Indian House Mtn

Darcy's mom gave us the idea of climbing the South Ridge of Indian House Mountain. The summit is usually pretty difficult and requires a rope but the ridge is easy. There is a trail that starts on the Seward Highway and leads through some cliffs onto steep tundra to a plateau below the SW ridge separating Falls Creek from Indian. A bit of route finding is needed though. The views along the way are breathtaking and easily rival the ones on Bird Ridge ... here you got the chance of having it all for yourself though.

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Darcy's Mutter kam mit der Idee den Südgrat des Indian House Mountains zu besteigen. Der Gipfel ist normalerweise nur mit Seil machbar der Grat jedoch lädt zu einer Wanderung auf einem Bergpfad ein.


Darcy, Kate, und Tory. In the background Turnagain Arm mudflats.
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Im Hintergrund das Watt des Turnagain Arm.

Kate und machen Rast (picture by Darcy Dugan).

Tory brought his paraglider which he tried. Before taking off he says: "In case you were wondering, this is the sickest spot I ever took off from."
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Tory nahm seinen Gleitschirm mit nach Oben und probierte ihn sogleich aus. Tory war vom Abflugsort total begeistert.

Tory and mudflats of Turnagain Arm.
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Tory und das Watt des Turnagain Arm.

Penguin Ridge

The weather has been fantastic since we had a snowstorm. It's cold and clear. Since the snow in the mountains is not yet deep enough for skiing but just low enough for hiking we decided to check out Penguin Ridge near Gentoo Peak. We wanted to climb around there for a while and the superb weather just looked very inviting.
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Das Wetter ist momentan fantastisch. In den Bergen hat es ein bißchen Schnee und es ist kalt und klar. Schon lange wollten wir den Pinguin Grat mit Gentoo Peak ausfindig machen. Das Wetter war sehr einladend.

Darcy and I on Penguin Ridge North of Gentoo Peak after ascending the ridge from the California Creek side where there is a trail that leads above timberline to provide the most comfortable ascent of Penguin Ridge besides the trail on Penguin Peak on the ridge's Western end.
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Darcy und ich auf dem Penguin Grat nördlich vom Gentoo Peak nachdem wir sind dem Weg durch das California Creek Tal gefolgt sind.


We followed this wolf track from 2000 ft all the way to the ridge where it descended a very steep pitch into Penguin Creek Valley.
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Wir folgten einer Wolfspur die uns von 2000ft auf den Grat in ca. 4000ft Höhe führte. Die Spur verlief vom Grat aus sehr steil ins Tal des Penguin Creeks.

Gentoo Peak on right with Girdwood in the valley.
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Gentoo Peak mit Blick auf Girdwood im Tal.

Bird Peak (high point on left) with the upper reaches of the Penguin Creek valley.

Me on Penguin Ridge. - Toby auf dem Penguin Grat.

Darcy auf dem Penguin Grat.


Alpenglow in background with Penguin Ridge.

The descend was very easy and super fun with the new snow. Check out the video above.
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Den Abstieg hat uns der Schnee sehr leicht gemacht. Siehe obigen Video!

Bidarka Lake

The Chugach has been accompanying and entertaining me for many unforgettable moments while riding my bike to school or to work, hiking, climbing, skiing on its slopes and through its valleys. It's an always dynamic interplay between rock and clouds that provide different shutters for the sunlight to come through to hit the eye so unexpectedly. No matter what weather, I never get tired looking at the mountains that define most of what I like about Anchorage. All the more special when you discover places not seen before at times when the mountains present themselves in the rare contrast of light reflected from termination dust.

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Die Chugach Kette hat mich schon immer imponiert sei es auf dem Fahrrad zur Schule oder zur Arbeit, oder einfach während des Kletterns, Wanderns oder Skifahrens. Es ist das immer dynamisches Zusammenspiel von Fels und Wolken das eine faszinierende Blende fürs Sonnenlicht bietet. Egal welches Wetter, die Berge die das Bild von Anchorage bestimmen werden einem nicht langweilig. Es ist zudem etwas Besonderes wenn man einen neuen Ort in den heimischen Bergen entdecken kann und sogleich die Berge in kontrastreichem Licht bewundern kann.

