Swaledale Outdoor Club

> Home > Newsletter > Climbing > The Prey - A New Route on Alaska's Mount Hunter

The Prey - A New Route on Alaska's Mount Hunter

Mount Hunter, well known for the test piece mixed routes on its North Buttress (The Moonflower, The Knowledge, Deprivation and Wall of Shadows) has a secret side. The East face rising above the West fork of the Tokositna glacier, is remote and little known. Most of the face, and the cirque below, is swept by massive serac fall avalanches falling from the hanging glacier of the summit plateau. Air access is difficult - the landing tight, the glacier crevassed. Escape from the cirque down glacier looks impossible- a chaotic icefall descends for miles. Until this May only one climbing party had ever landed in the cirque. Irrevocably committed (their pilot said he wouldn't come back for them) the Alaska range experts Jack Tackle and Jim Donini forced a route up to the plateau, then down the North East Ridge, arriving ten days later at the comforts of Kahiltna base. This route, unrepeated since its first ascent in 1985, is the magnificent Diamond Arete. But other buttresses and couloirs lead enticingly out of the cirque towards the summit plateau, rich pickings protected by the difficulties of approach and descent.

On May 15th British alpinists Malcolm Bass and Paul Figg watched Paul Roderick's plane leave the cirque. "Dont make me come back for you" he'd said. Thirty minutes later we'd crossed the bergshrund, and were moving together up the lower slopes of our chosen buttress to the North East of diamond arete. Our only escape was upwards, our only security our single skin tent, a stove, nine days gas and seven days food. Our destination: Kahiltna Base 1960m of ascent and descent and seven miles away.

Three and a half days later the buttress (The Prey, 900m+, Alaskan 5, Scottish 5, Ungradeable mushrooms) was climbed. The route provided a little of everything good - snowed up rocky chimneys that could have been on Etchacan, steep solid ice, thin watery ice over smooth granite slabs, and romping sections of easy angled neve. It also harboured terrifying climbing over and around unprotectable crest mushrooms of vaguely frozen air. The route was all climbed free with sacs on - although we did rest on the protection from time to time!

After joining the East Ridge on Day 4 we had a straightforward climb to the North Summit, with one bivouac en route. We reached the summit at 8.15 pm on Day 5 and hurried down to the western plateau and the start of the West Ridge. We were the first party to reach the summit from the West Fork of the Tokositna (Tackle and Donini had to skirt the summit in bad weather).

The descent of the 5 mile long West ridge proved tiring and complex in bad weather. Much of the descent was done blind on compass bearings in thick cloud and light snow. We didn't reach the Kahiltna glacier until late afternoon on Day 10, and trudged slowly round to Kahiltna base arriving somewhat hungry and thirsty that night.

Summary

First ascent of The Prey (900m+, Alaskan Grade 5, Scottish 5, Ungradeable mushrooms).

East Face of Mount Hunter.

Malcolm Bass and Paul Figg.

15 May - 18 May to junction with East Ridge.

North summit reached 19 May (First ascent from West Fork of Tokositna).

Descent via West Ridge (19 - 24 May) achieving a complete East - West traverse of Hunter.

A committing climb with no base camp, no line of retreat, no radio contact in the cirque and a long and complex descent.

Paul Figg

Last Modified: 7 May, 2003