Sim-Griffith Ruth Gorge

On their first visit to the Greater Ranges, this team hoped to climb new routes on Mount Dickey (2909m) and/or the East Face of Mount Dan Beard (3127m). However it snowed almost constantly whilst they were in the area, so they only experienced a few days of good weather. On one of these they managed to climb 400m on Peak 11300 (3444m) before Griffith fell 20m, injuring his back and forcing a retreat. In search of better weather, they then flew over to Denali base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier from which, to acclimatise, they first climbed the 800m East Ridge of Mount Francis (3185m) and the 1000m SW Face/Couloir of Kahiltna Queen (3773m). They then attempted a single push ascent of the Moonflower Buttress on Mount Hunter (4442m), reaching ‘The Vision’ in 16 hours before making the agonising decision to descend without completing the route.

This expedition also received an Alpine Club Climbing Fund Grant for 2010.