A beautiful valley aside the beaten path. - Ein Tal fernab vom Pfad.

Bidarka Lake with Shaman Dome and The Wing in the background.
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Bidarka Lake mit den Bergen: Shaman Dome und The Wing im Hintergrund.

Darcy and I made it to the lake just in time before it got dark. There was little snow dusting on the ground.
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Darcy und ich kamen noch vor Dunkelheit am See an wo wir unser Zelt auch etwas Neuschnee aufschlugen.

We set up our new tent (THANKS to STEVE!) in front of the impressive rock walls of Bird Ridge Overlook and The Beak. The next morning we hiked across the pass seen in the background.
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Besondere Dank gilt unserem Freund Steve, der uns ein Zelt geschenkt hat das wir sogleich ausprobieren konnten. Wir zeltenen unterhalb der imposanten Felswände die den kleinen Bergsee umrahmen.

Camp with Shaman Dome in background (Hintergrund).

Darcy scaling the pass between Bird Ridge Overlook and The Beak. The peaks along the skyline from left to right are The Ramp and Williwaw.
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Darcy auf dem Weg zum Paß. Die Berge im Hintergrund kann man von Anchorage aus sehen.

The greatest shutter is not in your camera, it's rock and clouds. A rare view of Mount Spurr as seen from Bird Ridge, framed by Ptarmigan and Avalanche Peaks.

Bird Ridge as seen from the Northern end.

My favorite hiking buddy (and much more!) and me.

Darcy in a snow storm on Bird Ridge.
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Darcy im Schneesturm auf dem Bird Ridge.

Crow Pass

The packrafting season is about to end, soon. But as long as the ice doesn't cover the rivers it might be fine ... so we thought. Somehow we could convince Stefan to go packrafting with us. Stefan probably didn't think that it had to be a 24 mile trip across Crow Pass. He happily came along. (Photos by Stefan Milkowski, Darcy Dugan, and me).
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Die Packraftsaison naht sich dem Ende. Aber solange es noch kein Eis auf den Flüssen gibt dachten wir ist das O.K. Irgendwie konnten wir auch dann noch Stefan dazu überreden mit uns zu kommen. Es war seine erste Packrafttour. Das es dann gleich 40km über den Crow Pass sein mußten hätte er sich sicherlich nicht geträumt.

Stefan and me at the trail head in Girdwood. - Stefan und ich am Anfang des Pfades.


Stefan and Darcy carrying their packs and packrafts across Crow Pass near Crystal Lake.
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Stefan und Darcy tragen ihre Rucksäcke und Packrafts über den Crow Pass in der Nähe des Crystal Lakes.

It was a bit chilly as the sun rose around 10a.m.
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Es war etwas kühl als um 10 Uhr langsam die Sonne aufging.

As expected the river turned out to be running at low water ... but we thought we could at least float from the river crossing at mile 12. Not so, we hiked all the way to Twin Falls and put in there for a 1.5 hour leisurely float to Echo Bend.
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Wie erwartet hatte es nicht viel Wasser und so mussten wir bis zum Twin Wasserfall laufen um dort unsere Boote aufzublasen. Nach 1.5 Stunden war die Paddlerei ach schon wieder vorbei.

Stefan is always a great sport to go on trips with. During the float we saw a grizzly and two cubs. After taking out at Echo Bend we hiked through the dark with headlamps illuminating magically frozen grasses. The night was crisp and clear. It made for a great ending of our trip.
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Stefan ein stolzer Paddler. Auf dem Fluß sahen wir einen Grizzly mit zwei Kleinen. Die Nacht war zauberhaft klar und am Wegesrand glitzerten die von Frost geladenen Gräser im Schein unsere Kopflampen.

