Alasdair

If you are planning on traversing challenger I highly recomend you go from Hannegan to the damn and not the other way around. I will allow you to do downhill bushwhacking rather than uphill, which makes a huge difference.

Sorry this is a little long winded, but what else am I going to do at work? On Tuesday May 10th after our second attempt in as many days Gordy Smith and I summated Mt. Marcus Baker via a new route (Sanctuary Ridge). Gordy had come to me a couple of months earlier to see if I was interested in a new route up Mt. Marcus Baker. I was, and after seeing his recon pictures of the route, became convinced that even though this was a rock ridge in a range notable for its horrible quality of rock, this route could be done safely by bypassing areas of poor rock on faces below the ridge. Our trip started just 4 days earlier when we left Seattle on Saturday Morning. The flight to Anchorage was amazing with clear skies the entire way allowing rare glimpses of Mt. Logan, Mt. Fairweather and the perennially socked in Mt. St. Elias. Our approach into Anchorage also had the benefit of giving us a clear view of our objective summit, although we were viewing from the south so we were not able to see our planned route. We had no problems with transportation, bags or picking up of last minute provisions, and arrived in Talkeetna by 5 pm under clear skies. When we walked into our flight service office we were asked to get our stuff together so they could fly us in as soon as possible. We quickly packed and were in the plane 45 minutes later. Approximately 12 hours after leaving Seattle we were sitting on an isolated glacier approximately 80 miles East North East of Anchorage at 7000 ft elevation. After setting up camp, cooking, and sorting all our gear we took an inventory of all the things we had left in the rental car in our rush to pack. Luck had it that only one of these items (the handle for the shovel) was a potentially critical error, but due to good weather, turned out to be more of an inconvenience rather than a real issue. Other items left behind included nuts, and oatmeal. The following morning we packed our gear and started skiing east up the glacier to a small col that overlooked the Matanuska Glacier to the East. This col is the base of a rocky ridge that climbs 2000 ft to a glacier that makes up the summit plateau of Mt. Marcus Baker. Realizing that the climbing looked technically difficult and our pack were quite heavy, we decided to stash our gear and recon a route through the crux of the ridge which appeared to be quite close to the bottom. We headed up 50 degree ice on the east side of the ridge for approximately 400 ft and gained the crest of the ridge. From here we made an anchor (consisting of a single nut in a crack) and began scouting the rock above. I climbed just to the left of the ridge crest for about 50 ft only to come to a vertical section of shattered and horribly loose rock. After climbing back down to the anchor I headed up to the right of the anchor in a slight gully on mostly rock with patchy snow. Again after 75 ft I was stopped by very poor rock conditions. My decision to turn around at this point did not stem from the fear of pulling rock down on myself, but more in the total inability to build any sort of a safe anchor in which to retreat from if we were stopped higher up. I had decided that Gordy’s Route was not going to go in its current conditions, at least not by me. We down climbed back to the ridge and sat in the sun mulling our limited options on the steep north side of the peak. The previous evening upon landing on the glacier we had noticed another potential line in what at first glance appeared to be a giant serac threatened face. We walked up the mellow angled ridge on the north of the col to get a better view of the line and see if it would go. From this angle it now appeared to be a fairly low angled ridge that continued all the way from the basin which our camp was in, to the broad low angled west ridge of Mt. Marcus baker at 10,800 ft. With our spirits a little brighter we skied (skied for me is a relative term, which roughly translates to uncontrolled sliding on slippery sticks followed by face plants powered by the weight of a 35 lb pack) back to camp. We cooked dinner, melted snow for water, and tried to get to sleep early. The following morning we were up around 6. We left camp by 7 after an hour of melting more snow, getting dressed, applying sunscreen, filling pockets with food, etc. The previous night we had made the decision to try for the summit in a single push from camp. This would limit the loads we had to carry on the lower part of the ridge, but make for a long day. We carried enough to keep us alive over night just in case we did not make it back to camp. This included down jackets, plenty of food, and most importantly a stove for melting more water when we ran out. We skied directly south from our camp zigzagging up the slope and around crevasses to a point approximately 1000 ft above our camp, and directly below a large ice wall that gained an almost horizontal ridge several hundred feet above us. At this point we took off our skis and donned crampons. I led out and crossed a poorly bridged crevasse and gained the lower section of the ice wall below the horizontal ridge. I crossed over a sub ridge and did a climbing traverse to the right side of the main ridge. From here we continued very close to the crest of the ridge through calf deep snow crossing bridged crevasses on the ridge with little difficulty. After 1200 ft of 30-40 degree snow slogging we reached an open crevasse which we had spotted from camp as being a potential problem. It was still bridged, albeit poorly, and after punching my feet through, gave up walking across and swung my tools over to the higher side, and pulled the rest of my body over. Gordy made a similar move to get across this the only real technical difficulty of the lower ridge. This is also the only place where we placed any protection to protect us from falls. Above this the climbing steepened for 400 feet and became hard ice and neve snow. At 10,800 ft we gained the west ridge of Mt. Marcus Baker. From this point we walked along the mellow wind blown ridge with amazing views to either side. The ridge was good cramponing over hard snow and ice. Between us and the summit pinnacle lay a sub peak labled on the USGS maps as 12,200 ft. We climbed up this peak on hard ice up to 50 degrees, and reached the top with our altimeters reading 12,000 ft. (Our altimeter read accurately on the summit, which made us believe that the altitude of this peak is inaccurate on the map). From the top of this peak we dropped down about 450 ft to the base of the summit pinnacle. Gordy and I dropped our packs and had a short conversation about how tired we were and the possibility of spending the night out (which would have sucked). After agreeing that we had plenty of food, water, and clothing we continued to the summit. We climbed up and right on hard ice. The ice gradually steepened to about 70 degrees and then suddenly fell back for the final few feet of walking to the summit. At 4 pm we were standing on the summit under clear, but brown hazy skies which limited visibility (we believe a fire near Homer was the reason for most of the haziness). After taking a few photos we quickly began our descent. We descended by setting tools as anchors and lowering the first and then having the second down climb the ice. After six rope lengths the angle was easy enough to walk facing out and down. Due to the soft snow on the lower ridge we were able to walk face out for much of the ridge which speeded our descent considerably. Still we did not reach our skis until close to dark. After crashing repeatedly down the final 1000ft we reached camp at midnight. My overall impression of the route is very good. Both Gordy and I believe this is a very viable alternative to the standard Matanuska or Knik Glacier routes. Not only is it shorter, but it is a very enjoyable route. Part of the lower ridge allows close up views of huge hanging glaciers and high rise building size seracs, without the fear that they will fall on you. All of the ridge is protected from serac fall making it a very safe route. The upper ridge allows views of the Chugach range and its Glaciers to the North and College Fjord to the south. All in all a very enjoyable route.

