North America, United States, Alaska, Attempt on Mount St. Elias

Publication Year: 1967.

Attempt on Mount St. Elias. On June 15 Alan Batten, John Bryant, Mike Coffine, Jim Gregg, Rick Potrello and I of the Colorado State University St. Elias Expedition landed on the west side of Mount St. Elias at 7500 feet. Our proposed route was the southwest buttress. This buttress rises in 3500 vertical feet to join the long northwest ridge, which Boyd Everett’s party successfully followed to the summit in 1965. (A.A.J., 1966, 15:1, pp. 10-24.) Accounts have credited a 1913 boundary survey party with an ascent to the top of the buttress. Four of our party reached as a high point the base of the buttress at 13,000 feet, but we felt the technical difficulties were too difficult for us on the buttress itself. From Base Camp to P12,354 feet (at 60° 19' 30" N, 141° 04' 00 W), which we called ''Windy Peak” there were no technical difficulties. The only danger was a large ice cliff at 10,000 feet which had a bad habit of avalanching. From Windy Peak to the base of the buttress there is a 900-foot descent to a ridge which leads to the buttress above. On the descent we placed 600 feet of fixed rope. At the base of the buttress there was a 200-yard-wide flat area.

Kenyon King, Colorado State University Mountaineering Club