Other notable ascents (in addition to individual reports below). British climbers Jon Bracey and Andy H ousem an m ade the long-aw aited second ascent o f the French Route on M t. H un ter’s N orth Buttress in early May. Since the 1984 first ascent, the sustained and in tim idating route had shut dow n m any strong parties. Bracey and H ousem an clim bed the 6,000' vertical to the sum m it and descended the West Ridge, taking four days total.

O n June 9 Pierre Darbellay and Raphael Slawinski clim bed a new line to the sum m it ridge o f Kahiltna Queen. Their Le Voyage au Bout de La N uit (Journey to the End o f the Night, 450m, W I4+ R) climbs a prom inent gully im m ediately right o f the West Face route.

In m id-June Colin Haley and M ark W estman m ade an impressively fast ascent (less than two days to the sum m it) o f the difficult 7,800-vertical-foot Denali D iam ond on Denali’s steep southwest face. This was the route’s fifth ascent.

O n Denali in June the three south-facing couloirs in the black rock, which are obvious from the 17,200' cam p on the West Buttress, descending from the N orth Peak, were skied for the first tim e, by a g roup tha t included Adam Clark, Greg Collins, C hris D avenport, Nick Davore, C lark Fines, and Kirsten Kremer.