mint glacier area

[thekorn]

I'm tentatively planning a trip to this area, approaching via the little susitna river. I would appreciate beta from anyone who has been there.

thanks

[wfinley]

I have been there numerous times. Tell me a little more about your trip and I'll give you specific info. The climbing around the Mint is spectacular! You might want to check out threads on this page: http://www.alaskamountainforum.com/viewforum.php?f=18

 

 

[thekorn]

Thanks for the photos! We're planning on going last week of june and first week of July. My impression is most of the climbs are on snow with a rock finish. In general, how is the rock quality, difficulty, any climbs that should not be missed?

thanks!

[wfinley]

You are correct in a sense... actually most climbs consist of snow, then absolutely horrid vertical dirt and then finally good granite.

 

If you're taking 2 weeks I would suggest a traverse overland to the Snowbird Glacier via the Mint and Penny Royal glaciers with climbing along the way. There are huts - but you will need to become a member of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska (http://www.mcak.org) in order to use them. $15 / year is all it takes and you're supporting a good cause and when the grumpy old school MCA guys show up you can say "Yeah I'm a member". The Snowbird Hut is privately owned by Dave Stahli. You can leave $5 in a can at the door to pay for use of the hut. Likewise you'll be there at a pretty busy time so consider carrying a tent to avoid stacking yourself inside with 12 other people.

 

Below is a link to a map for reference. The red line shows the classic Mint to Snowbird traverse. The blue line is the Bomber Glacier cutoff (cool because there's an almost intact wreckage of an old B1 bomber on the upper Bomber glacier). There are 3 huts on this traverse but you'll have to get hut directions from the MCA. If it's your first time there marking the huts and route on a GPS might be a good idea as thick fog can envelop the area.

 

http://www.couloirgraphics.com/images/misc/mintarea.jpg

 

Below are recommended climbing routes along the way. Have fun and post a TR when you get back!!

 

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Easy:

 

N glacier of Telemint: easy glacier walking; no crevasses and killer views.

 

N gully of Lynx: Easy snow gully

 

W ridge of Ozone: easy scramble but with an exposed summit crawl

 

Higher Spire: W face.

 

Moderate

 

W face of Spearmint: head up to the col b/t spearmint and montana; ascend rotten rock and then a steep snow ramp to the upper glacier. Once at the base of the summit pyramid head up the north ridge for a 4th class route or directly up the W ridge for 3-4 pitches of 5.4ish climbing on granite.

 

3 Bell Spire: 2 routes to choose from. Head up the prominent couloir you can see form the valley floor. The couloir splits in a Y. Go left and it's 50' of easy 5th class rock hardly worth roping up for and the rest 4th class. Go right and it's 3 pitches of up to 5.6 on an exposed ridge.

 

Summit Ridge of 3 Bell Spire

 

Troublemint - East face to S. Ridge: Travel across the Mint glacier to the obvious col on the SE side of Troublemint. Ascend this col and then drop over the col and traverse N untily ou reach an obvious couloir. Ascend the couloir to the ridge where you'll then have to traverse a couple pitches of 4th class terrain to the E ridge. Once on the ridge climb one pitch of 5.6 rock to the summit ridge. Traverse N around the summit block and then climb the obvious friction route to the summit.

Summit moves on Troublemint

 

S. Ridge of Montana: ascend the giant dirt ramp on the SE face to the S ridge. Stay on the E side and hunt around for a 4th class route or go straight up the ridge for 3-4 pitches of easy 5th class to the summit. Be warned - the dirt ramp has been the scene of a few nasty falls.

 

Nunatak: W Ridge - 2-3 pitches of up to 5.4 climbing; E Ridge - 5-6 pitches of up to 5.7.

The sharp pointy thing is the Nunatak.

 

Hard

 

Spearmint S Ridge: Snow couloir to exposed ridge crawl to a few steep pitches of moderate rock.

 

Troublemint Linear Accelerator:

Ascend the prominent snow / ice couloir to the ridge; then pick your way along the ridge to the summit. Very exposed and has a few horrid sections of loose slimy rock.

 

Triplemint: choose your poison. The N face begs to be climbed - I don't know if it has or not.

 

Montana; N. Ridge: big long granite ridge that may or may not have been climbed.

Montana N. Face: Brings screws and tools. and rock gear. It may or may not have been climbed.

This was taken on the top of Ozone; the N ridge and N face of Montana are in the bkg.

 

Yisbo S. Face: Big wall (5-6 pitches) of steep granite that locals claim has the best rock around. There are 5 or 6 routes in the 5.10ish range here.

[thekorn]

Thanks for the info and the pictures! That is a huge help. I can't wait to get there. I'll let you know how it goes.

[thekorn]

Just got back; we had a great time. Some of us stayed in the mint hut and some of us stayed in tents outside. Good weather for the most part; we had one or two days of heavy fog and light rain. On the way up the ranger warned us that it was the busiest weekend of the year and 30 people were in the hut. When we arrived, no one was there, and no one showed up for 3 days. We never encountered another climbing party. We followed some melted out steps to grizzly pass one day. I remember thinking, geez this guy has a long stride, and also has his dog with him on the glacier. At the pass, in the dirt, it was evident that the tracks were from a gigantic bear and her cub.

We managed to climb Peppermint, Spearmint, and Parlimint during the week.

My only regret is no time to climb any of the other countless peaks in the area.

The hut is in good shape and a pleasant place to stay. We hauled out some empty gas cans and other garbage on the way out.

Thanks again wfinley for the beta.