Western Chugach - Mt Gilbert

[BatMaule]

If you will indulge, I have a recent adventure to share:

Ten days ago, I was the only one at the Birchwood airport changing from wheels TO skis on a beautiful 55 degree spring day. But, I had just returned from work and some other travel and had a climbing goal in mind that involved ski flying - Mt Gilbert in the western Chugach

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There were some notable firsts associated with this adventure. First ski flying with the Maule! (It has taken me almost 4 years to finally get it on skis.) And, it was the highest elevation (7300') that I have ever landed on skis, in the deepest snow, and with the largest load.

With the ski strip melting fast, a couple buddies and I made two sorties to the high coutnry to test everything out and do a little recon on the peak we wanted to climb. Then, on Saturday, 19 April, I loaded up two climbers and a whole bunch of gear for our Mt Gilbert attempt. [Gilbert dominates many of the views from Prince William Sound (PWS) and I've looked at for years while kayaking.]

First, though, we had to shovel snow in front of the plane just to get to t]he ski strip and I pretty much knew taking off that we would have no snow to return to.

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About 40 very scenic minutes later we landed at our destination - high on a glacial rise below the imposing summit block of Mt Gilbert.

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It was almost tempting to stay in camp it was so pretty. Airplane camping is the best and we had all the goodies!! Dinner both nights we stayed on the glacier was caribou fajitas with stewed chiles and a local IPA to wash it down. Cheesecake for desert.

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Rather than stay in camp and get fat, though, we figured we better do what we came to do and attempt the peak and we broke trail on Saturday evening to a col overlooking PWS which was about a 3/4 mile ski and 1000 vertical feet above and was the start of the "real" climbing. Unfortunately, Sunday (which was forecast good wx) decided to get skunky with snow and high winds and kept us pretty much in camp that day. The plane rode out the winds no problem with two deadman anchors per wing and spoiler equipped wing covers.

Monday, the front had passed and it was severe clear and calm at 0600 when we stirred. Two hours later, we had our skis on and were on our way back to the top of the col.

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The first 1000 feet of climing was steep but straight forward. Good snow and some ice and we were abloe to protect and climb it safely - although a bit slow. High up on the shoulder where the slope lessened, however, was a different story. The high winds from the day before had loaded those slopes and the summit ridge with a whole bunch of unconsolidated snow. It was so loose and deep that we had to crawl through it! We reached our high point about 300 vertical feet shy of the summit in front of a beautiful sharp ridge that, given the right conditions, would (will) have provided a dramatic finish to the climb.

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We turned around about 4:00pm and managed to get back to the plane by about 8:00pm. With functional daylight until about 10:30pm, we decided to break camp and head for home. While I pre-heated teh plane and dug out the anchors, my two climbing buddies reworked the "runway" and took down the tent. Throttle was full in at 9:30pm and the Maule broke ground and started flying down glacier in about 700-800'. (I couldn't have been happier with the performance at that altitude, load, and conditions. Horsepower is a good thing!) Simply great airplanes and sure fit my mission well.

We flew back to Birchwood with surrounding alpenglow in the Chugach mountains and then, rounding the corner from the Knik River valley, a deep orange vista toward the Alaska Range. There just isn't anywhere more beautiful to live and fly!

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Landing at Birchwood was the last little bit of excitement left in our adventure. As expected, the ski strip was completely gone. There were pockets of snow, grass, and water in the median between the main runway and the taxiway which I had been envisioning as an alternate LZ. I had hoped for a little more snow but no other choice...I had to take it and hope the landing was uneventful. I touched down in about 4" of slush which quickly transitioned to grass, more slush, then a swamp, more slush, and a stop in about 6" of water. I powered up and was able to manuever us to the edge of the taxiway where we delicately walked the skis to reach dry land.

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My lovely wife met us on touchdown and gave us a ride back to my truck which we used to pull the plane out of the swamp, install the ski dollies, and pushed in to the nearest tie-down where we then proceeded to unload the mountain of gear in the back. By this time, of course, cold beers were also in hand and, even though the summit of Gilbert had eluded us, we still felt very satisfied to have given it a good go and returned safely.

End of this story. Sorry so long but hopefully entertaining (or at least diversionary) for someone.

Cheers,
Paul

[Maulehigh]

Awesome!!! - Thanks for sharing

[Duane]

WOW! amazing pics Paul.

[Flyhound]

Now that's a trip report! Flying, camping, XC skiing, climbing and exquisite art photography all rolled into 1 report. You've set the bar pretty darned high for how to fully live life and how to report on your escapades. That motivates me to wake up and get going. Thanks for the push!

[MAU MAU]

Absolutely superb Trip & Adventure report from beautiful Alaska!

This is what Maule's were truly created for and you are obviously utilizing yours to its fullest.

What are 'dead man anchors', and were you concerned with a possible avalanche when you were crawling along the ridge?

Thank you very much for posting!

[wtxdragger]

Holy hell, that was great. Thanks for sharing.

Why would anyone want a Maule?

[maules.com]

Outstanding Paul.

[crbnunit]

Wow. Quite the adventure. That is a lot to pack into three days! Beautiful photography! Glad you got home safe. Thanks for sharing!

[captnkirk]

That is the Why of Maule ownership. Great story

[crbnunit]

OK, where exactly is Mt Gilbert? Google shows me photos but no location. You flew up past Bold Pk and I see Prince William Sound in some of the photos. I think I can locate the area but not the exact peak. Do share!

Never mind! Found it! Awesome trip. Not surprised the weather and wind gave you issues!

[Rezrider]

Nice report, well done on the fantastic adventure. I'm jealous.

[bobguhr]

Absolutely fantastic!

[JW]

That was sweet

[BatMaule]

Mau, Mau, "deadman" anchors = buried anchors; in this case, 2x4's approximately 24" long and dug in about 3' or so. When the snow hardens, it's like concrete. Yes...concerned about the slope and cornice on that ridge. Too much fresh stuff. Couldn't protect it. With some more thaw/freeze, it will be set up and much safer. It's always about the conditions and you don't know what you don't know until on route.

Crbunit,
Yeah...Gilbert is right on the edge of PWS. A serious weather center as you know! One of my friends on this trip got to see the full potential a few years back when they were a short distance away on the Knik side of Marcus Baker. 12' of snow in two days. Lost their tent and a bunch of gear but built the king collosus of snow caves, I guess. Definitely something to keep in mind when taking one's plane into that area.

Paul

[MauleMechanic]

Very very nice!!