Black Cap Trip Report April 27, 28 (and 29 for Joe and Brad), 2007

Lalida, Joe, Brad, Marcelo and Chad left Fairbanks on Friday morning with partly cloudy skies and more clouds to the south. We started up Castner Creek and soon after, Marcelo’s ski binding started having issues. A field repair allowed him to make it almost to the M’Ladies branch but compromised performance and lack of confidence in the repairs life span sent Marcelo skiing back to the road. He hitched a speedy ride (how fast was he going?) back to Fairbanks.

The rest of us continued on in building clouds and passing snow showers up to an area on a medial moraine below Thayer Hut. We roped up and made our way up to some island like moraines below the O’Brien Ice fall. We scouted out several decent tent sites and probed around for the crevasses that weren’t obvious. The weather up where we were continued to change for the snowier while it looked like there were sun breaks and clearer weather lower down. We decided on a 4am wake up.

The next morning brought no to very low visibility (could not see the ice
fall) with light wind and snow. The weather showed no improvement at 5am or 7. We then had a restful morning, sleeping until 9:30AM. We conferred on a plan and decided to head down the glacier and check out the conditions there. During breakfast and packing we were visited by several species of birds. I have checked with an avid birder as to what may be hanging out regularly in such an inhospitable environment but the species he named (snow buntings and gray crowned rosy finch) definitely were not what we saw. My identification with the help of a Sibley’s guide is a ruby crowned kinglet that was just passing through. This solitary bird hopped under our vestibule and perched on my boots and had no problem with a roaring stove. It left and came back several times into our vestibule and then flew over to Joe and Brads tent, first entering the vestibule and then flying into the tent to perch on Brad’s sleeping bag while Joe was relaxing right next to it. Next we heard the honking of geese (so we thought) until we saw 2 swans flying low across the glacier and then disappearing into the low clouds. A minute later we heard the honking again and a small flock of about 10 or 15 swans flew over heading northwest. Spring is definitely here. While we packed up there were breaks in the weather with periods of blue skies that allowed some glimpses of our original objective. There were still heavy clouds to the south and snow showers that were moving through so we stuck to our descent plan.

We skied roped down the glacier to the base of the slope up to Thayer Hut. We decided to go up and pay a visit. We climbed (and crawled) through soft snow up to the hut plateau and were happy to relax and have a hot lunch in the huts fine accommodations. After eating, doing some stove maintenance and reading the hut logs we decided that it was time to redefine our objectives. For Lalida and I this was skiing back to the road and returning to Fairbanks. Joe and Brad decided to scramble up Mary’s rocks and spend the night at the hut. Lalida and I stopped and visited with Matt and Andrew who were camped at the M’ladies intersection. Traveling the lower portion of the glacier and creek was a battle with the collapsing snow. There were several sections that required skis to be removed as well. Melt water was pooling on the creek’s ice surface. We made it back to the truck at 9:30 or 10pm and were in Fairbanks before 1am. Joe and Brad were back early Sunday afternoon.

--Chad

April 21-22 2007

Roster:
Max, Simon, Steven J, Matt K, Christie, Brad, Joe, Marcelo, Lalida and Christian T.

Ten hardy souls convened last Saturday morning at 7am and piled into 3 vehicles for the drive to the Deltas. Skies were clear and the sunlit panorama of the Hayes Range made for an inspiring drive along the Tanana.

2 cars were already at Michael Creek when we arrived. Erin and Cynthia, I learned, were going for the Silvertip-in-a-day challenge.

It was warm in the sun, but the snow had firmed up nicely overnight. We enjoyed quick travel up the creek canyon in cool shade. Lower than normal snowpack made the steep sections of the canyon difficult to ski up. There were boulders and ice flows we had to sidestep or bootpack around. Open waterholes didn't cause any trouble on the way in.

We passed a day-hiker in crampons who had reached the divide and was on his way back to the road. He saw our posse of bad-ass looking climbers and commented the AAC was much bigger now than it used to be.

