best of cc.com [TR] Ruth Gorge Alaska - Ham & Eggs, Shaken Not Stirred, and SW Ridge 11300 5/16/2016

[ALpinista]

Great TR! And thanks for the memories! We did the second ascent of 11.300 SW Ridge in 1980 as a warm-up before the East Ridge of Mt. Huntington, and I remember it as my favorite climb of many in the Ruth. On the same expedition two of our party (Scott Woolums and Scott Shuey) did the first ascent of what is now the descent route for the SW Ridge. Not knowing any better, we descended the SW Ridge from the summit. At least we avoided the serac hazards of the current descent route!

 

Here's our TR of the 1980 trip: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/921453/TR_West_Fork_Ruth_Huntington_E#Post921453

 

JK

[mthorman]

Wow what a cool story! Thanks for sharing that link. That is such a different style of expedition for the Ruth Gorge than the typical fly-in that most climbers do today.

[DPS]

I think that FISH duffle bag in the photo is the one I sold you (mthorman). Nice to see it getting used.

[ALpinista]

Wow what a cool story! Thanks for sharing that link. That is such a different style of expedition for the Ruth Gorge than the typical fly-in that most climbers do today.

 

Yep, mthorman, smash and grab seems to be the current style. That never would have occurred to us in 1980. I grew up reading about the early days of Alaska Range mountaineering, and wanted to experience the range in the Brad Washburn style, walking in from the road. If you're interested, here are a couple of other TRs from the West Fork:

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/899819/TR_West_Fork_Ruth_Glacier_Alas#Post899819

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/899824/TR_Alaska_Range_Colton_Leech_W#Post899824

 

These days I'm a blue water sailor and have been trying to interest some young guns to do a sailboat supported expedition into the BC coast range (Mt. Waddington) or the St. Elias group with a tidewater approach from the boat. So far, no takers. Most say it would be too big a time commitment.

 

JK

Edited September 12, 2016 by ALpinista