Bounty Ascent (6180')
by Willy Hersman, Scree

If the first ascent party of this 6810-foot peak had seen the mountain from a more northerly direction they surely would have named it Lord's Mountain or perhaps Saviors Summit, for across the north face is displayed an unmistakable cross, running perfectly from the summit to the base of the face, visible for miles.  It's an inspiring sight for anyone hiking up the East Fork valley to it's farther reaches, as our party of six did over the weekend of the 4th.  However, their ascent was from the south (Eklutna Glacier), and included Grace Hoeman, Hans Van der Laan and Ned Lewis.

Our party was bent on a climb of Baleful, but after an initial failure we split into two groups on July 4, one to give it another try and the other to head round the East Fork valley to try Bounty, 7 miles away. To avoid numerous crevasses we opted to go for the east ridge of the mountain, whose only obstacle was a long crevasse guarding the 5750-foot pass. Luckily one bridge remained, and after more or less easy scrambling along the ridge we sat on top to enjoy the hot weather we'd had all weekend. Jim Sayler, Randy Howell and I made the first entry b the register in 20 years, then started down for the long hike back to Baleful.  The others had put in a longer, harder day, but no summit.

And the cross?  It remains unclimbed as yet, but when the snow is right it would be a great route.