Mount Fairweather

Geography

Mount Fairweather is located right above Glacier Bay in the Fairweather Range of the Saint Elias Mountains. Mount Fairweather also marks the northwest extremity of the Alaska Panhandle.

Like many peaks in the St. Elias Mountains, Mount Fairweather has great vertical relief due to its dramatic rise from Glacier Bay. However, due to often inclement weather in the area, this effect is usually obscured with the clouds which often hides the summit from view.

Weather

Despite its name, Mount Fairweather has generally harsh weather conditions, especially in the winter months, affected by intense North Pacific low pressure systems arriving from the Gulf of Alaska. It receives over 100 inches (250 cm) of precipitation each year (mostly snow) and sees temperatures of around −50 °F (−46 °C).

Climbing history

No documented attempt at climbing the mountain had been successful until 1931.

• 1926 Allen Carpe, Andy Taylor and W.S. Ladd reached 2,890 m (9,480 ft) on the West Ridge, but were forced back due to a steep notch in the ridge that made ferrying supplies very difficult.
• 1930 Bradford Washburn also made an attempt on the West Ridge but traveling conditions forced a retreat at 2,040 metres (6,690 ft).
• 1931 Allen Carpe and Terris Moore summited via the Southeast Ridge on June 8, 1931
• 1958 Paddy Sherman and 7 other Canadians reached the summit via the SE Ridge on June 26, 1958.
• 1968 West Ridge, Loren Adkins, Walter Gove, Paul Myhre, John Neal and Kent Stokes – summit reached June 12, 1968
• 1973 Southwest Ridge, Peter Metcalf, Henry Florschutz, Toby O'Brien and Lincoln Stoller. Summit reached on July 10, 1973.
• 1981 Southeast Ridge from the ocean, Gary Clark, Kim Grandfield, David Lunn. 19 days from Sea Otter Beach and back, Summit reached on May 31, bivouac in crevasse under summit.
• 1989 East-Southeast Ridge, Jim Haberl, Kevin Haberl, Michael Down, Alastair Foreman. Summit reached on May 26.

First documented ascent

After failing to reach the summit in 1926 due to terrain difficulty on their chosen route, Allen Carpe, W.S. Ladd, Andy Taylor returned in 1931 along with a new member Terris Moore. In early April the group began their approach by boat but stormy weather delayed them rounding Cape Fairweather until April 17. They reached Lituya Bay and unloaded their supplies on the beach. Backtracking 21 kilometres (13 mi) along the coast, they made their way to the Fairweather Glacier. From base camp in a spot they called Paradise Valley, they decided to attempt the mountain from the south rather than via the west ridge. Due to deep snow, they realized that skis and snowshoes would be of great help so Carpe and Moore made the 80 km (50 mi) round trip to fetch them from Lituya Bay.

They ascended the glacier from base camp and set up camp at 1,520 m (4,987 ft) on the mountain's south face. On May 25, they established high camp at 2,740 m (8,990 ft) after making significant progress up a ridge on a rare day of good weather. However, the weather turned and they were forced to descend after an overnight coating of snow. After waiting out the snowstorm for six days at lower camp, they made their way back up to high camp on June 2. They left for the summit at 1:30 am on June 3 and having reached the southeast shoulder by mid-morning, they were feeling so confident that they left the willow wands behind. However, higher altitude and the weeks of hard effort slowed their progress and then the weather changed. By 1 pm not far from the summit, they decided to retreat and had to descend without the wands to guide them. They managed to reach the tents by 4 pm. Ladd and Taylor volunteered to descend due to dwindling supplies at high camp with the hope that Carpe and Moore would be able to make another attempt in good weather. The storm raged for four days before it finally cleared in the evening on June 7. At 10 pm, Carpe and Moore set out for the summit and with no further difficulties made it to the top.