[This page] At home on the route. Kelly Ryan a tent platform and rig lines up to tie us and the tent down. A real Alaskan storm would be bad here. I put my mittens on my feet, and slide my now mitten covered feet into my overboots, curl up under our sleeping bag, and try to sleep. We wake up to improving weather so we shake off our gear and begin tackling the second rock band. I lead through a short dry-tooling section that is marked on the topo as 5.6 slab but is often described as the “technical crux”. Most of the ratings have felt soft so far but I’ll be damned if this is 5.6. It takes me a while to find a good anchor as there is six inches of snow on about five inches of crummy ice on top of loose rock. Stanislav tries going right, determines we are off route and descends. I go out left on the crappy snow, ice, and loose
rock mixture towards what we think is the quickest way up. It is high, cold, and we just want to move up quickly. As I run it out more and more, the rope follows through the sparse protection. I decide to cut up through the steep part of the rock band. The more difficult climbing seems like a better option if I can protect it. I can see the top of the rock band and from there it should be easy terrain all the way to the top. As I pick my way through the rock band, probably the most technical climbing of the trip, the sky loses its pink glow, and the Alaskan night slips in. The sky is getting lighter and we are still moving - well, barely moving. I pause every few steps, slump over my ice axe, and fight back the sleep and exhaustion. I have never been this tired before. Finally we make it to the ridge at about 17400,’ chop out a tent platform, and sleep. The sun is out, the wind is mild; it’s the perfect summit day! I am kicking steps and amazed how strong I feel after being so destroyed a few hours ago. My excitement mounts as we get closer and closer to the top and I realize we are going to make it to the top of the Cassin Ridge. “We did it, we did it!”, I shout, as we top out at the Kahiltna Horn (20,120’) with about a quarter bottle of fuel and 400 calories to spare, basking in the elation of success. Many people that don’t climb ask me why I spend so much time and money to be in such cold, scary, miserable situations. Many climbers have a hard time explaining the joys of climbing because when they think about it, most of the time they are broke, uncomfortable, and scared. It’s a tough question no doubt, but I feel lucky that I don’t have to make up too many lame excuses. I can confidently say that for me it is a handicap inherited from my father’s severe enthusiasm for the mountains. These sorts of adventures are something I need to feel the most alive, to feel the most connected with the universe, to feel the most me. In short, it’s all my Dad’s fault that I abandoned him for the lure of the Cassin.
Professor Falls, III WI4 and Polar Circus, V WI5 Canadian Rockies, Canada The Sceptre, WI5 Hyalite Canyon, Montana Mike Wejchert (‘08)
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he first time I saw the north face of Mount Kitchener was while driving to Mount Robson in 2007. Climbing the face looked like enough of a “tragic adventure,” to quote Hemingway, that it etched in my subconscious and sometimes the thought of soloing such a face woke me up in the middle of the night. The idea formed and I was off to Canada, visualizing the mental stress of waiting in the gloaming forests and deserted campgrounds on the Icefield Parkway. If I could play this delicate game of cat and mouse with myself and not go nuts 66 CCAJ
for want of human companionship, I had a good shot at a fast and light blitz up the Grand Central Couloir. Not many other climbs were in shape and not many people were out climbing. After lying sick in bed for a week and losing fitness, I drove to Bozeman, Montana, where I climbed a little with Kevin Brumbach (’07) and Emily Reinsel (‘08). I got rocked by the moderate altitude at Hyalite, but the second day I soloed The Sceptre and felt a little bit of my strength returning. When I got to Canada, I soloed Professor Falls quickly. I made it to the last tier of Polar Circus by myself in under an hour but the 45