Neacola

The View from the Cockpit of the Beaver (click on photos to enlarge)

Beaver on Approach

Avalanche Caused by Ice-Fall



Another 1st Ascent and Descent



This was Skied for the 1st Time as Well
Youtube video of the descent (last 2 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMoNx0pmeZA

Cutting Baby Teeth

Our trip to the Neacolas started with a few days of weather delays, a theme that would continue to play out throughout the trip. We had four days (ish) of good weather in our nine days on the glacier. Our first day was a divide and conquer mission to check different aspects for stability. The results were pockets of instability caused by a persisting gropple layer of inconsistent thickness. That evening the weather rolled in and our little camp became the center of our universe. It was like being on house arrest.

Three days later a little bit of improvement in the visibility inspired a short tour to ski a short shot low on the slope to the west of camp. Then things opened up. The clouds lifted and we found ourselves staring across the glacier at one of our objectives, the Teeth. The smaller of the two teeth looked better than ever and we decided to push up towards it at least enough to get a feel for the conditions over there even with our late afternoon start it proved to be a good idea. The sky went completely blue and it was a beautiful tour that would lay the groundwork for our ascent of the peak the next day. A descent in deep heavy snow in a lower angle couloir brought us back to the glacier and back on our track it was an easy glide back to camp. The next morning we got and early start and headed up our track breaking trail past where we had turned around the day before and pushing up onto a massive bench on the shoulder of this mountain. The windless, nearly cloudless day made for perfect conditions and so up we went choosing to head up the South East rib. Steep skinning turned into even steeper bootpacking until we reached the shoulder before the last ramp to the summit. The curving aspect that we came up was like the front of a sharks fin and from the shoulder we could look over the back of the fin, a vertical, precipitous drop of almost 1000 feet.

The climb to the summit was easy and straightforward. From the top we took a few pictures and a few moments to reflect on our accomplishment. Looking north and east we saw the looming monument that is the larger of the two teeth. Access to the larger objective was definitely not easiest from our vantage. We concluded that it would be better to go further up the glacier before even beginning to climb. All that was just a brief thought in the reflective celebration of our first Alaskan first ascent and looking to the first descent that was to follow. From the summit we skied down the face visible from the bench from which we had begun our climb on the rib. Descent snow and the rush of isolation and the spirit of pioneering a route both up and down that had never been done before was incredible.

With our first successful Alaskan objective completed we were ready for the day that followed, the solid summit attempt and first descent of “Superior In The Sky".

Headed up our path from the day before.

Uncle Keith's switchback clinic.

Serac fall triggered slides across the glacier the day before the summit.

Approaching the bench.

Keith and Emily at the bench.

On belay! Things get steep.

Looking back on the path to victory.

Exposure exposed.

The final ramp to the summit.

The big tooth in the backgroud. Tom and Steph on the summit of the Baby Tooth.

Getting ready to drop in.

Turns from the top as seen from the bench.

Neacola Video

I am giving a presentation to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska so I put together a short video.

Check it!!

More Neacola Photos

Mount Chakachamna at the Head of the Glacier

("C" on the map)

It snowed about 3 feet the 1st 48 hours we were there. This made for very unstable conditions especially on North facing aspects. Fortunately East and South set up much better.

In the Snowcave / Kitchen / Bar

Let's see some of those Ruby Mountain shots!

- Ezra Lieberman

Neacola Photos

It's time to start getting more Neacola photos up in here, up in here. I'll try to get a few up every couple of days.

A 41° skinner: notice how we all spread out and practice safe travel

"Superior in the Sky" Not for me, but Tom & Stefan got it

Check out the bergshrund (10-20') followed by about 8 crevices

The view from the Beaver

The weather forecast looks good up here for the long weekend. I'll be sending it all over South Central AK and fishing for King Salmon betweens beers.

