Alex Lowe
Encyclopedia
Stuart Alexander "Alex" Lowe (December 24, 1958, Frederick
, Maryland
– October 5, 1999, Shishapangma
, Tibet
), was widely considered one of his generation's finest all-around mountaineers. Lowe perished in a massive slab avalanche
in Tibet
.
Numerous first ascents and heroic feats earned him a cult-like following, and a host of colorful nicknames: "The White Knight," "The Mutant," and "The Lung with Legs," this last moniker bestowed by an astonished climber who witnessed Lowe — carrying a heavy load, no less — effortlessly ascend Argentina's 22841 feet (6,961.9 m) Aconcagua
(highest peak in the Western Hemisphere) in a two-day lightning assault.
Referring to Lowe, Dave Hahn
— a twelve-time Everest summiter — once remarked with a gesture of his hand, "There's Alex Lowe up here, and then there's the rest of us down here. The guy's just really that much better than everybody else." In its obituary on Lowe, the New York Times quoted Conrad Anker
as saying, "We're all at this one level, and then there's Alex."
Lowe's obituary continued, "He was widely admired for excelling in every aspect of mountaineering, from rock- and ice-climbing to ski descents." It quoted the late climber-photographer Galen Rowell
as saying, "[Lowe] was a renaissance mountain man in all regards." The obituary added, "Climbing light, fast and often alone, Mr. Lowe pulled off feats that left other climbers in awe." Despite widespread praise, Lowe remained humble and discounted the notion of any "best climber." He was later quoted in the American Alpine Journal
(AAJ) as saying, "The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun!"
Climbing lore is replete with stories of Lowe's exceptional upper body strength, developed through a fanatical exercise regimen that regularly included 400 chin-ups and hundreds of dips. In December 1999, Outside Magazine commented of Lowe: "That sweetness and utter normality made the lore that went around about Lowe all the more enchanting. He lugged calculus texts on remote expeditions to amuse himself while tentbound. Pullups were a compulsion; he'd do 1,000 at an airport, or dig a snowpit in an Antarctic storm and start hoisting himself on a ski. He took coffee like a diabetic takes insulin. All true." During his climb of the Great Trango Tower, The Times
noted, Lowe "was ill at the time, fell 50 feet (15.2 m) and injured his elbow, but pushed on to the west summit at 20410 feet (6,221 m)." The December 1999, Outside Magazine article quoted Al Read, Lowe's boss at Exum Mountain Guides
, as saying, "It was astonishing what he was able to do. And do safely. And do alone, without bragging. He wouldn't even tell you about it."
In an article for Active Lifestyle, Gordon Wiltsie, a photographer who climbed with Lowe in Antarctica and Canada's Baffin Island
, said, "He was one of the most driven people I've ever met, but he could slow down and talk with anyone. He didn't suffer fools easily, but if you approached the mountains sensibly and with a good spirit, he was great." The article continued, "He did have his quirks, though. A self-admitted exercise addict, he often stormed through the door at 7 a.m. after getting up four hours earlier to ski fresh powder. Later, it was off to the gym, where he'd hog the pull-up bar to knock out 400 pull-ups in sets of 40 and 45. He abhorred downtime. He knew where to do pull-ups in many airports. Even on expeditions, when rest is hard to come by and much appreciated, Lowe was an oddball. He'd cop pull-ups on a ship's rigging en route to Antarctica, or do dips in a snow pit he dug at base camp." In that article, Wiltsie said, "At Baffin Island, after hauling supplies to a high point on a climb, we went back to camp beat and tired, but Alex proceeded to do pull-up after pull-up. He even brought an exercise device on climbs."
In 1995 Lowe climbed a massive "icicle" in Hyalite Canyon, near Bozeman
, Montana
. While climbing in the lead, Lowe's section of ice snapped free. He rode the ice 40 feet (12.2 m) down, crashed into a ledge, smashed his forehead into his ice ax, then stood and proclaimed himself okay. His friends saw something else, Outside recalls. "Lowe looked like a mangled victim in a Wes Craven
movie; his companions could see that a broad section of his scalp was draped over one eye, exposing a section of skull." Lowe later recalled what followed: "We ... kinda taped the scalp back into place, and put a hat on, and taped around the hat, and started skiing out. [We] kinda knew it was time to go to the ER. But we also knew it was going to be a long evening there, so we stopped down at the coffee shop and got lattes. It was great. My clothes were saturated with blood. We parked in the handicap spot in front of the coffee shop, marched right in, and then headed for the hospital."
