Time is often an unhelpful metric when weighing the value of a trip in the mountains. Even a few days can gift the richest of experiences when partnership, conditions, and luck line up. From April 18 to 21, Joseph Hobby and I were fortunate to do two new routes on back-to-back days in the Cathedral Spires of the Kichatnas, during a brief period of good weather amid a stormy spring.

On April 18, Paul Roderick of Talkeetna Air Taxi deftly pioneered a new landing on the Shelf Glacier, with Joseph and I along as eager passengers. We hopped out and spent the rest of the day assessing conditions and enjoying as much sun as we could find in an otherwise shaded amphitheater.

The next day, we skied to the base of the Citadel (8,520’), aiming for the northwest face. In 1966, Arthur Davidson, David Johnston, Pete Meisler, Richard Millikan, and David Roberts would have gazed upon this face from their advanced base camp on the Shelf when they planned to try the Citadel. They experienced three days of poor weather and descended to base camp having never made an attempt. After first seeing the Citadel’s northwest face in 2021 from a neighboring ridge, I did a substantial amount of research; this face has very likely remained unclimbed, despite holding an obvious line. I believe this is simply because of the difficult access—which, prior to Paul Roderick’s opening of the Shelf Glacier landing, would have been from the Shadows Glacier or the Cul-de-Sac Glacier.

Our route began with an overhanging bergschrund that gave way to snow climbing and ice runnels. These offered quick and secure soloing conditions. Halfway up, we broke out the rope and simul-climbed through high-quality but thin alpine ice, with sections up to 85°. On the upper face, conditions were more variable, with steep, fluted snow and ice-covered rock slabs. Our line wandered slightly but had beautiful exposure. We reached the Citadel’s breathtaking summit in four hours and switched into matching summit outfits—bright red tank tops emblazoned with unicorns—discovered on a sale rack in an Anchorage Walmart.

Our three-hour descent had challenging anchor building in crackless rock. We generally reversed the ascent route, with several rappels and downclimbs near the top and bottom of the route. Borealis Face (2,000’, 85° ice) is well worth a visit from future parties seeking an off-the-beaten-track ice and snow route.

On April 20, we woke to the chirp of my satellite phone receiving the latest weather forecast. Our plans to take a rest day needed to change if we wanted to get another climb in before flying out.

We headed to an easterly couloir on an unnamed formation immediately south of the Riesenstein. After skinning over the bergschrund, we donned crampons and simul-soloed until we reached more difficult climbing: an incredible 60m AI5 ice hose with a few mixed moves at the top. The crux of the route came on the following pitch: a snowy, overhung chockstone that required extensive snow excavation, creative aid, and an exciting mixed exit. After reaching the col, we climbed a rope length to one of the formation's many subtle summits as the sun was setting, roughly seven hours after leaving camp. We descended our route quickly, with bountiful options for rock-gear rappel anchors and secure downclimbing on lower-angled ice and snow.

Round-trip from camp, we climbed Superfly Couloir (1,700’, AI5 M6 A2) in about 10 hours. There are no other reported routes on this formation (even from the Cul-de-Sac Glacier), and we named it Rise and Shine. Rise and Shine has a plateau-esque top with a few subtle summits that are at similar elevations, all between 7,300’ and 7,400’.

After two days on the go, Joseph and I finally had a moment to soak in our experience. The northern lights came out when we got back to camp. An explosion of phosphorescent green illuminated the sky as we drank half-frozen beers. Despite the early morning hour, we were wide awake and briefly impervious to the cold tugging at our faces. When we both finally fell asleep, it was only for a few precious hours before the sun came up again and we began packing up camp to fly out.

— Zach Joseph Lovell