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Kooshdakhaa Spire, North Face, Otter Water Boogie Man; Point 2,320m,Southwest Face, Lichening Bolt ButtressAlaska, Coast Mountains, Upper Chilkat

During a spell of excellent weather from May 18 to May 31, Max Fisher and I returned to the UpperChilkat area of the Coast Mountains, where we’d visited a year prior (AAJ 2015). The area is locatedabout seven miles west of Mt. Foster and spans the border of southeast Alaska and northern BritishColumbia. On this trip, we succeeded in pushing our previously attempted line up the granite face ofwhat we call Kooshdakhaa Spire, which rises some 2,000’ above a hanging tributary of the ChilkatGlacier.

A day after stepping out of Drake Olson’s ski plane, we quickly ascended to our previous high point onthe north face of the spire. There, we turned an offwidth roof to gain access to steeper crack systemsabove. From here, we made our way up sustained 5.10 and 5.11- climbing with three sections of aidto reach the summit. This included a stop to shiver out the night on a diving board ledge, which wascertainly lighter, but not at all faster, than had we opted to bring headlamps. After 33 hours on the wall(bergschrund to summit), we honored our friend Cory Hall on the summit by spreading some of hisashes. We descended easier terrain to the south and east, arriving in camp 37 hours after leaving. Wecalled the route Otter Water Boogie Man (2,000’, V 5.11- A1).

The name of our route is a rough translation of the Kooshdakhaa, a Tlingit and Tsimshianmythological creature . We felt our experiences over two expeditions to this place—from shivering tosunshine, and storms to splitter cracks—were characteristic of what we know about this mythology.

After a few days chilling in camp under perfect skies we loaded our backpacks and packraft-sledsand trudged into northern British Columbia in search of another climbing objective. We found it: a highpoint of a ridgeline that reaches approximately 2,320m. [Previously unreported, this spire was likely firstclimbed in 2002 by Brian Delay and William Wacker, who suggest the name Canadian Import. It islocated across from Castle Greyskull/Kooshdakhaa E4 (AAJ 2004)]. Our new route, Lichening BoltButtress (400m, IV 5.11-), ascends aprons and crack systems on the southwest aspect, with mostlymoderate climbing and frequent, more challenging cruxes.

After this climb, we hauled our gear over another pass to reach the headwaters of the Nourse River,making to our knowledge its first complete descent. On river, we paddled sections of continuousclass II to III+ whitewater over four days, portaging a series of beautiful waterfalls and two canyonsthat looked to offer excellent, harder whitewater.

After our trip, we learned that since 2002, Alaskan climber William Wacker—and partners includingBrian Delay, Eric Forester, Kevin Forester, and Dave Sundas—has made numerous trips into the UpperChilkat and climbed approximately ten prominent summits/towers in the area, including the 7,550’main, flat-topped summit adjacent to (climber’s left of) what we have called the Kooshdakhaa Spire.Additionally, they have exited the area by packrafting the Chilkat River or Homan River. Their ascentshad been previously unreported.

– Erik Bonnett

Images

The location of Point 2,320m.

The northwest face of Kooshdakhaa Spire. The new route Otter Water Boogie Man (2,000’ V 5.11- A1)climbs the clean buttress on the right.

Max Fisher en route to Point 2,320m from Kooshdakhaa Spire.

Max Fisher leading up the apron slabs of point 2,320m.

Max Fisher leading the top-out pitch on the route Lichening Bolt Buttress (400m, IV 5.11).

Packrafting the Nourse River to exit the mountains.

Point 2,320m showing the route Lichening Bolt Buttress (400m, IV 5.11).

Erik Bonnett pulling the roof on the route Otter Water Boogie Man as the team departed from the lineof their previous attempt.

Free climbing above a short pendulum point on Kooshdakhaa Spire.

Kooshdakha Spire, showing the three lines completed by Bonnett and Fisher from 2014 to 2015: OtterWater Boogie Man (2,000’ V 5.11- A1) in red, the North Couloir (600m, AI3 M3) in yellow, and theSouth Couloir (350m, AI3 M3) in green.

Article Details

Author Erik Bonnett

Publication AAJ

Volume 58

Issue 90

Page 0

Copyright Date 2016

Article Type Climbs and expeditions