ONWARD... TO THE MATANUSKA!

Our mountaineering students have no idea what they're in for...

Riley says: "To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."

TAKING IT ALL IN

This past course was a really rewarding one for me. Alaska has some incredible terrain and it feels great to have a mountaineering course under my belt. I've already started briefing for my next course but decided I'd share the course summary I wrote at the end of this past expedition.

The Deltas of Alaska’s vast Eastern Alaska Range played host to this 28-day mountaineering expedition. Eight men and one woman from the United States Navel Academy, along with their three instructors, traveled mostly by snow shoe through a variety of mountainous terrain. After pushing up through lowland Alaskan “shwack”, the group rigged themselves for glacial travel and moved up onto the Canwell Glacier. Here they established a base camp where the Canwell meets descending glaciers from Snow White peak. On day 7, the expedition’s re-ration pilot, Dave, landed at the perimeter camp with a 15-day ration of food. With a solid foundation of outdoor skills under their belts, the instructor team handed over leadership to the student group in rotations of three days. Through early planning the students began to lay out an overall course progression driving towards their ultimate goal of independent expeditions at the course’s end. Caching half of their rations, the group moved to the upper cirque of the Gulkana Glacier. Below Ice Fall Peak the course began to sink its teeth and ice axes into bold Alaska terrain. After obtaining the necessary skills for a peak ascent, the group was led to the top of Cony Mountain by three midshipman leaders. With alpine glory pumping through their veins, the group set its sights on larger, more challenging objectives. Unfortunately, torrential rains brought avalanche activity presence onto all mountain aspects and another summit would have to wait. Descending back to the Canwell, the group pushed up and over Apocalypse Pass, installing at the head of the Gakona Glacier. Here days of snow and whiteout conditions forced the cower, until a brief afternoon window allowed for crevasse rescue and self-ascension. Further down the Gakona, vertical ice climbing created a nice activity when weather became sporadic, while dreams of another summit bid grew. With one day remaining, beautiful weather moved in and the group split: a group of four bound for a looping traverse and a group of eight driving for an airy ridge ascent. Negotiating through large crevassed terrain, both groups were successful tagging their respective summits. Weary but well feed and watered, a final push to the last re-ration airstrip went off without a hitch. Once again, Dave dropped in restocking the expedition for the final five days. After safely crossing the Gakona River, the group’s last major obstacle, the students set off in a group of four and of five for their four day independent expedition. At the successful completion of these treks, in total the group traveled over 70 miles, gaining upwards of 18,000 feet throughout the expedition’s duration.

Riley says: "Paradise is seldom recognized as such until it is considered from the outside."

INSTANT PROOF THAT ONE PERSON'S TRASH IS ANOTHER PERSON'S TREASURE

Alaska is an absolute goldmine for random backcountry finds. This beauty came into my life on the third day of a recent Naval Academy mountaineering course. It took three of us to drag it out onto the snow and it was so worth it.

Riley says: "Check out that continuous schrund!"