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Amber the Cat, Empress of 811 Maroon Peak Circle, of whose realm we are the newest subjects. Actually she only rules the interior; if she went outside she’d be eaten by coyotes.
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Martin and all the peaks of the Traverse.
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The Teton Range from Jackson Hole (elevation 6,700’). In order of the traverse the peaks are (1) Teewinot 12,325’ (2) Unnamed 11,840’ (3) East Prong 12,000’ (4) Mount Owen 12,928’ (5) Grand Teton 13,770’ (6) Middle Teton 12,804’ (7) South Teton 12,514’ (8) Ice Cream Cone 12,400’ (9) Gilkey Tower 12,320’ (10) Spalding Peak 12,240’ (11) Cloudveil Dome 12,026’ (12) Nez Perce 11,901’.
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George and Kevin posing for a final photo before we headed back to Colorado. From L to R: Nez Perce, Middle Teton, Grand Teton, Owen and Teewinot.
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The view from the Climbers Ranch the next morning.
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Showered and clean (some of us, anyway) and happy to be back at the Climbers Ranch. From L to R: Martin, Charles, Kevin, Willem and George.
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All done! Martin, Kevin, Charles and Willem on Nez Perce summit. We had to hunt around a bit before finding the route up here. It turned out to be a fairly well-marked track, mostly 3rd class with one short 4th class section.
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George on the descent of Spalding’s E ridge. Supposedly it’s a 3rd class descent, but lower down we found ourselves on distinctly 4th class terrain with scary exposure. From the base of Spalding it was a 3rd class scramble across to Cloudveil Done, then more 4th class down-climbing and a rappel down to the connecting ridge between Cloudveil and Nez Perce.
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Charles climbing a 5.7 pitch up the W side of the Ice Cream Cone. After he did the hardest section we noticed an easier traverse ledge coming in from the right. The rock at the top of this pitch was pretty `rank`.
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Kevin on the S Teton summit, with the Middle and Grand Tetons behind him.
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Fore! Charles teeing off from the summit of the S Teton.
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Martin at our bivy site below the Middle Teton. Another luxury bivy with running water not too far away.
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Next day’s objectives as seen from the descent of the Middle Teton. From R to L: South Teton, Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey Tower and Spalding Peak. Cloudveil Dome is just out of sight on the L. We bivied on the broad saddle between the Middle and S Tetons.
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George and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Taking a break for tea at the Lower Saddle before starting up the Middle Teton. We weren’t in too much of a hurry that day.
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Looking across from the Upper Saddle to the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, our next objective.
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Rapelling down from the Grand Teton to the Upper Saddle. This is the standard descent for the Owen-Spalding route and the rappels can be quite crowded, but luckily we didn’t have to wait long.
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Kevin, Willem and Charles on the summit of the Grand Teton, looking down at the rest of the traverse.
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Traversing across the Second Ledge to the W side of the Grand Teton. From here we took the Owen-Spalding route to the summit (a couple of 5.4 moves, then 3rd class scrambling).
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Willem and George starting up the Italian Cracks (5.7) on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. (No idea why they’re called the Italian Cracks, they were climbed by a pair of Americans). This was much more pleasant than the previous day’s climb out of Gunsight Notch; it was sunny and warm, and we’d all had a decent night’s rest.
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From our bivy site it was an easy scramble to the top of the Grandstand and the base of the N Ridge of the Grand Teton.
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Sunrise from our bivy site on the Grandstand. We didn’t have as far to go as the previous day and we had the luxury of lying in our sleeping bags until the sun warmed us up.
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Looking back at the S shoulder of Mt Owen from our bivy site on the Grandstand
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Kevin on the summit of Mt Owen, with Teewinot in the background and Jenny Lake far below.
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Charles just below the summit of Mt Owen, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and the Enclosure in the background.
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Scrambling up the E side of Mt Owen from the Koven Col .
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Looking back at the East Prong and the Koven Col. A rappel allowed us to avoid down-climbing the steep snow.
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Descending from the East Prong to the Koven Col, en route to Mt. Owen.
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The Grand Teton and the peaks of the southern part of the traverse, as seen from Teewinot.
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Slogging up the E slopes of Teewinot. Only 5,600’ from the valley floor to the summit.
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At the American Alpine Club Climbers’ Ranch the evening before the climb. From L to R: George, Charles (displaying his inimitable organizational style), Willem and Kevin.
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Martin and Charles on Spalding summit.
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Scrambling up to Spalding summit. We got a bit lost between Ice Cream Cone and Spalding, traversing too low across rubble-strewn ledges on the S side of Gilkey, then having to back-track from the Gilkey/Spalding col to summit Gilkey before continuing on to Spalding.
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Charles, George, Martin and Willem on the Ice Cream Cone summit.
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Looking E from the S Teton. It’s a bit confusing but from nearest to furthest the peaks are the Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey , Spalding, Cloudveil Dome and Nez Perce.
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Descending the SW couloir of the Middle Teton, with Icefloe Lake down below.
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Higher up on the E slopes of Teewinot. It’s hiking until half-way up, then mostly 3rd class scrambling.
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Hiking down the Garnet Canyon trail. Only 3,000’ to descend between here and the beers waiting for us down at the Climbers Ranch.
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George, Charles and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Down-climbing into a notch on the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, with the Grand Teton behind us. The N Ridge is mostly a scramble with a short 5.6 section.
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George on the summit of the Grand Teton.
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Kevin at the top of the first Italian Cracks pitch on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, with the Teton Glacier far below.
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Kevin and Martin at the top of the Grandstand, with Mt Owen in the background.
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Our first night’s bivy site on the E side of the Grandstand, below the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. We weren’t sure what to expect here, as Kevin and I had bivvied further back on Mt Owen last time we tried the traverse. We were pleasantly surprised to discover some nice grassy ledges, sheltered from the wind, with a trickle of running water from snowmelt.
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Willem rappelling down into Gunsight Notch. The climb up the other side onto the Grandstand was the toughest part of the traverse. It was gloomy, chilly and windy down in the notch, we’d already been on the move for 14 hours, and now we had to climb a couple of 5.7/5.8 pitches with heavy packs, cold hands and sore feet.
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Traversing across exposed ledges on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch.
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Scary 4th class down-climbing on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch. There are a couple of different ways to do this section, all involving steep, loose, exposed climbing and a few rappels. Last time we took a different line. I’m not sure that the way we did it this time was any better.
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On the traverse from Teewinot to Mt Owen, somewhere between Peak 11,840’and the East Prong.
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Martin on Teewinot summit, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and Mt Owen in the background. One down, another eleven to go.
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Alas the skiing on the descent from Scott Duncan was a bit too steep for Dave. He was using Koflach mountaineering boots and took a nasty tumble, injuring his ankle when his binding didn’t release. Cyril taped him up and he was able to hobble the rest of the way back to the highway, but the next day his ankle had swollen to twice its normal size. It later turned out that he’d sustained a minor fracture.
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At the Trans-Canada Highway, and the end of our trip. At back (L to R): Alex, Cyril, Stefan, me, Dave, Boris. In front: Karen Woo, Ian, Leo, Karen McGilvray.
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Skiing across Sherbrooke Lake, with Mt. Victoria and Mt. Huber in the background. Not far to go now.
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Ian and Cyril at tree-line on our way down from Scott Duncan Hut. This section was the steepest skiing on the trip.
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We thought we might have to spend a second night at Scott Duncan Hut waiting out the storm, but by mid-morning visibility improved slightly and Cyril decided we’d be able to continue the traverse out to the highway. Here we are skiing past Mt. Niles.
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Dinner at Scott Duncan Hut after a long day. From L to R: Boris, a pair of green booties belonging to Dave, Leo, Alex, Karen McGilvray, a white cap belonging to Cyril, Karen Woo, and Ian.
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Shortly after passing the Balfour Hut the weather closed in, and we traveled in a whiteout up and over the Balfour Col and down to the Scott Duncan Hut. Fortunately Cyril knew the route well, and with GPS assistance he kept us away from the avalanche slopes and crevasses that lie in wait for the unwary. Here we are arriving at Scott Duncan Hut. Cozy accommodation for a group of ten.
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Stefan and Boris approaching the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive, on the way to the Balfour Hut.
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At the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive. At this point a stiff wind was blowing and a storm was fast approaching. Cyril announced that it would be best to carry on past the Balfour Hut and try get to the Scott Duncan Hut ahead of the storm, since there’s a high pass on the way to Scott Duncan (the Balfour Col) that’s exposed to avalanches if it’s been snowing heavily.
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Roping up above the Bow Hut en route to the Balfour Hut.
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Preparing to leave the Bow Hut for the Balfour Hut (or so we thought). From L to R: Stefan, Cyril, Dave, Ian, Karen Woo, Alex Perel, Leo, me, Karen McGilvray and Boris Kaschenko.
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The Bow Hut at evening.
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Leo Markle, Karen Woo and Karen McGilvray inside the Bow Hut. The hut can be accessed directly from the highway and we had arranged with porters to carry some food – and wine! – up here in advance of our arrival (no helicopter landings allowed in Banff National Park). The wine was supposed to last a couple of nights, but it all disappeared in a few hours.
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Down-climbing from the summit of St. Nicholas Peak.
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On the way back from Mt. Gordon a few of us made a detour to scramble up St. Nicholas Peak. It’s really more of a knife-edge ridge than a peak.
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Leo, Stefan Kloppenborg, Ian Myles and Karen Woo at the summit of Mt. Gordon. Alas not much in the way of views that day.
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Skinning up the slopes above the Bow Hut, on our way to Mt. Gordon. The summit in the background is St. Nicholas Peak.
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The view from the dormitory window at Bow Hut.
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Our only logistical error was to assume that the huts would be stocked with toilet paper. This wasn’t a good assumption. Cyril came to our rescue by paying a handsome fee to our porters to part with their modest supply ($20 for two rolls!). Here’s Karen Woo carefully dividing this precious commodity between the ten of us.
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On the way to the Bow Hut most of us made a detour to skin up the gentle summit ridge of Mt. Rhondda.
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After two nights at the Peyto Hut we headed over to the Bow Hut, stopping for lunch on the slopes of Mt. Rhondda.
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Making turns on the glacier above the Peyto Hut.
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Inside the Peyto Hut.
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Dave and Cyril arriving at the Peyto Hut. Cyril had promised us that this would be the longest day on the traverse, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
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Skiing up the Peyto Glacier in the warm afternoon sun.
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Hiking up moraines near the foot of the Peyto Glacier. This was the only part of the traverse that was too steep for skins.
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Getting ready to ski across a frozen Peyto Lake.
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Google Earth image of the Wapta and Waputik icefields. The traverse starts at Peyto Lake on the Icefields Parkway and ends at Wapta Lodge on the Trans-Canada Highway . There are four huts en route – Peyto (Whyte), Bow, Balfour and Scott Duncan. Also marked are a couple of peaks that we climbed.
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In July Fran completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at U of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus (thesis topic: "Modulation of Ionic Conductances at the Vestibular Type I Hair Cell Calyx Synapse"). Here are Fran and Martin after Fran's thesis defence.
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Panorama of the Teton Range from Togwotee Pass. The Cathedral Traverse doesn’t look like much of a traverse from this angle, since Teewinot and Mt. Owen are right in front of the Grand Teton (high point left of centre). From L to R: John Christie, Kevin Smith and Martin. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Summit of Teewinot, with the Grand Teton and Mt. Owen in the background. L to R: John, Martin, Kevin and Stewart. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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N Face of the Grand Teton from Teewinot. In the background are the peaks we didn’t get around to climbing. From L to R: Nez Perce (and behind it Buck Mountain), Cloudveil Dome, Spalding Peak, Gilkey Tower, the Ice Cream Cone, and the South and Middle Teton. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Stewart starting the climb of the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, about five or six pitches of 5.7. It felt hard for the grade up at 13,000’ with approach shoes and big packs. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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A parting view of the South, Middle and Grand Tetons, Mt Owen, and Teewinot under stormy skies. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Rounding the N Ridge of the Grand Teton on the Second Ledge. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Mt Moran, Jackson Lake and Teewinot fom the summit of Mt Owen. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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The Middle Teton from the Upper Saddle on the Grand Teton. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Hiking down Garnet Canyon, with the Middle Teton in the background.
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Looking back at the SW side of the Grand Teton from the Lower Saddle. From here there’s a good trail down Garnet Canyon to the valley floor. There was some loose talk of spending a third night out and completing the Grand Traverse, but without any food left no-one was keen on the idea. Just as well we didn’t, as the weather turned nasty a short while later.
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Mt Owen and Jackson Lake from the summit of the Grand Teton.
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Stewart, Kevin, John and Gordon at the summit of the Grand Teton. We continued along the Second Ledge to join the Owen-Spalding route, from where it’s a short section of easy 5th class and a few hundred feet of 4th and 3rd class scrambling to the top (with lots of company from guided groups).
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The Second Ledge on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. From here the climbing is mostly scrambling.
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Starting the descent of the W Ledges of Mt Owen the following morning
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Martin at the summit of Mt Owen, with the N Face and N Ridge of the Grand Teton in the background.
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Kevin, John and Stewart at our first night bivvy site, just below the summit of Mt Owen.
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Descending from the East Prong to the Koven Col below Mt Owen.
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Stewart and Gordon at the col just below the summit of Teewinot, with the Grand Teton and Mt. Owen in the background.
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Gordon on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, with the Teton Glacier far below.
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Martin approaching the Grandstand at the base of the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, with the W Ledges of Mt Owen in the background.
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We didn’t bring crampons and ice axes all this way in vain. Gordon climbing up to Gunsight Notch between Mt Owen and the Grand Teton.
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Looking down at the N Face of the Grand Teton from the bivvy site on Mt. Owen
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Traversing around the upper snowfield on Mt Owen. On the L is part of the N Face of the Grand Teton.
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Sunrise over Jackson Lake on the way up Teewinot. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Stewart, Kevin and Martin at our second night bivvy site, on the Second Ledge of the Grand Teton. By now we had hoped to have summitted the Grand Teton and climbed up and over the Middle Teton, but we made some route-finding errors and we weren’t moving fast enough. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Sunset over Idaho from our bivvy site on the Grand Teton. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Hiking up the lower slopes of Teewinot. From L to R: Kevin, John, Martin and Stewart Middlemiss. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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Teewinot, the East Prong and the Koven Col as seen from the lower E Ridge on of Mt Owen. Photo courtesy of Gordon Laurens.
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At De Hoop Nature Reserve. Back row: Guy Meredith’s daughter Laura, Guy’s mother-in-law Laura van Riet, Sandra’s son Steyn, Guy’s sister-in-law Sandra, Guy’s wife Berna, Martin, Fran, Guy’s father-in-law Steyn van Riet. Front row: Martin’s cousin Jan Hough, Jan’s wife Kim, Rick, Alex, Lindsay, Martin’s niece Olive le Roux, and Guy.
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Fran and Alex on the beach at De Hoop Nature Reserve, in the Western Cape
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Ismo and Simon bringing some Finnish style to the beach at De Hoop Nature Reserve
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Guy and Alex at De Hoop Nature Reserve
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Fran’s brother Guy and Alex on Chapman’s Peak drive, overlooking Hout Bay, near Cape Town
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Alex and Fran at Kirstenbosch Gardens, near Cape Town
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Alex at Groot Constantia, near Cape Town
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Katy, Nicole and Alex near Hartebeespoort dam.
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Fran’s nieces Nicole and Katy, their father Robin, and Fran and Alex near Hartebeespoort dam
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Pretoria at dusk from the grounds of the Union Buildings
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Alex, Fran’s sister Lindsay Godfrey, Lindsay’s daughter Nicole, and Fran picnicking on the grounds of the Union Buildings, Pretoria
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At Kirstenbosch Gardens after David le Roux’s memorial service. Back row: Ismo, Simon, Hannah, Bram, Jan, Robie Welch, James Welch, William Frater, David Kinghorn, Martin, Rick, Berna and Guy. Front row: Jack Lotter, Tate, Joachim, Olive and Kim.
