Alaska Current Climbing Conditions

Activity is just getting underway in the range, and winter is lingering, though I hear people are on the move around The Mooses Tooth. If you have been out in the range, let me know what you are seeing and what you accomplished. Likewise if you have been in Little Switzerland i would love to know how much rock is showing and if you went to ski, how great was it.

Thanks in advance, and safe climbing.

Ham and Eggs is climbing well enough. Less ice and lower quality ice than some other years, but only rock moves are the normal first pitch step. Snow is generally neve or otherwise supportable. Good ice on the summit ridge once you dig it out.

Thanks for the beta. Just sent you PM to see what else you can share

I was in the Ruth for a chunk mid April and it was insanely snowy. The only ice we saw was on N Face Church, NE face Dickey, and some very smeary smears on E Dickey. Apparently Trailer Park had some very rotten ice. Lotttttttts of snow. Buddy made it half way up Shaken as well and I am not sure why they did not finish. 

Thanks Pat

Had two friends successfully climb Peak 11,300 (Southwest Ridge) on 4/26/25. Contact has been limited with them via InReach but what I've heard of the conditions has been positive. 

Thanks Nate....that is a surprise as I can tell you from personal experiance, that route is difficult in deep snow. Purpose the 8 degree temps left them with lots of neve.

Thanks for the insights

Bumping myself.....any new conditions reports?

Mooses Tooth

Little Switzerland

Peak 11,300

Michael Catlettwrote:

Bumping myself.....any new conditions reports?

Mooses Tooth

Little Switzerland

Peak 11,300

Ham and Eggs got climbed by like 10+ parties from the 19th-24th.

Have you tried calling the ranger station? They have the most up to date conditions reports. 

Thanks Michael T

I would suggest checking with the flight logistic providers for up to date conditions. They are flying in or waiting out weather and they communicate with climbers going in and out. They have beta on how the trips go. My take was the rangers know if things go down (outside of Kahiltna International) if climbers participate in registration and report it to them. Or they hear of the goings on from climbers and climbing rangers.

My partner and I landed on west fork of the Ruth on 4/24. Beautiful day in the range and one of the best days in weeks from what I was told. We lucked into a 3 day high pressure window and the SW ridge of 11300 was our main objective. We started climbing 4/25 following a boot pack up put in by a party of 2 that started the day before. Crusty solar layer and sugar snow underneath were the main snow conditions. Sometimes solid, sometimes pretty loose. Ice dome was squeaky neve for the most part with some sections of dried out surface ice. Descent was more of the same snow but more or less solid. 3 teams summited in a 2 day window. We then all sat on the glacier for 4 days waiting to get flown out. A weather system sat over us preventing flying and not really enticing us to move camp down glacier. Climbing would not have been that bad.

Thanks to the boys for the boot pack. Breaking trail would have been a bigger effort, but not impossible. Amazing mountain and climb. Exactly what we were looking for.

Michael Catlettwrote:

Bumping myself.....any new conditions reports?

Mooses Tooth

Little Switzerland

Peak 11,300

There is a lot more climbing in our state than those areas! Should probably change title to Alaska Range Climbing Conditions. 

Otherwise I will flood this post with seepage conditions of our local 5 bolt sport climbs. 

Dylan Stuartwrote:

There is a lot more climbing in our state than those areas! Should probably change title to Alaska Range Climbing Conditions. 

Otherwise I will flood this post with seepage conditions of our local 5 bolt sport climbs. 

DO IT! 

just got out last night from around the kahiltna. lots of new snow and i think they got some more today. Lots of low pressure and precip in the foreseeable future. Conditions around Kahiltna were quite snowy and have not undergone a recent shed cycle due to lack of solar activity. Second year in a row of el nino, which has been hampering the efforts of many who wish for longer high pressure systems.

Clint Helanderwrote:

just got out last night from around the kahiltna. lots of new snow and i think they got some more today. Lots of low pressure and precip in the foreseeable future. Conditions around Kahiltna were quite snowy and have not undergone a recent shed cycle due to lack of solar activity. Second year in a row of el nino, which has been hampering the efforts of many who wish for longer high pressure systems.

Yep. Short high pressure systems seem to be the norm this year. My crew has been gambling on the smash and grab program, which doesn't seem to work on years like this.

Just got out from KIA on 5/29 ... I know old news at this point. I can say a big storm hit right as we were leaving: got lucky with 6" that dumped that morning of 5/29 followed by another 12" that night, TAT got us out in a short window early afternoon between storms. 

We did the West Ridge of Hunter making it to high camp at 10'600. Route was in descent shape but on the cusp: we had a few blue bird days which were blazing hot and that heat really melted out a lot of snow and made things unstable, alpine start required for cold conditions, snow becomes out by early afternoon, lots of loose wet avalanches if the sun is on it. 

Not sure how things are changing since the most recent storm. I want to say about 1.5 feet of snow at least has dumped since I left and that has probably erased all tracks that we made on Hunter.  

We did Bacon and Eggs as well the day after the west ridge and it was in descent shape for the first 1000' but up higher (in the upper half of the 400' WI4 narrow gully) the ice turned to unconsolidated neve, so we made it up to a solid fixed anchor and did 5 60m raps to get down and over the shrund. 

There was a team that sent the Cassin ridge and returned to BC the same night we did from hunter on 5/27 - so apparently that's in. 

 Hope this info is useful for someone! Good luck