Richard Baranow is a lifelong Alaskan who recently became the first person to climb all of the mountains in the Western Chugach without the assistance of motor vehicle. I joined him, and his friend Ross, for a 5-day trip up his last mountain, Whitecrown (6,390 ft), in the eastern part of the range.
There are 166 peaks in the Western Chugach. Most rise from near sea level and many involve significant glacier and bushwhacking approaches. The only other person to climb all of these peaks finished last year and avoided weeks of bushwacking, snowshoeing, and skiing by riding in helicopters to and/or from roughly ten mountains.
Climbing all of these mountains is impressive. However, what I find more impressive is the style with which Richard approached them. By walking in, he has developed an immense knowledge of the landscape that’s both valuable and respectable—it shows that part of his goal was to explore rather than (or at least in addition to) conquer, which is so common with climbers.
Regarding the specifics of our trip: We hiked in ~17 miles with 50 ish lb. packs over three days. The first five miles were on trail without snow. The rest was much slower: off trail and/or with snowshoes in deep, mushy snow. (Snowshoes can be best for trips with some snow travel because it’s easier to schwack through dense alder with them on your pack than with long skis. But, in retrospect, skis would have been much easier and more fun for the conditions we encountered.) It was slow going, with some rain and snow. On day three we arrived at Bagg Pass (2,500 ft.) and intended to climb the following day. When we woke up it was snowing so we waited until it cleared and slowly meandered up nearby Peak 4,360. Unfortunately, I needed to leave the following day so I hiked all the way out in one big, hard day while they climbed the peak and then hiked out over the following two days.
Even though this trip was in the final days of April, in the least snowy year in Southcentral Alaska’s recorded history, there was what I consider to be a tremendous amount of snow at 2,500 ft. What is it like on a normal year?!
My two favorite parts of the trip were spending time with two gentlemen twice my age and seeing the gorgeous landscape. Richard and Ross taught me a few time-tested tricks about snow safety and snow camping, and I taught them a few modern tricks such as smartphone GPS navigation and about lightweight gear. It was also fun to hear them reflect on their lives—specifically hearing them discuss their various relationships was interesting for me because I’m in the early stage of my first serious relationship.
As I alluded to, the landscape was splendid. We started in North America’s northernmost patch of temperate rainforest—lush greenery, water everywhere, cedars—and climbed up into a white winter wonderland with fifty-foot tall snow drifts and vistas of expansive glaciers, sharp peaks, and world-class skiing. Peak 4,360 is a only subtle bump on the map, it is completely dwarfed by the surrounding mountains, but the views were jaw dropping and, as far as we know, only two people had been on top of it previously.
While I was sliding like a snake though alder and slogging in snowshoes back to my car Richard and Ross made the first integral ascent of Whitecrown. They became the first people to climb it by walking in from the road. Only two others have climbed it, by flying into Bagg Pass. This is Alaska...gazillions of mountains...and even ones close to the state's largest city haven't been climbed.
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| Crossing a slide, perhaps 500 ft above sea level |
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| Berry Pass area |
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| Dropping into the Twenty-mile drainage |
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| Darn good bushwhacking dogs |
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| Darn good mountaineering dogs |
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| Camp near Bagg Pass with Whitecrown in the back |
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| Heading up Peak 4,360 |
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| Selfie from 4,360 looking east onto various glaciers |
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