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Tuesday 27th April
We set off already running late. We just made our flight to Denver, our bags didn't and we went on to Anchorage without them.
Friday 30th April
We have a few days in Anchorage to make plans, since we came without any, buy any bits of gear that we havent got, and wait for our baggage to arrive. We are loaned a place to stay and within no time it looks like stocktaking at an outdoor shop.
There is an espresso joint at the end of the street and we become regulars there to try and fight the jet lag and because it is staffed by the prettiest girls we have seen in Anchorage. We get a lot of advice from staff at REI and at Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking and slowly build up a plan for the N Chugach, flying in with Mike Meekins.
Saturday 1st May
After a false start, returning to pick up all the frozen food and the fuel we are finally on the way. A local friend, Dave, was giving us a lift out of Anchorage and asked if we wanted to grab an espresso on the way. We mentioned our espresso joint and Dave told us all about the AK espresso system where the competition is to employ the most attractive girls to draw in the custom. He showed us how you can tell by the number of pickups queued up for coffee how beautiful the girls are.
Dave dropped us off at the pickup we were going to borrow for the rest of our stay.
It had been under snow all winter and needed a bit of attention to get it going. Eventually the throaty big red Chevy burst into life.
Two of us climbed into the back and made comfy with all the bags and we set off for Sheephill Lodge and Mike Meekins' airstrip.
The Glenn Highway passes along the north edge of the Chugach range from which the huge Matanuska glacier forges its way out into the heart of the forested valley alongside the highway.
We got to the airstrip late and missed our chance to fly in so we went to Eureka Lodge for dinner checking out the mountains on the way. Up at Eureka we tucked into meatloaf and burgers and drank a few local Alaskan beers.
Sunday 2nd May
We went to sleep last night to a slight amount of rain on the corrugated roof of the hangar and woke up to the same.
Mike turned up at about eight and we trucked back up to Eureka for an American breakfast. We hung round the hangar all day waiting for it to clear and in a brief clear spell Mike and I flew in but we couldn't get high enough because of the clouds so had to call it a day. Mike is tied up tomorrow so no flight in then either.
Monday 3rd May
We went to ski Flat Top Mountain but spotted a nice couloir on Ptarmigan peak. The line was a good s-shaped couloir with the whole top section (47° at the steepest part) being exposed above cliffs before swinging back down underneath the same cliffs.
The couloir finished in a col and we headed to the peak which was about five infuriating false summits away adding about an hour to the climb.
In fifteen minutes we had descended the 2500' couloir with snow ranging from transformed in the sun at the top, to hard in the shady middle section and then soft spring snow at the bottom end. Because my ski socks were packed for the trip into the Chugach I just threw on a normal pair for the day. Big mistake, by the time we got back to the pickup my feet were covered in blisters and bleeding.
Headed back to the hangar
Tuesday 4th May
We were brewing up when Mike flew in from Palmer in his other Piper Super Cub. Wolfie had drawn the short straw this time and headed off with Mike for the recce and to make the decision on where to make camp. After a swing round by Mount Valhalla, Wolfi decided on heading back up to our planned area in the upper Powell glacier.
Mike made four trips to get us all up there, while we dug in our tents and made our water maker:- three bin bags duct taped together and placed in a flat south facing amphitheatre (left side of this picture).
Snow placed on the bags melted in the sun and ran down into bucket underneath. It turned out about 15 litres of water on that first afternoon.
4:00 PM. we are sat on benches around our dining table, both carved out of the glacier snow, having soup and sandwiches.
Wolfi and I were facing peak 9138 and Dave and Wilfred were facing peak 9845. The peaks around here dont have names they just have their height as a reference. After looking at these faces over lunch we respectively headed off to ski them.
As we climbed the conditions seemed good, a 10cm layer of fresh new snow well bonded to a soft crust underneath, slope 46° and 2000' high.
It looked smaller from a distance but on it you realise its size.
7:30 PM we summit a subsidiary peak of about 9100'. Peak 9138 can be seen in the background.
The alaskan days are long at this time of year and we had time to sit on our summit and watch Wilfred rip down the bottom third of peak 9845. We could see a small black dot working his way up the ridge from where Wili set off. Dave must be carrying on for the summit.
