Valeriy Babanov and I just got back from Alaska, and I wanted to take this opportunity to spray, I mean, to tell you about our trip. But most of all, I wanted to thank those of you who helped out with beta (live like a king in basecamp was fantastic advice); with last-minute gear requests; those who warned me about the adverse effects Alaska would have on my already pathetic finger strength (were you ever right!); and, last but not least, the people I met on the mountain, who made the whole experience about so much more than just climbing.

We landed at Kahiltna International on May 23, with ambitious plans for new routes on Hunter and Denali (HA!). The weather was unsettled, so we figured our time would be best spent by acclimatizing on the West Butt. Two days later we were ensconced at the 14k camp (PHOTO), in what was probably the smallest tent among the palatial residences there. After a day's rest we moved up to the 17k camp from where, after a miserable suffocating night, we set out for the top. Unfortunately we got turned around short of the Football Field by a quickly moving whiteout. Dropping all the way back to 14k, we considered continuing down to basecamp since we had, after all, done our bit to acclimatize. But the weather was still too unsettled for anything interesting, plus we felt wounded in our pride by being denied on the normal route. And so a couple of days later, starting from 14k, we tried again. This time gale-force winds, which had us crawling on all fours along the ridge, prevented us from even reaching 17k. At this point things were getting as tiresome as this tale is becoming. To make a long story short, we finally succeeded in summitting a couple of nights later (PHOTO), in -40 C temperatures, making the round trip from 14k in 9.5 hours. Now finally, to quote the inimitable Scott Backes, "we could get off the Butt and go climbing."

After resting at the airstrip for a couple of days (fresh vegetables, eggs and beer were a nice change from freeze-dried fare), we packed light packs and skied up the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna to the base of the West Rib (our chosen line (PHOTO) lay on the recessed face left, i.e., west, of the Rib). The start of the route is a bit of a terrain trap so we were hoping to start shortly after midnight, but sometime in the evening a thick fog settled over everything. In the end it may have been for the best, as at least that way we got a good night's sleep (as per Rolo's invaluable advice from a few years back). In the end we crossed the 'schrund (PHOTO) at the unalpine hour of 11 a.m., and swam up through thick spindrift over some interesting thin ice. Escaping the garbage chute couloirs as soon as possible, we gained a slight rib which, we hoped, would offer safe passage up the face. The climbing was never desperate but always interesting: steep deep snow (PHOTO), calf-burning ice, short, sharp rock steps (PHOTO). And it went on and on and on (PHOTO), much like this story. Clouds kept moving in and out, but for the most part the weather held. It was not until we topped out at the base of the upper West Rib at 1 a.m. that we received the full blast of the storm (PHOTO) that had been moving in over the last few hours. We had originally hoped to rest and brew for a few hours before continuing up the Rib to tag the summit for a second time, but under the circumstances we decided to declare the route finished and traverse off to the 14k camp. Even bailing was not entirely devoid of interest, as we blundered among ice cliffs in wind, snow and that weird Alaskan twilight, but eventually around 4 a.m. we stumbled into camp. Locating a tent belonging to some of Valeriy's Russian friends, we had little compunction inviting ourselves in for what was left of the night: five people crammed into a three-man tent.

There is not much more to tell. The following day we postholed down to basecamp through more crappy weather (realizing in the process how much getting around without skis really sucks). When the weather finally improved a couple of days later, we borrowed some skis and toured up the Northeast Fork to retrieve ours. We flew out that evening (PHOTO) to veggie burgers in Talkeetna, and were back in Calgary on June 12. After this first taste of Alaska I will definitely be back for more (hopefully there will actually be some ice on Hunter next time around). But for now I am back in the Rockies, and as soon as it stops raining I want to go CLIMBING!