Kichatna Spires

Twid’s original partner for this trip was Paul Ramsden but at the last minute Paul found he was unable to get a visa because of business trips made to Libya. Miles Bright was a short notice substitute. They were flown in to the Tatina glacier for the Kichatna Spires. These are in the extreme west end of the Alaska Range, renowned for bad weather, and they lived up to their reputation. The team were unable to move from their camp for five days. When conditions improved they found that this had been dry season, with very little ice formation on faces or in gullies. They climbed to the col between the Tatina and Monolith glaciers in avalanche conditions and saw there had been no ice formation on Triple Peak, one of the possible objectives. The weather turned bad again, giving appalling snow conditions. They did manage some rock climbing in Anchorage while waiting for their flight home.