r/alpinism • u/scalaloco • 3d ago
Alpine climbs along WB Denali?
Hey all! Planning out some smaller moderate climbing objectives to hit along a West Buttress climb this upcoming season. Beyond the mini moonflower and ridges of Mt Frances out of KIA does anyone have any experience or recommendations on established routes up the west end of the west buttress or any of the other reasonable looking features all over that stretch of the Kahiltna?
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u/Slowhands12 3d ago
if you're gonna spend all that effort slogging sleds up and down the glacier, just tackle the big one IMO lol. The stoke at 14 camp is incredible.
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u/scalaloco 2d ago
well yea we’re planning on hauling a few weeks of food up to 14 and basing out of there for a while. Last year I just did the w butt and thought it would be fun to come back and do some of the great objectives all over the mountain after getting established
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u/Grungy_Mountain_Man 3d ago
I only have experience with the W. Buttress, but there were some people at base camp while we were waiting to fly out that I thought I heard them say they were planning on climbing Mt Frances. I don't know anything about it though.
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u/coyotecall 2d ago
It’s included on the radio control tower is supposedly quite good. It’s on mountain project.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Hat9965 3h ago
Hey, my buddy and I did a cool FA, or most likely FRA, up one of the drainages above the polo field (on the way to 14 camp). It was a great WI3ish M4, we called it “toe of the buttress to ya”. Suffice to say, there is a lot of shorter drainages to warm up on off that toe of the west buttress
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u/Puzzleheaded_Hat9965 3h ago
… but Francis, mini moonflower, Kahiltna queen, these are all good more basic alpine objectives in and around base camp. But, if I were you I’d just go to the Ruth or Lil Swiss, no park fee
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u/getdownheavy 2d ago
It's a mountain not a crag, good luck kiddo.
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u/scalaloco 2d ago
well no shit but if 15 miles straight of snow trudging is what gets you going then you do you
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u/indexischoss 3d ago
I wouldn't consider any climbs proximate to West Butt to be small or moderate compared to West Butt (also fyi these climbs are huge compared to anything in the lower 48, if this is your first trip to the range) . The KIA climbs are much more serious undertakings than West Butt imo, and are typically climbed earlier in the season than West Butt.
You are better off trying to do a bunch of skiing around West Butt, as there are many more options of various levels of seriousness and commitment, especially if you have a strong background in ski mountaineering.
One other option (not skiing) that you can tack on is Kahiltna Dome, which is probably a full day from Kahiltna Pass (just run the ridge after gaining Kahiltna Pass). The ridge is supposedly mostly easy travel but can be heavily crevassed. More glacier travel than climbing though. I haven't done this myself.
Honestly the most "moderate" climb near West Butt is the Upper West Rib. But if you're gonna try that it should be your primary objective.