The canyon opened up and shirts came off as the Michael Creek basin turned reflector oven. Blue skies, sheep tracks, hard packed, fast travelin'. Except of course the cakes of snow on our skins that felt like walkin' on high heels. We camped on a moraine knoll beneath the headwall of Michael Creek. Spirited diggers (Matt, Christie and Marcelo) roughed out a do-nut shaped kitchen in a jiffy once the tents were up.

The faint barking of dogs could occasionally be heard from the divide. The steep hard snow of the headwall proved too much for Erin's pooches and the women left them tied to a thumb of rock while they spent the day on Silvertip. Matt, Brad and Simon later checked on them and gave them re-assurance. Apparently one of Erin's dogs was freaked enough by the slick slope, that it repeatedly climbed above and sat on the feet of the ascending women. It must have forgotten to sharpen its claws before leaving town.

After a snack and some water, some of us followed Simon's lead and skied up to the divide for a run or two on steep sun-softened snow. Only in the late afternoon did the wind-hammered, crusted slopes corn up for good skiing. The divide offered amazing views of Silvertip: its imposing mass rose above the Jarvis in warm, bright, afternoon light.

Erin and Cynthia collected their dogs and passed us in the night on their way down Michael Creek. They had made it to within a stone's throw of the summit before calling it on account of the hour.

DAY OF THREE SUNRISES:

A bank of high clouds moving in from the west disappeared by morning and the day dawned crystal clear. We woke up at 4:15 am and rallied up the headwall a couple hours later.

Sun crested the ridge linking Silvertip to Item: its bright rays streamed into our eyes and warmed our faces. We pulled out axes and descended a face of steep hard snow to the Jarvis. Crampons were essential and an unarrested fall here could have caused a world of hurt. The snow-starved, wind-scoured area showed more bare patches and scree slopes than usual.

(NOTE) The route we took over the divide (at the southernmost saddle) is not recommended during times of heightened avalanche risk, or with unseasoned partners. Instead cross the divide 400m further north where it is less steep on either side.

Down at the base of the slope, we roped up and crossed the debris strewn run-out zone of the NW ridge of Item Peak. Tumbling cornices had triggered an impressive slab, and the tall (weeks old) crown gleamed in the morning light on the face above us. The sun hit us again before we skied down across the shadowed flats of the Jarvis Glacier.

We crossed its wind scoured, eroded surface and cached our skis at a rock outcrop at the base of the SW side of the mountain. Ropes went back into packs and crampons went back on the boots. The sun rose a final time over the Jarvis headwall and we started up the long snow climb. Fresh wind from the east kept us cool and we gained elevation rapidly, keeping to hard snow and avoiding the rocks. As we climbed, the high peaks of the Hayes Range rose ever more prominently off our left shoulders. From this angle they looked like a chaotic jumble of wind scoured rock capped by
high ice clad summits.

We had a snack on the broad, west shoulder of Silvertip and got psyched up for the steeper ground above. Brad continued to lead the way. Is he just super-fit, or does he just not stop as I do, to take a million photos and enjoy the view, chat, etc. Up we went, climbing snow on the left of the rocky ridge, keeping off the glacier (to our north) which tumbles down the west face of Silvertip.

Our group began to string out as the summit neared. I kept company with the back of the pack. The mountain's size earned the respect of our "stragglers" in the form of tired thighs and quick breaths.

It's hard to hurry when the entire Delta Range is spread out in crystal clarity before your eyes. Rainbow, Institute, Snow White, M'Ladies, White Princess, Black Cap, Old Snowy, and so many others I don't know by name. To top it off, the giant backlit silhouettes of volcanoes Drum, Wrangell and Sanford rose up behind the Gulkana peaks, across the Copper Basin.

We strolled up the smooth SW shoulder of Silvertip, past rime encrusted towers and gained the final rooftop ridge. The rest of the group had already visited the top and were lunching out of the brisk wind. Matt pointed out a faint orange-ish thing on the western horizon which could have been a distant cloud, but on closer inspection was obviously the twin peaks of Denali. A rare sighting from this far east!