Another climbing episode saw Lowe blow out the toe box on his climbing shoe halfway up Yosemite's massive El Capitan
, a 3,000-foot (910m) vertical rock. Instead of quitting, he completed the climb, friends later recalled, by wearing his shoe backward.
Lowe's philosophy was expressed in a Helen Keller
quotation that he posted on his office wall: "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
In the December 1999 article in Outside Magazine, Lowe was quoted as saying: "When I'm 70 or 80 I'm still going to be doing good climbs." It's going to be fun to the bitter end."
rescue several Spanish climbers on 20320 feet (6,193.5 m) Mount Denali in Alaska
. The date, June 9, found the men clinging to life inside their tents, after enduring four nights of frigid, ferocious winds at 19200 feet (5,852.2 m). Before a rescue team could assemble, one of the climbers (Albert Puig) was seen plummeting 4200 feet (1,280.2 m) to his death from the mountain's Upper West Rib. Lowe and two fellow climbers were immediately lifted by military helicopter to a plateau above the Spaniards, scaled down a 400-vertical foot, 50-degree slope of ice and rock, to reach them, and determined that one needed immediate evacuation. The March 1999 issue of Outside (Magazine) Online quotes Lowe as recalling, "By the time we got to them, one of the Spaniards had already fallen to his death. The other two weren't wearing gloves or hats. They were in the last stages of hypothermia -- they were delirious -- and their hands were frozen way up past the wrist." While Lowe's climbing partners assisted one man up the steep slope, Lowe determined that the other man had to be evacuated immediately. Amid snowy conditions, he at first dragged, then carried him on his back up the steep slope at high altitude, in an incident that was photographically documented. Observing the dramatic rescue in adverse conditions, a Park ranger commented, "[Lowe] literally, single-handedly, saved several people. He picked one guy up who had frozen hands and feet and couldn't move and was literally inches from death."
giant Shishapangma
, the fourteenth highest peak in the world, as part of the 1999 American Shishapangma Ski Expedition. Plans called for the elite trio to become the first Americans to ski down from the summit of an 8,000-meter peak, in this case via the Swiss-Polish route on the South Face. Bridges was part of a three-man film team that was to shoot an NBC documentary of the expedition for The North Face.
During the roughly three-week trek to base camp, the group chronicled their deeds through photographic and written essays at MountainZone.com. On October 5, they split into two teams as they searched for a route up the mountain. Lowe's group (Lowe, Anker and Bridges) were crossing a flat glacier when a large serac
broke loose 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) above and tumbled downhill. Lowe's team at first thought the slide posed no threat, and actually snapped photographs of it. But as the thundering mass grew in size and speed -- ultimately reaching an estimated 100+ miles per hour -- the three men realized it was headed straight at them. Lowe yelled a warning to his team, all of whom ran. According to Anker, Lowe and Bridges may have attempted to escape by diving into a crevasse. Regardless, the 500 feet (152.4 m)-wide avalanche swept over the three men. Anker -- despite being thrown a reported 100 feet (30.5 m) by the windblast, and having a lacerated head, two broken ribs, and dislocated shoulder -- emerged from the snow, and led a frantic, ultimately futile, rescue-recovery attempt that spanned a reported 20 hours in a large debris field measuring up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. Neither Lowe nor Bridges were wearing an emergency location transponder, which might have helped rescuers pinpoint their bodies. Neither body was found.
Prior to his death, Lowe — an expert skier — commented on his upcoming Shishapangma climb to MountainZone.com. "It's been a passionate goal of mine to ski off an 8,000 meter peak. I guess there's a lot of people sort of looking to do this and try to ski off Everest. But for me, it's got to be an aesthetic and quality run. And [Shishapangma] has the best ski line of any of the 8,000 meter peaks. It's just an absolutely straight shot right down the Southwest Face. That's going to be a good one."