- Colonel Dax

Big Map

Click on the map to see more detail

Neacola: Choosing the Spot

The Neacola Mountains have been an obsession since I moved to Alaska 3 years ago. They are highly visible on the drive into Anchorage from the South. Cold and clear sunsets throughout the dead of winter make for spectacular visuals. Often seen, always overlooked. Most folks in Anchorage couldn't find these hills on a map even though they can see them from their porch.

Neacola trip reports are few and far between, but they all have similarities. The mountains are not small. The range is skiable. The snow is plentiful. The scenery is surreal.

When choosing a location I had 3 criteria:

1. Close to Alaska West Air's home base in Nikiski to minimize flight cost. Time is money especially when your talking $650/hour.



2. Big vertical: no yoyo-ing 1200' shots all day.



3. Unexplored: a blank spot on the map.

I found my spot on a tee shaped glacier at about 3,500' surrounded by peaks climbing to 7,500'. There were no trip reports, no aerials, and the satellite photos were too grainy to make out features. Perfect.

Despite having found the spot, it was still just an educated guess. The pilot had never been to this glacier before so he insisted we fly a Super-Cub to the proposed landing zone. Just me and Doug. Stefan, Emilie, and Tom would be a few minutes behind in a Beaver. Insert juvenile (yet hilarious) joke here. The plan was to maintain radio contact between the planes so I could relay what I saw back to the Beaver, thus having some discussion with the final go or no-go. The back-up plan was a nearby glacier that Fred Beckey was quite fond of.


As luck would have it, the alternator was out on the Super-Cub, so there would be no contact with the rest of the team. Actually no contact with the pilot either because of the noise of the engine. Forty-five minutes of introverted thinking. Normally I enjoy being left alone, but I was making the decision for 5 other people that all had put their trust in me.

No Alternator Means Your Starting It by Hand

It took about 20 minutes to get to the mountains. Then the eye candy can into view. Google-earth, USGS images, aerials photos all became real. The peaks towered above the Cub as we slipped between narrow passes with sheer wall. It got real.

Blockade Glacier and Blockade Lake

"Nunatak" Couloir


The SW Ridge of Chakachamna (Backside of Peak A to Peak C)

Over a year of planning had led up to this moment. I picked out Mt. Chakachamna on the horizon. We were close. Over the pass, and there it was: the "T" glacier.

Damn, it looks steep. Damn, my proposed LZ is an icefall. Damn, this is intimidating terrain. Doug turns around yells back to me: "You guys are going to have a lot of fun back here." Maybe he's right. Lots of snow: check. Big relief, skiable terrain, safe landing zone: check, check, check. "This'll work."

Looking Up the SW Lobe of the "T" to "Superior in the Sky"

NE Lobe of the "T"

We circled the drainage a couple of times and he put it down into some deep powder. "I claim this glacier in the name of Skier Boyz!" Doug went to work setting up some flagging for the landing strip for the Beaver. Did I make the right decision? What will they think? The drone of the 2nd plane began to echo around the vertical walls. The mountains dwarfed the plane. After a few circles, they were down. "Beattie like." "This is sick."

Big Peak, Little Plane (Superior in the Sky)

Everyone was psyched on the terrain. What a relief. Over the course of our stay, it became apparent, that there should be additional considerations when choosing a location. Add these to the selection criteria:

• Variety of aspects and slope angles: we had a golf course butted up to slopes that started at 40°. Slopes in the high 20s/low 30s would have been nice after multiple feet of snow. Fortunately we had 360° of aspects to work with.



• Escape route: never count on the weather in Alaska. Be prepared to walk out or at least move camp. Weather forced us to move our camp in order to facilitate a pick up; it would have been much easier had we planned for this contingency

Neacola Preview

We have returned from this "small" range in the Northern Aleutians. The trip, like the ridges, high dizzying highs followed by gut wrenching lows. Up and down. Snow and sun. Wind and rain. Wet and burnt. Avalanches, rockfalls, and seracs, oh my! It was touch and go for a while but an inspired escape brought us back to civilization.

Here are a few photos to wet your appetite. Much, much more to come.