La Fiamma is an impressive rock spire located on the southwest shoulder of Packrat Peak. It was first climbed by Fred Beckey, Steve Marts, and Dan Davis in 1963. See IDAHO, SAWTOOTH RANGE, LA FIAMMAin the American Alpine Journal.September 23, 1962. Kaden Platt obtained a copy of Dan Davis’ journal entry for the climb which is set out below. La … Continue reading
Paul Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was an American mountaineer and wilderness educator who established the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 1965. While he is most remembered for founding NOLS and for climbing and guiding in Wyoming he also climbed in the Sawtooth Range where he guided the Iowa Mountaineers. On Aug 24, 1947, Paul Petzoldt … Continue reading
On August 21, 1947, two groups were formed under Paul Petzoldt and Ken Jones from the Thompson high camp. The Petzoldt group wentback to “Mt. Bush” to avenge their previous attempt up the north face. This time, they started up the scree field to the col west of “Mt. Bush” and traversed the ridge to the east but had to rappel into … Continue reading
Glissading firm snow and going “way too fast,” I tripped and did a couple of fast-forward somersaults. Rolling out of the second somersault, I planted the pick of my ice axe deep in the snow. It was a perfect “ice axe self-arrest” for about a second–then the axe ripped out of my hands but stayed attached to my wrist. As … Continue reading
Duane Monte was a soil scientist with the US Forest Service for 25 years. He served at Lost Rivers Ranger District, Mackay ID; Palisades RD on Targhee National Forest; and Deschutes NF Bend OR. Recreationally he was a rock climber for 18 years and did many first ascents on ice in the Idaho wilderness. He enjoyed kayaking. fishing, and yearly … Continue reading
Mount Breitenbach, at 12,140 feet is Idaho’s fifth-highest summit and is located in the Lost River Range in Central Idaho. Thanks to the efforts of the Idaho climbing pioneer Lyman Dye, Mount Breitenbach was named for John Edgar (Jake) Breitenbach. Breitenbach was killed by a collapsing ice wall in the Khumbu Ice Fall on March 23, 1963 while climbing with … Continue reading