Gordy Smith and I climbed Mt Marcus Baker on Tuesday by what we believe is a first ascent. I will write up a more detailed TR later, but for now here is the photo of the route and our camp in the basin to the northwest of the summit of Marcus Baker.

You have to love our unbelivably ineffective airport security. Flying out of Anchorage yesterday for a flight to Seattle, i get stopped at the gate security check point. Due to Alaska airline 50lb weight limit my carry on is packed full of random bits of climbing gear. After being patted down and searched by the gate dude, I am asked if they can search my bag. I agree because I have no choice. They first pull out a bunch of smelly clothing which I kind of chuckle at and comment "that smells a bit, sorry about that". Next they pull out a bunch other random shit (cammera, film, ipod) and they find a cigarette lighter. They confiscate the dangerous item, and then place my bag back through the xray. Still not good enough so they continue searching. By this time I am getting a bit bored with the whole thing. Next they pull out my piss bottle. I anouce in a loud voice to the guy I am with "Hey Gordy! They found my piss bottle" Just so they know what they are getting into. Fairly unimpressed, the guy puts the piss bottle down and continues searching. Finally they find my bag with extra crampon front points, a 3.5 inch long cresent wrench, and an allen wrench. The guy takes the wrenches out of the bag and informs me that tools of any sort are not allowed in my carry on. He then takes my 3 inch brand new (sharp) crampon points an puts them back in my bag. In the end I was not able to stab the pilot and hijack the plane because they took the allen wrench I was planning on doing it with. Damn! Next time maybe.

cool thanks mucho.