Wolfi and I both dropped in and the whole slope beneath us sloughed off down to the 'well bonded' layer. Mistakenly we thought at this late hour the sun wouldn't be strong enough to weaken the bonding. The surface underneath was so hard that you couldn't see the marks your edges were making.
Wolfi decided to down climb it. I decided it would be daunting either way so carried on down after grabbing one ice axe. Grabbing the axe was the scariest part of the descent as I had to take my eyes off the slope. Although the snow felt bullet-proof I could just hold an edge and made my way gingerly down. I knew that every turn mattered, there was no room for error here. As I set off I could feel my senses blocking any information that was not relevent. My sight homed in on the area of snow up to 30m in front of me, the spectacular scenery fading into a black haze around my focus. My ears picking up the rasping of my edges on the hard surface straining to hear any changes in tone that would signify a change in composition of the snow. The nerves in my legs precisely relaying the feel of my edges and reacting simultaneously. A state not unlike meditation in which I stay till I reach the rimay and safety.
From the bottom I could see Dave set off down the north face
He got to what looked like an icy patch and then traversed out onto the north east ridge and continued down that.
As he headed down the slough that poured off in his wake looked impressive as it thundered over the rimay at the bottom of the face.
Dave reaches Wilfreds tracks
Skiing out of the sun into the shade at about 9:30 PM
Wednesday 5th May
10 AM late breakfast, and a morning rest to let my blisters heal as the rest of the team head up to peak 9570 at the head of the glacier.
3 PM I head up the shoulder of peak 9845 in time to see the others tearing down the spring snow on the south face of their objective. There was a nice 15cm of fresh snow on my line with an easy hop to clear the rimay at the bottom.
I had taken a couple of Ozone Frenzy kites with me and as the wind picked up that evening I took the kite out for a play.
Thursday 6th May
We headed up peak 8710 and looked at a way through the upper icefall on the Powell glacier on the way, in case we ever need to escape from here without the plane.
The south ridge of peak 8710 looked easy enough but we needed to keep swapping from skis to crampons and back again. Dave and Wili decided that the snow on our chosen descent, the SW face, was rotten and turned back. I kept going and found an amazing line off the east side of the ridge down to the Sylvester glacier. Wolfi came along to have a go at it too. It was only about 400m but had perfect spring snow and was an excellent ski.
At the bottom we needed to head round to the col between the Sylvester and the Powell glaciers. The slope that we needed to ski across to get to the col was too loaded to be safe so we had to climb high enough to be able to ski diagonally down it, an unwelcome extra few hundred meters.
Back at camp the cold draws in as the sun sets.
Friday 7th May
The morning broke with a few big but stable clouds in the sky. They quickly burned off during breakfast revealing another perfect blue sky.
Wili and Wolfi headed up the valley to a peak on the north side with a height of around 9400'.
Dave and I headed up the couloir in front of the camp site to a peak of around 9200'. To get to this couloir you have to skirt some crevasses that push you into the danger zone of serac fall from the north face of peak 10640. We got through here as quickly as our legs could carry us. Out of the danger zone we crossed the rimay easily and headed up the couloir.
At the top of the couloir there are three branches. Dave headed up the left one and I headed up the right one.
This turned into about 3cm of fresh snow on top of diamond hard blue glacier ice. I was totally gripped for this part of the climb and aware that it would not be possible to descend back down here on skis. The summit ridge was a knife edge with 60° slopes on either side, thin snow cover and loose shale rocks. I was pretty shaken by the time I got to Dave.
We did a few turns down the couloir and then stopped to let it soften up a bit more.
The snow was perfect spring and big sweeping turns were in abundance. At the bottom the serac/crevasse danger zone was passed at much relief with speed.
Wili and Wolfi were back at camp having had an excellent ski down the couloir on the SW face of their objective.
Looking west from camp was this awsome line with the last of the days sun on it.
South west over the camp is the peak that Dave skied on the first day
South east over the camp is the couloir that Dave and I skied yesterday
and to the east is the line that Wolfi and I did on day 1.
Saturday 8th May
Wili and Wolfi headed up the same couloir Dave and I had skied the previous day, Dave headed up the couloir to its left and I headed up the face directly under peak 9138.
