Our team of 3 summited Mt. Huxley last night at 8:30pm, after an almost 15 hour summit push starting at 5:45am. The elation (and enjoyment of a well-earned incredible view) is clear in lead guide Scott’s voice in the summit dispatch below!
Mt. Huxley is an approximately 12,200 ft peak just west of Mt. St. Elias in the eastern Chugach Mountains. It is technical from all angles and a beautiful peak, shown below from the south in Icy Bay.
We are working to determine how many, if any, times this mountain has been climbed since the first ascent in 1996. That summit was by pilot Paul Claus, who landed his plane just 600 vertical or so feet below the summit, so if no one has climbed it since this team would be the first “full ascent” all the way from the glacier below. We will let you know as soon as we determine if this is indeed the case! Exciting stuff on the home front here in the Wrangell St. Elias!
They spent the night in a bivvy camp high on the mountain and are now headed back down towards their basecamp at 9,600 ft.
If you’d like to follow along with their adventures and see the map points and messages they have sent so far you can visit the trip’s InReach UpDates page.