Brady Icefield

The primary objective was the first ascent of the East Ridge of Mt Crillon in the Glacier Bay National Park, with first ascents in the Mt Abbe area as secondary objectives. They flew into a base camp at 3922ft in a bay southeast of Pk 7950ft. Heavy snowfall and unseasonably warm weather made the approach to the ridge too avalanche threatened, so they made a 20km traverse on the Brady Icefield to the area north of Mt Bertha, where they reached a high bowl overlooking the Johns Hopkins Glacier. From here on the 6th May they made the first ascents of two peaks of 7507ft and 7274ft, and were able to identify the South East Ridge of Pk 8290ft as a viable objective. The following day they climbed this ridge, which involved a series of knife-edged corniced mushrooms and towers leading to the final rock pyramid. This was of superb granite which gave secure climbing on three pitches of up to 5.7. Conditions on the descent by the same route were made more difficult by the warm weather, but fortunately the ski plane was able to pick them up from the foot of the mountain, saving them the 20km approach traverse. The team identified significant further climbing opportunities in the area.