May 13 — Spitzer Team Makes First Ascent of Alaskan Peak
Ben Gilmore, Maxime Turgeon, and Freddie Wilkinson have made the first ascent of the Bat’s Ears, an 11,044-foot peak that was possibly the highest unclimbed major summit in the Alaska Range. The trio climbed the nearly 3,000-foot south face of the peak in a 23-hour round trip from base camp, descending via the southwest ridge. Gilmore was a recipient of a 2008 Lyman Spitzer Cutting-Edge Award from the American Alpine Club.
Bat’s Ears peak rises between the upper Yentna and Lacuna glaciers on the rarely visited southwest side of the Mt. Foraker massif. Last spring, Gilmore, Wilkinson, and Peter Doucette made the first ascent of the Fin Wall, a very steep face above one fork of the upper Yentna Glacier, and during that expedition they spotted the line on Bat’s Ears. AAC members can log in to the Members Only area to preview Wilkinson's account of the Fin Wall in the 2008 American Alpine Journal.
After their successful climb on Bat's Ears, the trio hopped a plane shuttle to Kahiltna base camp and then climbed the 4,000-foot Moonflower Buttress of Mt. Hunter. They continued to the summit of the 14,570-foot peak and then downclimbed and rappeled, making a 52-hour round trip from base camp.
Gilmore, a climbing guide from New Hampshire, said, "We had a great trip and all had a really fun time together. Much thanks to the AAC for supporting us with the Lyman Spitzer Award." Gilmore will soon submit a full report on these climbs that will be available at the AAC website. For a news report on the climb, including photos, click Read More...