The summit itself is only big enough to crowd 3 or 4 people on. We lingered in the cool wind, enjoying the view in all directions. Item Peak cast its jagged shadow on the Jarvis glacier. A large hanging glacier clung to its shady north wall while cornices hung over long couloirs snaking down its north face. It was only 1pm and we still had a big day ahead of us: the final destination being home to Fairbanks.

The descent was fast. We felt more confident on the steep ground having already come up it. We all skinned back across the Jarvis and cramponed carefully up the steep snow slope to the divide. Snow balled up our spikes on the descent to camp. Simon skied it, as usual...

After a big brew-up and ravenous snacking session we broke camp and began the ski out. This is where the spectrum of skiing abilities in our group became apparent. The hard chargers cruised down valley while the more tentative were challenged by variable snow conditions and tired legs. After experimenting with too much glide, and hauling themselves back up after too many tumbles, they put the skins on and toured steadily down the valley after the others.

Warm temps had raised and clouded the creek waters. Snow had caved in around some water holes and passage was tricky. The descent through the canyon is either a two hour horror show or joyous two-mile terrain park depending on your outlook. Either way, the last half mile was crap as the snow collapsed beneath our skis and water filled the tracks. We all felt, this might have been the last good weekend to access Silvertip via the Michael Creek canyon.

The sun set on us in the parking lot, and after raiding the Texaco minimart in Delta, we rolled into UAF at 11pm Sunday night.

Max Kaufman
Alaska Alpine Club

Disclaimer:
I meant to keep this short, but had too much fun recounting the trip. Read at your own risk. Do not read while operating machinery or driving a car.

Further evidence that if you want to go climb in the Deltas, don't pay attention to the weather forecast. JUST GO!

Four of us, Mike M, Chad D, Marcelo W and Max K left fairbanks last Friday morning. Things looked grim and gray, and got worse as we drove to Delta. A thin cover of fresh spring snow made the roads wet. Trucks and trailers whizzed past us on their way to Arctic Man. Un-named AAC members forsook their crampons and skis for belts and tracks and joined their motorized brethren on the Gulkana. Have they gone to the dark side... or just seeking a cross-cultural exerience?

Miraculously, the clouds dissipated as we drove south. We skied up the Castner glacier Friday afternoon under blue skies and high wispy clouds. Our gleaming white summit was in plain view at the start. Firm snow conditions made travel easy. Some bare spots on the moraine were easily avoided. With our backs to mighty Silvertip, we cruised up the M'Ladies Branch and camped on a moraine beneath the ~6000 ft spur of White Princess. Clouds collected on the peaks in the evening and some stars shone through the overcast at night.

Thanks to Mike we got up at 4am and pulled off a bona-fide alpine start by 6. It was cloudy above, but winds were light. We'd give it a shot and hope for the best. We gained the first thousand feet rapidly, and dropped to traverse a snow basin to the SW ridge. Instead of crossing all the way over to the ridge, we climbed snow up the right side of a prominent rock rib which splits the basin. We hit the ridge crest just shy of the 25 ft step-down which can be tricky to negotiate. With a little snow covering the rotten schist, we passed this obstacle with ease by frontpointing down it one at a time.

The route got more exciting for me when we passed my bail-out point from last year. This time we had decent visibility and less wind-driven snow. Fine cramponing took us up the ridge as a huge 45 degree headwall dropped away to the basin to our left.

As we converged with the ridge of gendarmes, clouds moved in and obscured the route ahead. A series of wind sculpted hollows and knife-edged snow aretes mark the transition to the permanent ice and snows of the upper mountain. Fog and mist hid our view of the abyss to the west and lessened the exposure. We were relieved to get across these narrow features and rope up for the final push.

Wind at our backs, we climbed the rime encrusted summit cone. Feathers of rime grew on the ground. Nobody found any crevasses. Finally the slope eased and we gathered at a flat place that Mike said was the summit. I couldn't tell, but my GPS said 3040 meters (9971ft).

