Mount Saint Elias Ski History
The release of Cody Townsend’s latest “50 Project” episode has the tiny and impassioned ski mountaineering community buzzing a bit. To complement and expand on the history included in the video, I compiled a summary of what I know to be the history. I’m happy to add other efforts that I might not otherwise know of. What’s missing?
2000 Glick, Ward, Bracken. Landed at 7000 feet, climbed to summit, skied back to 7000 feet. Mira Face route.
2001 Gangulee. Mira Face Solo attempt. Reference: Tico Gangulee correspondence.
2002 Gangulee. Mira Face Solo attempt. Reference: Tico Gangulee correspondence. About both his efforts Tico says “I was mostly sitting in a tent but skiing was the purpose of the trip”.
2002 Griber, Von Doersten, Martin, Sanders. Landed at 10k. Martin and Sanders climbed to summit and died on descent. South Ridge.
2002 “French Team”. “skied to/from the sea”. Reference: Tico Gangulee correspondence.
2002 “A Slovene and two others”. “skied to/from the sea”. Reference: Tico Gangulee correspondence.
2007 Naglich et al. Red Bull. Landed at 10k, skied to ca 400 feet asl, flew to civilization. Came back later, landed at 10k, climbed to summit and skied back to 10k. Flew out from there. South Ridge.
2010 Inglis, Bougie, Warring. Landed at 10k. Climbed to summit. Descended back to 10k (“2/3rds on skis”). Skied from 10k to 1500 feet. Down-climbed to ocean and then reascended all the way to 10k. South Ridge.
2014 Hansen, Johnston, Suvan. Landed at 6700 ft. Climbed to Summit of Mount Newton. (13,780 feet. attempting to reach Abruzzi Ridge). Skied back down from Mount Newton.
2016 Smiley, Smiley, Porter. Landed at ocean, climbed to summit. Down-climbed top 1600 feet, skied (with one rappel and a few short sections of down-climbing) to 1800 feet above sea level. Walked from there down to sea level. South Ridge.
2021 Townsend, Salen, Russel, Corn. Landed at 10k. Climbed to 13k (?), skied back to 10k. Then skied down most of the way to the ocean. South Ridge.
2021 Hewitt and Carroll. Landed at ocean, climbed to summit. Downclimbed top 1800 feet, skied with intermittent rappels and down climbing to 2300 feet above sea level. Walked from there down to sea level. South Ridge.
To help spell out the geography, here’s a hastily assembled map: