ChillyChugach

Skybuster/Ice Cream Cone seen from Mt. Significant, January 2019.  LONG lens!    I remember the first time I saw it. Eastbound on the Glenn, just before passing Kings Mountain and Chickaloon, on a clear, flat section of road, I happened to glance south, and there it was, standing tall in the distance. I couldn't take my eyes off, and couldn't help but wonder: did that insane tower of rock have a name, and what would it be like to stand on its incredible, precipitous summit? Since I wasn't driving, I easily answered the first question with Google.    That inspirational behemoth was named Skybuster.    Answering the second question, however, would have to wait.    Several years and lots of beta gathering later, it was time to try. Since the peak is so remote, it seemed a good idea to make this our first fly in approach. With excitement and some apprehension, we loaded up at Merrill field and flew (choppered!) out. WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA Sitting in t...

Ridge conditions November 2018.  Point 3920 on left, Indianhouse NW ridge on right.     I 'd attempted this ridge last November, but a late start and general unpreparedness saw me turning back at the first gendarme.  I vowed to return, and almost exactly a year later, I found myself parked at Fall's Creek and hiking up point 3920.  This time, it was 8am, and I had ice tools and a rope. Top of 3920, looking towards Indianhouse.  First gendarme is center left.     R eaching the top of point 3920, I clipped on crampons and took out the tools.  After descending to the ridge proper, I quickly made my way to the top of that first gendarme, encountering light mixed climbing on the way up.  At the top, I surveyed the options.  A rappel was pretty much mandatory from here - downclimbing would have been nutty and I had, after all, lugged 60m of 9.4 all this way...  Maybe I need to invest in a lighter rope ;) Using the tools...

Mt. Wickersham Southeast gully/valley to south ridge   Class 2+ with glacier travel 25 Miles - 13h 25m ( GPX )     I 'd been scheming about this peak for nearly a year - plotting on Google earth, reading through old Scree articles, and bugging Wayne Todd without mercy, yet I still didn't know quite what to expect.  The obvious route seemed to be the southeast gully, but I could find little beta on it.  No problem!  Sometimes it's more exciting to head into the unknown. Wickersham hiding behind a cloud    The forecast had taken a turn for the better, and so on 7/24 Wednesday night, I found myself sleeping in my Honda Civic in the Matanuska glacier parking lot, true hobo style. Civic lifestyle!  It's not quite van lifestyle, but somebody has to live it!    After a 3am coffee, I made my way out onto the glacier, or at least, I tried to.  Being pretty unfamiliar with the Matanuska, I attempted to ge...