St. Elias, East Ridge. In November 1983 sailing-yacht Northanger left England, bound for Alaska via the Panama Canal. On May 23 Rick Thomas, John Jewell, Nigel Young and I left her at anchor in Icy Bay and set off to backpack, ski and manhaul eight weeks’ food and equipment 35 miles up the Malaspina and Agassiz Glaciers. In a week we reached the bottom of the Newton Glacier, where Young remained in Base Camp. On June 8 Jewell, Thomas and I walked and skied up the center of the Newton, reaching the foot of the east ridge in four days. We climbed the ridge in eight days, including a three-day lie-up, and reached the summit of St. Elias on June 19. We avoided the difficult section between 11,000 and 12,000 feet by traversing right, below the cornices, onto the north face and then climbing a 45° snow slope for ten rope-lengths to regain the ridge. We descended by the same route, arriving back at Base Camp after 17 days. The climb was not technically difficult and the objective danger was far less than on the Abruzzi route. We used one tent and no fixed rope. Camps were at 9800, 11,000, 12,000 and 15,000 feet. On June 27 skipper Thomas returned to Northanger while Jewell, Young and I sledged to the bottom of the east ridge of Logan. We had constant snow and white-out and no attempt was made. During the whole trip we experienced no strong winds. We were all back on board on July 16 and sailed for Prince Rupert on July 20.

Michael Sharp, England