Janelle takes a break at the Matt's second bivy, 17K' |
Attempt #1
June 2012: First, we climbed the Harvard
Route on Mt Huntington, and then bumped directly over to Denali. After skiing from the summit (20,320’) via the
West Buttress route, and spending a total of 26 days on the glacier we were
fried from continuous bad weather and inaccurate forecasts.
Mark wearing his "grumpy pants" after concluding we could not climb the Cassin for the second time. |
Last year
we directed all finances and time to Mt
Logan…and failed. Following that sucky and scary effort, Janelle underwent
two hip surgeries, in July and Sept respectively. She had been dealing with
ever increasing hip pain over the last two years. The MRI revealed tore labrums
in both hips due to overuse. This was the heavy price of competing at the World Cup level in ski mountaineering. Thankfully, a full recovery was predicted, yet
it would take 10 months to achieve. July 2014, Janelle walked into the hospital
and came out in a wheelchair. 10 months of PT, icing, constant passive motion
machine, tears and frustration, truckloads of support from friends and family, and
10 gallons worth of Colorado Bulldogs brought us to May. A decision had to be
made; do we put the hips to the ultimate test by trying the Cassin a third
time?
Despite the
PT’s conservative recommendation, Janelle was game. She trained like a crazy
person for the next 8 weeks.
Alpenglow on Mt Foraker at 3:30AM |
On our past
attempts we tried that style. We hate it. Getting everything to the 14,000’
camp is a huge effort. From there, it takes significant mental fortitude to ignore
the bad weather, the wildly inaccurate weather forecasts, the scared naysayer
climbers, and stay stoked for the big objective. Often, eager Cassin suitors do
not even step foot on the route.
Nothing like a sit start to squeeze out every drop from this route. Photo: Janelle Smiley |
This style also
requires many many days of high pressure. Good weather to get to 14,000’, good
weather to acclimatize, good weather to climb the Cassin, good weather to
descend, and finally good weather to fly off. That’s a pretty tall order in the
Alaska Range.
Mark pulls through the short but steep crux in the Japanese Couloir. Photo: Janelle Smiley |
Friday,
June 12, The best air service for climbers in the range, Talkeetna Air Taxi, landed us on a very hot Kahiltna Glacier. Reports from the mountain claimed over a meter of fresh snow in the
last two days. Walking through the “Valley of Death” after that much snowfall
was extra unnerving with increased avalanche danger. We decided to burn a day
before going up the V.o.D. Allowing the avy danger to chill out. [When
discussing the route around loved ones, I recommend saying, “V.o.D.” opposed to
Valley of Death. Additionally, only 4
people have been killed in this Valley. Compared to the estimated 20+ that have
slipped to their death on the Autobahn, on the West Buttress Route].
Mark Smiley & Matt Tuttle nearing the top of the Japanese Couloir. Photo: Matt Parker |
Saturday,
we slept in, sorted gear, made pancakes, and tried to keep cool while our
nerves tried to psych us out with negative “what ifs”.
Sunday
morning at 3AM we were walking up the V.oD. Rich pink and purple alpenglow blanketed
tops of the surrounding mountains. The winds were light as we hiked quickly up
this mega terrain trap. Janelle’s pack weighed 36lbs and mine weighed 41 (with
crampons and tools, not including our 50m 7.8
Sterling Photon rope), which allowed for swift travel. Over the next five hours,
on an established trail, we gained 4,400’ over 5 miles. Passing by the start of
the West Rib route, one of my legs punched through a completely inconspicuous crevasse.
The hidden trapdoor opened, and I fell flat on my face and hands without
warning. Janelle instinctively pulled the rope tight as I wallowed backward to
the safe side. This wake-up call reminded me that Alaska is the real deal, much
like the honey badger.
These mountains don’t blink an eye when they kill you, try to kill you, or let
you pass by unscathed.
Reaching the top of the couloir, we touch the Cassin Ridge proper for the first time. |
The
entrance of the route is the 1000’ Japanese couloir. For most parties this is
simul-climbing terrain, and is dispatched quickly. We climbed three 50 meter
pitches together, placing one screw per pitch, and regrouped at the base of the
first crux. I hadn’t been ice climbing much last winter, so I moved
deliberately, making sure to keep “the pump” at bay while working through the
two 80° sections. Ice tools have a tendency to push the climber back, making this
80° slope feel like 90°. With only 5 screws total, I had to use them sparingly.
My pack felt extra heavy as I pulled through the near vertical sections.
