Burkett, Southeast Face. In early May, Greg Collum and I helicoptered from Petersburg to Base Camp at 4200 feet on the Burkett Glacier. We immediately made an attempt at a fast ascent of Burkett, but we were quickly shot down by a storm. For the next ten days, we were storm-bound. After a couple of sunny days, we packed light and struck off at three A.M. Within three hours, we were crossing the schrund at 6500 feet and entering the concave, gullied southeast face of Burkett. Six full-length 60-meter pitches (up to 5.9) and much moving together put us on the tiny summit (2966 meters, 9730 feet) at five P.M. From there we contacted our helicopter pilot by CB radio for a pickup the next morning. Within 24 hours, we were back home in Seattle.

Dan Cauthorn