What’s going on in Alaska? Our Mt. Bona team just kicked off the solitary climb of the season – here’s the latest:
May 17, 2014: Mt. Bona Team Arrives In Anchorage
Question: How many duffels does it take to climb Mt. Bona, Alaska?
Team baggage arrives at the Anchorage airport (Dallas Glass)
Seven 50 lb. duffels of group gear! That equals 350 total pounds or around 32 pounds person. The bags include all of the food, tents, ropes and climbing gear the group will need for their 10 day ascent of Mt. Bona. They don’t have to carry all of the gear at once, down low on the mountain they will carry the bulk of the group gear up to the next higher camp, cache it, drop back down to the lower camp, then move up to the cache the next day. This is known as expedition style climbing.
Sunday, May 18, 2014: Mt. Bona Team Right On Schedule
The Mt. Bona team departed Anchorage bright and early this Sunday and flew on to Mt. Bona right on schedule Sunday afternoon. They had to make a quick choice with their bush pilot, the planned glacier landing on the Klutlan Glacier was clouded over, so instead they chose the north side of the mountain and were landed on the Russell Glacier. This saved a potential delay of one or more days, not being able to be flown onto the mountain. The Russell Glacier is on the north side of the mountain. It is a less often climbed route, and was the route for the original ascent in 1930. IMG partner George Dunn has led parties up the Russell twice before and recommends it as a great option. The team will have the entire route to themselves. Lead guide Erica Engle will check in as the group makes progress up the mountain, and we’ll keep you posted.
Looking up the Russell Glacier. The route sneaks above the broken area on a ramp to the low saddle on the right of the highest point in the photo. The summit of Bona is actually behind the high point in the picture (Mt. Churchill), an edge of Bona is just visible on the right skyline of Churchill. (George Dunn)
George Dunn