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Martin in front of the S African National Gallery, Cape Town
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Rick on Table Mountain
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On Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town: Bram, Olive, Tate and Rick
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At De Hoop Nature Reserve. Back row: Guy, Fran, Lindsay, Simon, Ismo, Martin and Bram (recovering from bronchitis). Front row: Tate, Alex, Rick, Olive, Joachim and Hannah
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At De Hoop Nature Reserve: Rick, Guy, Fran, Lindsay, Alex and Martin
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Humans and seagulls on the beach at De Hoop Nature Reserve
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At De Hoop Nature Reserve: Bram Schonveldt, Fran, Lindsay, Guy, Alex, and Hannah le Roux
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Ostriches at De Hoop Nature Reserve
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Watching the sun set over the lagoon at De Hoop Nature Reserve
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Rick and Tate at the British Museum
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The Great Court of the British Museum, London
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At Johannesburg airport: Bram, Olive, Hannah, Tate, Joachim and Rick
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Tate, Nicole, Rick, Katy and Carole at The Cradle
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At The Cradle restaurant, near Johannesburg: Frieda Hough, Robie Welch, David Kinghorn and Anna Ludlow
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Tate and Rick at Kololo Game Reserve, north of Johannesburg
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Martin, Rick and his girlfriend Tate Reed left for South Africa a week after Fran and Alex. We had a few hours between flights in London and were able to fit in some sightseeing. This is Martin on the London Underground.
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The Spearhead range from our camp the Pattison-Tremor col (April 2012). From left to right the prominent peaks are Macbeth, Iago, Fitzsimmons, Benvolio, Overlord and Fissile.
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Martin enjoying some well-earned refreshment at Whistler ski area base after completing the Spearhead traverse (April 2012).
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Alex, Martin, Fran and Rick at home for Christmas dinner.
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Rick, Fran, Alex, Amber the cat and Martin at home on Christmas Eve
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Fran, Rick, Alex and Martin at home for Thanksgiving dinner, about to tuck into deconstructucted pumpkin pie.
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Kurt Mensch on the way to Sayre’s Benchmark (13,758’), near La Plata Peak (April 2012)
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Kevin Smith near the summit of “Lone Eagle”, Indian Peaks Wilderness (July 2012).
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Kurt Mensch on the hike down to Black Lake, Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park (August 2012). In the background are McHenry’s Peak and Arrowhead.
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Our newly-remodeled kitchen (October 2012).
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The Andrews Glacier and Loch Vale in Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park, on the way back from climbing the NW Gully of Thatchtop with Kurt Mensch (November 2012).
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Long’s Peak (on the horizon) and Bear Peak as seen from a late afternoon scramble up Bear Peak, near Boulder, CO, on Christmas Day.
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Alex and Rick at Mary Jane ski area on Christmas Eve.
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“Campground Couloir”, near Silverton, CO, which Martin climbed with Kurt Mensch in December 2012.
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In September Alex left for San Jose, CA to join the Santa Clara Aquamaids synchronized swimming team. Here she is with her “grandmother” Robynne, who she’s living with while she trains there.
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Kurt Mensch near the summit of Spearhead after climbing “Syke’s Sickle” (August 2012). We had a memorable descent as one of my trail shoes had come untied from my harness halfway up the climb and tumbled hundreds of feet down the cliff. Fortunately I discovered it at the base of the cliff after hobbling down in one of my climbing shoes.
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Kurt Mensch en route to climb “Skye’s Sickle” (5.9) on Spearhead, Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park (August 2012). We were there on what turned out to be the last warm weekend of the summer and luckily we had the climb to ourselves.
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Kurt Mensch on North Apostle Peak after traversing over from Ice Mountain (13,951’), May 2012. We had just climbed the “Refrigerator Couloir”, the obvious snow-filled gully leading to the summit of Ice Mountain. Unfortunately 2011-2012 was a bad winter for snow and much of the snow had already melted from the gully, leaving patches of hard ice and unpleasant loose rubble.
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John Christie after skiing down “Queen’s Way” on Apache Peak (May 2012). Apache is the summit on the right of the photo. Queen’s Way is hidden from sight by the rocky buttress in front of the summit.
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John Christie climbing “Queen’s Way” on Apache Peak (13,441’), May 2012
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Kurt Mensch returning from Sayre’s Benchmark (April 2012). The “Grand Central Couloir” descends from the col just to the right of the summit.
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Kurt Mensch skiing down the “Grand Central Couloir” on Sayre’s Benchmark (April 2012)
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Kurt Mensch at the summit of Sayre’s Benchmark (April 2012)
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On the second night of the Spearhead traverse we had the luxury of staying at an otherwise empty Himmelsbach hut. Here’s Paul Geddes leaving the hut in stormy conditions the next morning.
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Skiing across the Ripsaw glacier, Spearhead traverse (April 2012). Unfortunately clouds rolled in a short while later and for the rest of the trip we were in near-whiteout conditions.
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Paul Geddes at the Tremor-Shudder col, Spearhead traverse (April 2012)
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Camp at the Pattison-Tremor col on the Spearhead traverse (April 2012)
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Paul Geddes at the summit of Mt. Pattison (2,483m) on the Spearhead traverse (April 2012)
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Paul Geddes at the Blackcomb ski area boundary, about to start on the Spearhead traverse (April 2012)
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Martin and Paul Geddes at Whistler-Blackcomb (April 2012). We were there to do the Spearhead traverse, a multi-day backcountry trip that starts at the ski area boundary. Luckily the initial ascent is effort-free, thanks to the ski lifts.
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Palmayra Peak, Telluride ski resort (March 2012). You’re allowed to hike up the right-hand skyline and ski down the gully that starts from the very top (13,319’).
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Rick at Silverton ski area (March 2012)
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John Christie and Gordon Laurens near Grace Falls, Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park (February 2012)
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Gordon Laurens on the way to Grace Falls, at the base of Notchtop Mountain, Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park (February 2012)
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Kurt Mensch on a snowy February morning on our way to do some ice-climbing near Ouray, CO
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Martin leading the top pitch of “Whorehouse Hoses” near Silverton, CO (February 2012)
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Flying out from Tsar camp; Mt. Shackleton in the background.
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Crossing the glacier at the base of Mt. Tsar, with the Clemenceau Icefield in the background. We retreated from half-way up Tsar on account of sloppy wet snow on top of steep, loose rock (normally the rock’s dry by this time of year).
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Alex, Fran and Alex’s friend Emily Hawkins (on the left) in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, July 2011.
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The view from the villa where Fran, Alex and Emily stayed in St. John.
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The view from our back window after the first snowfall of the season, October 2011.
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Martin hiking down the S. Kaibab trail, Grand Canyon, October 2011.
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Alex and Rick at Vail, December 2011. Not much snow to be seen.
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Martin on his way to a climb of Kiener’s Route on Long’s Peak (Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park) with Kurt Mensch in July 2011.
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Rick at the top of the Lower Exum Ridge, Grand Teton, with the Middle Teton in the backgound.
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Rick on the Lower Exum Ridge, Grand Teton, with the Middle Teton in the backgound.
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Rick on the way to the Grand Teton, with Nez Perce and Cloudveil Dome in the background.
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Rick at the entrance to Garnet Canyon, on the way to the Grand Teton. The peak in the background is the Middle Teton, not the Grand. More than one party has headed up to the Middle Teton by mistake.
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Martin on the way to the Grand Teton.
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Rick spent the summer working in Yellowstone Nat’l Park in Wyoming. In late August Martin drove up there to collect him and on their way back home they stopped to attempt a climb of the Grand Teton (in the background on the left).
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Alex on the way to a climb of Stairway to Heaven in the Flatirons, August 2011.
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The SW Corner of the Saber, a route in Rocky Mountain National Park that Martin climbed in August with Anders Fridberg.
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Alpine Club of Canada camp at the base of Mt. Tsar in the Canadian Rockies, where Martin spent a week in July 2011. This was one of the few days that the summit of Mt. Tsar was actually visible.
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Martin at the summit of the Third Flatiron, en route to climbing the “Top Ten” Flatirons in a day, an outing that he unwisely embarked on in 95+ degree heat in August.
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Rick, Tate and Fran at the Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon, October 2011.
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Rick crossing the Colorado River at the base of the Grand Canyon, October 2011.
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Rick at the start of the S. Kaibab trail, Grand Canyon, October 2011.
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Fran and Alex at Kevin Reimer’s wedding in Atlanta, October 2011.
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Rick, his girlfriend Tate Reed and Fran in Flagstaff, AZ, October 2011.
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Martin, Fran, Rick and Alex with our friend Emily Kewley on Christmas Eve.
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Alex and Martin at the wedding of Martin’s colleague Kevin Reimer in Atlanta, October 2011.
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Alex climbing Icarus in Eldorado Canyon, Sept 2011.
