M o u n t H untington, Second A scent o f N orthw est Ridge. O ur team included Cindy Jones, Bob N ew m an, Todd Rentchler, Roger Robinson, Charlie Campbell and me. On A pril 5 we flew with pilot Buddy Woods, minus Campbell, who had contracted strep throat, to the northw est fork of the R uth G lacier below the north face of M ount H untington. Six days of hauling loads up the R uth brought our m ountain of gear to an unclimbed 2000-foot ice face, one mile west of the F rench approach to the northw est ridge. A lthough it was technically m ore difficult than the French approach and significantly increased the length of the climb, this 60° face had m uch less avalanche danger. Three-and-a-half days of magnificent ice leads and 2400 feet of fixed line brought us to the ridge crest, a col on the ridge midway between H untington and P 12,380. H ere Cam p I was established, still 2 ½ miles from H untington’s summit. Charlie Cam pbell was flown in and proceeded w ith Roger Robinson directly up the face to push out the route. A n initial series of gendarm es slowed progress but gave way to more m oderate snow slopes on a corniced ridge. Later, we were forced to skirt m ore gendarm es to the south on steep snow and a short rock ledge. We reached the point w here the F rench had gained the ridge on A pril 20 and set up Cam p II in a snow cave and igloo on a hanging sérac. Charlie lost a filling, descended and was flown out. The w eather, rather benign to this point, took on a sour nature for the rem ainder of the trip. It required several days of clim b ing through steep loose snow to gain the base of the first step and nail
the overhanging rock pitch above. Here, an old cable ladder and bits of fixed line m arked the presence of Lionel T erray and his first-ascent team 12 years ago. We quickly climbed the corniced ridge above the rock section to the base of the second step. Bob N ew m an and I ascended the step and fixed 1200 feet of line to the base of the third step but were brought to a halt by the arrival of another storm . Several days later, on M ay 3, we returned up our fixed lines in still unsettled w eather to establish Cam p III in the saddle at 10,500 feet below the second step. T here Todd R entchler and Cindy Jones rem ained to push the route as best they could in poor visibility, icy ropes and daily snowfall. By M ay 7, the last of the fluted headwalls was fixed through the lacework to the top of the fourth step. T odd Rentchler and I, after a surprisingly difficult thrash on the final ice fluting above the fourth step, stood the next day on the corniced summ it, making the fifth ascent. Roger Robinson, Cindy Jones, Bob N ew m an and I made our way to the sum mit on M ay 9. A storm -burdened descent to Base Cam p took six days as we rem oved all possible fixed line and hardw are. A fter our extra gear was flown out by Cliff H udson, we skied, walked, crawled and cried for 80 miles and eight days to arrive at M oose Creek on the Peterville Road by M ay 27. E d N e w v il l e , U n a ffilia t e d