I would acctually be suprised if there is anything in there, but just in case, I am looking for any info on Mt. Marcus Baker in the Western Chugach Range, AK.

So anyone know where I can get an online index of canadian alpine journals? Failing that is anyone that has an index handy willing to help me out with some issue #s and page numbers? I really dont have the time to look through all of the issues. Thanks in advance.

Definatly Eugene. I lived there for several years and it is a great little town. Tyler obviously did not get out much climbing in Eugene, but there is lots of climbing very very close to Eugene. It is all on private property, and at least a couple of the craigs can be seen from major roads, but if you want to find them you will have to figure it out.

To answer some of your questions... Yes I have been there, and it is a great place. It reminded me very much of northern scotland. Very windblown almost tundra like. No trees to speak of, and I dont believe there are any bear since this is a very isolated island I dont think they ever made it there. The chain of islands is a volcanic chain, and the island (unalaska island) which is where Dutch Harbor is is just a huge volcano. Picture a small Hawaii, but cold windy and no fat clueless tourists in flipflops. Hitching should not be a problem for you since you can walk through town in about 15 mins. YOu do need to get a permit from the native corporation to hike I belive. There are lots of abandoned military installations all over the island. Note that this place was the other area of us soil that was attacked by the Japaneese in WWII. And the sunk a huge ship in the harbor just like pearl harbor, but it was kept secret so as not to scare the US population. Either way it is a very cool place that no one other than fishermen seem to care about. I recomend it.

If you cant find anyone to go with you should think about going to Dutch Harbor. The surrounding area is abosolutly amazing, and can be trecked around on your own. It is a really great place if you can get past the fishing port and what can often be really fucking bad weather.

I just went throug this whole thing. It was entirely covered by insurance. Go to the Hall health travel clinic at UW. They give a consultation, and tons on info on everything you need to know. Dont delay as many of the imunizations take a couple of months or more. I am not about to suggest which ones to get and you should not listen to anyone other than the doc who you do your consultation with. It is super easy to have done and even if you dont have insurance, it is not that expensive given the risks.

Seriously bad idea.

After deciding that winter alpine climbing was getting old since I cant seem to get up anything, Gordy and I climbed Infinte Bliss yesterday. Route is completly dry.

One accident on lead while your belaying and you never let it down.

The women in Vancover are hot, and as far as the play money thing goes. Give ole bushie a couple more years and the Canadian dollar might be worth more than the US.

Post deleted by jon

peregrinefund Earth Justice

No interest what so ever in a discounted ticket that still costs $50. I will skin up to the top of the first lift and ski free the rest of the day if I decide to ski at all.

Ahhhh. Vail, as mentioned in my previous post.

So I am going to vail for a long weekend next month. I dont fucking ski well enough to buy a $70 lift ticket, and really dont care enough to back country ski, so. What ice climbing guide should I buy for the area. Any suggestions on the best one?

The airline policy is no stoves. I had a snow peak stove removed from my luggage. Basically the airlines are fucking stupid and have no real understanding of the issues. If you need a stove you should ship it, or burry it in your pack so they cant find it.

Sport: wedding day stuff on the trestle at exit 38 Alpine: the tooth beckey route - liberty bell South side of hood Mt adams south side cascadian coulior on stuart

Wow I had not been to that site before. I wondered why cc.com had got better lately. All the complete shit and most of the dumbshits who write it are over there now. Good keep them there.

Ade you clearly read the title wrong. First of all they were asking for Post(This means after) , and next they mentioned climbing (this means climbing something). Driving to a place to drink and telling your girlfreind that you are going to climb something does not count, and deffinatly not after the third time in as many weeks.

Hey when was that first photo shot?