New Route in St. Elias Range

Britons Paul Schweizer and Simon Yates climbed a new route on the 6,000-foot West Face of Mount Alverstone in the St. Elias Range this spring. The two ascended a direct couloir line over two days, camping about two-thirds of the way up the face on the first night. Yates was whacked with falling rocks on the arm and shoulder partway up the face, but they were able to continue and reach the summit of the 14,465-foot peak in the afternoon of the second day. They bivied at the top of their couloir and then took another two days to descend the far side of the peak and return to basecamp.

The new route on the West Face of Mount Alverstone climbs the central couloir directly to the snow basin below the summit. The gully to the left was climbed by Barry Blanchard and Mark Wilford in 1998.Photo courtesy of Simon Yates.