North America, United States, Alaska, Wrangell Mountains, Mt. Blackburn, New Route, Previously Unreported

Publication Year: 2001.

Mt. Blackburn, New Route, Previously Unreported. In May, 1998, Franz Mueter, Martin Truffer, and I walked in from the McCarthy Road to the Kuskalana Glacier, then up to a camp at about 5,000 feet beneath the west face of Mt. Blackburn. From there, we climbed a couloir up to the west ridge and followed the ridge for a few days to a camp where the ridge merges into the face at 12,500 feet. An attempt directly up the face encountered poor volcanic rock and improbable ice. The next day we followed a line to the north, hitting the North Ridge (the normal route) at about 15,200 feet, then walked to the summit. We retraced our route to the road. We graded the route Alaska Grade 4.

Keith Echelmeyer