Mountaineering

On Saturday July 7th Yvonne, Steve Gruhn and I hiked in to try Mt. Rumble in Chugach State Park. We knew it could potentially be a very very long day so we hauled bivy sacks and some extra clothes. We were at the trailhead at 7:30 and started hiking. 3 hours, 2500′ and 5 miles […]  [ Read More ]

The climbing scene is all-abuzz with the recent report of a rescue on Mt. Hayes last week. Two Fairbanks climbers set out to climb the East Ridge and made it up and over Levi’s Bump (10,500′) without incident where a storm forced them to dig a snow cave. They waited out weather then went for […]  [ Read More ]

I ‘m back. I’ve been here four times now – yet I am still awed by the presence of the Cassin and Denali’s summit as it appears hulking above our heads while we dig in for the night. Snow falls, the temperature rises just above freezing – the familiar pitter patter of sleet on a […]  [ Read More ]

On May 16th 2003, Todd Kelsey and I flew into the upper Chickaloon drainage with Dave of Grasshopper Aviation out of the Wasilla airport. We got to the airport to find out that fog was sitting over the landing zone so we sat around in Dave’s office while he regaled us with tales of plane […]  [ Read More ]

‘Tis the season. We leave for the Alaska Range in two weeks so I thought I’d scan some old photos to remind myself what I’m getting into. These photos are from a 2002 May ascent of the SE Ridge of Mt. Crosson with my friend Dahr Jamail. I don’t remember too much about the climb… […]  [ Read More ]

I left Anchorage friday night around 8pm and got to the Mint trailhead around 9pm. It was wet and miserable — the rain coming down like crazy and the trail muddy and nasty (which makes all the trees hanging over the trail soak you to the bone). Pharaoh and I started hiking and within minutes […]  [ Read More ]

Jeff  “Hardcore” Young died two days shy of his 67th birthday on Nov. 20 2026 from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal brain disorder. This trip was the first time I met Jeff and we had a wonderful time and climbed together afterwards several times. Thanks for the memories Jeff. See you on the other […]  [ Read More ]

For our first climb in the Canadian Rockies we chose an easy route: the East Ridge of Mt. Nestor (II, 5.5) – a 9,744′ peak that lies off the Spray Lakes road south of Canmore. The guidebook referred to the route as “an enjoyable afternoon climb” so we felt good about sleeping in. While packing […]  [ Read More ]