The Chute on Muddy Creek from Jake Hutchinson on Vimeo.
Water was up, had to knock it off the list. Heeley made a mistake in the lower chute and flipped the boat on a wall. Destroyed the camera, luckily the card survived.
16
May
No Summits…Part 2
By Jake | Filed in Mountains, Random Thoughts, Skiing, Snow and Avalanche Observations
The rest day was a blessing in disguise; we were both more tired and sore than we let on to each other the day before. Some planning and contemplating our options led us to Mt. Crosson (12,800’) and the SE Ridge. It seemed moderate but challenging and well within our time frame, even if we lost a day or two to bad weather.
We awoke to another beautiful day in the Alaska Range and quickly broke camp and packed the sleds. We decided to not cache any food and take it all so we would have options if the weather changed. The plan was to cross the Kahiltna and negotiate the icefall under Mt. Crosson’s southeast ridge, our intended route up. Once through, we would cache extra food and gear at the 7100’ icefall camp and head up the south facing couloir to set camp at 8500’ on the ridge proper. We rigged up, packed up and got moving. The route across the glacier was well wanded by a previous party and we made good time negotiating the large crevasses and icefall. We crossed the 3 miles and sat enjoying the sunshine at the icefall camp by 11:30 that morning. Read the remainder of this entry »
15
May
No Summits, No Regrets…Part 1
By Jake | Filed in Mountains, Random Thoughts, Skiing, Snow and Avalanche Observations
So I landed in the Alaska Range on May 1st with wide eyes and even bigger ambitions. Ten years away had dulled my memories and rusted my skills and here I stood in mountains that were far bigger than I remembered with skills that had once been automatic now causing me to step back and think for a few minutes about what I needed to do next. My partner on this little adventure was experiencing her first true mountaineering trip combined with a first taste of the Alaska Range and had more drive, ability and strength than experience. So you combine one fat, old, rusty climber (me) with one green, fit, driven climber for an attempt to possibly ski one of the hardest mountains in the world and you get the perfect recipe for an awesome adventure right? Well Luckily as I get older I get a little wiser and my gut feeling seems able to steer me into more conservative decisions in the mountains than I might have made when I was younger and a little less fat… Read the remainder of this entry »
- Hey Jake, this great!! I love reading it!! When is the sequel? And then the book.
11
May
Back safe from the AK range
By Jake | Filed in Random Thoughts, Skiing, Snow and Avalanche Observations
Quick teaser pic of the report to come. Awesome trip all around…mind has become focused on the desert….
JMH