Raina Peak

Stefan from Fairbanks came for a visit and we went hiking on Raina Peak (6795ft) together. Not only did we get some great weather and awesome scenery, we also saw a grizzly ... almost too close for our taste. You can reach Raina Peak through beautiful Ram Valley, North of the Eagle River Nature Center. The days are getting shorter and we almost ran out of sunlight. We approached Raina through several gullies on its SW side where large gendarmes force you to keep looking for a possible route. There was plenty of loose rock and scree. (Pictures by Stefan Milkowski and me)
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Stefan aus Fairbanks war am Wochenende zu Besuch. Wir unternahmen eine Wanderung auf den Raina Peak über das wunderschöne Ram (Schafbock) Tal, nördlich des Eagle River Naturzentrums. Wir hatten nicht nur super Wetter und eine traumhafte Aussicht sondern kamen auch fast etwas zu nah an einen Grizzly heran der sich die Sonne auf den Pelz scheinen ließ. Die Tage werden merklich kürzer und fast hatten wir beim Abstieg kein Tageslicht mehr. Unsere Route führte über die Südwest Seite des Berges. Das Gestein war dort recht instabil und ein Helm ist sicherlich zu empfehlen.

Across one gully into the next one. Part of the summit ridge is to the left of my head. We chose a fairly direct route from here on up.
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Über eine Felsrinne in die nächste. Ein Teil des Gipfelgrates ist am oberen Bildrand zu erkennen. Unsere Route war von hier aus ziemlich direkt.

Bombardment Pass and the impressive North face of Korohusk Peak (7030ft). The highpoint to the left of Korohusk is Mount Kiliak (7450ft). Further left is Icicle Peak.
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Bombardment Pass mit der eindrucksvollen Nordwand des Korohusk Peak. Im Hintergrund sieht man den Mount Kiliak und den Icicle Peak.


Ram Valley offers an interesting moraine landscape. - Interressante Moränenlandschaft.

Stefan on the descent enjoying the evening light. - Stefan genießt bei Abstieg die letzten Sonnenstrahlen.
A moose eating willows while we enjoy the view onto Polar Bear Peak in the far back.
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Ein Elch frißt Zweige während wir den Blick auf den Polar Bear Peak genießen.

Fall packrafting

After many summer weeks in my brace, I could finally go and packraft a bunch of rivers I wanted to do for a long time. In September I took a white water rescue course and got to know new people to go out and run rivers with. Scott Solle, left us with some great skills for self rescue in a packraft and how to swim in the river. The four day course was a lot about swimming and building confidence with the river and your raft. Scott will teach more courses next year. Below are some shots and videos from packrafting this fall.
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Endlich kann ich wieder packraften. Nach einigen Sommerwochen in meinem Korsett bin ich überglücklich endlich wieder was mit meinem Packraft unternehmen zu können. Bei einem Wildwasserrettungskurshabe ich neue Gesichter kennengelernt und das natürlich gleich ausgenutzt. Während des viertägigen Kurses schwammen wir viel im Fluß und konnten so unsere Selbstvertrauen aufbauen. Anbei ein paar Bilder und Video von diesem Herbst.

Packrafting class on Eagle River (r. to l.) Marielle, me, Ed, Ty, and Carlene



With a group of packrafters I went packrafting the Matanuska River at Lionshead (@ 2000 cfs). Video by Doug VanEtten.
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Mit einer Gruppe von Packraftern bin ich hier auf dem Matanuska River am Lionshead.

On the way to the put in of Six Mile Creek (IV-V) here in the back of Luc's van together with J.T.
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Auf dem Weg zum Six Mile Creek im Kofferraum eines kleinen Bus hier mit J.T.


Two groups of 8 to 10 packrafters and hard shell preparing to float Six Mile. Packrafters definitely outnumbered hard shells.
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Zwei Gruppen von bis zu 8-10 Packraftern und Kajakern.

The first canyon of Six Mile as seen from the bridge (@ 580 cfs). Rapids from the top are: 17th Ender, Predator.

The waterfall (6ft) in the first canyon as seen from the bridge.


On another trip, I went with Jeff, Wayne, and Joe to do Willow Creek's guard rail section. Above, a view updiver across me and my boat. Jeff in the background. Picture by W. Todd.
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Blick flußaufwärts von mir und meinem Boot.

