Trip Report
North Fork of the Mendenhall Glacier
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Monday December 1, 2014 11:33am
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Another quick one. In on Thursday morning and out on Saturday afternoon.
Came close to getting up the couloir that separates Fourth and Main Mendenhall Towers. Near the top of the couloir the climbing became to engaging for me to commit to unroped... So I bailed.
Got up early the next day and skied across the glacier to the West Face (IV WI4 M4) of Rhino Peak. Conditions were perfect. Six hours up and down. A great route on a beautiful face. Rumor has it that it was climbed in the 80's but I couldn't find anything on it. Skied back to me tent, called for a pickup, and had a beer in my favorite Juneau bar an hour later.
This year I was thankful that helicopter pilots fly on Thanksgiving mornings.
johnkelley
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About the Author
johnkelley is a climber from Anchorage Alaska. |
Comments
JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Thanks for the beautiful and compelling photos.
John
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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And the sickbird award goes to...
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Author's Reply
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Dec 1, 2014 - 12:31pm PT
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Bruce it's been a warm season so far. We had our first big wind event (Taku Winds) on Wednesday/Thursday. It was blowing 30 mph steady with gust of 60+ mph when we landed. Yeah those pilots are pretty amazing. By Friday morning it was calm again just like Jim Woodmancy (Mountain Weather) predicted. The snow was almost hard enough to walk on... I'm still surprised how often the conditions are good down here compared to Southcentral.
"Good conditions" for me would be a stable snow pack with minimal avy danger. For it to be good it's got to be hard enough neve/ice that I rarely have to swing more then once. Minimal, to no spindrift, no wind...
I'm too chicken to go under that serac. It's tempting with that 800' strip of water ice feeding out of it but I've seen it cut loose a few times. I'm saving that one for a time when I really don't care...
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Looks very cool, TYFP. Too bad you didn't find a partner. Is there no climbers in the town where you work or something?
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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John that is very cool. It looks like a beautiful place. Just out of curiosity what does it cost for the helicopter to the towers and how much stuff can you take?
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Author's Reply
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Dec 1, 2014 - 12:51pm PT
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Well Juneau's nice but it's small. There's a few other climbers around but it seems like our schedules haven't worked out when the weather's been good...
Mike it's not cheap. Temsco charges a 1/2 hour min. The have a Hughes 500 that charters for $1,100 an hour. So you can get dropped off for a little under $600, one way. It seats two plus gear. It'll pretty much carry whatever you want.
If the wind is really cranking they'll want to fly an AStar. It's a bigger machine with more power and does much better if it's really blowing. It'll seat 4 plus pretty much whatever you want to take. It goes for $1,600 an hour. The same 1/2 min applies.
The cheapest option, other then walking, is with Ward Air. The have a Beaver that they put on skis in the winter. It's about 1/2 of what a helicopter runs but can't fly in the wind.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Author's Reply
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Dec 1, 2014 - 03:25pm PT
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Here's a small sample of what's access able within a half hour...
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lars johansen
Trad climber
West Marin, CA
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Impressive John, thanks for posting.
lars
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
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Oh. Just takes my breath away. Beautiful.
Susan
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Awesome. All of it. That blue ice under the serac looks sick.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Author's Reply
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Dec 1, 2014 - 06:49pm PT
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The blue ice under the seracs would be a good place to disappear forever...
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Jay Hack
Trad climber
Detroit, Michigan
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Way to bring on the STOKE! Nice work and those pictures just blew my mind. Good way to end my day.
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Stellar mountains sir!!!
Thank you!!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Thanks for sharing your spectacular fun with us!
I bet the beer tasted extree good after that outing!
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Ed H
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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Love these Alaska reports! Thanks!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Beautiful shots and climbs - thanks for sharing.
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RyanD
climber
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Great TR John, sounds like a nice casual weekend in Alaska!
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briham89
Big Wall climber
santa cruz, ca
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Nice!
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