Trip Report
Mt. Frances, Bacon and Eggs, Radio Control Tower-Alaska Range
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Monday November 3, 2014 9:57pm
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Ryan Irvin and I spent a month on the Kahiltna Glacier in perfect weather from April 23rd to May 23rd.
We climbed Mt. Francis by the east ridge, (with a partial snowboard descent) Radio Control Tower by a technical-seldom climbed line, snowboarded steep spines and couliors on Annie's Ridge, Southwest ridge of Mt. Francis, and bacon and eggs on the micro-moonflower.
It was all in all a pretty productive trip for this relative newcomer to alpine climbing. I did my first snow and ice climb (Mt. Hood's south side) not more than 4 years ago (though I grew up in the snow and charging around the Sierra Nevada year round)and my first real rock climbing experiences not more than 3 years ago.
Here is a bunch of pictures... ryanirvinphotography.com
Spantiks on the plane save on baggage fees
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Beer by the river
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TAT and Paul Roderick, Denali and Hunter
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Base Camp locals
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We went up a big coulior to access the east ridge of Mt. Francis, different than the normal route.
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East Ridge crux
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snow bollard rap
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Snowboarding down the east ridge coulior
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Our line on radio control tower
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M4/5 crux
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on top
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Mt. Francis base climb
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steep powder snowboarding
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There were some super pro alpinists there (kyle dempster and scott adamson) and they were impressed by our snowboarding, was a nice ego boost.
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We rode both these couliors
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Mt Francis SW ridge (3,800', 5.8, 60 degree snow and ice)
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We bivied half way up
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rock step
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The absolute worst part of the entire trip.
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Almost done...but not before one more bivy (thigh deep snow slowed us doooown)
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on the summit, note the clumping on thy boots,
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Bacon and eggs
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We cut our trip short 3 days on the glacier, and we got out just in time. 60 mph winds and 5 feet of snow came in over the next 5 days, our friend Bobby got stuck in the ruth. TAT gave us an hour to tear down our camp we had been in for 23 days...we barely made it in time!
They picked us up with two tourists, the look on their faces when they asked "whats in the plastic buckets?" was priceless. I don't think they thought they would be on vacation with 5 gallons of human feces..
Talkeetna was a totally different place when we got back!
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christoph benells
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About the Author
christoph benells is a trad climber from Tahoma, Ca. |
Comments
bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Hell yes! Good stuff from AK.
I drew the short straw and carried out the bucket from the Ruth once.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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That is awesome. Wish I had more alpine close to home.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Totally cool. I love those Alaska oxbow rivers.
Any thoughts on split board vs other human powered ways of getting snow board up there? I have a hard time on a split board in less than ideal conditions, or that's the excuse that I use.
Thanks for posting.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Y'all are sick. In the head. Plumb loco. Woop woop!
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Stunning photos, thanks!!!
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
The fake McCoy from nevernever land.
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AHhh, the real mountains.... someday.
Cheers.
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Aerili
climber
Project Y
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Sweet TR. Really great photos. That crack climbing shot looked cold as f*#k.
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Stevee B
Trad climber
Oakland, CA
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I wanna party with you, cowboy.
Great TR. Dreaming of getting after something like this next summer. Been using my Spatniks with Karakorams and Sparks for the last few years but made the TLT6 / Phantom plunge this season. Getting fired up and your TR is pushing it over the top. Very encouraging to see you guys getting that done. Congrats on getting the wink from Dempster & Co.
Hope to see you in our local hills this winter!
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
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That is some of the most stunning scenery I have seen!
So glad you got out before the big winds and snow.
A bucket of feces. Classic. But it could have been!
Susan
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melski
Trad climber
bytheriver
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one of the best ways to get up and down in the coolest place on earth;[litteraly] good on ya,,your window looked great for weather,the clumping on the boots surprised me ,what i'm trying to say is the range has the best snow ever,,no layers,,just consistant fluff,,if you go early enough,,doesnt get any better,,thanks for the share,,
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johntp
Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
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BBST
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Damn good content. Nice trip. Thank you for sharing and the tip on the boots.
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johntp
Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
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Too soon to drop off the front page. The pics are worth the price of admission.
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LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
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thanks for taking the time to post this tr.. can't help but "worry" re your avi preparedness .. Great trip! thanks again
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christoph benells
Trad climber
Tahoma, Ca
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Author's Reply
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Nov 5, 2014 - 08:41pm PT
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Not sure why you'd be worried about our "Avy preparedness", you should be more worried about our ability to extract each other out of a crevasse with a 2 man team.
After my lifetime spent on snow I was very "prepared" to decide what was a safe slope and what was not.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the report.
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ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
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Shweeet ! Way to get after it , great pics
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An overview of the line. Photo: Joe Puryear
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