Mount Fairweather Trip Report, May 7th, 2011 - May 25th, 2011.
Copyright Petter Bjørstad, 2011, photos by Petter Bjørstad.
THIS TRIP REPORT IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, PLEASE VISIT AGAIN.
Before the Trip, The team.
A very brief overview of Mount Fairweather
Regulations and Reservations
Clothing, Boots, Huts and Climbing Gear:
Food and Cooking:
May 7., Day 1: Travel to Juneau.
I left home at 0500 and arrived at Juneau Hotel
(via Amsterdam, Seattle, Kitchican, Sitka) at 1900 local time. That is,
exactly 24 hours of travel.
May 8., Day 2: Visit Juneau.
Attempted Mount Juneau, brunch in Juneau (beagle place), then
shopping.
May 9., Day 3: Travel to Haines.
Got to the ferry, met Gerry Roach. Arrived in Haines.
May 10., Day 4: Bad weather, a local hike.
Went hiking with Paul and Annie. No weather for flying.
May 11., Day 5: First attempt to fly in.
Tried to fly in, but Mount Fairweather was in thick clouds.
May 12., Day 6: Bad weather, a local climb.
Climbed Mount Ripinsky, still no weather for flying.
May 13., Day 7: Second attempt to fly in.
Tried to fly in, but had to turn around.
May 14., Day 8: Third attempt, we succeed.
Finally, we flew in and established Base Camp. Did a carry to ABC.
May 15., Day 9: Establish ABC.
Established Advanced Base Camp on the Mezzanine.
May 16., Day 10: We establish a route to the col.
Navigated up the icefall and fixed ropes to the very top of the col.
May 17., Day 11: Bad weather.
Bad weather, stayed in camp.
May 18., Day 12: Bad weather.
Bad weather, but did a hike down to Base Camp.
May 19., Day 13: Bad weather.
Gusty winds, we improved the snow walls.
May 20., Day 14: Bad weather.
Lots of new snow. We went to practice ice climbing.
May 21., Day 15: Bad weather.
White out conditions, when do we get improved weather?
May 22., Day 16: Improving trend.
Better conditions, but a small blizzard from 1200 until 1500. Nice evening.
May 23., Day 17: Summit attempt.
Started out at 0415 for the summit. Hit by a blizzard at 0900. Lost our cache. Turned back.
May 24., Day 18: I fly out.
I flew out with Drake, continued to Juneau with Wings of Alaska.
May 25., Day 19: Travel home.
Left Juneau at 0800, Seattle then Amsterdam.
May 26., Day 20: Arrival in Bergen.
Arrived in Bergen at 1400.
May 29., Day 23: Gerry and Chris climb to the summit!
Budget, what does a trip like this cost?
Further information, Contacts and Links:
Here follows a list of internet links and other appropriate contact information
that may be useful for anybody that wants to plan and organize a trip to Mount Fairweather.
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