Kichatna Series

Hoping that his third visit to Alaska’s Kichatna range would be lucky, this leader planned to climb new routes on the W Face of Mt Jeffers (c.2440m) from the Tatina Glacier and/or a similar route on the NW Face of Middle Triple Peak (2693m) from the Monolith Glacier. But he had reckoned without the unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of an overnight freeze which resulted in an unstable snowpack. Although several attempts were made on Mt Jeffers, each was abandoned due to frequent avalanches. However they were more fortunate on the other side of the valley, which had a different aspect, and two 1000m mixed routes were climbed. The first was a beautiful 800m line to a summit c.2300m: they called the route ‘Beat Surrender’ and graded it ED2. The other route was a curving 1000m ED1 line ‘Metronome ’ to a summit c.2360m.