A MountainZone.com article, titled, "Is There Anything This Guy Can't Climb?", continues, "The 8,000 meter mountain [Xixabangma] has two distinct summits, and many people who claim to have climbed it climb only to the lower spire. Lowe and Anker hope not only to climb to its highest point, but to ski down the peak as well."
honored Lowe with the Underhill Award for outstanding mountaineering achievement, the highest honor in U.S. mountaineering. The Montana State University
mathematics graduate's climbing achievements at altitude, on rock, ice and mixed terrain are legendary. He climbed for nearly 10 years with The North Face
professional climbing team, which included in the later years mountaineer Jon Krakauer
, author of the bestseller Into Thin Air
. After Lowe's death, Outside Magazine
posthumously declared him "the world's best climber," adding, "No matter how jaw-dropping his routes, Lowe's real genius grew out of the way he combined physical accomplishments with an indomitable spirit."
, Montana
in the Gallatin National Forest
was officially named after him in September 2005 " In spring of 1997 Alex Lowe climbed the northern couloir with friend Hans Saari. Upon reaching the summit the two made a first ski-descent down what they named "Hellmouth Couloir." This descent was repeated by Kyle Christenson and Patrick Lawrence of Bozeman on January 29, 2006. Hellmouth was again repeated for the 10 year anniversary of the first descent by Drew Pogge and Simon Peterson on April 28, 2007. The latest descent was done in June 2011 by Robbie Massie and Denny Palmer. These are the only four known descents of this couloir.
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
– October 5, 1999, Shishapangma
Shishapangma
Xixabangma, frequently spelled Shishapangma or Shisha Pangma , also called Gosainthān , is the fourteenth-highest mountain in the world and, at 8,013 m , the lowest of the eight-thousanders...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
), was widely considered one of his generation's finest all-around mountaineers. Lowe perished in a massive slab avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
"The White Knight"
Lowe gained iconic status within the climbing community for his courage, humility, grace and supreme athleticism.Numerous first ascents and heroic feats earned him a cult-like following, and a host of colorful nicknames: "The White Knight," "The Mutant," and "The Lung with Legs," this last moniker bestowed by an astonished climber who witnessed Lowe — carrying a heavy load, no less — effortlessly ascend Argentina's 22841 feet (6,961.9 m) Aconcagua
Aconcagua
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...
(highest peak in the Western Hemisphere) in a two-day lightning assault.
Referring to Lowe, Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn is a professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer. On May 20, 2011 he reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the 13th time - the most for a non-Sherpa climber. Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his 27 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain...
— a twelve-time Everest summiter — once remarked with a gesture of his hand, "There's Alex Lowe up here, and then there's the rest of us down here. The guy's just really that much better than everybody else." In its obituary on Lowe, the New York Times quoted Conrad Anker
Conrad Anker
Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author famous for his challenging ascents in the high Himalaya and Antarctica. He is a member of The North Face climbing team and also works closely with Timex Expedition as brand ambassador...
as saying, "We're all at this one level, and then there's Alex."
Lowe's obituary continued, "He was widely admired for excelling in every aspect of mountaineering, from rock- and ice-climbing to ski descents." It quoted the late climber-photographer Galen Rowell
Galen Rowell
Galen Avery Rowell was a noted wilderness photographer and climber. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972.-Early life and education:...
as saying, "[Lowe] was a renaissance mountain man in all regards." The obituary added, "Climbing light, fast and often alone, Mr. Lowe pulled off feats that left other climbers in awe." Despite widespread praise, Lowe remained humble and discounted the notion of any "best climber." He was later quoted in the American Alpine Journal
American Alpine Journal
The American Alpine Journal is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration."...
(AAJ) as saying, "The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun!"
Climbing lore is replete with stories of Lowe's exceptional upper body strength, developed through a fanatical exercise regimen that regularly included 400 chin-ups and hundreds of dips. In December 1999, Outside Magazine commented of Lowe: "That sweetness and utter normality made the lore that went around about Lowe all the more enchanting. He lugged calculus texts on remote expeditions to amuse himself while tentbound. Pullups were a compulsion; he'd do 1,000 at an airport, or dig a snowpit in an Antarctic storm and start hoisting himself on a ski. He took coffee like a diabetic takes insulin. All true." During his climb of the Great Trango Tower, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
noted, Lowe "was ill at the time, fell 50 feet (15.2 m) and injured his elbow, but pushed on to the west summit at 20410 feet (6,221 m)." The December 1999, Outside Magazine article quoted Al Read, Lowe's boss at Exum Mountain Guides
Exum Mountain Guides
The Exum Mountain Guides is a mountain guide service based in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The guide service was founded in the 1926 by Paul Petzoldt and Glenn Exum, for whom the Exum Ridge climbing route on the Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park is named...
