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All Locations > Alaska > Interior Alaska… > Denali NP > Ruth Gorge > Mt Huntington > W Face Couloir (WI4+ M4 Steep Snow PG13)
A remarkable view of the West Face Couloir while bailing down the West Face off the French Ridge.
ID 107323200 · · Copyright Violation?
Washburn photograph<br> Black line by James Nettle<br> AAJ, 1990<br> <br> Black/yellow line - Nettle & Quirk's approach route, via the left side of the ice-fall. Harder and slower, but safer, unless the mountain is not frozen. This is also how Puryear shows the approach in his guide. <br> <br> Nobody seems to heed the advice. That might be because moving fast, before getting frozen, is worth risking the seracs.<br> <br> Red dots - The approach used by most teams now, hidden in this photo by the threatening seracs. Morning sunhit on the seracs does seem to wake them up.<br> <br> Red dashes - Easy part of the modern hike/ski to the bergschrund. Also threatened by avalanching more than Nettle and Quirk's approach.<br> <br> Green dashes - Variations used now to avoid rock slabs with shallow coverage.<br> <br> Blue S - The dangerously anchor-less slabs that must be avoid both on the ascent and descent. Climbers still had to work hard to find good anchors, left of the rock slab, in the deep snow of May, 2010.<br> <br> Orange dashes - Colton-Leech Easy to reach from the TAT landing zone. C-L also seemed to get less powder slough activity than West Face Couloir.<br> <br> Violet dashes- French Ridge
Jeff Burton on upper part of snowfield leading into base of the N.Q. Couloir, April 1992.
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George Bell
Oct 10, 2011
“A remarkable view of the West Face Couloir while bailing down the West Face off the French Ridge.”  

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Aden and Paul doing the West Face Couloir, early May, 2010. The temperature at basecamp was -15F that morning! Sorry to not have found out surnames, hopefully a temporary omission.<br> <br> Photo by Scott Visscher
Starting the first part of The N.Q. Couloir.
Washburn photograph<br> Black line by James Nettle<br> AAJ, 1990<br> <br> Black/yellow line - Nettle & Quirk's approach route, via the left side of the ice-fall. Harder and slower, but safer, unless the mountain is not frozen. This is also how Puryear shows the approach in his guide. <br> <br> Nobody seems to heed the advice. That might be because moving fast, before getting frozen, is worth risking the seracs.<br> <br> Red dots - The approach used by most teams now, hidden in this photo by the threatening seracs. Morning sunhit on the seracs does seem to wake them up.<br> <br> Red dashes - Easy part of the modern hike/ski to the bergschrund. Also threatened by avalanching more than Nettle and Quirk's approach.<br> <br> Green dashes - Variations used now to avoid rock slabs with shallow coverage.<br> <br> Blue S - The dangerously anchor-less slabs that must be avoid both on the ascent and descent. Climbers still had to work hard to find good anchors, left of the rock slab, in the deep snow of May, 2010.<br> <br> Orange dashes - Colton-Leech Easy to reach from the TAT landing zone. C-L also seemed to get less powder slough activity than West Face Couloir.<br> <br> Violet dashes- French Ridge
A remarkable view of the West Face Couloir while bailing down the West Face off the French Ridge.
Jeff Burton on upper part of snowfield leading into base of the N.Q. Couloir, April 1992.
West Face Couloir, Mount Huntington<br> contour interval: 100 feet<br> grid squares are 1 kilometer<br> <br> Red squares - West Face Couloir<br> Lavender squares - Harvard Route<br> Yellow line - serac avalanche zone<br> Pencil arrow - landing zone<br>
West Face Couloir, Mount Huntington<br> Photo by MP contributor George Bell<br> <br> Red - West Face Couloir<br> Purple - Harvard Route
Three expeditions waiting in the middle of the horseshoe for Paul Roderick. Even after we packed the run-way, he took two blustery "grooming passes" around us, before stopping for pick-up on the third landing. <br> <br> The disappearing dots in the backround are where the second serac avalanche wasted the approach trail.<br> <br> Scott, Mark, Leo, Aden, and Paul.
Yellow circle - first serac avalanche to cover the approach.
Scott Visscher, just above the 'schrund.<br> <br> Red circle - climber<br> Red arrow - ice nose at crux<br> <br>
Huntington's West Face<br> <br> Red - West Face Couloir<br> Purple - Harvard Rt (direct ice start)
Base Camp in the shadows.