Alex Lowe, one of the best alpinists of the 1990s, would have turned 66 today.
An incredibly versatile climber, Lowe was good on big walls, alpine routes, rock climbing, skiing, and speed climbing. He also made several first ski descents. Today, we’ll take a short look at some of his great climbs.
Alex Lowe on Annapurna III. Photo: Wikipedia
In the pre-monsoon period of 1989, Lowe and Steve Swenson climbed a new grade VI route on 6,011m Kwangde Nup via the north buttress. The most difficult part of the three-day ascent was on the last day when the two climbers had to do several difficult mixed pitches to surmount the steep upper headwall.
Lowe established new routes in Grand Teton and in Kyrgyzstan’s Ak-Su region. His experience on Denali included a rescue in which the powerful Lowe carried one of the stricken climbers down on his back.
In 1999, he climbed a new route on the northwest face of 6,286m Great Trango Tower in Pakistan with Jared Ogden and Mark Synnott.
Alex Lowe (left) and Conrad Anker. Photo: BBC
Khan Tengri
In 1993, Lowe climbed 7,010m Khan Tengri solo in a record time of 10 hours and 8 minutes. Three years later, Lowe and his friend Conrad Anker went to 7,555m Annapurna III. They acclimatized up to 7,200m on the west ridge of Annapurna IV. Their plan was to climb Annapurna III’s southeast pillar, but due to deep and dangerous snow, they couldn’t get onto the mountain.
Lowe attempted K2 (back in 1986) and Gasherbrum IV (1992). Sometimes known as the Lungs With Legs, Lowe was always preternaturally good at altitude. In 1996, Lowe made the first free ascent of the route Troubled Dreams on Mount Rundle in the Canadian Rockies.
The new route on Great Trango Tower. Photo: American Alpine Journal
In 1997, Lowe and Conrad Anker made the first ascent of Rakekniven, a Cerro Torre-like granite needle in the Filchner Mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The following year, Alex Lowe, Mark Synott, Greg Child, Jared Ogden, Gordon Wiltsie, and Jon Catto made the first ascent of Great Sail Peak on Canada’s Baffin Island. You can read more about this ascent in Mark Synnott’s report.
Lowe ascended Everest twice, in 1990 and 1993 (with oxygen). In 1994, he took part in the U.S.-Canadian expedition led by David Breashears to climb the difficult Kangshung Face of Everest without bottled oxygen. The party reached 7,375m but had to turn around due to dangerous snow conditions.
Alex Lowe, Conrad Anker, and Gordon Wiltsie ski toward Rakekniven in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Photo: Jon Krakauer
Death on Shisha Pangma
In September 1999, Lowe, along with Anker and David Bridges were attempting the Southwest Face of 8,027m Shisha Pangma. Lowe and Anker wanted to ski from its summit. Unfortunately, on October 5, a serac broke above the climbers, triggering a huge avalanche. Lowe and Bridges perished. Anker survived with some injuries.
On April 27, 2016, Ueli Steck and David Goettler found the remains of Lowe and Bridges emerging from the glacier.
The best way to conclude this short remembrance is to quote Alex Lowe himself. It appeared in a beautiful article that Gordon Wiltsie wrote about him in the American Alpine Journal.
“The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun.”
Alex Lowe. Photo: BBC
