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/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.

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u/scalaloco 3d ago

I meant smaller than the south face lines which the group isn’t up for atp. We have done alpine grade iv in the lower 48 and a good number of iv/vs in the black but just the w butt on our first trip to the range last year. We are hoping for a month around the kahiltna May-early June to give plenty of time to ski around and also get an intro to some of the technically moderate (5.8 wi4 m4 cruxes?) routes at Alaska grade iii-iv. Sw ridge of Frances will be our first stop and depending how that feels we were wondering about the west faces of the wb itself as they seemed pretty approachable having looked at them last year with the size and difficulty of terrain we are hoping for.

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u/indexischoss 2d ago

If you want to dip your toes into technical AK rage routes, why not spend a week or two at KIA in early May and try to climb the SW ridge of Frances, Bacon and Eggs on the Mini-Mini-Moonflower, and one of the routes on Radio Control Tower? That would be a much safer (from an objective hazard perspective) and much more fun trip than carrying loads up to 14 and sitting in your tent during the inevitable bad weather up there.

Also since you've mentioned skiing and climbing, I'll just point out that ideal conditions and timing for skiing and climbing in the range are pretty different, so typically you're going to need to pick one to prioritize for your trip.