 150 meters or 450 feet below the summit because of high winds and poor visibility.

Oh and her major sponsor Black Yak, however, steadfastly say that she summitted Kangchenjunga. Back in the spring when all these allegations first surfaced, Oh introduced the race card, saying that the dispute was fuelled because she was Asian. Oh said, "Had I been from Europe, there would have been little controversy." Now Oh Eun-Sun says that the Korean Alpine Federation's ruling is questionable and that the six South Korean climbers reviewing the case are on a witch hunt and have consistently been suspicious of her summit claims.

So, did Oh or didn't Oh? Stay tuned. It seems that this whole controversy is exploding again.

Read more:
Oh Eun-Sun Climbs Annapurna: First Woman Atop All 8,000-Meter Peaks
Did Oh Eun-Sun Actually Climb Annapurna Last Year?
Oh Eun-Sun's Disputed Peak Tarnishes First Woman Atop the 8,000-Meter Peaks
Because She Wasn't There? Editorial by Michael Breen in The Korea Times

Photographs: (Top) Oh Eun-Sun on the summit of Annapurna, her 14th and final 8,000-meter peak. (Bottom) A disputed photograph  of Oh Eun-Sun below the summit of Kangchenjunga on May 6, 2009.  Photographs courtesy KBS-TV and Desnivel.

When you go rock climbing and mountaineering, you need a good pack. Heck, you usually need several packs. I own and use five different climbing packs. I use different packs depending on what of adventure I'm going on, how long I'll be out climbing, and how much stuff I need to carry. A good climbing pack keeps you organized

I just wrote a couple articles about packs--All About Climbing Packs: Which Pack Do You Need? and Day Packs for Rock Climbing: How to Buy a Small Climbing Pack. You can find out more about the five different kinds of packs used in climbing and then how to buy the one you will use the most, a smaller day pack that can carry a small rack, quickdraws, rock shoes, harness, chalk bag, and a few extras like the Ten Essentials.

There are also some links to pack manufacturers that I use and recommend. Now get that pack packed and get out climbing before the warm weather's gone!

Photograph top: You need a good pack for climbing on the via ferratas in Italy's Dolomite Mountains. Photograph courtesy Spencer Swanger.