Haines Rock Climbing

Haines, Alaska, is a very small fishing town surrounded by gorgeous wilderness. The cruise ships only visit nearby Skagway and that adds to the towns charm. Haines is pretty much located at the southern terminus of the Saint Elias Range. Good rock is a rarity in the Saint Elias and there are no good lowland rock climbs along Highway 7. Take the ferry to Skagway for good rock-climbing when the sun is out (Ha!).

A handful of decent waterfall ice routes have been climbed along the Chilkat River.

Scott and his neighbor Zach did a big ice climb hidden in the trees of the most prominent peak in the above photo.

Of most interest to readers of Mountain Project would be the amazing cirque of granite towers called Rapa Nui. The remote location delayed discovery of this area until Haines' founding ski guide, Sean Dogg, spotted the area from his helicopter. He called the sub-peak with the biggest wall the Blarney Stone.

More recently, a team of two local guides did the first ascent of the highest peak via a 5.9 rock route (AAJ, 2013, page 162). I not sure if they intended the name either the cirque, the highest summit, or both Rapa Nui. That can be sorted out later as the place develops. For now I'd like to describe the unclimbed peak with the biggest unclimbed wall, the Blarney Stone, as a sub peak of the Rapa Nui massif in the Rapa Nui cirque. And, this cirque is very close to the northern terminus of the Coast Range.