I wasn't sure if the line would go as there were a couple of sections where the snow looked very thin and the blue of the ice beneath could be seen from camp. Once I got underneath it started to look really steep. The rimay was easy enough to cross with a small sideways step over a half meter wide gap. It really steepened up in the lower section by the rocks to 58°or 59°. After that it slackened off for a bit before heading back up to 55° for the diagonal traverse over the first of the thin ice sections. I dug a few holes here and the snow was in general about 15cm thick but was really well bonded to the ice beneath. The snow patch above was between 45° and 50° and then it headed back up to 55° for the second diagonal traverse. At this point I became a bit lost with no reference points visible. The slope below dropped off into oblivion, above me it ramped up before rolling over and out to either side was just acres of white each direction. I spoke to Dave over the radio and he was about to ski his couloir and said he would radio my position once back at camp so I dug in for about 25 minutes and drank some tea and had a bite to eat. Once Dave got back to camp he radioed me directions and I carried on. After that second steep section I headed more or less straight up to the summit on 45° to 50° slopes all the way.
I hung about at the top for a while waiting for the snow to soften up and took a couple of pictures of my lonely summit.
Dave had lost sight of Wili and Wolfi so I had a look along the other side of the ridge to see if I could make them out anywhere but they were no where to be seen.
It was quite cold and windy so I decided to head down a bit thinking I would wait a bit once I was out of the wind. While I was looking for somewhere to stop I just about broke through the crust a couple of times so I decided to head down before it became too soft. It was all a pretty similar surface from there on. Granules on a hard crust giving firm but good edging. It didn't feel too steep on the way down and the two 55° sections were easily crossed in a drifting traverse. Then there was the easy section where I could have a bit of a rest and grab a drink before heading into the 60° section at the bottom. Once again the tunnel vision and the heightened sense of awareness comes over me. I am aware of an acrid taste in the back of my mouth. I reach the rimay and the hard bit is over, time to breathe again.
Wili and Wolfi were still out of site when I got back to camp and Dave was starting to worry. We had no method of communicating with anyone other than ourselves. If we needed any rescue services we were going to have to wait until Mike returned in the plane in two days time. We were just considering what to do about the missing Austrians when they emerged from behind the ridge and started to make their way down the couloir.
Some clouds swept up the valley that evening.
causing a spectacular sun set.
Sunday 9th May
Today we headed up the valley, to peak 9570. The sky was cloudy, but it cleared up as we skinned up the valley. Looking back down I took a shot of the lines to the south east of camp that we had skied over the previous few days.
A couple of lines on the west face of peak 9570 stood out, a couloir running from the NE ridge down to the right hand side of the face and another line right down the centre of the face itself. We climbed up the couloir to the ridge. Dave, Wilfred and Wolfi stopped here to ski the couloir. I carried on up the ridge to ski the central line of the face. I wanted to make the summit, because we believe it remains unclimbed, but the last 20m was a loose rocky tower which I was not willing to solo.
The descent was exciting with most of it being above cliffs in a definite 'no fall zone'. It was continuously steep and there were a number of spines to cross while looking for an exit through the band of cliffs below. Looking back up, from the bottom, it looked like the whole face could have been used in an extreme extreme skiing competition.
Skiing further up the valley from camp meant that we could cruise all the way back. No uphill. I took some pics of the lines on peaks 10610 and 9845. Both looked in similar condition to the great line I skied the previous day. Can't help wishing I had attacked one of them today. Still it leaves something to come back for.
Flying out tomorrow for a few days rest before heading for the Wrangell's.
Monday 10th May
Mike woke us with his engines at 8 on the dot. We had hardly packed. We bundled up enough gear to send out with a very sleepy Wili. For the next three hours, we waited for Mike pick us up and take us out one at a time.
As we packed up camp, the cloud built up. For a while it was touch and go if he would be able to pick up Wolfi and myself from camp. We started to get ready to ski down to a lower collection point but Mike made it and we were all safe back at the airstrip before dark.
On the flight home, Mike told me that the guys from the Points North Heli operation had taken a flight around the area. They were looking to expand their business to the north side of the Chugach. He flew them over the area that we were in, but they decided it was un-skiable
Wednesday 12th May
After a couple of days rest at the cabin by Big Lake, we set off in the Chevy again and took the Glenn highway to for Chitina, and our rendezvous with Paul Claus.
