| 2001
Mugs Stump Award Winners:
Westman/Benowitz/Puryear/Turiano—Kitchatna
Spire
Mark
Westman, Jeff Benowitz, Joe Puryear & Chris Turiano
Hello
Michael,
Well, I wish we had something exciting, or at least, newsworthy,
to tell you about our Kichatna trip, but you know how Alaska
can be. The Kichatnas apparently had 23 sunny days in June.
But then, at the beginning of July, the day before we were
to fly in, a storm arrived with a weather synopsis beginning
with the statement "Summer is Over", and forecasting
a long term period of continuous snow and clouds over the
Alaska Range until at least mid July and "probably later".
Nonetheless, we waited in Talkeetna for 5 days. When the forecast
continued to look hopeless for flying to the Kichatnas for
at least another week, which would have left us with only
two weeks, or less, to climb (one of our team had to return
to work near the end of July), we decided to head for the
Ruth Gorge, where planes had been able to fly at least some
of the time. We attempted the east ridge of Mt. Johnson, the
massive feature that Mugs Stump/Renny Jackson/Chabot/Terravecchia/Shaw,
et. al. have/had flung themselves at for many years yet is
still unfinished. Stump in fact tried it three times, if I
recall, as did Renny. Jackson and Chabot had the strongest
attempt to date: they got something like 32 pitches up in
1999, but were physically and psychologically devastated by
the hard climbing and poor rock, and continuing difficulties.
By the way, Ian McCrae was not on our team; he could not go
and was replaced by Chris Turiano of Anchorage, Alaska. Turiano
and Benowitz had attempted this route last year, but while
Turiano was leading the first pitch, a huge snowpatch 2000
feet up avalanched off and Benowitz was struck by debris and
injured.
In between bouts of heavy rain, we managed to fix lines up
the first 10 pitches or so, highlighted by Benowitz aiding
up chossy, moss filled cracks as the corner in which he and
I were in became a waterfall, as it began to rain heavily.
After, rockfall completely chopped the sheath of the fixed
rope I was rappelling, fully weighted, while over 100 feet
above the moat. Exciting...
The weather turned cold and it then snowed all over the upper
route, which Chabot and Renny tells us consists of rock similar
to welded popcorn and in which they used their ice axes to
chop cracks for protection. The snow didn't melt and the rain
continued. The forecast came for another week of rain and
unsettled weather. We went up and climbed a few more pitches
during a morning of partly sunny weather, then rappelled off
in the gathering rain and pulled our fixed lines. The next
day we awoke to what seemed promising looking weather, and
were readying to try some smaller objectives on Hut Tower
and the Werewolf, until the clouds closed in quickly and more
rain arrived. With a strong storm forecast within 24 hours,
our patience ran out,or perhaps reality had sunk in. So we
packed up and dragged our gear all the way to the Mountain
House, where TAT flew us out, barely, in the rain the next
morning.
As it turns out, as of now, July 1 was the last flyable day
to the Kichatnas, so we probably didn't miss anything short
of even more tent time than the Ruth offered.
Frustrating, but that's Alaska. As it was, Joe Puryear and
I spent the last half of May and all of June in the Alaska
Range and had a good season of it. We made the 7th ascent
of the Infinite Spur from June 9-15, starting the route one
hour behind Steve and Rolo. What a great climb, Michael- that
was a real piece of work you and George did. Dave Pegg contacted
me this week with questions about it, and I gave him a summary.
Anyway, Joe, Jeff, Chris and I wish to thank you and Black
Diamond, Climbing, Patagonia, and W.L. Gore for supporting
us in our efforts through the Mugs Stump Award. We greatly
appreciate the assistance. Thanks again, Michael, and best
to you and your family.
Cheers,
Mark Westman
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