Surfing a wave on Willow's guard rail section (picture by W. Todd)
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Surfen einer Welle im Willow Creek

Sulzfluh (SUI)

One of the highlights of our Germany visit was a three day trip to the Swiss Alps with my family. We hiked in the Sulzfluh region of Graubünden near Davos and Klosters the famous ski resort towns.
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Ein highlight unseres Deutschaldbesuchs war ein dreitägiger Aufenthalt im Berggasthof Alpenrösli an der Sulzfluh. Wir wanderten dort mit meiner Familie. Die Sulzfluh ist in der Nähe von Davos und Klosters.

Mom and dad in front of the Sulzfluh - Mama und Papa wandern zur Sulzfluh

My brother and I - Mein Bruder und ich


Dad found two old teabags on the trail that he displays as ear rings
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Papa fand zwei Teebeutel die zugleich als Ohrschmuck neue Bedeutung fanden

excellent German student -

group photo in front of the Sulzfluh - Familienbild vor der Sulzfluh


Darcy and her new friends - Darcy und ihre neuen Freunde

Stef on his way to climbing some lime stone
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Stef auf dem Weg zum Klettern im Kalkgestein am Gruenewändli

Darcy in front of the customs "shack" on the border between Switzerland and Austria
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Darcy vor dem Zollgebäude zwischen der Schweiz und Österreich


Above and below: Mama, Papa, and Darcy on the East ridge of the Sulzfluh with summit in distance
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Oben und unten: Mama, Papa, und Darcy auf dem ostgrat der Sulzfluh mit Gipfel im Hintergrund


Mom and dad on the descent from the Sulzfluh East ridge. It strated to rain and the rock got a bit slippery. Particularly the last steep section along the chains was a bit hairy for mom but she did great.
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Mama und Papa beim steilen Abstieg vom Sulzfluh Ostgrat. Es begann zu regnen und der Fels wurde zunehmends glitschig. Mama hatte ihre Bedenken vorallem im sehr steilen letzten Teil des Abstiegs, wo man sich an Ketten festhalten muß. Mama hat jedoch auch diese Passage gemeistert.

Mom, dad and me with the steep last part of the descent in the background.
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Mama, Papa, und ich mit dem letzten steilen Teil des Abstiegs im Hintergrund.

My dad and I in front of an Alpine hut.
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Mein Vater und ich auf der Bank vor einer Alpenhütte.


Alm in a remote valley.
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Alm in einem entlegenen Tal.


As you all see we had great fun.
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Wie ihr seht hatten wir sehr viel Spaß.

Belchen (GER)

One of our hikes in the Black Forest was on Belchen, a mountain with usually perfect views onto the Alpes. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy.

home

Home - Heimat - after another year it was time to go back to family and friends in Germany. This time though with Darcy - yeeepeee - who started off with a couple words in German and after two weeks could fluently speak a couple sentences. I am so proud of her. You got to understand that we speak a difficult dialect (Allemannisch) in Schwarzwald.


My grand parents used to live in the house to the left with gorgeous views into the valley. Cows and their bells were a welcome noise and somehow left a sense of tranquility.
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Mein Großeltern lebten im linken Haus mit schönen Blicken ins Tal. Die Kühe mit ihren Glocken waren ein wilkommenes Geräusch das paradoxer Weise einem das Gefühl von Ruhe gab.

My mom and I on Bildstein a viewpoint. Unfortunately, there was fog.
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Meine Mutter Elfi und ich auf dem Bildstein, einem nahen Aussichtspunkt. Leider hatte es Nebel.

There are always projects when owning a 400 year old house.
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Es gibt immer was zu tun wenn man ein 400 Jahre altes Haus hat.


Darcy putting her skills to work.

My grandparents' called Schniderhisle (taylor's house)
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S' Schniderhisle

Breakfast in Schniderhisle, enjoying the views.
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Frühstück im Schniderhisle.


neighbors' house called d'Wildehof

My longtime friend Franz-Herbert with his wife Barbara.
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Mein langjähriger Freund Franz-Herbert mit Frau Barbara.

My dad and Darcy. Darcy was wearing traditional Black Forest straw shoes.
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Mein Vater und Darcy. Darcy trug traditionelle schwarzwälder Strohschuhe.