I think we might be veterans of the highway now. When we stopped for coffee we were asked where we are off to this time, and the girls at the road works waved as we chugged past in the old red Chevy with Dylan and Morrison (Jim and Van) blaring out from the antique cassette player.
The drive to Chitina took us through the Alaskan wilderness. We skirted the north side of the Chugach where the Matanuska and later on the Nelchina glaciers force their way proudly out of the mountains and through the forests below towards the highway, and the civilisation that can never tame them.
After the Eureka Roadhouse, the highway passes an enormous body of water, Tazlina Lake, and then the seaplane anchorage at Tolson Lake. Finally, we reached Glenallen. The mighty Wrangell - St. Elias range reared up in front of us inspiring us with thoughts of the adventures to come, and fears of the isolation that we are about to commit to. We turned south and followed the valley between the Wrangell's and the Chugach, running parallel with the Trans-Alaska pipeline which transports much needed oil down to the lower 48.
Despite thinking that we had given ourselves a good two hour safety window to get to Chitina, we only had five minutes to spare. Paul arrived bang on time; at the same time as Pual's daughter Ellie arrived on an Ultima Thule convoy. She, with her team of dogs, had just become the youngest person, ever, to complete the Iditarod dogsled race. Paul had to take her home. And we got a discounted fare because we had to share the plane with the dogs.
Paul flew us to his lodge. It is 100 miles from the end of the nearest road, in the heart of the national park. You could not really imagine living in a more remote place.
Paul invited us to the house, for a big communal dinner with family, friends and workers. Paul and Donna run an exclusive adventure lodge. But out of season there are no guests so we joined them.
With no city lights around it was very dark out there at night.
Thursday 13th May
We woke up in our cabin on the Chitina River and had a quick breakfast. Then Paul flew us all into the Upper Bernard glacier.
Paul took us on a route that must have been part of his spectators tour of the Wrangell's. He flew the plane between a cliff and a separated needle before skimming spectacularly over jagged, rocky cols. And suddenly, we were hanging miles above the broken glacier of the adjacent valley. We flew past the south face of University Peak.
We had thought of skiing it, but learned it had been skied already so dropeed it from our agenda.
Setting up camp was more efficient this time.
We didn't have to cart the gear too far from the plane
Paul Claus
After we finished settling into camp, Dave and Wolfi headed over to a small bluff on the north side of the glacier for a view of the valley. I went on my own, to a slope on the south side of the valley, on the west face of peak 10670. At the apex of the face, I turned around. I was at about 9500 feet. The descent was awesome, perfect spring snow. At one point, I headed too far to skiers right, and ended up on blue ice under a centimetre of snow. I had to back up gingerly, but other than that the snow was perfect.
Friday 14th May
The peak in front is Supercub peak, which has never been climbed from this side. We were all set to ski it by the two obvious snow patches which are linked by a small couloir but bad weather put us off on our choosen day. It is over 5000' from the seracs at the base to the summit.
We set off to have a go at the couloir off peak 11544 due north of us, but even with an early start we got there too late and it was raining stones down on us so we all backed off in time to see a huge serac fall dust our tracks.
Dave and I headed back to the camp site while Wili and Wolfi went off to take some photos.
Back at camp Dave decided to head up the face I had skied yesterday, all in all an impressive amount of climbing for that day with the morning's aborted start. Dave said the conditions were perfect and had a good cruising ski down it.
I had a snooze
Saturday 15th May
We all went up to ski the 11500 foot high face at the SE end of Super Cub peak. It was quite a climb. 4200 feet above the campsite.
It took two hours to reach the rimay and another three to get to the top.
Because of yesterdays dodging falling rocks we had started much earlier today but still had the excitement of hearing them whizzing down around us at times. The slope was continuous 45°.
We sat in the snow for half an hour and waited for it to soften up.
We got it just right. Perfect spring snow again. You could carve large GS turns all the way down. I went for the large face that narrowed into a smallish slot at its base. The others headed back down the same couloir we had climbed up.
