In late May, I made the first solo ascent to the top of the Mount Hunter’s north buttress in 15 hours from the bergschrund, but failed to reach the summit. I began climbing on the bottom right margin of the north buttress, climbing diagonally left across the first ice band to join Deprivation, which I followed through the second rock band. From there, I joined a line slightly left of the Bjornberg-Ireland route, which I climbed directly to the cornice atop the north buttress. I continued toward the summit but descended from a plateau ca 100m from the top due to exhaustion, clumsiness, and concern about my descent. I downclimbed to the cornice and rappelled the Bibler-Klewin with a group of four Koreans.

Colin Haley, Seattle, AAC