1 THE ALASKAN PANHANDLE and NORTH BRITISH COLUMBIA: A CLIMBER’S GUIDE. By Earle R. Whipple and Steven C. Gruhn Even today, the Alaskan Panhandle and the Coast Range (Coastal Ranges) of British Columbia are two of the wildest and most unknown ranges in the world. It is a land of high mountains, long distances, difficult access, long fjords (inlets), big inland lakes, large glaciers and icefields, powerful rivers and deep valleys with undergrowth. When measured from north-northwest to south-southeast, British Columbia is 1600 km (1000 miles) long, up to 800 km wide in the north, but narrower in the south, and is endowed with several cordilleras, of which the Coast Range and the Canadian Rockies are the longest. Only a relatively few areas are routinely visited by mountaineers in Alaska and the northern Coast Range. There is excellent technical climbing in the Taku Group on the Mendenhall Towers. The Stikine Group has outstanding summits such as Oasis Peak, the Devil’s Thumb, Cat’s Ears Spire and the Witch’s Tits, all on excellent rock and formidable. Numbers of traverses, both for summer and winter, abound. There are many easy summits and, along the coast, easy summits rise a bit above tree line with marvellous views not only of mountains but of the channels and islands. The Groups have inlets (fjords) and channels from the ocean, and climbers often approach their favourite peaks by boat, securing their craft against the coming tides. The famous American conservationist John Muir ascended the Snow Dome (Takhinsha Group) in 1888. The border between Alaska and British Columbia is long and the formal determination of the border produced much government- sponsored exploration and climbing by the United States and Canada in the years just before and after 1900. The BCMC held a climbing camp south of Kate’s Needle in July 1970. The warming trend in the earth’s climate is affecting even the far north, and some of the ice shown on the maps has decreased. See the Shark’s Tooth (Taku Group), and the beginning of the Stikine Group. Aug. 31, 2020 2 Oasis Peak from the west, and the west face gully (aerial). Photo: John Scurlock. CONTENTS Acknowledgements; Peaks Misplaced on Maps Introduction Listing, Sequence of Peaks Glacial Retreat, Global Warming, and Maps References, Books and Guidebooks; Documentation Classification and Ratings of Climbs Ratings, Snowfall, Glacial Retreat and Advance Glacier Travel and Its Dangers p. 11 Maps; Access Professional Guides Helicopter Transport Helicopter Etiquette Floatplane Transport; Air Drops p. 18 Weather, Wet Rock Approaches by Boat Insect Pests, Bears Damage by Porcupines Forest Fire Danger - Restriction of Access Trash and Garbage; Sanitation Water Quality River Crossings Campsite Selection and Etiquette, Conclusion Altitude and Distance Units 3 Peaks and Areas with Choice Rock Routes p. 26 Peaks of at Least Class 5.0 Difficulty A Brief Description of the Area; Access History, Early Climbing Geology The features in this work can be found using the search engine in the computer. To find chapter titles and specific mountains (can use small letters), use two spaces between the words instead of one, e.g., Twin Glacier Peak. THE ALASKAN PANHANDLE and NORTHERN B. C. with some well known summits Taku Group Mt. Ogilvie, Horn Spire, Devil’s Paw, Michael’s Sword, Antler Peaks, Mendenhall Towers, p. 32 Takhinsha Group Mount Emmerich, Tlingit Ankawoo, Dech, Admiralty and Bsranof Islands p. 118 Stikine Group Chutine Pk., Sheppard Pk., Mt. Ratz, Oasis Pk., Burkett Needle, Mt. Burkett, Devil’s Thumb, Cat’s Ears Spire, Kate’s Needle p. 139 Climatic change and glacier travel p. 142 Iskut Group Mount Jancowski, Mount Pattullo p. 238 Observations on the Use of the GPS Appendix of Passes Index Regional (Backpacking) Traverses and Hiking, and Access Acknowledgements Earle R. Whipple first visited Canada in 1953 with the Harvard Mountaineers in the Northern Selkirks, and has gone to the mountains during most of the following years. He lived in Vancouver from 1965 to 1968, but was so busy that he didn’t climb as much as he should have. It was his good fortune to visit the Coast Range in 1956, 1959, 1961 (all to the Mt. Waddington area) and to Chilko Lake in 1966. Steven C. Gruhn first visited Canada in 1973. His time in B.C. has been limited to driving from and to Alaska during various years from 1973 to 2008, studying at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., from 1984 to 1990. He has lived most of his life in Anchorage and most of his climbing has been in south-central Alaska. Extensive research on Alaska’s mountaineering history is his specialty. 