Ready to climb at 6:30am, but all the normal routes are covered in snow or threatened by avalanches.
We don't need no stinkin' guidebook - Marcin eyes a nice line on The Throne.
Our first "warm-up" pitch in Alaska proves challenging... After two falls, Marcin leads it clean and calls it 7a.
Looking across the glacier at the Gargoyle (prominent left-leaning buttress, 5.10a). It would have been great if not covered with snow!
Weather coming in... note the classic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the center.
After three pitches we bailed off the climb when rocks and small avalanches started coming down in the afternoon heat. Then the fog rolled in and we began 2.5 days of whiteout and snow.
Marcin and Tom dug a nice snow cave for our kitchen and dining room.
A group from a 12-day mountaineering course trudges up carrying big packs and pulling sleds. Yuck.
We while away the time playing snow-bocci ball with our next-door neighbors (two Swiss and an American).
And we spend time waiting for M&M's to fall from the ceiling...
A hike up into the nearby col gives incredible views of the peaks. Alas the warm wet snow is not ideal for climbing.
Alpine cragging on the Hobbit Foot. A slight break in the weather gave us a chance to play on a rock wall that has been bolted by the locals.
On the plane ride out.
Ahhh, civilization!
Finding some elevation near the sea in Kenai.
Oooh, puppies in the kennel of an Iditarod winner.
We got a ride around the block from these dogs.
