Leaderboard

Trip: Mount Fairweather - Carpe Ridge Trip Date: 06/16/2024 Trip Report: Coming off the heels of Eli's awesome climb on Carpe Ridge, Sarah and I also climbed this route from June 13-16th. It was a very historic year on Fairweather to have two parties climb Carpe within just a few weeks of each other, considering the previous ascent of Carpe Ridge prior to this year was the Smileys back in 2013...11 years ago! I already wrote a full length trip report on my website that can be found here, but I'll include the route topos we made below and a few brief notes. The PDF can be downloaded for a complete route overview on one page. Flew into Fairweather Glacier with Fly Drake, and made it to 10400 foot camp first day. Big 5700 foot day with full 40 lb packs. Followed the historically done route the whole way traversing left initially, climbing the narrow couloir and following the rocky ridgecrest before following open snow slopes right of the crest from 8000 to 10400 feet. Snow below 7500 feet was firm and awesome. Perfect crampon booting. Above that was isothermic slop. Put snowshoes on at 8k. After waiting a full day at 10400 camp due to active snowfall (8-12 inches), on day 3 we traversed right to bypass the big cliffs above the 10400 camp, then climbed up steeper but good snow all the way to where ridge narrows at 12k. The historic route of going left around these cliffs definitely does not go anymore...huge overhanging ice serac shedding crap constantly. Continued up past small flat 12400 foot camp, fell into crevasse at 12500 feet, slogged through deep drifted powder from there to 13400 feet, made it to south peak at 13820 feet and camped at 13700 foot low saddle between south and main peaks. Day 4 climbed to summit and descended standard west ridge/north basin route to 9800 foot LZ for pickup early morning on day 5. Ice nose was climbed by traversing the blue ice left of the aerated white ice wall that would crumble at the slightest touch! Had historically good weather. After we flew out there was even 3 more days of awesome weather which we used to try and climb Devils Thumb. More on that later. Carpe Route.pdf Gear Notes: Team Gear - MSR Advance Pro UL 2 person tent: This is the lighest alpine tent you can get. It's small and sucks to be in especially with my 6' 9" height, but critical for its durability and low weight. - One 60m half rope: Since we would not be descending the route, no rappels would be needed so only one rope was brought - Two standard snow pickets: One per person - Ortovox Pro snow shovel - Six Petzl Laser Speed Light ice screws and V thread tool - Small set of stoppers and a few small cams from 0.2 - 0.5 inch: We did not end up using these - Six single length runners and two double length runners with 2 wire gate biners each - MSR Reactor stove - One medium and Two mini fuel canisters: The non winter mix canisters did not perform very well, but the winter mix one we had did quite a bit better. With the great weather forecast we had, we felt comfortable bringing this low amount of fuel. My Personal Gear - Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60L Pack: This is my favorite pack money can buy....period. - Big Agnes Lost Ranger UL Sleeping Bag (Just the orange inside section rated 20 degrees F): This modular sleeping system has two separate bags. Combined they are rated 0 degrees F but using just the inside bag gives you one of the lightest 20 degree bags out there. - Thermarest NeoAir inflatable sleeping pad - Big Agnes Third Degree foam sleeping pad: I always double up with a foam pad when sleeping on snow in case my air pad punctures. If you cannot fix the puncture you're fucked without a backup foam pad. - MSR Denali EVO Snowshoes - BD Couloir Mountaineering harness - Pulley and MicroTraxion with prussiks and three locking carabiners - BD Cobra Ice Tools with BD Spinner Bungee leash: This was my first time using these and I liked them well enough for mountain objectives. - 1 Liter Nalgene water bottle with insulator - Petzl Sirocco helmet - One BD Z-Distance trekking pole: Lost in crevasse :( - La Sportiva Olympus Mons Mountaineering Boot: This is the only good mountaineering boot big enough for me - BD Stinger automatic crampons - Good pair of glacier glasses - Small plastic bowl and spork Personal Clothing - Under Armor wool base layer pants - Fjall Raven G1000 Pants - Polyester base layer T shirt - Under Armor Wool long sleeve shirt - BD First Light Hybrid Hoody: Great soft shell that fits my large frame perfectly - Columbia Yocum Ridge shell jacket: I did not end up using this - Cotopaxi down vest - La Sportiva Primaloft Insulating coat: Can't remember the exact model of this coat but it was my main big puffy. Only needed it twice for a short amount of time - Balaclava - Rab Endurance down mitts - BD Gloves - Three pairs of socks Food - Five Peak Refuel freeze dried meals - Small box of Cherrios and ziploc bag of dried milk powder - Two small bags of beef jerky - Two small bags of M&Ms - Six small packs of Fruit Gushers - Four Natures Bakery Fig Bars (AKA Barely Edibles) - Two small Shot Blocks - One Tube of NUUN water enhancers Approach Notes: Fly in to 4700 feet on Fairweather Glacier with Fly Drake. GIve this guy full respect...he deserves it!

Glad to see you're still getting after it, and that is an impressive dedication to skiing! I decided after a failed trip to ski Glacier a few years ago that I am just not up for more than a couple of hours of carrying skis and boots on a overnight pack; ouch.

So much pain going up that way! I admire the effort for sure. Was the thinking that you wanted to ski north facing slopes? And pretty wild all the people way back in there! It's not exactly an easy spot to get to.