, as saying, "It was astonishing what he was able to do. And do safely. And do alone, without bragging. He wouldn't even tell you about it."
In an article for Active Lifestyle, Gordon Wiltsie, a photographer who climbed with Lowe in Antarctica and Canada's Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, said, "He was one of the most driven people I've ever met, but he could slow down and talk with anyone. He didn't suffer fools easily, but if you approached the mountains sensibly and with a good spirit, he was great." The article continued, "He did have his quirks, though. A self-admitted exercise addict, he often stormed through the door at 7 a.m. after getting up four hours earlier to ski fresh powder. Later, it was off to the gym, where he'd hog the pull-up bar to knock out 400 pull-ups in sets of 40 and 45. He abhorred downtime. He knew where to do pull-ups in many airports. Even on expeditions, when rest is hard to come by and much appreciated, Lowe was an oddball. He'd cop pull-ups on a ship's rigging en route to Antarctica, or do dips in a snow pit he dug at base camp." In that article, Wiltsie said, "At Baffin Island, after hauling supplies to a high point on a climb, we went back to camp beat and tired, but Alex proceeded to do pull-up after pull-up. He even brought an exercise device on climbs."
In 1995 Lowe climbed a massive "icicle" in Hyalite Canyon, near Bozeman
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. While climbing in the lead, Lowe's section of ice snapped free. He rode the ice 40 feet (12.2 m) down, crashed into a ledge, smashed his forehead into his ice ax, then stood and proclaimed himself okay. His friends saw something else, Outside recalls. "Lowe looked like a mangled victim in a Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
movie; his companions could see that a broad section of his scalp was draped over one eye, exposing a section of skull." Lowe later recalled what followed: "We ... kinda taped the scalp back into place, and put a hat on, and taped around the hat, and started skiing out. [We] kinda knew it was time to go to the ER. But we also knew it was going to be a long evening there, so we stopped down at the coffee shop and got lattes. It was great. My clothes were saturated with blood. We parked in the handicap spot in front of the coffee shop, marched right in, and then headed for the hospital."
Another climbing episode saw Lowe blow out the toe box on his climbing shoe halfway up Yosemite's massive El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
, a 3,000-foot (910m) vertical rock. Instead of quitting, he completed the climb, friends later recalled, by wearing his shoe backward.
Lowe's philosophy was expressed in a Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
quotation that he posted on his office wall: "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
In the December 1999 article in Outside Magazine, Lowe was quoted as saying: "When I'm 70 or 80 I'm still going to be doing good climbs." It's going to be fun to the bitter end."
Rescue on Denali
In June 1995, Lowe helped the National Park ServiceNational Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
rescue several Spanish climbers on 20320 feet (6,193.5 m) Mount Denali in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. The date, June 9, found the men clinging to life inside their tents, after enduring four nights of frigid, ferocious winds at 19200 feet (5,852.2 m). Before a rescue team could assemble, one of the climbers (Albert Puig) was seen plummeting 4200 feet (1,280.2 m) to his death from the mountain's Upper West Rib. Lowe and two fellow climbers were immediately lifted by military helicopter to a plateau above the Spaniards, scaled down a 400-vertical foot, 50-degree slope of ice and rock, to reach them, and determined that one needed immediate evacuation. The March 1999 issue of Outside (Magazine) Online quotes Lowe as recalling, "By the time we got to them, one of the Spaniards had already fallen to his death. The other two weren't wearing gloves or hats. They were in the last stages of hypothermia -- they were delirious -- and their hands were frozen way up past the wrist." While Lowe's climbing partners assisted one man up the steep slope, Lowe determined that the other man had to be evacuated immediately. Amid snowy conditions, he at first dragged, then carried him on his back up the steep slope at high altitude, in an incident that was photographically documented. Observing the dramatic rescue in adverse conditions, a Park ranger commented, "[Lowe] literally, single-handedly, saved several people. He picked one guy up who had frozen hands and feet and couldn't move and was literally inches from death."
Shishapangma accident
In September 1999 Lowe, Anker and David Bridges (a two-time US national paragliding champion) traveled to the 26291 feet (8,013.5 m) HimalayanHimalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
giant Shishapangma
Shishapangma
Xixabangma, frequently spelled Shishapangma or Shisha Pangma , also called Gosainthān , is the fourteenth-highest mountain in the world and, at 8,013 m , the lowest of the eight-thousanders...