Stef and I with obligatory hotdog in Freiburg.
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Stef und ich beim obligatorischen Freiburger Wurst und Wecke auf dem Münsterplatz.

Peterson Bay

Sometime in August our neighbors the Burkholders invited us to their cabin in Peterson Bay near Homer. We happily accepted had we heard about their place on a cliff for a very long time. We were very excited to visit. Since Darcy had to be in Homer for work before the weekend, I decided to come along. We visited the NOAA laboratory near Homer and then spent the weekend at Burkys' cabin.


Jim and Sally on their boat




the cabin with stairway to the upper cabin in which we staid (below)



Sally and Jim in their cabin from which one has a great view onto the bay. The beautiful stove you see in the picture above, Jim built himself.


We had great fun exploring our surroundings. On our trip we went into Halibut Cove.

Darcy had also great fun collecting huge blue berries that grow on Jim and Sally's property.

Morning paddle in China Poot Bay where we unfortunately had to see a black bear that was shot laying dead on the back of a boat we passed while paddling.

Skilak Lake

After two months my brace was off and Darcy and I decided to check out Skilak Lake in Darcy's parents Klepper boat. Again, the weather was great - calm which is good to have on Skilak Lake.

Beautiful view towards the Skilak River delta.

These logs scattered on the lakes Northern shore are evidence that the lake can quickly turn on you.


In the middle of the night we had a visitor . I woke up when I heard a bear barking right behind our tent. He must have been upset that we camped right on his trail. YIKES!

Cormorants and seagulls are a common sight.


View onto Skilak Lake from a hill on its Northern shore.

Falls Creek

Over the 4th of July, Josh, Cema, Darcy. me and Keith and Kendra's dog Kaja went into Falls Creek on the Kenai Peninsula. The weather was superb.

Winner Creek

I took a first weekend hike after my accident in late June six weeks after. I could hike in a brace and had to give my gear to Darcy, Tory and Kate. I am very lucky to have friends that care and I was glad to get out of town to enjoy the outdoors once again. Thanks so much to Tory, Darcy, and Kate for slogging my stuff.


Darcy's dad (right) and Uncle Doug joined us for the first section of Winner Creek Trail. On the far left my old coach Paul Crews.

Kate balancing on a fallen log across one of the creeks.

Kate and Darcy navigating remains of an avalanche.

The Winner Creek Pass is really fantastic offering nice camping ambient and gorgeous views.

We camped right on the pass.

With one of Tory's essentials in the bag (whiskey) the evening turned out to be real fun.


Tory making coffee with lots of half and half that he carried up here.

Darcy giving her looks.

Twin Peaks

In early May Ian, Josh and I wanted to climb the North Face of Pioneer Peak. The conditions looked great but we for some reason one of us did not have the crucial footwear to do the steep climb so we opted to do the Twin Peaks instead. The snow was melting fast due to a layer of ash remnants from the outbreak of Mount Redoubt earlier in the year.

Ian on the way to East Twin Peak 5,873 ft.

Ian and Josh climbing through a couloir on East Twin Peak.

Ian on the East Ridge of East Twin Peak

Me descending East Twin Peak (photo by Ian Laing)

Compared to East Twin Peak, the climb up West Twin Peak (5,401 ft) is more straight forward. We hung out at the summit enjoying the views.


View from West Twin Peak into the Matanuska Valley where the Mat River meets the Knik River.

Ian descending West Twin Peak.

West and East Twin Peak

Southeast view from West Twin's South ridge. The summits of Bold and Bashful are on the left side of the image.

I am still here ...

I am still here …

I cannot explain why I am still alive. It’s like being born again or having a second chance. The last time I felt like this was ten years ago when I was hanging on 220 Volts. I was sanding a wooden floor and drove the sander across its power cord. Back then the circuit breaker saved my life. This time it was my helmet and a rope bag that softened the blow when I hit ground. I am lucky - extremely lucky. “We are glad the guardian angels did their job”, mom and dad said. “You send them every week” (at the end of our obligatory weekly phone call), I said.

The terms of your existence can change any second.

