Page 15 - 2000 AMA Millenium

Northern
Mt Hunter and Mt Foraker, Alaska
By Lt Stu Macdonald RE
As I lay in my tent I stared at the yellow fabric above me and mulled over the events of the last few weeks. I had always had a feeling it was going to be a good trip. Planning had gone smoothly, sponsorship had been good and everyone had turned up on time. Well, almost.......
The team had met up in the afternoon before we left at Gibraltar Barracks. We were sorting through the gear when I received a message from the Guardroom “Matty Wells has been on the phone Sir. He says his car has broken down on the M40, but he’s bought another one for forty quid and is back on his way!” Had it been anyone else I would have been surprised, but not
Matty. Half an hour into the pre expedition dinner Matty arrived with his girlfriend. His hair was far longer than hers
was and he seemed to have turned into a bit of a tree hugging lentil lover since he had left the fold. Never the less we were all together at last and about to embark on a memorable trip.
Within 48 hours of leaving Heathrow we were all aboard three Cessna 185s flying in aerial convoy into the Alaska range. The mountains loomed up in front on us. McKinley, Foraker and Hunter all stood out clearly above the other peaks and the scale began to dawn on us. The 40-minute flight seemed to be over in seconds and all too soon I was gripping the edge of my seat as the plane dropped
into a shallow dive towards the glacier. The landing was something else and I began to regret only taking one pair of underpants for the mountains! As the last plane
1Mt Foraker.
Ski Jasper’s Marmot Basin Jasper National Park, Canada
disappeared into the distance I suddenly felt very small. The peaks around us were huge.
Base camp was quickly established and after a day of recces and a day of bad weather there seemed little point in waiting any longer. After packing and repacking our kit we roped up and set off for the SW Ridge of Hunter. The route involved a 2,500' couloir, a snow ridge and then a section of mixed ground before easier ground
led to the summit. The snow in the couloir varied from excellent to terrible, but after about five hours of steady work we emerged at the top of it. We were all exhausted and so the decision was made to set up camp 1. Before long the tents were up, the sleeping bags occupied, and the stoves were buzzing away. Except of course if you were in Jon and Will's tent
because they had managed to leave their stove pump in
base camp! And hence there was the first undisputed nomination for the Northern Nugget Award! This award
became a daily ritual, with nominations being made for the biggest balls up of the day.
The following day dawned clear and after various options had been discussed and even tried, we eventually decided
to move to camp 2 which was located beneath the crux of the route. Things were looking good for the next day and we were in high spirits as we emerged from our tents into a
crisp -25°C. Jon decided to stay in camp and so the five of us headed up the slopes. We soon found that what had looked like easy ground was moderately difficult and the snow conditions were bad. Nothing was bonded together and snow belays were impossible. Matty and myself were at the front when we got a call that Andy was going down due to a touch of frostnip in his fingers. By tying two ropes together he was soon back on the easy ground and making his way
back to the tents.
Contact: SSgt Rees
(All administration less flights)
Tel Mil: 94659 3752
Fax: 3760
Home Tel/Fax: 01992 524520 email: taffski@aol.com
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