Snow the Cowboy Arete can be light and fluffy or bulletproof. |
Simul-climbing along the Cowboy Arete. Photo: Matt Parker |
Next up was
the first rock crux. Janelle’s lead. I suggested, in vein, that she ditch her
pack and we could haul it. She was determined to climb this pitch in style, and
she did just that. I was super stoked for her. The upgraded hips were treating
her right.
I jumped
out in front again for the entire Cowboy Arête. The Matt’s had put in the
booter for this section. It is 100 times easier to follow a booter than
establish one, so we were thankful for their hard work. The sun was nearing the
horizon as we pulled into camp. We had gone from 7,600’ to 14,000’ in 17.5
hours. Nothing like starting off with a bang! Fearing a total meltdown after
such a big effort, we ate and drank like it was our job.
Day 2 – We
slept in, cause why not? There was no wind and the sky was cobalt blue. It was
our turn for trail breaking, so we left just before the Matts. The glacier
above was easy cruising. There are two main rock bands on the Cassin. Each
required climbing up a mixture of rock, snow, and ice. All on moderate
technical terrain. We made our way up to, and through the first rock band.
There was a bit of route finding, but between a good Suunto
altimeter watch, the supertopo, and
perfect weather, we were able to pick our way through the rock band without
issues.
Janelle works up through the first rock band. |
A decision
had to be made near the top of the second rock band. Go right to a 5.6 slab, or
left to harder mixed climbing? We followed the booter left and found engaging mixed
climbing. Janelle was simul-climbing below me, requiring me to pull the hardest
moves without a proper belay. It was not the smartest move, but I was feeling
adventurous. At the top of this great pitch was a large rock horn, perfect for
slinging, to belay Janelle through the hard parts.
Janelle pulling through the alternate mixed terrain |
We chopped out our second tent platform at 16,500’. It had taken 11 hours to get through the two rock bands, including a 2+ hour brew up and an hour of waiting below the crux pitch. We were feeling good about having the technical climbing below us, but the pressing question would be answered tomorrow. Did we acclimatize “enough” in Colorado and Ecuador to reach the summit the next day?
Janelle
started coughing as we crawled into our two-person sleeping bag. As we tried to
warm our ice blocks by playing footsie, her cough worsened. Had we pushed this
ascent too fast? HAPE can be fatal. Descending from here would be a nightmare
with only one 50-meter rope and a light rack. No railing in the lungs, no pink
sputum, no headache. I think she will be okay. Four ibuprofen each and we went
to sleep.
Not wanting
to push our luck with this weather window, we were climbing again by 9:00AM. The
previous evening, the Matts had broken the trail to 17,000’. This section was
hardest trail breaking of the route…for them. We were sooo thankful that they
put booter in. We took a rest break at their camp and learned it took them 2.5
hour to break the trail. It took us an hour. Booters make all the difference. Once again
they handed us the booter baton, which we would take it to the top.
The ridge
flattens into a broad face above 18,000’. We felt the thin air big time, forcing
a snails pace. This was the price we had to pay for such an aggressive ascent
style. Remember we had launched from 7,600’ roughly 60 hours prior! Had we put in the time at the 14,000’ camp for
over a week, like our previous attempts, we could have moved twice as fast. Spend
a week of time, festering on a glacier, hoping for good weather...all to shave
3 hours of moving time between 17,500 and the summit…not worth it.
Paying the price for a speedy acclimatization schedule at 19,500' |
We dropped
the packs at the Horn and touched the top. The wind on the summit ridge was
ripping around 40mph. The exact ambient air temp + windchill = stupid cold. This
was Janelle’s 2nd time to the summit, and my 4th, so we
high-fived, got a few photos and were off three minutes later. Proving once
again that technical climbing is so much more about the route than the summit.
Yet the summit is great because it is so definitive. I touched this spot, now I
get to go downhill.
Descending
the West Buttress took forever on foot as the wind continued to rip. We made it
to the 14,000’ camp that evening. Tired and totally stoked we had pulled off a
huge route in such a brief total time. The following afternoon we headed for
the airstrip, stopping at friends camps along the way. Eating other people’s
food, pooping in other people’s CMC’s (yeah that right, we did it, and it was
awesome…stealth dump and run). The next morning, 7 days after arriving on the
glacier, we flew back to Talkeetna.
When the
weather is good in the Alaska range, big climbs can be completed in a timely
fashion. All told, combining our three attempts, we have spent 33 days of our
lives waiting to climb the Cassin Ridge. Now it is done, and it was totally
worth the wait.