A small rock gully seemed to be the obvious way to ascend in order to set up a top rope for climbing Black Lung, a nice 5.11 at the far right of the Puriton Creekside Cliff. It was supposed to be our last climb after Marital Bliss and Unknown. Dugan and Tucky sorted out gear while I took off, scrambling up the roughly 40 degree rock gully to set up the top rope. After about 15 meters, I started to question my judgment. Too late!? I carried a rope bag that got in the way of scrambling and the rock became increasingly lose. It was only 5 meters to top out of the gully so I decided to keep going and grabbed a large rock fin, the perfect hold for my right hand, I thought. But not so! The same rock, the size of a suitcase, came loose and blew me off my feet immediately. Within milliseconds I was on my way to hit ground hard at G-force. Rocks hissed by like projectiles. Reality blurred into a spinning wheel of colors. My body fell. My mind blacked out in disbelief.

Quiet …. peace … then I woke.

“Where am I?”, I asked. Somebody stabilized my neck while others checked for bleeding and called the medics. The rescue personnel arrived within half an hour and strapped me onto a backboard. I loved it. I felt stable and secure as my climbing partners carried me down to the medical transporter. Usually it’s five minutes to the road – but it was more like thirty to get across talus and through thick brush.

With adrenalin … time flew by.

My memory came back. I had survived. “But will I keep access to my life - the access I took for granted every single day of play during my thirty four years?” After an hour’s drive to the hospital, x-rays revealed: compression fracture on vertebrae T11 (mid-back), broken 6^th rib, and lacerations on my left shin, left hip, head, and chin. My helmet broke but my spinal cord seemed to be O.K.! I was extremely lucky.

I have been given the world again.

Then, they rushed me to the operating room. A sharp rock cut all the way to the bone scraping off bone pieces. My wounds needed to be cleaned and stitched up in order to prevent bone infection. I felt the anesthesia hit like fuzzy warm liquid rushing quickly into the farthest parts of my body.

I went under … and woke … a second time.

About nine hours after my accident, I was fixed. It was midnight, May 17^th 2009. Dugan stayed with me all this time. He slept on the couch, checked on me during the night, brought me chocolate the next morning, and made the all important phone calls to let friends and family know about my condition. He also sent for the nurse when I needed any kind of relief.

Loved ones … care about you.

One of the toughest challenges was to keep adequate communication between me and my family in Germany. Nobody around me spoke German but my girlfriend Darcy turned out to be my magician acting from afar. She crafted many e-mails, one of them to my parents in English. But she had to get it translated so she sent it to Kate in Alaska, who knew a friend in New Zealand who happened to be in Africa at the time and sent it to another friend in Germany, who then translated it for my parents, in just … half an hour.

Since the accident, the support and care I received from family and friends is truly breathtaking and once again reminds me what really counts in life. I know time and life will soon move quickly and this incident will remain as a stark reminder of the important things in life far aside from schedules, plans, and work. It’s good to sometimes re-discover what it means to hang out and enjoy each others’ company rather than resuming the solitary independent ways of modern life.

To this day, it remains a miracle to me where I was during my black out and what it meant. Was I losing consciousness because my body’s protective mechanism kicked in to conserve valuable life resources? Was it because my mind could not process the overload of horror I found myself in? Or was it the first step on a path we all need to walk some day?

talking to Darcy - am Telefon mit Darcy

Me on Unknown a couple hours before the accident - Ein paar Stunden vor dem Unfall kletterte ich Unknown im Vorstieg.

pictures by Bob Dugan

Kayak to Ski

On the first weekend in May, my friend Kat was visiting from Vancouver. The weather was great so we decided to go on a paddle to ski trip in Prince William Sound. With us were Raphael Wunderle and Joshua Mulkey.
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Am ersten Wochenende im Mai, Kat eine Studienkollegin aus Vancouver war zu Besuch. Das Wetter war prima und somit haben wir uns zu einer Paddel und Skitour im Prinz William Sound entschieden. Mit dabei waren Raphael Wunderle aus Bubenbach und mein Kletterkollege Joshua Mulkey.
Because the road to Whittier was still closed due to rockfall, we took the train which was for free.
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Da die Straße nach Whittier noch immer wegen Erdrutsch gesperrt war nahmen wir den Zug. Der Fahrpreis wurde vom Staat übernommen.