We didn't linger long, for fear the wind would worsen. Some of us were feeling the chill. Mike brought us back down out of the clouds to a place we recognized again. The descent was enjoyable as blue holes opened in the clouds and sun patches moves across the ridges and glacier beneath us. Light snow showers filled the air with sparkling crystals, slowly drifting down.

It took us 6 hours to get up and 4 to make a leisurely return to camp. A bright patch of sun backlit and highlighted the rolling features in the glacier basin SE of Triangle Pk.

Sunday morning was cloudy, but snow buntings greeted us with their spring songs. It had snowed another inch or two in the night. We skied down to Matt and Christie's camp and saw their tracks over to Triangle.

Back to the road by 1pm and home to noticeably less snow in Fairbanks. It was nice of Mike Miller to run this trip even after his epic cold weather ascent of this same peak last month. It's obviously worthy of a repeat!

Max Kaufman
AAC

By Stan Justice

All 10 participants made one or all of the four summits.  Great conditions except it was too warm.  The depth hoar avalanche danger has been replaced by slush flows.  Impressive old avalanche debris piles in Trims Creek.  With 5400 feet of elevation gain and a tricky canyon section I think we should call Item a "C" level trip, dropping the B/C designation.  Sunday was a 9 - 11 hour day depending on ones downhill ski abilities.  Not sure how much longer the Trims Creek will be skiable.  Snow bridges where getting weak.  Need cooler weather.  Great group of people.  Below are reworked section of guidebook.  Any changes/corrections?

Trims Creek   See Map on Page 7.
This valley is known for good skiing and the shortest route to Item Peak.  It is also known for the only crevasse fall death in the Deltas.  Avalanche danger can be severe.  There is commonly no place to park at the bridge so people park at the DOT Maintenance Station which adds a quarter mile to the approach.  Skin directly up the creek when it is frozen.  Trims Creek has a tricky narrow section with open water.  Be prepared for a cold wade but usually there is a tenuous ice ledge.  As the valley opens up you will pass Devil's Thumb (rock gendarme up to your right), an enticing waterfall of blue ice, and eventually come to the Trims Glacier.  There are two moraine rolls that provide good camp sites before the glacier steepens.  For a small glacier Trims is surprisingly broken up.  Rope up and route find the best line through the cracks.

Item Peak   7900 Feet   See Map on Page 15.

Via Trims Creek Miles - 5       Elevation Gain - 5400 feet      AAC Grade - C  
Use the Trims Creek access on page 7.  There are a number of options for reaching the summit.  You can avoid most of the crevasse danger by going W up to the ridge crest and then run the ridge to the summit. (still some cracks near the summit).  You can climb the very W edge of the glacier (minimal crevasse danger).  The glacier has an exposed rock cliff in the center.  You can go up the glacier E of the rock cliff (maximum crevasse hazard).  You can also go up the very E edge of the glacier where lots of snow collects. (avalanche danger down low and crevasse danger up high).  Rope up when in crevassed zones.  The summit consists of 4 rime covered bumps of near equal height.  The E one has the best views.

By Stan Justice

Snow White (Cynthia Anderson) and the Seven Dwarfs (Karl Strailey, Chad Diesinger, Thomas Marsik, James Haymaker, Marcelo Weksler, Van James, and me) ignored the dismal weather report and headed down to the Deltas. The weatherman predicted mostly cloudy with 2 inches of snow on Friday and Saturday with comfortable temps and little wind. He was correct on the temps and wind but the snow was a skiff and the sky mostly sunny. Just a few puffy clouds to improve the photography. So we cruised in mostly on purple wax to a protected dip in the glacier just beyond the windy knoll we suffered with last year. Dawn was clear so by 7 am we were out of camp. Instead of the direct line from last year we headed up low angle slopes well to the left (west). Left of the huge West face of Snow White is a broad, heavily crevassed area descending from the M'Ladies - Snow White Col. In the middle of the area is a rocky cliff. Just right of the cliff is the steep direct line we took last year. Left of the cliff is lower angled heavily crevassed glacier. We were able to skin up a snow ramp and then traverse over to a steep ramp which we cramponed up. Marcelo developed a knack for punching the slots but keeping his head above water. The summit pitches were lead by Thomas in fine style. With the heavy snow on the steep face Heidi led last year, he opted for the rime on the left (East) slope exposed to the upper Canwell Glacier. After a long summit lounge we headed down for a nice ski descent getting back to camp after an 10 - 11 hour day. The ski out was fast and pleasant. With no lost skis and no one falling in the melt the trip was declared a success. Winter is holding well in the Deltas. There is probably still a week or two left, especially if the low areas are avoided in late afternoons.

