Mount Logan, Northwest Ridge. On May 31 Ron Frid, our helicopter pilot deposited Bruce Balderston, A1 Mathews, Dave Sweet and me and our gear at the foot of the unclimbed northwest ridge of Mount Logan. The ridge rises out of the Logan Glacier from 7500 feet, climbs steeply and ends in an ice cliff at 14,500 feet that bars access to the high plateau. The route followed the east fork of the ridge to the ridge proper up which we continued to the cliff. Fixed lines were used for safety and to aid in ferrying loads. Below 12,000 feet the narrow ridge consisted of unconsolidated snow over crumbling rock that broke under one’s weight. Higher the consistency was better with what would have been pleasantly steep ice (up to 75°) if it were not for heavy packs. After 23 days of toil we established Camp VII just below the ice cliff. This was intimidating but not the nightmare we had been told about. It was, however, 150 feet of steep, severe, disturbingly honeycombed ice. We put up a route on June 23 and the following day moved up it and through the icefall above. Following a semi-rest day we reached the Arctic Institute of North America high camp and had a warm welcome from its members. We climbed the west and main peaks on June 30. We followed the King Trench route down and were flown out on July 4.

Kurt Schuttenberg