West Face, Mount Dickey II, 35-40 degree snow

Alaska, USA

Currently 5.0/5

Avg time to climb route: 5-12 hours

Approach time: 2-4 hours

Descent time: 3-6 hours

Number of pitches: N/A

Height of route: 5,000'

Overview

Mount Dickey (9,545’) holds one of the most impressive facades in all of the Alaska Range. Rising 5,000 feet straight out of the flat glacier, its east and south faces dominate the Ruth Gorge. Massive buttresses, fractureless planes, and insanely steep couloirs are intricately mixed to form a seemingly impenetrable bastion. It almost seems like cheating that you can easily walk up the western backside to the top of such a behemoth.

The West Face provides an excellent novice route that is equally enjoyed as a warmup for experienced climbers. The views are extensive, since Mount Dickey is one of the more prominent peaks in the area. In the 1956 American Alpine Journal, Bradford Washburn wrote of his climb of Dickey, “It would be hard to find a spot more easy of access where glorious glacier walks, easy lower climbs, and magnificent major ascents can all be accomplished out of the same air-supplied base camp, set amid North America’s finest scenery and hardly a day’s travel from New York!”
Mount Dickey was named after William A. Dickey (1862-1943). Dickey was a prospector who in 1896 named Mount McKinley after presidential nominee William McKinley of Ohio.

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