Mt. Sacagawea, Northwest Face. On September 3, after humping into Titcomb Basin with enough gear for 15 days in the wilderness, my brother Jamie and I established a first ascent on the northwest face of Mt. Sacagawea. The incredible Dixie Chickens (5.9R, ten pitches) begins 200 meters to the north of the classic South Summit/West Face rib route pioneered by Fred Beckey in 1969. This shadowed 1,500-foot route is everything you want in an alpine tour: classic hand-jamming and finger-locking, runouts, loose rocks, no crowds and over a two-day walk back to safety. The route is named after Arkansas’ desperate quest to have more chickens within its political boundaries than people on the planet.

William McRee Anderson, IV