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Fran and Martin at the Ballard Farmers’ Market in Seattle
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It wasn’t easy to get good photos of the synchronized swimming competition with my point-and-shoot camera, so here’s a montage of some low-resolution images of Alex and the rest of her team. In case you were wondering, the whole routine including lifts and jumps has to be accomplished without anyone touching the bottom of the pool.
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Martin at Discovery Park, Seattle.
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Here we are doing the most touristy thing possible in Victoria, namely afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel. The sandwiches, scones and cakes were very nice, but the tea, alas, was made from rather ordinary tea-bags. And it’s best not to think of the price.
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Fran and I made a rather rushed day trip to Victoria, BC. Here’s the inner harbour and the BC parliament building.
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Alex taking care of our lawn before we left home for a week. She was filling in for Rick who had a summer job at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
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Alex (centre right), her coach Elizabeth (wearing black) and the rest of her synchronized swimming team at our home before the trip.
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Fran and Martin at Fremont Peak Park, Seattle, with the Olympic Mountains on the horizon.
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Fran on the ferry from Victoria back to Vancouver, BC.
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Fran in front of the Empress Hotel, Victoria, BC. The Empress is one of a chain of grand hotels built about a hundred years ago by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and is rather more imposing than the BC parliament building next door.
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Karen Woo and Fran at Coal Harbour, Vancouver
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Martin at Stanley Park, Vancouver. We rented bikes and went for a leisurely cycle around the waterfront.
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Totem poles at Stanley Park, Vancouver
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Fran and Karen Woo at Stanley Park, Vancouver
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Martin and friends at Coal Harbour, Vancouver. The red figures are part of an installation called “Meeting” by the sculptor Wang Shugang.
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Fran and Martin at Coal Harbour, Vancouver
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Fran and Martin at the Vancouver waterfront
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Martin, Andrea Joubert and Fran at Andrea and Roy’s house in Issaquah, near Seattle
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Sally Mizroch and Fran at the Ballard Farmers’ Market in Seattle
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On our flight to Seattle we had a nice view of the Liberty Ridge on Mt. Rainier.
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Martin at Chicago Basin, May 2011
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We had one good day of skiing at Chicago Basin, but the next day the weather turned against us. We tried to climb Mt. Jupiter (a peak that’s long been on Kurt’s to-do list) but retreated in the face of high winds and white-out conditions. We got back to our camp early in the day, and rather than spending a cold and damp night our tent we decided to make a frantic hike out to the DSRR railway to see if we could catch the afternoon train back to Durango and comfortable hotel room (there’s only one train each day). Here’s a rain-soaked Kurt back at the DSRR stop, happy to have made it back in time for the train.
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Kurt Mensch skiing down to our camp in the Chicago Basin
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Kurt Mensch on Sunlight; Eolus in the background
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Kurt Mensch at the saddle between Sunlight and Sunlight Spire; Windom in the background
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The peaks of Chicago Basin – Sunlight in the centre-left, Sunlight Spire in the centre and Windom on the right (in front of the sun)
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The peaks of Chicago Basin – Sunlight peeking out on the left, Windom in the centre and Jupiter on the right.
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Kurt Mensch on the ski in to Chicago Basin.
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In May 2011 Kurt Mensch and I went on a backcountry ski trip to the Chicago Basin in the San Juans. This was a rematch from the previous year when my ski bindings disintegrated just as we arrived at camp. Access to the area is via the Durango-Silverton railway (or a very long hike from the highway).
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Storm Peak and the Grande Couloir (to the left of the peak). Silverton Mountain, March 2011. The previous day we hiked all the way up the couloir (1,500’ vertical) before descending. The colour and contrast in this image have been heavily Photoshopped so that you can see the ski tracks.
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Gordon Laurens wading through slushy snow on the way up McHenry’s Peak, RMNP; Long’s Peak in the background.
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Martin climbing the Martha Couloir in RMNP, May 2011
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On my way to climb the Martha Couloir in RMNP with Mike Walley, May 2011
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Martin, John Christie and Gordon Laurens on the way to Skywalker Couloir, Arapahoe Peak, June 2011
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John Christie and Gordon Laurens on a rime-encrusted traverse between South and North Arapahoe peaks, June 2011
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Kurt Mensch about to ski down SquareTop Mountain, June 2011. Gray’s Peak and Torrey’s Peak on the horizon on the left.
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Gordon Laurens and McHenry’s Peak, RMNP, June 2011. We were hoping to climb the Big Mac Couloir (snow-filled gully up the centre of the peak) but the weather was too warm and all the snow was turning to slush. After a rope-length of climbing we retreated and as a consolation prize we hiked the descent route on the other side of the peak.
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John Christie and Gordon Laurens on the traverse between South and North Arapahoe peaks, June 2012
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Rick descending Quandary Peak, May 2011. It had snowed a day or two earlier and we were treated to some of the best ski conditions of the season. 2011 was an La Nina year and the snowpack in Northern Colorado was more like mid-winter than late spring.
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Rick hiking up Quandary Peak, May 2011
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Rick and the rest of our group about to start a descent at Silverton Mountain, March 2011
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The view from Billboard Peak, Silverton Mountain, March 2011
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Rick hiking up to Billboard Peak at Silverton Mountain, March 2011
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Rick at the Ouray Ice Park, March 2011
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Gordon Laurens climbing Grace Falls in RMNP on a cold and windy January day.
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Mike Walley hiking across Black Lake in RMNP on the way to climb the West Gully, January 2011; McHenry’s Peak in the background.
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Christmas Eve 2010. Our Anglo-Australian friend Emily Kewley (on the left) joined us for the occasion. The reindeer candelabra is a souvenir from Martin’s trip to Helsinki in the summer.
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Christmas Day 2010. On the left is Emily Kewley. Fran tore her ACL a few days earlier when skiing at Steamboat Springs (first ski run of the season, alas) and was hobbling around on crutches.
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Jean (McCallum) Verwey and Lorraine Mathewson at Avontuur Restaurant
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Simon, Martin and Dad at Avontuur Restaurant
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Martin on Jacob's Ladder, Table Mountain
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Adele McCann on Jacob's Ladder, Table Mountain
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Ismo and Simon in Sea Point
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Jack Lotter, Ismo and Simon at Jack's apartment in Sea Point
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Hannah at Cape Town airport
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Simon and Ismo demonstrating their synchronized swimming skills at Webersburg
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The kitchen at Webersburg Manor House
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Simon and Ismo in the pool at Webersburg
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Webersburg Manor House
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Dave Shipley, Jan Hough, Dad and Simon at breakfast at Webersburg
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Webersburg manor house
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Simon at Webersburg
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Webersburg manor house and the Helderberg, near Somerset West
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Hannah, martin and Dad at 96 Winery Road
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Dad's 80th birthday lunch at 96 Winery Road, near Somerset West
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Jan Hough, Dad, Hannah, Martin, Dave Shipley, Kim Hough and Simon at Webersburg
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Carol, Katie, Nicole, Robin and Lindsay Godfrey
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Family gathering at Hannah's house in Melville, Johannesburg
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Another view of Kurt on the East Buttress.
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By the time we got back to camp it was late afternoon and we’d had enough hiking through deep, soft snow, so we decided to spend another night at camp and hike out in the early morning when the snow was frozen. Here’s sunrise on Whitney as we were leaving.
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Martin leading past the “Pee-Wee Buttress”.
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Martin leading one of the 5.7 sections on the East Buttress.
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Martin back at Whitney Portal, ready for the long drive back to Denver.
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Kurt back at Whitney Portal.
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Martin at Lower Boy Scout Lake, the last of the snow now thankfully behind us.
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Kurt on the hike down.
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Another look back at Whitney as we were hiking out.
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Just to prove we were really there – the official summit plaque.
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Kurt and Martin at the summit. Whitney is notorious for having a crowded summit, but it was completely deserted when we arrived – perhaps the snow on the trails kept everyone at home.
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Kurt on the East Buttress.
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Kurt hiking up the slopes above camp on the approach to the East Buttress.
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The East face of Whitney at dawn. The East Buttress climb goes up the right-hand skyline, and the descent (the Mountaineers’ Route) goes down a gully to the right of that.
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Looking across from our camp at Iceberg Lake to Mt. Russell.
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Kurt at our camp beside Iceberg Lake, just beneath the East face of Whitney. Luckily there was some dry ground here. Most of the trail beyond Upper Boy Scout Lake was still under several feet of heavy, wet, snow, which made for arduous going in the afternoon sun. The right-hand spire in the background is Keeler Needle.
