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

Publication Year: 1987.

St. Elias Attempt. Günter Zimmermann, Urban Gebhart, Walter Kischlat, Winfried Hartmann and I were flown by Mike Ivers of Gulf Air Taxi on May 29 from Yakutat to the east fork of the Tyndall Glacier. That same day we made Camp I on a little saddle at 4500 feet. We were stormbound for three days. On June 2 we established Camp II at 6600 feet and the next day made Camp III at 9000 feet. On July 4 we reached Haydon Col at 10,000 feet, where we made Camp IV. On July 5 we climbed Haydon Peak (12,945 feet) via its northeast face in beautiful weather. On the 6th we got to 13,500 feet on the south-southeast ridge of St. Elias, but were driven back to Haydon Col by a heavy storm. The next day our tent was destroyed by the storm and we spent two more days and terrible nights in snow and cold in our wrecked tent. When it cleared on June 10, seven feet of snow had fallen. After a day of digging for our equipment, we retreated and were flown out on June 15.

Fritz Radun, Deutscher Alpenverein