By Franz Mueter

By Max Kaufman

White Princess eluded us again!

Forrest Karr, Vaughn Fetzer and Max Kaufman skipped town at 6:30am Saturday, all piled into Vaughn's full-size Buick. We crossed paths (at the Food Cache) with a multitude of high-school nordic skiers from Fairbanks headed up the Canwell glacier for an overnighter. Only in Alaska!

Saturday was a bluebird day in the Deltas! The views grew ever more stunning as we made our way up the lower Castner Glacier. The bright sun made it feel warm, though the air was cool. A wolverine's track meandered down the moraine, stopping at every large rock. We roped up at the junction of the M'Ladies Branch (just to be on the safe side). Silvertip loomed up behind us as we skied southeast into a chill evening breeze. Soon we entered the shadow of Triangle Pk. We marveled at the steep west face of our objective and the icefall that spilled down into the great cirque below. Those last 3 to 4 miles felt as long as the first 7. Clouds formed over the summits and were lit up by the golden evening sun.

We rounded a corner and made camp at sunset below the SW ridge of White Princess. 3 of us fit into Vaughn's 3-hoop tunnel tent (very lightweight). By the time we finished dinner, stars blazed in the black night sky. A thin crescent moon descended into the west.

Clouds still hung on the summit at first light. We slept another 2 hours. Our non-alpine start was made a bit later by the time change. We roped up to get off the glacier and actually found a shallow crevasse in dirty ice along the margin. A snow bunting sang on the bare slopes of the moraine and ravens passed above.

We un-roped and crossed an open snowfield to the base of the ridge. The lower ridge offered easy hiking on scree and hardpacked snow. We donned crampons and cached the ski poles at 7,000 ft. The ridge above was a real joy to be on. Nice views up the steep and narrow glacier that drops from the summit to the SSW. We reached a short notch in the ridge and had to backtrack a little and drop down on the east side of the obstacle to get around. The snow was firm and fairly thin on the west sloping side of the ridge. Several times we heard the loud rumble of ice avalanches coming off the north face of M'Ladies Mtn. That must be how the access to the Gerstle glacier, Thunder Pass, got its name.

We continued up into deteriorating weather. Light snow with increasing winds. The visibility wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't our day to go for the top. We bailed out at about 8,000 ft where you pass around left of some big rock cliffs on the east side of the ridge. We would have liked to reach the point at which our ridge met the west ridge, at least to have a look at the final 1,400 ft of snow and ice to the summit.

On the descent, we stopped to look at a vertical dike of dark volcanic rock that cut across both our ridge and the ridge to the north of us. It contrasted sharply with the lighter colored schists in this part of the range. We broke camp and skied down the M'Ladies Branch in calmly falling fluffy powder snow. In the flattest of light, we followed our faint tracks from the evening before. Blue holes opened in the clouds as we skied out the Castner, and golden light filtered down through the clouds into the side basins along the glacier. The stillness and calm were remarkable for a place often subject to ferocious winds. We reached the road at 10pm as the last greenish-blue light faded in the northwest.

By Franz Mueter

Triangle Peak trip report (March 25/26)
(Or: Just another sunny and windless powder weekend in the Delta Range!)

After some last minute cancellations and a few late additions, six of us (Marcelo, Mark, Mike, Seth, Van, Franz) set out for Triangle Peak from the Castner Creek bridge around 11am Saturday. The weather report and webcams at Black Rapids and Isabelle Pass (http://akweathercams.faa.gov/sitelist.php) suggested an overcast weekend with some snow and mild temperatures. Wrong again, NWS!