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Kurt at Upper Boy Scout Lake.
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Kurt hiking up the Ebersbacher Ledges – probably the route-finding crux of the ascent.
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Kurt at Whitney Portal, the starting point for the approach to Whitney. The summit of Whitney is almost 11,000’ above Lone Pine, but fortunately one gains almost half that altitude in the drive from Lone Pine up to Whitney Portal.
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Kurt and me at the Ranger Station in Lone Pine, CA. There’s an elaborate permit system for climbing Mt. Whitney, but the rangers were oddly uninformed about conditions on the mountain.
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Martin and his shiny new vehicle, a.k.a. the Squirrelmobile.
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Martin at the Lake Tahoe overlook
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After leaving Yosemite we drove north to Reno, Nevada, spending a night at Lake Tahoe en route. This is Fran's photo from an early morning stroll down to the lake.
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Martin instructing Alex and Rick in rock-climbing (or is it air guitar?)
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Rick the explorer
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Glacier Point Apron and Yosemite Falls
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Looking down from Vernal Falls
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Alex and Fran at Vernal Falls
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Half Dome from the valley floor
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Alex and her loooong legs
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The aptly-named Mirror Lake
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While Rick and I were trying Half Dome, Fran and Alex went on a more leisurely stroll to Mirror Lake. Here's one of Fran's pictures.
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Rick, Martin and Alex at Besant Hill
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Rick and Tate after graduation
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Another of Rick's contributions to the Besant Hill campus (this one's joint work with his friend Griffin)
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All of us at Rick's graduation
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Rick and his girlfriend Tate. They'll both be starting at Northern Arizona University in August.
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Martin and Rick
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Thoroughly modern Ms Alex at home before the trip
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Fran at the Lake Tahoe overlook
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Rick following The Grack, a classic 5.6 climb on Glacier Point Apron
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The Merced River near Vernal Falls
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Vernal Falls
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Rick next to Nevada Falls on the way back from Half Dome
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As a consolation prize Rick and I hiked over to the Diving Board next to Half Dome and peered down at the valley below.
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Rick hiking up to Half Dome. We were hoping to do a climb up there (the Snake Dike) but underestimated the amount of time we'd need, and ended up rapelling down after the first pitch.
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Yosemite Falls and Half Dome
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Martin at the top of Yosemite Falls
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Rick and Alex at the top of Yosemite Falls
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Fran at the top of Yosemite Falls
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Fran, Rick and Alex on the hike up the top of Yosemite Falls, with Half Dome in the background.
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Fran and Rick at the Upper Pines campground, Yosemite Valley
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Alex kayaking at Lake Casitas
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Rick and Tate kayaking at Lake Casitas, near Ojai
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Rick and his school principal, Paul Amadio
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Rick's graduation. All the graduating students (25 of them) got to make a two-minute address.
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Rick and Alex at the Emerald Iguana Inn
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One of Rick's contributions to the Besant Hill campus
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The Emerald Iguana itself
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Fran at the Emerald Iguana Inn, Ojai, Cailfornia
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While Fran, Rick and Alex were relaxing next to Green Lake I scrambled up nearby Mt. Owen (13,058’). This is a panoramic view from the top.
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Panoramic view of the San Juan mountains looking east and south from the summit of Vestal Peak. Some of the peaks in this photo are the Trinities, Storm King, Mt. Silex, Jagged Mountain, Windom Peak, Sunlight Peak, Mt. Eolus, the Turret Needles, and Pigeon Peak.
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Martin leading the “easy” first pitch of the Red Wall.
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Martin following the Red Wall. Maybe we were out of shape, but it felt a lot harder than its grade (supposedly 5.10a). On the last two pitches I was reduced to shamelessly pulling up on gear at all the crux moves.
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Sunrise over the pond at Willowtail Springs
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Back in Durango, where Rick and I met up with Fran and Alex.
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Alex at Willowtail Springs, the B&B near Durango
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Rick and Alex next to a partly-frozen Green Lake (this was on July 14).
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If you look very carefully you can see Martin and Alex as well as Rick.
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These next few photos are from a day hike to Green Lake, near Crested Butte.
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Rick and Alex at the condo we rented in Crested Butte.
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The “Crystal Mill”, a much-photographed spot on the Crystal River that Kurt and I passed on the way back from climbing Snowmass Mountain. The building actually housed an air compressor, not a mill, but I guess there wouldn’t be as many tourists if they called it the “Crystal Compressor Station”.
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Kurt at the summit of Hagerman Peak (13,841’)
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Kurt on the knife-edge traverse between Snowmass Mountain and Hagerman Peak.
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Kurt on the knife-edge traverse between Snowmass Mountain and Hagerman Peak. For the most part this is straightforward scrambling, but there’s one very exposed section of low 5th-class climbing where we’d have been very happy to have brought a rope.
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Kurt at the summit of Snowmass Mountain (14,092’)
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Kurt Mensch on the southwest (“S”) ridge of Snowmass Mountain.
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An unnamed peak near Little Gem Lake on the approach to Snowmass Mountain.
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Another view of Rick descending the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak.
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Rick descending the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak.
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Longs Peak again, this time with Rick. We had a pleasant scramble up The Loft and Clark’s Arrow.
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Gordon at the top of the Red Wall.
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Looking back at Chasm Lake.
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Gordon Laurens next to Chasm Lake (Longs Peak), on our way to climb the Red Wall.
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Rick rappelling from The Matron
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Rick near the summit of The Matron.
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Rick on the first pitch of The Matron’s north face (5.6)
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Rick on the way to climb The Matron, one of the Flatirons near Boulder.
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Descending from the Crestone Needle. Fortunately it didn’t rain. On a previous trip I’d climbed up the descent route when it was wet, which made for lots of scary, slippery scrambling.
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Kurt near the summit of Crestone Needle, with the mist starting to swirl around us.
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Kurt on the first pitch of the Ellingwood Ledges.
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Crestone Needle (14,197’) in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Kurt Mensch and I climbed the Ellingwood Ledges, which is the right skyline. This was our third attempt on this route. The climbing isn’t very difficult (mostly 3rd and 4th class, with a couple of mid 5th-class pitches) but every time I’ve been in this area the weather’s been uncooperative.
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Fran at Willowtail Springs
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Back at the train stop at Elk Park.
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The Trinities (left) and Vestal Peak (right) from Vestal Basin. The “Wham” Ridge is the dividing line between light and shade on Vestal.
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Rick and Martin on the summit of Vestal Peak. In the background is Mt. Eoulus and Pigeon Peak. We had amazing weather throughout this trip – none of the summertime afternoon thunderstorms that one usually gets in the Colorado mountains.
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Rick higher up on the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak.
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Rick on the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak. This is a great climb on excellent quartzite. It’s mostly a 4th-class scramble with a few 5th-class moves.
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Rick approaching Vestal Basin, with Arrow Peak in the background.
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Rick crossing Elk Creek on the way to Vestal Basin.
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Arrow Peak (13,803’) (in the centre) and Vestal Peak (13,664’) (just peeking out to the left of Arrow). Our goal was the “Wham” Ridge on Vestal Peak.
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After Crested Butte we drove on to Durango, where Fran and Alex spent a couple of days at a nearby B&B while Rick and I took the steam train to go scrambling in the San Juan mountains. Here’s where the train dropped us off – it isn’t strictly necessary to take the train to get here, but it saves a day of hiking and it’s more interesting than driving.
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Mike and me at the Cline River Heliport, AB, about 40km east of Saskatchewan Crossing on the Thompson Highway. Mike wastes no time on these trips – he picked me up at Edmonton airport at 6pm the previous evening and we drove straight to the heliport, where we slept on the ground for a few hours before getting up at dawn to be ready for a 7am helicopter ride.
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Panoramic view of Mt. Shackleton and surrounding peaks from Tusk’s south ridge. The air was hazy throughout our trip because of forest fires in BC.
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The helicopter coming in to collect us, and a premature end to our trip. Mike’s enthusiasm for climbing the 11,000ers hasn’t diminished, however, and I’m sure I’ll be back here for another attempt on Tsar in a year or two.
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This is me a short distance from our camp. In the background is the toe of the Tsar Glacier and the north ridge of Tsar Mountain, the peak we’d hoped to climb. By now the weather was starting to deteriorate.
