When Lara Karena Kellogg died in a rappelling accident in the Alaska Range on April 23, her husband, Chad, could not be notified for several days. That’s because he was climbing in the Qionglai Mountains of Sichuan Province, China, where he, Jay Janousek, and Joe Puryear had just completed the first ascent of a 5,700-meter peak. The three men climbed the previously unnamed peak as part of their acclimatization for a new-route attempt on 6,250-meter Mt. Siguniang. After a three-day approach to a high camp and a day of rest, they climbed to the summit on April 18 via a complex route of steep glacial ice on the peak’s western flank. They called their new route The American Standard. 

After returning to base camp, they were enjoying a couple of days of rest in unsettled weather before their attempt on Siguniang. Then a messenger arrived with the news of Lara Kellogg’s tragic death, and the team began the long journey home. In tribute to the 38-year-old climber, who died while rappelling from an attempt on Mt. Wake in the Ruth Gorge, they decided to name the peak they climbed Lara Shan. 

This trip was funded in part with a McNeill-Nott Award from the AAC. Read a full account and see more photos at americanalpineclub.org
/pages/tr.php. 

Date of Ascent: April 18, 2007 

Source: Joe Puryear

Comment on this story