Soon after leaving the road we got our first glimpses of blue sky and by the time we reached base camp on the M'Ladies branch we were "basking" in the sun with occasional fog banks moving through camp! Mark and I went for a short reconnaissance trip part way up the eastern slopes of the ridge and found about 6-10 inches of fresh snow on top of a very hard layer (~ 8" thick). The snow was reasonably well bonded to the hard layer below, but the layer itself was very poorly bonded to the depth hoar below. Travel seemed quite save, but I sure wouldn't want to be there when that hard layer gives out!

The evening was clear and pleasant; enough for sitting around outside to have dinner and, for some, to exert Alaskan's right to privacy in their own mountains! The 5am wake-up call was made much more tolerable by the dawn of a perfectly clear day and we were ready to launch by ~7:45. Traversing up the eastern slopes we hit the long summit ridge at around 6,200', stashed our skis just below the steep section of the "triangle", and proceeded to the summit (a rope team of 3, and 3 solo climbers), reaching the top just around noon! Triangle Peak may just hold the record for the longest time I've spent on top of any peak in the Deltas - we sat around for about an hour for an extended bullshitting session until it seemed time to go home (and not because we were getting cold!).

The descent was fabulous, although we missed out on a bit of vertical by stashing our skis too early, as it turned out! Van in particular was very disappointed that he didn't take his skis up to the summit because of a fairly easy and quite safe-looking descent line right off the SE side of the summit. Instead, we had to drop 800 precious feet before we got back to our skis, but what a sweet ride down to base camp it was! Some of the best skiing conditions I've encountered in the Deltas, even if somewhat variable!

Not much else to report except for an uneventful cruise back to the road! Even the slower skiers and those with blistered feet made it out to the road in just about 2 hours. All-in-all, a successful and fun weekend! Sure beats a day in the office, although not everyone shared the positive outlook ("F%#!& slog", "perfect waste of a nice day in the Alaska Range").

A dozen of us turned out for last weekend's trip, offered by Doug Younce, to the south side of Item Peak. The clear and cold conditions of Spring Break week were over by Saturday and an icy haze descended over the Delta Range. We camped 4 miles up the Castner Glacier opposite the cirque west of Rumdoodle. The winds were light, but we built shabby looking snow walls to protect our tents. Thin layers of windpack separated by sugar snow made for poor snow blocks. The visibility improved in the evening. We remained hopeful in spite of overcast skies. Many of us enjoyed dinner and hot drinks in the warmth of Toby's Megamid kitchen.

An inch of snow fell during the early morning. The visibility was back down, and the light was flat when people rose at 7am. Motivation flagged and we were more interested in the espresso operation in the 'mid than trucking up into the clag. People were open to Frank's suggestion that we go for Rumdoodle instead: at least the top of that was still visible. A clearing trend began shortly and we deferred back to the original plan of heading up the north wall of the Castner valley towards Item Pk.

A couple hours behind schedule, we began the long climb up. The snow conditions were such that neither boot packing OR skiing were that efficient. The breakable crust made for hard walking at times and the hardpack made for difficult skinning. Snowshoes might have done the trick, but none of us had any. I think ski crampons would have helped alot. Kudos to Frank for stomping steps and picking a line up to the ridge. Even the die-hard skiers ended up packing their boards up the steeper parts of the route.

There were plenty of signs of unstable snow on the ascent. Lots of whumphing and cracking of the thin hardslab on the surface. Plenty of the usual depth hoar underneath. It's definitely not a good base for future heavy snowfalls.

We reached a ridge on the south side of a beautiful hanging valley that drains the south face of Item Pk. Based on the time, weather, and our group speed, we decided to turn around. We could see the headwall of the valley, but the summit was obscured. The best option for a future attempt would be to head up the valley floor and take the heawall or right hand ridge to the top. We enjoyed our brief time at 5500 ft admiring two large rock towers further up the ridge to the NE. Doug said things looked alot different from the last time he was up here due to the lack of snow.

