West Twin Peak (540l')
by Peter Porco, Scree 3/82

January 17, l982.  On a clear bright Sunday, five club members -- leader Dave Pahlke, Mark Findlay, Jeff Eustis, Janet Smalley and Peter Porco -- set out to climb West Twin Peak overlooking Eklutna Lake and the Eklutna Valley.  The team left the UAA Sports Center lot at 7:15 a.m. in semi-darkness and with temperatures around l5 degrees, made it up the slick valley road with little trouble and parked off a homestead behind the General Store.

At 8:40, with packs settled and gear arranged, the party began to ascend West Twin's southwest shoulder in full daylight. There was minimal bushwhacking, but the snow all the way to the crest was soft and dry and offered poor footing.  From the top of the shoulder the route went northeast along an easy ridge with firmer snow.

Around noon, Jeff, Dave and Mark had reached a point on the southwest ridge near 4,000 feet, cut left into a long leftward gully on the mountain's southwest face and began punching holes in hard snow, occasionally postholing on soft stretches.  Jane had been to West Twin's summit twice before and stayed back at about 3,500' with Peter who fell behind getting up the shoulder.  Their consolation was spectacular weather and crystal clear views of the mighty Chugach peaks up the Eklutna Valley.

The easiest route up West Twin, once the commitment to the left gully is made, is to go about 7/8th of the way up the gully, or to where it opens up on the right to the first snowpatch that leads directly to the south ridge.  There a traverse is made across the ridge to the east side of the mountain and the long, main snow gully.  The route follows the gully, which leads to a saddle below the summit -- a ridge connecting West Twin's summit with a false summit on the southwest face.  A traverse is made from the saddle below the true summit to the northwest ridge connecting West Twin with Goat Rock. This ridge goes straight to the top.

Jeff, Dave and Mark did not take the easy way.  Looking for a new route, they rode the first, left-hand gully to its end, where the incline steepens past the better traverse point.  Winding up at a dead end, beneath a buttress supporting the false summit, they moved up a different snow slab, traversed beneath the false summit and ended up at a point on the south ridge where it was necessary to rappel or downclimb to reach the main gully just east of the south ridge -- the normal route to the top.  (The ridge has its problems --unstable rock, several aretes and generally tricky climbing -- and is usually passed over for the gully.)  So Dave rappelled and Jeff downclimbed.  Mark had decided to skip the summit and remained on the ridge.

The peak was taken a little before 1:00.  The pair was rewarded on such a stunning day with great views of numberless Chugach and Talkeetna peaks.  Dave snapped some pictures.  Fifteen minutes later, still without taking lunch, they headed down, joined Mark who rappelled off the ridge, and glissaded 1,500 feet down the main gully.  It was a difficult glissade on snow that was neither deep nor hard enough and which had them bouncing along the rocks.  Soon afterward, they reached a broad saddle in the south ridge -- an easy walk-around traverse to the other side of the mountain.  A sheep trail made getting through the scree slopes a breeze.

The climbers joined the other two around 2:00 and Jeff and Dave had lunch.  The five then started down.  It was possible to glissade down several sections of the shoulder, but these were feeble slides on miserable snow.  The car was reached before 3:30, allowing an easy drive to town in time for supper.