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By later afternoon was had it down the Shackleton Glacier on the far side of the icefield. Unfortunately, just a few minutes after regaining easy ground at the toe of the glacier, Mike slipped on a wet rock and twisted his ankle. He tried to hobble on, but it was soon apparent that he wasn’t in any shape to do any more climbing, and when we came across this flat expanse of gravel we set up camp. Here’s Mike calling the helicopter company on satellite phone the following morning to let them know we needed a ride out of here.
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Mike on the Clemenceau Glacier, with Tusk Peak and Mt. Clemenceau behind him. Crossing this glacier is a monotonous business – it’s an enormous flat expanse that goes on for miles and miles, and there’s almost nothing to gauge one’s progress.
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I felt badly in need of a rest day, but the forecast was for one more day of good weather before conditions deteriorated, so we decided to set out for the long hike across the Clemenceau glacier to the base of Tsar Mountain. Mike thought we could accomplish this in one day – I later learnt that most other parties spread this out over two or even three days. Here’s Mike crossing the Duplicate Glacier, with Mt. Shackleton in the distance.
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Mike rehydrating back at camp on the Tusk Glacier after almost 14 hours of climbing.
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Mike back on the Tusk Glacier on the way back to camp. In the backgound is Tusk Peak; our climb has taken up us the glacier in the middle and back left up the skyline ridge.
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Mike descending the summit ridge on Clemenceau. We were careful to keep a healthy distance from the edge of the ridge.
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Mike at the summit of Clemenceau. The summit ridge is heavily corniced and there’s a steep drop down the other side. Neither of us was interested in spending too much time up here.
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Our next objective was Mt. Clemenceau. We rose at 3:30am and by sunrise we were high up on the Tiger Glacier on Clemenceau’s west face. Here’s Mike with Tusk Peak behind him. The guidebook describes this as a “routine glacier ascent”, but it’s become quite challenging in recent years due to glacial recession, and some parties have been unable to find a way around the crevasses.
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Mike climbing up a short, steep snow gully that leads to Tusk’s south ridge.
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It was only 8:30am when we landed, so we decided to make the most of the day and head up Tusk Peak. Here’s Mike on the bare lower glacier.
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Our landing spot at 7,400’ on the Tusk Glacier between Mt. Clemenceau (in the background) and Tusk. This small, level patch of gravel was the only such spot for miles around – anywhere else and we’d have been camping on bare ice or slush.
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Aerial view of Mt. Clemenceau (3,658/12,001’). It’s not clear how the surveyors back in the 1920s arrived at that exact height.
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Aerial view of Mt. Alberta (3,619m/11,873’), the “hardest, loosest and scariest of all the 11,000ers” (according to Bill Corbett’s guidebook), and still on Mike’s to-do list.
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Once again it was a warm day and by early afternoon the snow-bridges had become very soft. This is a hidden crevasse that I plunged into with both feet, having done the very same thing just a few minutes earlier.
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On the way down we were able to avoid some of the snow-bridges on the Tiger Glacier by downclimbing the loose rock of Clemenceau’s west ridge. Eventually the ridge became too steep to downclimb easily, so we regained the Tiger Glacier and our ascent route. There was a lot of tedious zig-zagging back and forth to get around the crevasses.
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Me leading up to Clemenceau’s west ridge. The weather had been very warm and the snow bridges were in poor condition – one of my legs punched through when crossing the bergschrund.
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The view from our tent on Tusk Glacier. I’d brought a “bear vault” to keep our food safe from marauding wildlife, but up here we didn’t see another living thing, not even an insect.
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Mike at the summit of Tusk Peak, with Mt. Clemenceau in the background. It was barely than 24 hours since I’d left the office in Denver.
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Me climbing up Tusk’s south ridge. It was mostly easy scrambling on loose rock with occasional detours onto the snow, with a few 5th-class moves where the ridge steepens.
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Aerial view of Mt. Athabasca (3,491m/11,453’) as seen from the flight to the Clemenceau Icefield.
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Martin back at tree-line at Glacier Basin. Liberty Cap is just visible in the upper center.
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A final view of Mt. Rainier as seen from our flight from Seattle back to Denver.
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Back at the parking lot at White River. I’d gotten quite sunburnt on our long summit day and was now turning a bright lobster red.
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Chris and some other climbers descending the Inter Glacier below Camp Schurman. This is perfect bum-slide terrain and descent is quite rapid.
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One of the rules of climbing the Liberty Ridge is that literally everything has to be carried up and over the summit. The park rangers provide one with “blue bags” for this purpose. Fortunately there’s a disposal bin at Camp Schurman where one can lighten one’s pack.
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Martin, Kurt and Chris at Emmons Flats. The rangers’ shelter at Camp Schurman is just visible on the right-hand side of the photo.
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Chris and Kurt starting on the descent, with Mt. St. Helen’s on the horizon. Kurt was very tired and it was close to midnight before we reached the tent sites at Emmons Flats above Camp Schurman. (It was so late that other climbers were starting to wake up and prepare for the next day’s climb up the Emmons Glacier.) Fortunately the Emmons Glacier descent is much easier than the Liberty Ridge and there was a good track for us to follow.
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Chris and Kurt at the summit of Liberty Cap (14,112’) after 13 hours of climbing. Kurt had become quite dehydrated and was now moving quite slowly.
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Chris taking a break at one of the few level spots that we encountered.
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Kurt approaching the “Black Pyramid”, with the Curtis Ridge behind him.
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Chris setting out the following morning. Chris is an avid ski-mountaineer and did an excellent job of kicking steps for us. With the benefit of hindsight it would have been better to have started a couple of hours earlier, but we’d arrived at Thumb Rock quite late the previous evening and we wanted to have a decent night’s rest before the 4,000’ climb to the summit.
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Kurt and Chris at Thumb Rock. Luckily someone else had dug out a tent platform in the snow, because there wasn’t much level ground here.
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Chris negotiating a snow-bridge on the Carbon Glacier.
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Kurt and Chris at the edge of the Curtis Ridge, about to descend to the Carbon Glacier. The Liberty Ridge is the obvious line in the center of this photo. Thumb Rock is situated half-way up, where the bare rock of the lower ridge gives way to snow and ice (if you look carefully you can see the shadow cast by Thumb Rock).
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The sky cleared during the night and we rose the next morning to be greeted by our first view of the Liberty Ridge.
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Kurt and Chris at our first night’s camp, a pleasant spot on the broad lower shoulder of the Curtis Ridge.
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At St. Elmo’s Pass the clouds parted for a few minutes to give us a glimpse of the summit.
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Kurt and Chris toiling up the slopes above Glacier Basin on the way to St. Elmo’s Pass. It was overcast for much of the day, but there wasn’t any snow or rain.
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Kurt and Chris at the White River parking lot.
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Looking back at the mountain from the Glacier Basin trail.
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Chris and me in our tent at Emmons Flats the following morning. I’m looking very cheerful despite having slept only a few hours – the wind had picked up speed and the tent had flapped noisily all night long.
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Martin and Chris at the summit of Liberty Cap. About a mile away in the background is Rainier’s main summit, Columbia Crest (14,410’). Under good conditions it’s just an easy walk to get there, but it was now quite late and a fierce wind was blowing, so we decided to bypass the main summit and descend to Camp Schurman.
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Martin placing an ice-screw as he traverses beneath the seracs.
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This overhanging bergschrund was the final obstacle between us and the summit. Getting past here involved a traverse beneath seracs to reach the ice ramp glistening in the sun in the center of the photo, then a final pitch up the ice in the upper-right. You can see the footprints of climbers that had been here ahead of us.
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Above the “Black Pyramid” much of the snow cover gave way to bare glacial ice, so we took out the rope and started placing ice-screws. Here’s Martin leading the way.
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To the left of the Liberty Ridge is the Willis Wall, which is periodically swept by collapsing seracs. Fortunately the Liberty Ridge is out of the way of such danger.
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Unfortunately much of the snow cover had melted from the lower ridge, and underneath the snow the ridge consists of horribly loose volcanic rubble. This nasty-looking slope is what we had to climb up and across in order to gain the ridge crest. We stood here for a few minutes contemplating the debris that had evidently fallen from above, then unroped and crossed one by one, moving as quickly as we could. I was halfway across when Chris shouted out and I looked up to see beach-ball sized rocks tumbling down towards me. I jumped out of the way as fast as I could, but not quite fast enough to avoid some glancing blows. Fortunately the only damage was a couple of minor bruises and a broken wrist-watch strap.