Four of us skied down in the tricky light while the others walked. The abundance of rocks aided our visual orientation and balance on the descent, though our skis suffered for it. We arrived back at camp just after Heidi, Tom and one other passed by on their way out from the M'Ladies Branch. We packed up and skied out. Our group got a bit too spread out as usual, but all made it out for a rendevous at the pullout and again at the IGA for snacks. We arrived in Fairbanks at 9pm.

Thanks again to Doug for suggesting this interesting approach to a commonly climbed peak. I can attest that 7800 ft Item Pk felt pretty damn big this day. And we realistically could have used a third day (as Doug initially requested) to have a better chance of summiting from the Castner (a 4500 ft elev. gain).

Thanks to all who took part and had a good time.

2006 Ski-mountaineering course participants:
Jeremy, Diana, Mark and Mike

Verterans: Doug, Van, Forrest, Max, Toby, Chad, Frank and Lalida

By Stan Justice

18 hard chargers went on the Snow White trip April 29 - May 1, 2005.  With the record warmth we were concerned about what we might find down there and the view from Lower Miller Creek Bridge validated our concerns.  There was a big blue pond of melt and much of the surface had a blue tinge indicating a saturated snow pack.  It looked feasible to walk down the road a bit and skirt along the edge of the river.  Efficient Frank Olive was the first to depart and shot out across the river riding the rapidly warming crust.  Like good sheep Lalida and I followed him instead of walking up the road to dryer ground.  Matt Pecsok was not so lucky.  The crust collapsed and down he went.  Down, down, down.  Down until he was up to his chest in ice water. He managed to claw his way out without losing anything.  He opted to borrow Forrest's car and head for town. Far out on the ice we noted that Frank and Lalida were moving off to the edge.  Come to find out Frank had gone in to his knees. 17 not so hard chargers pick their way carefully up the side, crossed the fattest snow bridges over the already grey with glacier milk creek, and made it to the relative safety of the Fels Glacier. Under clear skies we sweated our way up glacier drawing ever closer to the awesome face of Snow White. We probed out a camp circle on a snow mound surrounded by hanging glaciers, seracs and Snow White.  What an awesome place. After our morning experience there was little argument when a 4:30 am wake up call was suggested.  Jeff Benowitz and Seth Adams charged out of camp early, clearly intent on a route other than the "easy" route we planned.

The rest of us followed Frank towards a steep ramp to the right of the rocky cliff in the head wall left of the peak.  The route crossed some cracks, passed through some seracs, and them up 35 degree snow.  We spied Jeff and Seth making quick work of the W face route.  (The route was first done by Keith Echlemeyer and Jon Miller).  Frank admitted to being tired from kicking steeps so Heidi Rader took over the lead, clanging with a big load of pickets.  Jeff and Seth came down our intended route giving Heidi the beta and two ice screws, one for the bergshrund and one for a little ice ramp to be negotiated up higher.  We were shortly all enjoying the spectacular view from the summit.

Participants - Stan Justice, Bob Groseclose (another old guy - yes!), Frank Olive, Lalida Crawford,  Matt Drukenmiller, Odin Miller, Heidi Rader, Mike Kramer, Sarana Schell, Sarah Fowell, Mike Miller, Vaughn Fetzer, Forrest Karr, Matt Pescosk (short wet trip), Van James, Derick Miller, Seth Adams, Jeff Benowitz

Snow White Addendum 2005

The solution:

