10 Questions
Alastair McDowell
Alastair McDowell is a member of the New Zealand Alpine Team, a group of climbers who regularly visit Canada and other alpine destinations. He and his team made the first ascent of King Cobra, a major variation to a classic Alaskan alpine route in the Ruth Gorge this spring. We touched base with McDowell after he returned home in June.
What is the New Zealand 1 alpine team?
The New Zealand Alpine Team (nzat) is a group of climbers from New Zealand and some from Australia with two goals: to mentor young alpine climbers through a three-year mentoring scheme and to grow a group of expedition climbers for overseas trips, both working together to promote alpinism in New Zealand.
How many trips have you 2 taken to Canada?
I have just made one extended trip to Canada for the first half of 2017. As part of the nzat mentoring scheme, the first training trip is three weeks of ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies, which will happen again next year. I enjoyed it so much I stayed in Canmore for the whole winter season, followed by a season of B.C. prawn fishing and granite in Squamish and the Bugaboos.
Who went to Alaska?
3 The team was made up of Daniel Joll, Kim Ladiges, our photographer John Price and myself.
Was Cobra Pillar zone 4 the objective?
Our initial objective was the Citadel in the Kichatna Spires. But after four days waiting for weather we gave up, and made a last-minute change of plan to try a new route on the East Face of Mount Barrill in the Ruth Gorge. We wanted to climb an independent line well to the right of the Cobra Pillar, but after five days we bailed on this line due to objective danger from slough avalanches and poor rock. The only slice of the mountain relatively safe from avalanche was the central Cobra Pillar zone.
5 What was the climbing like? Fantastic. The first 14 pitches to the
top of the Cobra Pillar are very sustained in the mid-5.10 to 5.11 range and provided pitch after pitch of excellent crack climbing. The route we ended up climbing starts up the original Cobra Pillar for three pitches of techy corners which we re-cleaned, before breaking out onto the face for 400 feet of splitter offwidths. Above you’ll find brilliant finger and hand cracks with roof bulges, before finally joining the original route towards the summit.
6 Can you break down the crux?
The first crux was a 5.11c thin face traverse used to gain the striking line of splitter offwidths, which Kim figured out. The (mental) crux for me was a blank section of face climbing connecting these offwidths to an alcove and cracks above. I first had to clean off a lot of loose rock here, and pull some spicy moves into the alcove, which was loaded with loose flakes and protected only by a couple of hammered peckers.
7 How did the systems work and the climbing go?
We started working the route in two teams of two in 12-hour shifts. Thanks to 24-hour daylight at this time of year, we could rotate teams and make continuous progress fixing ropes or hauling, although after a week of this our body clocks became quite out of sync. Once we established our portaledge camp halfway up the pillar, John became very sick and had to fly out, at which point Dan, Kim and I climbed as a team of three for the upper half. On our final push to the summit, we were halted by the sheer quantity of wet snow threatening the top section of the mountain and chose to bail from about 200 metres below the summit.
Who picked the name and why?
8 Joll picked the name of King Cobra, sticking with the theme, and reflecting our biased opinion that the sensational line of splitter offwidths in the centre of the face is the king line on the pillar.
Did anyone take a big whipper?
9 Yes, Joll was packing up his portaledge one morning when suddenly the entire ledge flipped upside-down, shooting him head first towards the glacier. He credits his dynamic rope tether for saving his pelvis and back from an even nastier shock.
Did you spot many other new routes to do?
10 Our other alternative idea for a new route was up the large smooth wall to the left of Ham & Eggs on the Moose’s Tooth. The hardest part of finding a new route in the Ruth Gorge would be finding one safe from overhead avalanche hazards, but also with easy enough access from the glacier across a gaping bergschrund. We think late June to early July would be the best time of the season for balancing those two factors.—Gripped