Tordrillo Ski Traverse

Over nine days in May 2008 Andrew Wexler, Dylan Taylor and I made a 100-mile, full-length ski traverse of the Tordrillo Mountains in Alaska. The Tordrillos are a western subrange of the Alaska Range. Our traverse traveled from south to north, climbing 38,000 vertical feet and making ski descents from the four highest peaks including Mount Spurr (11,069 ft), Mount Torbert (11,413 ft), Mount Talachulitna (11,150’) and Mount Gerdine (11,258 ft). 

Special thanks to Drew Seessel and the Hans Saari Memorial Fund for putting together the first grant in the US specifically for ski mountaineering.

Also thanks to Gore-Tex for helping this trip with a Shipton-Tilman Award. Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman are arguably the greatest adventurers of this past century. The annual Shipton/Tilman Grant was established as a tribute to the spirit of adventure embodied by the endeavors of these two men.

 Beta

• From the south slopes of Mount Spurr to the Happy River outlet into the Skwentna River
• with Andrew Wexler and Dylan Taylor
• 100 miles
• 38,000 vertical feet
• Ski descents from the four highest summits in the Tordrillos
• 9 days + 2 days return to Merrill Field in Anchorage
• May 16-25, 2008
• Pilot from Kenai to Mount Spurr: Doug Brewer of Alaska West Air
• Pilot from Happy River to Skwentna Roadhouse: Mike Meekin of Meekins Air Service
• Pilot from Skwentna Roadhouse to Merrill Field in Anchorage: Spernak Airways
• Info: Tordrillo--Pioneering Climbs and Flights

Articles and Trip Reports

• G3 House Blend
• Alpinist.com
• Climbing.com
• MEC
• Black Diamond
• Powder, Nov 2008
• Off Piste, Dec 2008

Presentations

• Neptune Mountaineering, Boulder, CO, 60 attended. Sept 18, 2008.
• Hans Saari Memorial Fund, Bozeman, MT,120 attended, Oct 22, 2008.
• University of Idaho Outdoor Program, Moscow, ID, 35 attended. Oct 23, 2008.
• Feathered Friends, Seattle, WA. 65 attended. Oct 30, 2008.
• American Alpine Club, Anchorage, AK, 35 attended. Nov 11, 2008.
• Alaska Alpine Club, Fairbanks, AK, 25 attended. March 24, 2009.

The Tordrillo Mountains as seen from downtown Anchorage. Our route started at Chakachamna Lake and traversed northward, linking up the highest summits and finishing on the Skwentna River. Joe Stock photo.

History

The Tordrillos are well-documented in Tordrillo—Pioneer Climbs and Flights in the Tordrillo Mountains of Alaska by Rodman Wilson and Paul Crews Sr. The most significant traverse in that book was by the burly team of Scott Woolums and Mark Jonas in March 1982. Aiming for tower climbing in the Kichatna Mountains, they left from Beluga Lake, climbed the Triumvirate Glacier and descended the Hayes Glacier. Because of frozen toes, they finished their trip at Rainy Pass, shy of the Kichatnas, after covering 80 miles. In April 2007, Andrew Wexler and I spent 10 days skiing south through the Tordrillo Mountains, making a ski traverse of Mount Gerdine. In 2004, Dylan Taylor climbed Mount Spurr from Lake Chakachamna. This season, we used that knowledge to link these sections together for a high, full-length traverse traverse of the Tordrillo.

Joe on the summit of Mount Gerdine, the second highest Tordrillo summit at 11,258 feet in April 2007. Andrew Wexler photo.

The Trip

 After waiting six days in Anchorage, the weather cleared on May 16 and Dylan, Andrew and I drove the three hours to Alaska Air West in Kenai. Doug Brewer flew us in three Piper Super Cub flights across Cook Inlet to a 2,400-foot ash bench on the south slopes of Mount Spurr. We started up Crater Peak with 12 days of supplies loaded into agonizing 65-pound loads.

Dylan climbed Mount Spurr, the Tordrillo’s fourth highest at 11,070 feet, in 2004. What had been a rounded summit in 2004, had become a 300-foot deep crater lined with crevasses and venting lung-burning sulfur gasses. After summiting, we camped in splitter weather at 10,000 feet on the Spurr Plateau overlooking the Hidden and Neacola Mountains.

Traversing the Tordrillo Crest from the Spurr Plateau to the Torbert Plateau is a technical, unclimbed route so we chose to descend from the Spurr Plateau via the Southeast Cirque of the Capps Glacier via a 4,000-foot icefall. After several attempts that ended in a maze of gaping crevasses, we climbed onto a cleaver that splits the icefall and used belays to ski steep powder above open crevasses to the valley floor.

From the Capps Glacier we climbed the Triumvirate Glacier to a 7,000-foot camp below the Torbert Plateau. The next day we day-toured 20 miles and 8,000 vertical feet to the low-angle summits of Mount Torbert and Mount Talachulitna. The next crux was down climbing The Great Wall, a 14-mile long serac-ridden barrier that straddles the range and stopped our traverse attempt in 2007. Using a route scoped in 2007, we down climbed four, 150-foot (100 foot rope tied together with three 20-foot cordelettes) pitches on snow-covered ice above a bergshrund to another lobe of the Triumvirate Glacier.

After summiting Mount Gerdine, we continued another two days under cloudy skies over lower elevation passes and valleys to the north end of the Tordrillos. At the tippy north end of the Tordrillos we descended to the Skwentna River at the confluence with the Happy River and found the gravel bar landing strips covered with two feet of snow. Chugach pilot Mike Meekins was in the area with his Super Cub equipped with tundra tires for moose surveys. He directed us to a snow-free gravel bar two miles downriver where he shuttled us 30 miles to home-cooked burgers at the Skwentna Roadhouse. The following day, Spernack Airways took us to Merrill Field in Anchorage.

Doug Brewer starting his Super Cub the old fashioned way in Nikiski.

Andrew on the summit of Mount Spurr above the 2006 crater. Check out cool photos and the volcanic history of Mount Spurr at http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Spurr.

Andrew likes how the vegetation in his boots is progressing.

Andrew stripping in the low elevation heat after descending the 4,000-foot southeast cirque icefall of the Capps Glacier from the Spurr Plateau. Our route descended lookers left, crossed over the cleaver and finished the lookers right icefall.

Dylan leaving our cached packs for the summit of Torbert.

Dylan skiing at 10,000 feet on Torbert. Hidden Mountains beyond.

Joe belaying Andrew down from the top of the Great Wall. We found the 45-degree face had 12 inches of powder over ice and an open bergshrund below. With light packs this would have been a great ski. We used a 100-foot rope and three 18-foot cordelletes tied together to give us 145-feet.

Andrew telemarking into the 3,000-foot Trimble Glacier icefall from near the summit of Mount Gerdine. Martin Peak in the near distance, central Alaska Range in far distance.

Dylan in the fog on our last camp in the mountains.

Typical in-the-fog route finding discussion above the Skwentna River.

Dylan and my favorite part of every trip. Andrew doesn't partake.

Guru Chugach pilot Mike Meekins at our gravel bar pickup on the Skwentna River.