, the fourteenth highest peak in the world, as part of the 1999 American Shishapangma Ski Expedition. Plans called for the elite trio to become the first Americans to ski down from the summit of an 8,000-meter peak, in this case via the Swiss-Polish route on the South Face. Bridges was part of a three-man film team that was to shoot an NBC documentary of the expedition for The North Face.
During the roughly three-week trek to base camp, the group chronicled their deeds through photographic and written essays at MountainZone.com. On October 5, they split into two teams as they searched for a route up the mountain. Lowe's group (Lowe, Anker and Bridges) were crossing a flat glacier when a large serac
Serac
A serac is a block or column of ice formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Often house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers since they may topple with little warning...
broke loose 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) above and tumbled downhill. Lowe's team at first thought the slide posed no threat, and actually snapped photographs of it. But as the thundering mass grew in size and speed -- ultimately reaching an estimated 100+ miles per hour -- the three men realized it was headed straight at them. Lowe yelled a warning to his team, all of whom ran. According to Anker, Lowe and Bridges may have attempted to escape by diving into a crevasse. Regardless, the 500 feet (152.4 m)-wide avalanche swept over the three men. Anker -- despite being thrown a reported 100 feet (30.5 m) by the windblast, and having a lacerated head, two broken ribs, and dislocated shoulder -- emerged from the snow, and led a frantic, ultimately futile, rescue-recovery attempt that spanned a reported 20 hours in a large debris field measuring up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. Neither Lowe nor Bridges were wearing an emergency location transponder, which might have helped rescuers pinpoint their bodies. Neither body was found.
Prior to his death, Lowe — an expert skier — commented on his upcoming Shishapangma climb to MountainZone.com. "It's been a passionate goal of mine to ski off an 8,000 meter peak. I guess there's a lot of people sort of looking to do this and try to ski off Everest. But for me, it's got to be an aesthetic and quality run. And [Shishapangma] has the best ski line of any of the 8,000 meter peaks. It's just an absolutely straight shot right down the Southwest Face. That's going to be a good one."
A MountainZone.com article, titled, "Is There Anything This Guy Can't Climb?", continues, "The 8,000 meter mountain [Xixabangma] has two distinct summits, and many people who claim to have climbed it climb only to the lower spire. Lowe and Anker hope not only to climb to its highest point, but to ski down the peak as well."
Memorial fund
Lowe left behind in Bozeman a wife (painter Jennifer Leigh Lowe, who later married Anker) and three sons, Max, Sam, and Isaac. A memorial fund was established in his honor (Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation – ALCF) and thanks to this fund three years later the Khumbu Climbing School was conceived.Climbing achievements and recognition
In 1995, the American Alpine ClubAmerican Alpine Club
The American Alpine Club, or AAC, was founded in 1902 by Charles Ernest Fay, and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers...
honored Lowe with the Underhill Award for outstanding mountaineering achievement, the highest honor in U.S. mountaineering. The Montana State University
Montana State University - Bozeman
Montana State University – Bozeman is a public university located in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's land-grant university and primary campus in the Montana State University System, which is part of the Montana University System...
mathematics graduate's climbing achievements at altitude, on rock, ice and mixed terrain are legendary. He climbed for nearly 10 years with The North Face
The North Face
The North Face, Inc. is an American outdoor product company specializing in outerwear, fleece, shirts, footwear, and equipment such as backpacks, tents, and sleeping bags....
professional climbing team, which included in the later years mountaineer Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writing about the outdoors and mountain-climbing...
, author of the bestseller Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a 1997 bestselling non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It details the author's presence at Mount Everest during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster when eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a 'rogue storm'...
. After Lowe's death, Outside Magazine
Outside (magazine)
Outside is an American magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue debuted in September 1977 with its mission statement declaring that the publication was "dedicated to covering the people, sports and activities, politics, art, literature, and hardware of the outdoors..."Its founders were...
posthumously declared him "the world's best climber," adding, "No matter how jaw-dropping his routes, Lowe's real genius grew out of the way he combined physical accomplishments with an indomitable spirit."