Wednesday 19th May
We climbed the peak to the SW of the camp site. Wolfi and I took a route that we could skin-up. And Dave and Wili decided to boot pack a different route. Near the top of our line, we ended up in deep snow, and lost our advantage. Our line took us to the peak proper, while Dave and Wili were at the other end of the summit ridge; slightly lower but only by a few meters.
We all skiied the SE face.
It narrows into a smallish couloir that spits you out over the rimay.
Wili and Wolfi went to ski another couloir that went further down to the glacier, while Dave and I both headed back up to the face we had both skied earlier in the week. The climb out of the glacier basin was challenging. It started out up a narrow couloir that got a bit narrower and steeper. Here it became slush. And underneath the slush was glossy smooth ice, running with water. I had elected to climb without crampons or axes, and I was using my ski's in my hands to help me stay on top of the snow. At this point, I started to regret the lack of crampons. I had to struggle, bridging off the rock sides of the couloir. After that we climbed up some scree and some more rotten snow eventually led us to the ridge at the top. Here we got the ski's back on and traversed the ridge towards peak 10670. Near the end of the traverse, we had to drop a couple of rimay's. Dave found the widest part of one and only just made it. The snow was so sticky in the afternoon sun that we could ski up to the bottom of the face without putting skins on.
We climbed the face again. There was fresh snow since our last run down earlier in the week. This was our final ski of the trip and it was a fitting one.
Steep and scary at the top
with the camp visable 2500' feet below your feet
it blended into fast open terrain after the rimay and you could carry just enough speed to get back to camp without having to walk.
Wilfred and Wolfgang putting in some powder 8 practice on their final run of the trip.
Thursday 20th May
The sun rises on our last morning on the glacier.
Shortly afterwards Paul arrives to fly us out.
This time we fly straight to Chitina, sadly not getting a stop at the Claus homestead.
Looking over Willow Lake with the Wrangell's in the background.
Wilfred tries to mend the broken camera
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Report Written for the American Alpine Journal
Upper Powell Glacier and Upper Bernard Glacier. During May of 2004.
Mike Meekins flew Dave Kinsella (Ireland), Wilfred Glanznig (Austria), Wolfgang Huber (Austria) and Phillip Ingle (Wales) into the upper Powell Glacier on the N side of the Chugach Range on May 4th. We set up camp at about 7000' in the middle of the Glacier. After setting up camp we split into two groups and headed up the NE ridge of peak9845 and up to the ridge SW of peak9138. A subsidiary peak of about 9100' was reached on the SW ridge of peak9138 and the descent made on skis via the same route as the ascent. Peak9845 was reached and a ski attempt made down the N face but after encountering ice the route was changed back to the NE ridge. On May 5th team members headed up to peak9570 at the head of the glacier and skied the S face. The peak itself wasn't reached. On May 6th an attempt was made on peak8710 the summit was not reached but a couloir on the E side of it was skied. On May 7th a 9400' peak NW of camp was climbed and a couloir on its SW face skied in descent. The 9200' peak, SE of camp was climbed to within 10m of its summit and the couloir on its NW side skied. This couloir was repeated the following day as well as the one just to its east. At the same time peak9138 was climbed by its NW face and skied by the same route in descent. On May 9th peak9570 at the head of the glacier was climbed to within 20m of its summit. It was skied by a couloir starting on its NE shoulder and the direct line down its E face.
Paul Claus flew the same group into the upper Bernard Glacier in the Wrangell's just east of University Peak on May 13th. We set up camp at about 7200' in the middle of the glacier. After setting up camp the W face of peak10170 was climbed to where it flattens off at around 9200' and skied. The SE face of the S ridge of Super Cub peak was climbed to its apex at around 11500' and skied on May 15th. A 9800' peak just S of a 9695 spot height, SE of camp was climbed on May 19th and descended by the obvious couloir on its S side.
Reviews of the previous 10 AAJ's and discussions with the pilots lead us to believe that none of the peaks that we climbed upon other than Super Cub peak had been climbed before. The ski descents were exposed and between 45° and 60° and we believe they were all firsts.
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Maps
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This is where we were on the Upper Powell Glacier. The red lines are the descents we did numbered in the order we did them.
Click on the picture for a larger image or have a look at the location on topozone.com |
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This is where we were on the Upper Bernard Glacier.
Click on the picture for a larger image or have a look at the location on topozone.com |
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