Ice Climbing at Thunderbird Creek

Eklutna, Alaska

November 26 and December 1, 2003

Kim's write up of this trip was published on MountainZone.com

November 26, 2003

Kim and I skied/snowshoed into Thunderbird Creek (4°F) today for some ice climbing. We followed a group of three other climbers in and climbed a waterfall 200 yards upstream from them. At the top of the first pitch, Kim's feet had worsened from painfully cold to numbing cold to totally numb, so we decided to call it a day and seek warmer climes. (Pictures to come)

December 1, 2003

Since it snowed about 5 inches each of the past four days, Kim and I decided to head back into Thunderbird Creek (today a cozy 11°F) and try some more ice climbing. On our previous trip some other climbers were on the more filled-in waterfall, so we were glad to have our turn on it today.

The first short pitch was about WI 3+, and the second, longer pitch was about WI 2+/3. We rented plastic boots for Kim from Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking so her feet stayed much warmer today.