I think the hardest part of the whole ordeal was accepting that I had robbed myself of what had to be a spectacular ski down the glacier.  I had been looking forward to it all morning!!  I got to ski it, but on one foot at a time.  By the time we reached the bottom portion of the glacier I could make it quite a ways before having to turn on the inside edge to maintain control.  It got a lot tougher lower down, the snow was rapidly thawing which made it increasingly difficult to step with my non-skied foot.  Once off the glacier and across the snow bridge over the creek (a bit scary), I stayed on the right and fought with the alders as I hop-scotched between rock bands.  This worked (easier than post-holing through waist deep snow) but was still pretty slow.  When we reached the end of the ravine and got onto the river, Van skied ahead the last mile or so to drop his pack and come back for mine.  We didn't know that Odin had been waiting at the car since noon.  He met Van on the trail and came out to get my pack.  By the time Odin reached me, I had lashed a Z-Rest on one foot and was doing much better.  Without the added weight of my pack, Odin and I made good time back to the car.  I made it out around 4:30 p.m., over 8 hours from camp to car.I would like to echo the sentiments that the trip was awesome!  Heidi, I would climb with you any day.  I had a blast despite the ski-incident and mild sunburn, and hope you all have equally incredible climbs in the future. Just make sure your skis are firmly planted.

By Laron Thomas

On the weekend of April 22, the AAC planned a trip to attempt the aesthetic SW ridge of White Princess. I had climbed it the previous year so I thought I knew what it had in store for us. However, like most trips, Mother Nature conspired to tear down my preconceived notions for this trip.

We met in the big visitor's parking lot across from the SRC on Friday, April 22 at 6:30 AM to get a good start off to Delta by 7AM. There were about a dozen of us that started (sorry I can't recall all the names off hand, but I think there were the following: Paul, Lalida, Seth, Vaughn, Van, Derrick, Matt, Forrest, Heidi, Danny, and Laron). Vaughn and others (Matt I think) notified the group that there was a high wind advisory in the forecast for Delta, 50 mph winds. We all noted the warmth, shrugged off the forecast, and left for Delta. Everybody left the supermarket in Delta except for Vaughn and me. We waited for Derrick and Van to show up. I made a couple costly calls from the gas station to see if Derrick had gotten out of bed and on the road and concluded he did. Then they pulled up in front of the gas station much to my surprise since I was looking for them. And we headed down to Castner Creek. The drive looked very bleak as the cloud cover was low and a very dark gray. I knew with the warmth it was rain. We drove through some fairly heavy showers and arrived at the Castner Creek "trailhead."

Luckily it wasn't raining there. Yet, everyone still had the rain in the back of their minds. The horizon to the south looked fairly welcoming though. After the usual fiddling with gear, we were off and skiing to the toe of the glacier.

Everybody eventually caught up and we talked about what we wanted to do while it was raining and the wind was picking up. I finally had to resort to my gortex and my water-proof gloves because I was getting a little chilled. Many had the preference of turning back because they thought the weather, as it has been known to do on the Castner, would stay bad and get worse. I had a feeling it would get better and, even if it didn't, I'd rather spend a cold, wet, rainy weekend in the mountains than a minute in the city any day.

So four of us (Matt, Forrest, Vaughn, and I) decided to go on and the rest turned back at that point. We rearranged gear by throwing it all around and finally we were all off on our way. The trip up was low light conditions and rainy. It reminded my of a trip I took during Thanksgiving this past year where the weather started bad and just got worse. We reached the intersection of the 4 branches of the glacier pretty early in the afternoon and found our old snowcave(the one Odin and I made and used a month previously for the Triangle trip) ; however, it was snowed in. So we redug it out, put our stuff in, cooked, ate, and talked about our prospects of climbing White Princess the next day. It was heaven!

We headed off fairly early in the morning (highly recommended!) and quickly reached the toe where we had all the fun. Forrest, Matt, and I fell a lot, and I mean a lot. I must have fallen a good 20 plus times between just after the ice cliff to the creek, which must have taken us over an hour. The snow was very soft , but it was fun. The other two guys passed us too. They notified us they hadn't summited because they were too tired and had to be back in Fairbanks by 7 that evening. Vaughn, you sly one you, avoided all our problems and fell but once because he kept his skins on the whole time.

All in all, it was a great trip in the land of the mountains. We had good weather and our chance to summit. Quyanaqvaa-lli elpeceni ingrini! Yup'ik for thank you very, very much you mountains!

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