There are 20 multiple choice questions below.  In the original contest, most of the questions were open.  Each question is worth 1 point, with no penalty for incorrect answers.  There are a total of 20 points possible.

The contest concluded on January 30, 2002, but you can still play for fun.  Or if you like, you can skip straight to the answers.

		All questions are worth 1 point, with no penalty for incorrect or unanswered questions. 1.   Prior to the discovery of Mt. Everest, what was the highest mountain in the world? K2 Kanchenjunga Chimborazo Mt. Everest 2.   Herman Buhl was one of only two mountaineers to have been in the first ascent party on two of the 8000-meter peaks.  Who was the other? Kurt Diemberger Reinhold Messner Jerry Kukuczka Hans Kammerlander 3.   Check the two peaks he climbed (from the previous question): Gasherbrum II Broad Peak Makalu Dhaulagiri K2 4.   Check all of the following statements which are true about Reinhold Messner's 1980 ascent of Mt. Everest: He climbed without bottled oxygen He climbed with Peter Habeler He fell into a crevasse He bivied with a Yeti He climbed the North Ridge route 5.   Check all of the following which are 8000-meter peaks: Falchen Kangri Chomolungma Chogori Sagarmatha Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum IV 6.   What is the meaning of the "K" in K2? It was an arbitrary surveyor's notation After C.J. Kiplinger, the surveyor who shot the peak Kharat, which means "India" in Hindi Karakoram 7.   In the 1953 American Expedition to K2, a rope team composed of six climbers (one in a stretcher) began sliding down an 80-degree ice field high on the mountain.  Miraculously, the last person on this team jammed an ice axe behind a rock and held the fall.  Who was this climber? George Bell Charles Houston Pete Schoening Dee Molenaar Art Gilkey 8.   What happened to the person in the stretcher (from the previous question)? He survived with severe frostbite to his feet and hands He died later in a crevasse fall He was later swept away by an avalanche He died of exposure during the descent 9.   "It is one of the most unattractive mountains imaginable.  In the alpine sense there are few, if any, difficulties.  There is little call for climbing skill or generalship."  Which mountain is the first American ascensionist refering to? Mt. Everest Aconcagua Cho Oyo Mt. Tom 10.   In Minus 148, the story of the 1967 first winter ascent of Denali, what did the title refer to? The minimum value on the wind chill temperature chart The temperature on the summit The longitude of Denali The collective weight loss in pounds of the team 11.   In 1970, in an attempt to fend off the criticism and doubts over his 1959 ascent of Cerro Torre with Toni Egger, Cesare Maestri made the first ascent of the southeast ridge.  Why did he call it the Compressor Route? Short weather windows forced a compressed climbing schedule He hauled a 150 lb air compressor up the route with him to drill past blank rock The gale force winds compressed the climbers against the wall He suffered a compressed disk in a fall early in the climb 12.   In No Picnic on Mt. Kenya, Felice Benuzzi tells the story of his and his two friends' escape from a WWII Italian POW camp in order to attempt an ascent of Mt. Kenya.  What did they use as a map for the climb? A topo of Kilimanjaro which they mistook for Kenya A charcoal drawing made by a local hunter A photograph smuggled into the camp A label from a can of Kenylon brand meat and vegetables 13.   Name the two mountaineers, for whom a mountain literature award was named, who disappeared from the (then unclimbed) Northeast Ridge of Everest in 1982. Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler Doug Scott and Chris Bonnington Bud Abbott and Lou Costello 14.   In 1970, following a three month long siege, a large expedition succeeded on one of the largest faces in the world by placing four men on the summit, including Reinhold Messner and his brother Gunther.  Nearing the end of the desperate descent, Gunther was killed in an avalanche.  In 1984, three Japanese climbers disappeared from this same face.  And in 1988, Barry Blanchard, Mark Twight, Kevin Doyle, and Ward Robinson attempted an alpine-style ascent of the route, but nearly died after dropping their only ropes -- they survived largely because they found ropes and gear left by the Japanese.  Name this 15,000' face and the mountain on which it's found. The Wickersham Wall on Denali The South Face of Lhotse The Diamir Face of Nanga Parbat The Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat 15.   According to Greg Child, in the pre-monsoon season on Everest in 1995, were there more FAX machines or espresso machines in Everest's two main basecamps? FAX machines Espresso Machines 16.   In 1990, Takeyasu Minamiura reached the summit of Pakistan's 20,000' Nameless Tower after spending 40 days soloing the first ascent of a 30-pitch A4 wall on its northeast buttress.  Not long after summitting, he began to wait for a rescue (which arrived six days later), perched on a 16-inch wide ledge only 150 feet below the summit with no ropes, stove, food or water. All he had was a knife, a down jacket and a radio.  "I could die at any time, all I needed to do was lean a little bit forward."  How did he get himself into this predicament? He accidently untied his haulbag Rockfall severed his ropes He crashed attempting to paraglide off of the summit The helicopter he expected to pick him up was unable to come 17.   In 1977, Chris Bonnington and Doug Scott made the first ascent of the Ogre (23,000') in the Karakoram.  What had happened to Scott to make the epic six day descent through a blizzard all the more difficult? He broke both his legs abseiling (Brits don't rappel) from the summit He fell into a crevasse and was left for dead He disappeared over a large cliff He was buried in a avalanche 18.   Has the Ogre seen a second ascent? Yes No 19.   In 1852, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India arrived at a carefully measured and calculated height for Peak B, aka Peak XV, known later as Mt. Everest.  The height was determined to be 29,000', but this wasn't the figure that was made public.  Why? Futher adjustment was needed to account for atmospheric refraction They rounded up to the nearest meter The peak had grown 40 cm during the years it took to determine its height They thought nobody would believe it, so 2 feet were added (29,002') 20.   Which geographer and mountaineer participated in both the 1951 first ascent of Denali's West Buttress and the 1961 first ascent of Nepal's Ama Dablam? Bradford Washburn Barry Bishop Wally Romanes Barry Bonds