Josh and Raphael crossing Blackstone Bay towards the Tebenkof Glacier.
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Josh und Raphael beim Überqueren der Blackstone Bay.

We made camp near the Tebenkof Glacier.
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Wir zelteten in der Nähe des Tebenkof Gletschers.

Kat on the way to where there was good skiing
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Kat auf dem Weg zum Skifahren.

Kat and Port Wells in the background
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Kat und im Hintergrund Port Wells

Blackstone Bay

Toby, Kat, Joshua, und Raphael

Sealions come to visit us while paddling back to Whittier
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Seelöwen kamen vorbei als wir zurück nach Whittier gepaddelt sind.

Puriton Rock

John invited me to come along to rock climb at Puriton Creek on the Glenn Highway near Palmer. For April the weather was great with a bit of sun that made for warm rock. We climbed a total of four routes and were the only ones there. Aside from the great times, climbing with John is awesome as I always seem to learn a bit more every time I go with him.
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John lud mich zum Klettern bei Purinton Creek am Glenn Highway in der Nähe von Palmer ein. Wenn man bedenkt daß es April ist hatten wir echt gutes Wetter mit etwas Sonne die den Fels etwas erwärmte. Wir kletterten vier Routen und hatten den ganzen Fels für uns. Ich klettere gerne mit John denn jedes mal lerne ich mehr hinzu.

The right part of Puriton Creek climbing area. This is were we climbed. The walk up to the climbs is only 5 minutes. 5.9 to 5.11
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Die rechte Seite des Klettergebietes am Puriton Creek. Nach ungefähr 5 Minuten Gehzeit gelangt man an den Fuße der Wand. VI - VII

John studying the (what used to be the only) "guide book" which are pieces of hand drawings on copy paper "published" about 15 years ago.
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John studiert den Kletterführer, den bisher einzig erhältlichen, auf Kopierpapier der etwa vor 15 Jahren verkauft wurde.

View of the Chugach Range from the top of one of the climbs.
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Blick auf die Chugach Kette.

John putting in some friends.
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John legt zusätzliche "friends" Sicherungen.

View towards the Wiener Lake climbing area with King Mountain in the background.
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Blick auf das Klettergebiet Wiener Lake, im Hintergrund King Mountain.

Skiing on Mt. Williwaw

Work at my new workplace starts on Monday, so I thought it's time for some final play time. Josh and I decided to give Mt. Williwaw a try. The weather was overcast with the occasional break in the clouds and the summit was hiding behind clouds as we moved up the Middle Fork of Campbell Creek. After a little more than two hours we reached the lower end of the southwest gully and started boot packing. The snow in the couloir was solid which made for an easy way up. However we got spooked by sudden hip deep post holing as we topped out of the couloir at around 4500 ft. In some spots I could easily poke my pole with basket first all the way to the rocks - SCARY! So we decided to bag it and turn back. Whiteout conditions on the last 1000ft of our climb made the return a bit easier.
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Am Montag fange ich an meinem neuen Arbeitsplatz an und somit wollte ich an diesem Wochenende natürlich etwas unternehmen. Joshua und ich entschieden uns auf den Mt. Williwaw zu gehen. Der Himmel war bewölkt mit vereinzelten Lücken in der Wolkendecke. Der Gupfel war auch in Wolken als wir den Mittelarm des Campbell Creek Tales hoch gingen. Nach etwas mehr als zwei Stunden waren wir am Fuße der SW Felsrinne angelangt und trugen beim Aubstieg durch die Rinne die Ski am Rucksack. Der Schnee war sehr stabil anderte sich jedoch drastisch als wir aus der Rinne herausstiegen. Ans Weitergehen wollten wir daher nicht denken und sind schnurstracks umgedreht. Zudem war der Gipfel immernoch von Nebel verhüllt.

Josh skate skiing on telegear near Williwaw Lakes. In the background Mt. Williwaw
(5445ft).
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Josh beim Skaten mit Telemarkski im Campbell Creek Tal. Im Hintergrund der Mt. Williwaw (1660m).