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Google Earth image of Mt. Rainier. The approach to the Liberty Ridge starts at the White River trailhead (4,300’), off to the left of this image. We hiked up the Glacier Basin trail to St. Elmo’s Pass (7,400’), dropped down and crossed the Winthrop Glacier to the lower Curtis Ridge, where we made our first night’s camp at about 7,000’. From there we headed to the Carbon Glacier and up to the start of the Liberty Ridge. There’s an exposed bivouac site half-way up the ridge at Thumb Rock (10,300’), where we spent the second night. The climb ends at Liberty Cap (14,112’), from where we descended the Emmons Glacier to spend a night at Camp Schurman (9,500’). On the fourth day we descended the Inter Glacier and hiked out via the Glacier Basin trail.
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Kurt and me following Chris above the bergschrund, with the Carbon Glacier many thousands of feet below. From here we had one last pitch of technical climbing, which looked like it would be a short, easy ice bulge. I grabbed a few ice-screws and started leading, but I should have remembered that “ice is always steeper than it looks” – the angle turned out to be 60-65 degrees, and it was over a full rope-length of climbing before I reached easier-angled snow below the summit.
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Martin leading up to the start of the traverse beneath the seracs.
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Martin climbing up snow slopes on the upper ridge.
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Martin approaching the “Black Pyramid” on the upper ridge, with the Carbon Glacier far below.
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Another view of our tent at Thumb Rock.
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Martin leading the way on the Carbon Glacier. It can be a challenge to find a route around the crevasses, but fortunately another group had been up there a few days earlier and we were able to follow the remnants of their footprints.
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Martin and Kurt negotiating crevasses on the Winthrop Glacier.
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Martin and Kurt on the snowfield at Glacier Basin.
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That evening Rick and I joined Fran and Alex in Frisco. Here’s Rick and Buffalo Mountain as seen from the condo we rented.
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The east face of James Peak. If you look carefully you can see two climbers making their way up the snow in the center.
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Kurt in front of the east face of James Peak. “Shooting Star” is the left-leaning snow gully that ends right at the summit.
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Kurt and Chris preparing for the ski down Apache; Navajo Peak in the background.
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Chris putting on his crampons at the base of the Apache Couloir. In the background is Navajo Peak; if you look carefully you can see some skiers making their way up the snowfield below Navajo.
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Chris in front of Shoshoni Peak.
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Navajo, Apache and Shoshoni Peaks as seen from Lake Isabelle. The Apache Couloir is the hour-glass shaped snowfield in the upper center.
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Kurt and Chris on the way to Apache Peak.
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Martin climbing across Broadway
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Martin having made it down safely from the summit of Palmrya Peak, Telluride
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Martin in the Notch Couloir, with Chasm Lake far below. This is the last photo from this trip. We made up to the Notch, but it was getting late, so we skipped the summit and instead dropped down the other side of the Notch and headed back by way of Clark's Arrow and The Loft. We got back to the car at 8:30pm after a 14-hour day.
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Martin approaching the summit of Mt. Alice; McHenry's Peak in the background
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The Hourglass Ridge on Mt. Alice. There's a bit of third-class scrambling where the ridge narrows in the center of the photo.
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Early in the morning on the way to Mt. Alice. We were expecting a long day – it's a 20-mile round trip and 5,000' of elevation gain from the winter trailhead.
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Skiing at Silverton
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Martin and Rick at Silverton
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Rick at Telluride
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Rick at Telluride
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Rick at Telluride; Mt. Wilson in the background
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At the top of Palmyra Peak, Telluride. It's an hour-long hike with 1,500' of elevation gain to get to this point, but the reward is a snow-filled couloir that drops straight from the summit.
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Rick at Telluride
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Bill Wright on the summit of Mt. Alice; Chief's Head, Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker in the background
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Bill Wright on the summit of Mt. Alice
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Gordon leading up into the Notch Couloir. We were hoping there would be some good ice up here, but all we found was a nasty mix of unconsolidated snow on top of bare rock.
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Gordon Laurens crossing a frozen Chasm Lake. Our route took us up Lamb's Slide (snow gully that's hidden from view behind a rock buttress), across Broadway (snow-covered ledge in the upper center) and up into the Notch Couloir (snow-filled gully leading to the notch in the skyline).
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View from Lion Lake, near Mt. Alice
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Gordon Laurens at Chasm View, on the way to climb the Notch Couloir on Longs Peak.![Image-019.jpg](./galleries/2009_Feb_Mar/Image-019.jpg "Image-019.jpg (7565 visits) The East face of Mt. Alice. We went up the right-hand skyline (the "Hourglass Ridge").")
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The East face of Mt. Alice. We went up the right-hand skyline (the "Hourglass Ridge").
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Alex at Arapahoe Basin
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Panoramic view of Mt. Sneffels and the Dallas Divide between Telluride and Ouray (click on the arrows at the bottom of the photo to scroll left or right)
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Martin climbing across Broadway
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Martin climbing across Broadway
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Rick at Vail – January 2009
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Olive at Simon's Town – January 2009
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Fran and Alex – Christmas dinner, 2008
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Hannah and David at Avontuur – January 2009
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Jan, Bram, Ismo and Olive at Avontuur – January 2009
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Left to right: Simon, Kim Hough, Bram, Olive, Hannah, David, Jan Hough and Ismo at Avontuur, near Stellenbosch – January 2009
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Alex and Rick – Christmas dinner, 2008
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Hannah and David in Somerset West – January 2009
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Alex and Rick – Christmas Day, 2008
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Rick and Alex in Kalispell, Montana
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Fran and Alex on the trail back from Gunsight Lake.
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Martin rinsing off in Gunsight Lake. The lake wasn't much warmer than the patch of snow behind it.
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Martin scrambled up Mt. Jackson while Fran and Alex went for a hike to Gunsight Notch. Here's Martin at the summit. It was a nice view but the mountain isn't much more than a giant pile of loose scree that makes for very tedious climbing.
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Gunsight Lake and Gunsight Notch, Glacier National Park.
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Alex, Martin and Fran at the campsite at Gunsight Lake, Glacier National Park. We spent a couple of nights here.
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View from the trail to Gunsight Lake, Glacier National Park. On the left is Mt. Jackson and on the right is Fusillade Mountain.
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Alex on the trail to Gunsight Lake, Glacier National Park
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Martin at Deadwood Falls, Glacier National Park
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Panoramic view from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park
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Alex and Fran, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park.
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Martin and Alex, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana.
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Alex and Martin at Johnson Canyon, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia.
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Alex and Martin at the Timeberline Lodge, Banff, with Mt. Rundle behind us.
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Alex and Fran at breakfast at the Timberline Lodge, Banff, Alberta
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Panoramic view from the summit of Mt. Jackson
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Camp locations
Google Earth image showing the location of campsites on the upper part of the mountain.
Location map
In case your North American geography is a bit hazy, this is a Google Earth image showing the mountain's location.
Talkeetna, AK
Back in Talkeetna, where all of a sudden it was springtime.
Summit Day
These are some lucky charms that accompanied my to the summit — they're glass beads that my daughter Alex had given me before the trip to replace a pair of broken pull-tabs on my jacket zipper.
Talkeetna, AK
Norm and me back on the ground at Talkeetna Airport.
Flight to Talkeetna
Suddenly the glaciers were behind us and we were flying over rivers and bright green forests.
Flight to Talkeetna
Some unnamed summits on the way back to Talkeetna.
Flight to Talkeetna
The lower Kahiltna Glacier as seen from the air.
Kahiltna Base Camp
Loading the plane for the flight back to Talkeetna.
Kahiltna Base Camp
One of the camp manager's duties at Kahiltna Base Camp is to relay the daily forecast from the National Weather Service. As can be seen the manager didn't think very highly of these forecasts.
Kahiltna Base Camp
We reached Kahiltna Base Camp in one long day from 14,200', a journey that had taken us five days on the way up. Here's Gordon crawling out of the tent the next morning.
Kahiltna Glacier
A final view of Denali from the Kahiltna Glacier.
Kahiltna Glacier
Norm on the lower Kahiltna Glacier on the way back to base camp.
Squirrel Hill
Norm descending Squirrel Hill on the way back to Kahiltna Base. He still hadn't completely acclimatized and at first was moving quite slowly, but as we descended and the air grew thicker his energy returned and soon there was no stopping him.
