Elephant's Tooth, Albatross, and Caliban

North America, United States, Alaska, Brooks Range, Arrigetch Peaks
Author: Norm Larson. Climb Year: 1993. Publication Year: 1995.

On July 13, 1993, Lorna Corson and I were landed at Circle Lake in the Arrigetch Peaks. After hiking two loads up Arrigetch Creek, we climbed a 5.7 route on the south face of Elephant’s Tooth on July 17. On July 20, we climbed what is probably a new route on the Albatros, following parallel cracks on the right side of the south face (IV, 5.9). We descended the southwest ridge by down-climbing and a few rappels. Next we attempted a route on the beautiful triangular orange south face of Caliban. Large, unstable flakes and exfoliated plates forced us to retreat. We then third-and fourth-classed gullies and slabs to Caliban’s east summit. We concluded our trip with an eight-day float in inflatable kayaks down the Alatna River, encountering numerous bears and wolves.

Norm Larson