Alex Lowe Peak
Formerly known by its elevation as Peak 10,031, Alex Lowe Peak, south of BozemanBozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in the Gallatin National Forest
Gallatin National Forest
Founded in 1899, Gallatin National Forest is located in south central Montana, United States. The forest comprises 2.1 million acres and has portions of both the Absaroka-Beartooth and Lee Metcalf Wilderness areas within its boundaries...
was officially named after him in September 2005 " In spring of 1997 Alex Lowe climbed the northern couloir with friend Hans Saari. Upon reaching the summit the two made a first ski-descent down what they named "Hellmouth Couloir." This descent was repeated by Kyle Christenson and Patrick Lawrence of Bozeman on January 29, 2006. Hellmouth was again repeated for the 10 year anniversary of the first descent by Drew Pogge and Simon Peterson on April 28, 2007. The latest descent was done in June 2011 by Robbie Massie and Denny Palmer. These are the only four known descents of this couloir.
Notable climbs
- First Ascents
- Rakekniven, Antarctica, 1997
- Great Sail Peak, Baffin IslandBaffin IslandBaffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, 1998
- New Routes
- Mount HunterMount Hunter (Alaska)Mount Hunter, or Begguya, is a mountain in Denali National Park in Alaska. It is approximately 8 miles south of Mount McKinley, or Denali, the highest peak in North America. "Begguya" means child in the Dena'ina language...
's Moonflower Buttress, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait... - Kwangde Nup, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, 1989 - Kusum Kanguru, Nepal, 1990
- Northwest Chimney, Grand TetonGrand TetonGrand Teton is the highest mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, and a classic destination in American mountaineering.- Geography :...
, WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, 1991 - Peak 4810, Ak-Su region, KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, 1995 - Great Trango Tower, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, 1999, NW face, new route
- Mount Hunter
- Other Climbs
- MatterhornMatterhornThe Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
(AlpsAlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) - K2K2K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, 1986 - Mount EverestMount EverestMount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, South Col Route, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, 1990 and 1993 (in 1994 attempt of its Kangschung Face) - Gasherbrum IVGasherbrum IVGasherbrum IV is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan. It is one of the peaks in the Gasherbrum massif.The Gasherbrums are a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range of the Himalaya. The massif contains three...
, Pakistan, 1992 - Khan TengriKhan TengriKhan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is located on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan border, east of lake Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial cap rises to...
, KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
(August 1993), solo ascent in 10 hours and 8 minutes (broke the former speed climbing record by four hours) - AconcaguaAconcaguaAconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...
, ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, 1993 and 1994 - AnnapurnaAnnapurnaAnnapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over and 16 more over ....
, Nepal, 1996 - Mount RundleMount RundleMount Rundle is a mountain in Banff National Park overlooking the towns of Banff and Canmore, Alberta. The mountain was named by John Palliser in 1858 after Reverend Robert Rundle, who had visited the Banff area during the 1840s....
, Canadian RockiesCanadian RockiesThe Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
, spring 1996, "Troubled Dreams", first free ascent of one of the most difficult mixed climbs in the Canadian Rockies.
- Matterhorn
Skiing
- First Descents
- Hellmouth Couloir, Alex Lowe Peak (formerly Peak 10,031), Montana, 1997
- Northwest Couloir, Middle TetonMiddle TetonMiddle Teton is the third highest peak in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The peak is immediately southwest of Grand Teton and the two are separated from one another by the lower saddle, a broad high ridge at . The Middle Teton Glacier is located on the eastern slopes of the...
, Wyoming, 1992 - Enclosure Couloir, Grand TetonGrand TetonGrand Teton is the highest mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, and a classic destination in American mountaineering.- Geography :...
, Wyoming, 1994
External links
- Outside magazine, December 1999 The Height of Perfection. Alex Lowe's genius was his style and spirit (Obituary, with list of major ascents), Retrieved 27 March 2010
- Outside magazine, December 1999 Brightness Falls. Fellow climbers remember, and say good-bye (Retrieved 27 March 2010)
- alexlowe.org, page of Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation (Retrieved 27 March 2010)
- everestnews.com "Alex Lowe Peak": A Mountain Honoring a Mountaineer [with photograph, localization and the climbing history of the peak] (Retrieved 27 March 2010)
- Alex Lowe, note in britanica.com (Retrieved 27 March 2010)
- Video Tribute to Alex Lowe