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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 26, 2011 - 12:34am PT
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Thanks for the bump! I love reliving this one too and would be stoked to get another run into the area.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Mar 26, 2011 - 01:05am PT
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Amazing trip report. I remember reading about this range in David Roberts' book "On the ridge between life and death." Great to finally see it. Very, Very, Very nice report! I am jealous, in a good way! : )
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Mar 26, 2011 - 01:09am PT
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Probably was David Roberts
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davidji
Social climber
CA
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Mar 26, 2011 - 01:34am PT
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Glad this got bumped. Hadn't seen it before. Wow!
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kaiser
Trad climber
squamish
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Mar 26, 2011 - 03:03am PT
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Thanks for the great trip report and photos, it took me back there.
I went in with 4 others including Fred Beckey about 15 years ago.
What a great trip. Rick and I climbed the ridge on pyramid pk that you guys attempted, the same A2 route on shot tower and a route on the maidens while Dave and jonny climbed a difficult new line on shot tower. What an amazing and wild place. I hope it is still pristine.
Hey was there still a biner stamped "Dieter Klose" on the summit of shot tower? That was the only sign that humans had visited that valley we had come across.
For you new route adventurers out there, Wouldn't that main ridge on Arthur Emmonds peak? be an amazing climb? I'm sure it is still unclimbed! See if you can pick it out from the Trip report photos.
Kai
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 26, 2011 - 03:36am PT
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Kai,
That biner was still there! Oh and that line did look amazing. As did the face! So much potential up there its just crazy.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Mar 26, 2011 - 03:45am PT
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two words: friggin' awesome!
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David Nelson
climber
San Francisco
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Mar 26, 2011 - 01:11pm PT
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Very impressive trip, and an inspiring and understated TR. Great writing. Brings back memories of when I was younger and did some awesome Canadian trips. At ago 60, I won't be doing any more such insanity, but it is still great to read yours. Digital photography and Chris's Supertopo make a great way to share your TR as well as connect with those who did it half a century and more ago. Keep it up!
The joints age and the insanity takes on new challenges, and nearly as impossible: organize people for conservation (http://www.FlyTyingGroup.org, http://www.Stonefly.US);
Cheers, David
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David Roberts
Mountain climber
Watertown, MA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 03:00pm PT
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This is David Roberts. Ed Ward and I made the first ascent of Shot Tower in 1971. It was great to see your pictures of one of the most beautiful places on earth, and to read your vivid account of your trip. And the pix on Shot Tower sure stirred my nostalgic juices.
About the cache you guys found--don't blame Krakauer! My hunch is that it's part of the lost airdrop from the very first climbing team into the Arrigetch in 1963, including Brown Bergen, Michael Westmacott (of '53 Everest fame), Chuck Loucks, and others. There's quite a story there. (For a brief summary, see the 1965 AAJ.)
The 1963 party's plan was to airdrop in what we later named Aiyagomahala Creek valley, then land on Takahula Lake and hike to base camp to retrieve the airdrop. The inexperienced pilot thought he was tossing out packages from 100 feet onto what looked like a slope of fine scree. He thought the boxes would slide gently down to the valley floor. In reality he was 1,000 feet up, and the "scree slope" was a gigantic boulderfield on the north side of the valley.
The team got to "base camp" and, despite days of searching, never found a single box. They had to hike back out to Takahula and faced a survival situation, out of food, but flashed a passing plane with a pot bottom reflecting the sun.
The guys came back in '64 and made the first ascents of Wichmann Tower, Pyramid, The Maidens, and a couple of other easy peaks.
In 1971, my wife, Sharon, and I found one of the lost boxes in the midst of the boulders. It was smashed to smithereens. What sticks in my mind is an undamaged plastic lemon (juice still in it!) and a piton hammer whose handle was broken clean in half.
I suspect that you guys found another of the lost boxes. The holes in the cans wouldn't have been from bears' teeth but from impact. Not dumped trash, but precious lost treasure.
Anyway . . . the pictures sure made me want to go back. I did 3 expeditions there, Arrigetch in '69 and '71, Igikpak (farther west) in '68. Also some camping trips with my Dad on Takahula and at the head of the Alatna.
For Ed Ward and me, Shot Tower remains the finest pure rock climb of our lives.
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OlympicMtnBoy
climber
Seattle
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Jan 21, 2012 - 04:03pm PT
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Great TR and great thread, funny to see how these connections emerge, first ascentionists and everything! I'd love to get up in that area!
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crøtch
climber
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Jan 21, 2012 - 04:07pm PT
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Hi David,
It is a brilliant route on a stunning rock. I tip my hat to you and Ed Ward. BTW, as of 2003, your coiled hemp rope from the traverse above the mushroom was neatly tucked behind a boulder. A nice piece of history to come across.
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Dirka
Trad climber
SF
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Jan 21, 2012 - 07:40pm PT
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Man what an epic TR! Photos are sublime.
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ncrockclimber
climber
The Desert Oven
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Mar 17, 2012 - 12:11am PT
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Bump again for a VERY cool trip report!
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ncrockclimber
climber
The Desert Oven
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Bump again for my favorite trip report of all time!
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ncrockclimber
climber
The Desert Oven
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BBST.
This is one of the most amazing TR's ever.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Heck yeah, it's a great TR! One of the top ten best on ST of all time.
And the FA'ist, a legend, chimes in!
You know, Kelsey has a TR going right now about his travels in the Middle East. You should check it out, his photography is top notch.
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 7, 2013 - 02:38am PT
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Thank you everyone for the excellent replies and encouragement. I really appreciate it!
David Roberts - Thank you for your reply with your story and history of the area! I don't know how I managed to miss your post but I did! It was definitely appreciated and I would love to hear more about your travels into the Arrigetch. I don't know if you had read through the earlier sections of the trip report but Brownell himself had actually chimed in and gave some wonderfull history. This thread is a gold mine of Arrigetch lore!
Thanks again everyone!
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Chugach
Trad climber
Vermont
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GREAT WORK!!!
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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Bump
Super great TR! Absolutely fantastic photos!
Congratulations, and thank you for the work of putting it all together as a TR to share with us.
Your photography is beautiful
Thank you,
feralfae
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Sonic
Trad climber
Boulder, Co
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Dec 28, 2015 - 07:58am PT
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Alpine Stoke Bump!
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!