14,200' Camp
The next day Norm and I rested at 14,200' while Gordon made another summit attempt, but it was too windy high up and he turned around at 17,000'. The following day we packed up camp and started on our journey back to Kahiltna Base.
Summit Day
Here's a belated victory photograph, taken back at 14,200' camp. Descent from 20,320' was much faster than the ascent, and I returned to camp at about 8:15pm, a 12-hour round trip. Down here it was calm, sunny and warm (at least until the sun went down), a stark contrast to conditions at the summit.
Summit Day
I reached the summit at about 4:45pm and stayed for just a few minutes as the weather was deteriorating rapidly. It was bitterly cold and I only managed to get this one mediocre photo before my camera battery froze. Unfortunately Gordon was still several hours behind me and he had to turn around on account of the deteriorating weather.
Summit Day
Here at last is a view of the summit, now just a few hundred yards away on the snowy ridge crest. A fierce wind was now blowing and the clouds were starting to move in.
Summit Day
It stormed for two days and then the weather forecast called for a one-day lull before the winds picked up again. We didn't think we could reach the summit in a day from 14,200' by climbing the West Rib, but Gordon and I thought we might have a chance if we went up the easier West Buttress route. This is a bit unorthodox — most parties camp at 17,000' on the West Buttress before attempting the summit — but we were now well-acclimatized after spending almost a week at or above 14,200'. The day dawned clear and calm, and I left camp at about 8:15am. Gordon followed a couple of hours later; he had hesitated because he'd developed frostnip in a couple of his fingers a few days earlier and was worried about making things worse. Here's the view looking down at the 14,200' camp from several thousand feet higher up.
Summit Day
This is the view from about 17,000'. The route goes along the rocky ridge crest, then crosses the snow slope behind that to reach the low point on the skyline ("Denali Pass"). From Denali Pass it goes up the other side of the right-hand skyline. The actual summit is hidden from view.
14,200' Camp
After a second night at 16,200' on the West Rib we moved down to 14,200' because the weather forecast was calling for a storm to move in, and the 14,200' camp is much more sheltered than the camp on the West Rib. (We were able to access the weather forecast by satellite phone.) It's just as well we descended, because Norm was having trouble with the altitude at 16,200' and was starting to exhibit some symptoms of HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema).
West Rib
We camped for a night on the West Rib at 16,200', then Gordon and I attempted the summit the next day (Norm decided to stay behind in camp). However, we found we weren't properly acclimatized and were moving very slowly, and Gordon was also having trouble keeping his feet warm. By mid-afternoon we'd only reached 17,500', so we decided to retreat.
West Rib
Mt. Hunter, the Kahiltna Glacier and Mt. Foraker as seen from the crest of the West Rib at about 16,000'.
West Rib
Originally we'd intended to spend a few days acclimatizing at 14,200' and then descend to Ski Hill Camp to climb the entire West Rib, but because of bad weather we were now several days behind schedule and we decided our chances of success would be higher if we simply ascended the upper West Rib from 14,200' (this is known as the "West Rib Cut-Off"). Here we are on our way to a camp at 16,200' on the upper West Rib. In the background is the Kahiltna Glacier and Mt. Foraker.
14,200' Camp
Norm, me and Gordon at the 14,200' camp.
14,200' Camp
The camp at 14,200' is on a broad, flat expanse of glacier, and at times there can be over 100 climbers here. During the main climbing season (May and June) a full-time doctor and park ranger are stationed here — these are their tents. In the background is Mt. Hunter.
Windy Corner
Rounding Windy Corner on our second carry to 14,200'. In the background the right-hand skyline is the upper half of the West Rib. The actual summit of Denali is just out of sight.
Squirrel Hill
Re-ascending Squirrel Hill with the rest of our gear on our second carry to 14,200'.![11,200' Camp](./galleries/Denali/Image_049.jpg "11,200' Camp (6097 visits) Gordon about to deposit the contents of our "Clean Mountain Can" (CMC) in an officially-de...")
11,200' Camp
Gordon about to deposit the contents of our "Clean Mountain Can" (CMC) in an officially-designated crevesse. If you want to know what a CMC is... umm, well, the National Park Service has an informative brochure on the topic.
Squirrel Hill
Descending Squirrel Hill on our way back to 11,200' after our first carry to 14,200'.![Windy Corner](./galleries/Denali/Image_038.jpg "Windy Corner (5199 visits) A couple of other teams on their way to the camp at 14,200'. This spot is known as "Windy Corn...")
Windy Corner
A couple of other teams on their way to the camp at 14,200'. This spot is known as "Windy Corner" on account of 90 m.p.h. winds encountered by the first ascent team in 1951.
11,200' Camp
Norm and Gordon at the 11,200' camp. In the background are Mt. Foraker and Mt. Crosson (12,800').
11,200' Camp
We left our toboggans at 11,200' and from then on carried all our gear on our backs, which meant that we had to do two trips to move everything to the next camp at 14,200'. The snow slope in the background is "Motorcycle Hill" and above that is "Squirrel Hill". The cliffs beyond that are the West Buttress proper.
11,200' Camp
Gordon relaxing in our tent at the 11,200' camp.
11,200' Camp
Norm at the 11,200' camp. We were tent-bound for a day on account of snowfall.
11,200' Camp
Our next camp was at 11,200' near the head of the Kahiltna Glacier. By the time we got there it was starting to snow. Gordon decided this was a good time to tuck into a freeze-dried ice-cream bar (yes really).
Kahiltna Glacier
Passing some old campsites at about 9,500' on the Kahiltna Glacier, above Ski Hill. As you can see the weather was starting to deteriorate.
Ski Hill Camp
Denali as seen from Ski Hill camp (it's the big peak in the center-right). This was our first view of the mountain — until now it had been hidden by clouds. The West Rib is below and to the right of the summit, and is just catching the sun on its crest. Before attempting the West Rib we were planning to acclimatize on the West Buttress. This route goes out of sight to the left of this photo before doubling back to the right.![Ski Hill Camp](./galleries/Denali/Image_027.jpg "Ski Hill Camp (5373 visits) Our first campsite was at 7,800' at the base of a slope known as "Ski Hill". At this and ...")
Ski Hill Camp
Our first campsite was at 7,800' at the base of a slope known as "Ski Hill". At this and all other campsites it was important to have snow walls around the tent to protect against high winds. In the background are Mt. Hunter (14,570 feet) and Mt. Frances.
Kahiltna Glacier
Norm and Gordon on the lower Kahiltna Glacier. We each started with about 120 lbs of gear, which is much more than can be carried in a backpack, so half our gear was towed behind us on toboggans. Down here the surface of the glacier is quite featureless and its immense scale is difficult to grasp. It's actually a couple of miles wide and dozens of miles long. One walks for hours and hours without the mountains in the background seeming to get any closer or further away.
Kahiltna Base
A couple of large groups had landed just before us and they were getting ready to head up the Kahiltna Glacier. Actually the first mile is downhill, not up. This is called "Heartbreak Hill", a name whose reason becomes apparent on the return journey. The peak in the backgound is Mt. Frances (10,450 feet).
Kahiltna Base Camp
From Talkeetna we flew to Kahiltna Base Camp, located at about 7,000 feet on the east fork of the Kahiltna Glacier, a location sometimes known as "Kahiltna International Airport". During the climbing season a full-time camp manager and park ranger are stationed here. The peak in the background is Mt. Foraker (17,400 feet), the second-highest summit in the Alaska range. You'll see lots of pictures of Foraker on these pages.
Talkeetna, AK
Norm and Gordon in front of the plane that took us to mountain.
Talkeetna, AK
Gordon and Norm at Talkeetna airport. From Talkeetna there are two ways to get to the base of the mountain — a 60 mile hike across the tundra, or a 45-minute ride on a plane equipped with retractable skis. Like almost everyone else we opted for the latter. The stooped figure in the background with a black hat and blue jacket is the legendary alpinist Fred Beckey. Fred has been climbing since the early 1940's and he's still active at age 85.
Talkeetna, AK
From Anchorage we drove about two hours north to Talkeetna (population 772), the nearest town to the mountain.
Talkeetna, AK
Norm and Gordon at the Talkeetna ranger station. It's necessary to register here before climbing the mountain.
Anchorage, AK
Norm and Gordon at breakfast at the Marriott Courtyard in Anchorage.
Denver Airport
Fran and me at Denver Airport, just before my flight to Anchorage, AK.