4 Most of the sources are listed below. The Appalachian Mountain Club library (Boston), the BCMC library (Vancouver), the AAC library in Golden, Colorado, the ACC in Canmore Alberta, the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain), the Servei General D’informacio de Muntanya (Sabadell, Spain), and the Grace and the John Vincent Hoeman Collection, Univ. of Alaska, Anchorage/Alaska Pacific Univ. Consortium Library were helpful. The authors are grateful to George Argus, John Bruno, Matt Callahan, Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Michael Feller, Craig Lingle, Max Fisher, John Godel, Blake Herrington, Dieter Klose, David Knudson, Wm. Lokey, Jacek Maselko, Simon Richardson, Greg Slayden, John Svenson (Haines), James Thompson (Juneau), Wm. Wacker, Betsy Waddington and David Williams, to Gardner Heaton and Paul Starr for drawings and maps. Hand- drawn maps are by the author (Whipple). Photos were generously provided by Marc Adamus, Kevin Altheim, Matt Callahan, George Fisher, Max Fisher, Louis Miller, Marko Moudrak, Dan Richardson, John Scurlock (photos taken April 2009), Greg Slayden, John Svenson, and Wm. Wacker. The authors wish to thank all people who tried to assist them, whether or not they succeeded in giving pertinent information. Peaks Misplaced on Maps Face Mountain, Dean Peak There are two lost peaks in the Taku Group, and a number of unrecorded ascents in the Chutine Peak area (Stikine Gr.). INTRODUCTION The Coast Range is in the Panhandle of Alaska, and along the west coast of the province of British Columbia, trending north-northwest to south-southeast, and extending to just north of the border with Washington state in the United States, at the Fraser River. In it is found a great variety of attractions for the mountaineer. For the Northern Coast Range guidebook, the southern limit at the coast is Toba Inlet, far south of the southern limit of this book. 5 The geographic limits of this guidebook in Alaska and British Columbia are from the Yukon border to the lower Nass River, and the summits in British Columbia east of and adjacent to the Alaska border. The Stikine River is an important border on the east in British Columbia for the latitude of the Stikine Group. North of the latitude of the Stikine Group, the eastern limit is more difficult to define. Photos and diagrams are included in the guide to help the reader gain an idea of the character of the locales, and to help with route finding. The reader should enjoy the climbing by learning for himself, with a little written aid to save time and error. Listing and Sequence of Peaks The mountains and their groups are presented primarily in a north to south sequence, and secondarily east to west. Some cirques are described in order around the rim. No system works perfectly, however, and some irregularities will be noted. Those peaks in boldface type are those whose names have been officially adopted. Names of mountains in parenthesis are alternate or former names, and the names of routes are also in parenthesis. Glacial Retreat, Global Warming, and Maps Due to warming of the climate, maps to this area are often out of date, and valleys, especially low ones, are now often completely free of ice. References References are included in this volume which will aid future guide- book writers, provide documentation (i.e., listing the sources of in- formation) and will help climbers to learn to use the libraries. Thorough documentation is a measure of the reliability of the information. References of mere mention and no content are often omitted. Don Munday has written a number of articles for the Canadian Alpine Journal which bear on the history of the Coast Range and the people who explored it. His publications are listed in the Cumulative Subject & Author Index of the Canadian Alpine Journal (Vol. 1, 1907, to Vol. 70, 1987). Books cited in the references are often excellent (and rare!) and access to a mountaineering library is imperative. Journals and Abbreviations 6 AAJ- American Alpine Journal, American Alpine Club ABCN- ascended by the Alaskan Boundary Commission, largely 1894 ANCH- Grace and John Vincent Hoeman Collection, Univ. of Alaska, Anchorage/Alaska Pacific Univ. Consortium Library (examined by Steven Gruhn) APP- Appalachia, Appalachian Mtn. Club, Boston, Massachusetts BCM- B. C. Mountaineer, BCMC, Vancouver, B. C. CAJ- Canadian Alpine Journal, Alpine Club of Canada Alpine Club of Canada library (CAJ), available on Internet CLOUDBURST (magazine; FMCBC) Cumulative Subject & Author Index of the Canadian Alpine Journal (Volume 1, 1907, to Volume 70, 1987) by Beverley Bendell Index to Publications of the BCMC. 1907-1969, by Michael Feller Index to Publications of the BCMC. 1970-1990, by Michael Feller FA- first ascent FRA- first recorded ascent FSR- Forest Service road GSC- Geological Survey of Canada HM- Harvard Mountaineering, Harvard Mountaineering Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts HN- Heathens, Heathen Mountaineers Newsletter, Campbell River, B. C. IBC-International Boundary Commission INT- Internet; CME- Canadian Mtn. Encyclopedia (bivouac.com) MAZ- Mazamas, Oregon PC- personal communication to the author, followed by initials or full name SCREE- Mountaineering Club of Alaska, newsletter SEATTLE- Seattle Mountaineer, Seattle, Washington.