TR: Carpathian Peak Alaska, almost...
So my buddy and I have been wanting to climb this peak for a long time now and figured the conditions were good to give it a go. It's quite a ways back and being a working type I haven't always got the time to take a few days off so we decided to use some sleds.
The weather was dreary and we were not sure that we would be able to make it back to the objective as we were planning on sledding up a glacier, which isn't something I really want to do in a whiteout. Oh and this was my 4th time on a sled.
Dirty Al oiling up the sleds.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/b55fbf7e.jpg
We had to wait at the toe of the glacier for a while as the fogged had rolled in thick. Eventually it cleared out a bit so we headed up. After a while we could see some light through the fog. So we headed for the light, like moths.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/36a957ae.jpg
Some perspective on the distances.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/c6a780dd.jpg
And then we were into bluebird!
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/7ca253ac.jpg
Carpathian Peak
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/e77f51b5.jpg
Looking to the south (the far left side of this out of site is a heli run).
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So we headed up the glacier until we arrived at a another heli pickup area. We parked the sleds and started skinning. I broke trail the entire way. Dirty Al provides the sleds, I provide the trail breaking. Seemed like a fair deal.
Looking to the west
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/610f907c.jpg
Me about to be attacked by a shadow bunny. Obviously. Note the tracks from heli skiers.
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Looking toward the top of the pass. We went over this and behind the ridge on the left
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...h/8d1652c4.jpg
Taking a break at the top to wait for Dirty Al.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan78.jpg
DA coming up to the pass. The face on the right is close to 4,000' of vertical.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan79.jpg
DA like thee energizer bunny. still going...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan80.jpg
The back of the pass. If you have good eyes you can see my skinned up, skimode, splitboard straightline. DA was a pussy and traversed claiming an "innability to ski". Sucka.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan82.jpg
Always up!
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DA sustaining his girlish figure with some Carl's Jr.
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Rounding the corner and heading across a minor icefall, with the icefield in the background.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan84.jpg
The icefield. Prince William Sound is on the other side of it.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan85.jpg
The last 1,000' of Carpathian. Did I mention it was really sunny?
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Setting up for the climbing. We came up the pass between the splitboard and shovel, then around the ridge behind DA.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan87.jpg
RETREAT! The snow was mushy soft. The bergschrund, was large, but had a decent bridge. I roped up and started mashing my way up the potatos. I turned around when the angle got steeper, the snow got softer and deeper, and every avy alarm in my body was going off. Oh well another time. One of my friends has tried three times and still not made it yet.
Plus if you were being chased by a giant pubic hair you would retreat tol.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan88.jpg
The full ridge. YOu can just see where I went up on the lower left side. I told DA that I wanted to ski the big couloir left of the summit. He said "No, you'll get hit in the head with a rock". I'm pretty sure if he meant he would throw one at me.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan89.jpg
Some easy riding to the first flat. We would have climbed the corniced ridge to the summit (but it was soft and squishy).
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan90.jpg
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Your's truelly caught in the act.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan92.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan93.jpg
Guess which tracks are mine (Hint: I don't know how to turn so well)
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan66.jpg
Heading down the heli run.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan94.jpg
Further.
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Further.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan96.jpg
Back at the sleds. Enjoying the stoke (and sunburn!)
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yah/Scan97.jpg
Pausing on the ride out.
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To look back at the days events. We were trying to climb the flat looking peak in the center of the photo.
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