Talkeetna Air Taxi

So… the weather hasn’t been too cooperative for scenic flightseeing or glacier transportation… but we were able to get in a couple of Raft Drop offs for NOVA out of Chickaloon, Alaska. The Mechanics geared up 90Yankee aka “Spanky” in her nice big tires and Rock Guards for a gravel bar landing.

The Rafts are prepped and ready to go....



Low clouds and bye bye to Spanky!

We sure do love fan mail here at TAT! Thanks to Team Cockermouth for this stunning photo of our plane. 

               

 

Team Vermont  came back yesterday all glacier tanned and bright eyed from the Ruth Gorge. They were out for thirteen days, did some nice routes, took some beautiful photos  and gave us this report from the area:

 

               Ruth Gorge camp,  conditions are changing rapidly into summer mode. We had two weeks of perfect weather. Japanese Couloir is slush, needs a really cold night. We did freezy nuts, also needs a cold night. Did Ham and Eggs, all the ice is slush and gone, probably will be the last ones in there. Crevasses are opening up quickly and snow bridges are shrinking. Rock routes are starting to come in. Gold fingers still wet. Good conditions. Every day was hot weather!

-Jeff Wagner and Eric Esser

 

 

Our group just got off from the Ruth Gorge. Conditions were hot and mushy.  We tried climbing Mt. Dickey as well as the Japanese collior on Barrille.  Snow was really soft and avalanche conditions existed.  Even when climbing after midnight, only the top surface of snow would freeze, but severe post holing existed.  Have fun and bring lots of spf.  
- Mike Whiting:   Team Prickly Pear.

Hello TAT folks,

Thanks for another great trip -- this year brought us a stormy stay at Kahiltna base camp.

Two pictures are from our visit to what should be a new Kahiltna classic, "Bacon and Eggs" on the Mini-Mini Moonflower (ca 1,500 feet to summit, AI4, maybe 4 plus right now?), first climbed in 2008 by Westman/Walsh and Giambrone/Einerson, and at least once since by Billmeier/Vilhauer. Other climbers may be interested to know that we used only ice screws on the route, and that as of 5/18 there were large snow mushrooms threatening the last pitch to the top, where we descended using only V-threads and leaving no cord behind, making six 70 meter rappels. The other is a kind of cool shot of one of your planes flying out, taken from around "Tower 1" on the SW Ridge of Mount Frances.  

Thanks again, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer season, see you again next go round!

Adrian Bender

Anchorage, AK

This high pressure system over the Alaska Range the past few days has lent the area to some bluebird days and great flying weather.... here's a sweet shot from 11 camp...



Conditions: snowy... good snow and ice above 12,000

Earlier this month John Frieh completed a successful climb in the Alaska Range.  Read his route report and view his beautiful photographs documenting his trip at cascadeclimbers.com. We are delighted to see him mention "On the 5th [of May] we called TAT at 8 am and they snapped us up at 9:30 right before the next storm rolled in.  Did I mention how great these guys are?"

Thank you John for the compliment, at TAT we love working with climbers and hearing their amazing stories of adventure and success.

Hurry up and wait...wait....what is the weather going to do?  This snapshot from May 15th, captures the essence of the Alaska weather pattern, is it sunny or going to rain?  Eager climbers were awaiting the weather to fly into Kahiltna base camp.  The weather didn't quite open up for us then, but the next morning was stunning.

We just got back last night from 15 days on the Ruth Gateway/Upper Gorge part of the glacier.  Our main objective was the West Ridge of the Mooses Tooth.  Once on the route we found ourselves wallowing through 1-3 feet of snow that had fallen...it was a blast.  The upper part of route, day two of the climb, we found snow conditions that were scary.  Up the couloir it was firm, but traversing the ridge we were sinking up to our waists in faceted snow.  No ice, pickets wouldn't hold, so just below the West summit we turned back.

The Japanese Couloir on Barrill was in good condition the following week.  The snow is firm,  and with rock and snow pro you can protect the traverse without a problem, and the crevasses to the top are all covered.  It was an enjoyable day.

Weather:  It never opened up and really dumped for days.  The schedule seemed like it was two and a half days of nice weather.  then two days of crappy low clouds.  The 2.5 days of nice were not Colorado Bluebird, more in and out with light happy clouds all around.  So for what that is worth....

The glacier itself is very covered with snow.  Skiing in the area is still very "in".  Because of this the ice on the steeper routes is not ideal.  People are getting up ham and eggs, but shaken not stirred is ice free....making it a no go.

Bring the skis if you are flying on in the near future.  And bring a sat. phone if you want flexibility.  TAT was great. Our neighbors on the glacier tried to climb the West Ridge a few days ago.  On the way up one of them stepped into a crevasse, his pack went over top of him, which blew out his knee.  We happened to see them with the binocs low on the route.  One was schooching down on his butt, and the other was carrying both packs.  So we packed up a quick "rescue kit" and met them at the base of the route.  We fired up the satellite phone and literally 45 mins later Paul was on the glacier and they were on their way to showers and beers in Talkeetna.  Thats impressive! 

Mark Smiley

Spring has arrived in Talkeetna!  The rhubarb just popped out of the ground, and the leaves are coming out. We are excited to see the lime green hue appearing.  The color is even more exciting for the climbers who have been in the Range for weeks looking at the shades of snow and rock.  We can't wait to get our veggies and flowers planted on the deck!