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Alaska Climbing!

Original Post
Rachel Sherman · · Honolulu, Hawaii · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 0

Aloha!

My bf & I are taking an alaskan cruise Aug 9-16. We will be stopping in Haines, Juneau & Ketchikan (12, 13, & 14).

Are there any local climbers out there that could give us some beta on the best, easiest places to climb since we only have day trips available away from the ship?

I have 12 quick draws, and a 60m rope. Just a simple sport crag is all we could handle. But if anyone has inside beta on good places, I'd appreciate a message.

Much Mahalo for reading & responding!!

Rachel & Watty

noah rempel · · Chilliwack · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 0

Hey Rachel, I was just on a holiday in alaska and did some climbing there and bought a guide book. I did not climb in Juneau but looking in the guide book there is a few small areas in Juneau. I took pictures of the pages from the guide book and will try and post them onto here for you! Hopefully this was somewhat helpful. Sorry that I don't have any beta on that area. In the pictures red is sport climbing and blue is trad climbing! The guidebook is written by Kelsey Gray and here is a link to buying it alaskarockclimbing.com/

Cheers,

Noah

noah rempel · · Chilliwack · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 0

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Crotch Robbins · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2003 · Points: 277

Noah, I appreciate the spirit of your post which was to help Rachel. If you are going to take liberties with the guidebook author's copyright, maybe you could plug the book with a shoutout to the author and a link to purchase the guide? Ain't nobody getting rich writing guidebooks.

Nick Wilder · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2005 · Points: 4,098

Awesome to help each other!

Not awesome to post copyrighted material on MP!

Sorry Rachel, you might have to buy the guidebook, and hopefully those routes will be submitted to MP some day.

Rachel Sherman · · Honolulu, Hawaii · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 0

Thank you for your offer to help! I am looking for logistics in getting to crags & if it seems possible from the cruise ship. I'm more than willing to buy a guide book for route details.

Thanks again!

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

Why not post it? Large parts of the guide are plagiarized.

cavemonkey · · AK · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 0

Save your money
THE most poorly written, misinformed, nonlocal guidebook ever written. It'll probably be raining anyways. Juneau has some so so stuff close to the road but hardly worth lugging the gear

L. Von Dommelheimer · · Anchorage · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 2,835

Guide book is fine, there are issues with it obviously, but it's not bad. I don't get why people think Kelsey isn't local? maybe not to Juneau, but this argument is really old.

The Shocker · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 511

Cave monkey is spot on. People don't think Kelsey is local because he doesn't possess much local knowledge. It's not really an argument. More of a point of fact.
And Almighty admin... Your post contradicts itself.

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

Kelsey's back to his normal bs...I wonder if they called it Collateral Damage because of the retro bolts they added to Escape from the Lemming Ranch?

jacob m s · · Provo, Utah · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 135

I was a tour guide for two summers in Juneau, and it was a rare day that it wasn't raining, I never got out to climb them so i can't say how good they are but what I heard was that the climbs were really not that great but that the view from the chains were amazing. I personally would leave the climbing gear at home. In Juneau I would take and hike out to the ice caves of mendenhall glacier. You won't be disappointed by them. In ketchikan hike to an over look, check out the totem poles or rent a kayak. Never been to hanes so can't say much.

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

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Yeah it totally sucks... This is 20 minutes away. Don't worry it didn't make the guide

jacob m s · · Provo, Utah · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 135
Johnkelley wrote: Yeah it totally sucks... This is 20 minutes away. Don't worry it didn't make the guide
John, where is this? Is it up in the ice feilds or out the road? I didn't have a car so it wasn't often that I made it out the road, but I would love to know where that is for the next time I make it back to Juneau.
Clint Helander · · Anchorage, AK · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 612

that's 20 minutes via a $300 helicopter ride.

L. Von Dommelheimer · · Anchorage · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 2,835

Collateral Damage isn't a retro-bolt according to Pollard. FYI,

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

Fact - these bolts have changed/crowded the start of an old established line...

Why can't they bolt some previously unclimbed rock? There's no shortage of unclimbed stone in the Talkeetna Mountains. Actually there's not even a shortage of virgin summits/spires there. A lifetimes worth of stuff to do that no ones touched. Why does an old established route all of a sudden need new bolts on the start?

This isn't the first time Kelsey's felt the need to dumb down a route to his ability. These aren't the first retro bolts he's placed...He's admitted to retro bolting in the past and even said it wouldn't happen again. See where that got us?

Is he still being supplied with ASCA bolts? If so that needs to stop. He's demonstrated repeatedly that he simply can not resist adding bolts to existing routes.

L. Von Dommelheimer · · Anchorage · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 2,835

Also fact: Kelsey has been given permission to add bolts to many of Pollard's climbs, and if I'm not mistaken isn't that the rule? You can retrobolt with the FA's permission?

Also a fact: this isn't a retobolt, even you admitted it. I try not to squeeze lines in, but shit, that's just a personal choice, look at some the crags around Alaska, Even Jungle gym is pretty packed in there... Thanks for the moderates Andy! Why aren't you all up in arms about the massive amount of squeezing thats been done at Dew Mound and Killiak (I literally could touch two different lines of bolts on some route called Stoner Boyz (FA Chriswell, Oswald, Sloshar?)Or how about Weiner Lake? Afraid of Bruce? Jed? Turecki? This isn't about the (not) retro-bolted climb in Hatcher, but rather your dislike of Kelsey. Grow up, or at least be consistent.

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

How long has Lemming Farm been there?

Why does it all of a sudden need more bolts?

It's really sad that there's seemingly an entire generation of climbers, I'm using that term loosely, that just doesn't have enough of an imagination to do something other that add bolts to established routes.

Guess Pollard will have to live with having his route retro bolted and chopped... I highly doubt it won't get the chop

Johnkelley Kelley · · Juneau, AK · Joined Jan 2012 · Points: 265

You're wrong admin.

These most certainly are retro bolts... They're close to arms reach away and DO alter the start of a long established line by substantially reducing it's required commitment. Lemming Farm has been dumbed down by the addition of these poorly placed bolts.

I dislike Kelsey because of his repeated placement of retro bolts. It boils down to his complete disrespect for OUR resources

A few other things... Sure Jed, Ben, and Zac have put in some new bolted routes... So have I. Somehow we all managed to not add bolts to established routes or change the character of existing routes.

There's some big differences between the historical ethics at Hatcher when compared to Dew Mound or Kiliak. For starters Dew Mound has always been a top down/sport area. Hatcher Pass is not.

The problem isn't that Kelsey doesn't understand the historical ethics it's that he simply doesn't care.

This effects my usage of OUR area

If he's still being supplied with ASCA bolts that needs to stop.

L. Von Dommelheimer · · Anchorage · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 2,835

John, Regardless of whether they are retro or not is a moot point, Pollard gave permission to bolt there and add bolts to this climb. This should be the end of the discussion, period.

Caring about a a climbing area also includes removing dangerous fixed gear and replacing it with new bolts. Caring about a an area is not using mixed metal on new development, like the routes at Jungle Gym and even the monolith. Behavior like that is both irresponsible and shows a certain lack of respect for OUR resources. So is using chain link instead of hangers which puts additional force on bolts.

To suggest that routes in Hatcher are all established bottom up is ludicrous.

I believe that the last batch of ASCA bolts didn't go to Kelsey, it went to me and some others. You're welcome for making climbs in the Anchorage area safe again.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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