Josh topping out of the couloir.
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Joshua beim Ausstieg aus der Felsrinne.

Josh skiing the lower portion of the couloir which in its steepest section is roughly 40 degrees.
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Josh im Telemark im unteren Teil der Felsrinne die im steilsten Stück ungefähr 40 Grad steil ist.

Josh skiing out. See the SW couloir in the background.
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Josh auf dem Heimzug. Im Hintergrund das SW couloir.


Ice climbers on O'Malley Falls North of O'Malley Peak.
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Eiskletterer auf der Nordseite des O'Malley Peaks.

Hunter Creek Ice

On a weekday in the second week of April Josh and I went ice climbing in Hunter Creek. WE met at 9 a.m., started climbing at 11:15, and finished at 6p.m. for a total of 5 pitches. Approximately at 8 p.m. I was back at home. It turns out, a couple days later Tucky and I went back there climbing Lost Chord.
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An einem Wochentag in der zweiten Aprilwoche waren Josh und ich zum Eisklettern im Hunter Creek. Um 9:00 gings mit dem Auto zum Hunter Creek Parkplatz. Nach 45 min Fußmarsch auf dem Bacheis fingen wir um 11:15 an zu klettern. Nach insgesamt 5 Seillängen Kletterei ging es um 6 abends wieder zurück nach Anchorage. Um 8 war ich dann zuhause.

Josh and I on top of "Split Finish."
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Josh und ich am Ende des Split Finish.

Josh im Hunter Creek. Bei unserem Anmarsch war der Hunter Creek gut zugefrohren. Manchmal gibt es nasse Füße aber letztens waren immer gute Bedingungen.

Josh leading our second climb on Lost in Space (WI 3). I lead the previous climb further to climber's right.
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Josh am Lost in Space (Wasserfalleis 3). Ich kletterte eine Route mehr rechts bei unserem ersten Versuch.

Josh on the rapell off of Lost in Space
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Josh beim Abseilen am Lost in Space.

Lost Chord (WI4). We did admire this massive water ice climb.
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Lost Chord (Wasserfalleis 4). Wir bewunderten diesen sehr großen Wasserfall.

Split Finish (WI3). I led the first pitch and Josh lead second and third pitch up the right side finish. Since Josh brought a 70m double rope we rappelled twice from a rap ring placed on a large cotton wood on climber's right in the middle of the climb. After the first steeper section there is a rap ring off an alder on climber's right.
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Split Finish. Ich kletterte die erste Seillänge vor und Josh die zweite und dritte. Da Josh sein 70m Doppelseil mit dabei hatte konnten wir mit zweimal abseilen auskommen.

Pastoral to Grand Daddy

The first weekend in April nine of us went do a long day in Turnagain. The party: Lars, Bart, Andrew, Brian, Charlie, Mark, Toren, Collin, and me. The tour: Sunburst PL, Taylor Pass, Pastoral Peak, Grand Daddy, Bertha Creek, Sunburst PL.
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Am ersten Wochenende im April war ich mit acht Freunden im Turnagain Gebiet auf Skitour. Mit dabei waren: Bart, Lars, Andrew, Brian, Charlie, Mark, Toren, Collin und ich. Die Tour ging vom Sunburst Parkplatz zum Taylor Paß und von dort auf den Pastoral Peak. Vom Gipfel runter zum Sattel auf der Südseite und hinauf auf den Grand Daddy Peak und über das Bertha Creek Tal wieder zurück zum Parkplatz.

North side of Pastoral Peak as seen from Taylor Pass
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Die Nordseite von Pastoral Peak wie man sie vom Taylor Paß aus sieht.


The Sail an imposing cornice. In the background Carpathian Peak - Das Segel ist eine imposante Wechte. Im Hintergrund Carpathian (Karpaten) Peak.

Paul below the Summit of Pastoral Peak.
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Paul unterhalb des Gipfels des Pastoral Peak.


Mark and Lars backing off from skiing Grand Daddies main couloir.
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Mark und Lars beim Rückzug aus der Felsrinne am Grand Daddy.

The group inspecting recent avalanche debris.
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Die Gruppe inspiziert eine Lawine.