Brightout on the Whiteout
by Greg Higgins,  Scree 10/86

This trip did not begin auspiciously.  Stormy skies greeted George Ferry and Janet Smalley as they cached their canoe at the end of Eklutna Lake on September 8.  Meanwhile five hundred feet below the summit of Jewel Mountain new snow kept me from reaching Summit Mountain to evaluate the Raven Headwall.  On the 9th traveling the trail to Crow Pass we were affronted by cold winds that hustled us onto the Raven Glacier where we made slow upward progress in the thick ground fog by compass reckoning.  Early evening found us just below the severe-looking headwall; we were uncertain whether we should go on or wait for better days.  Janet cast the deciding vote so George kicked us up and over the headwall onto the Eagle Glacier where we found the hut without difficulty.

The next day dawned blue and beautiful, and we were awakened to the magnificent panoply of peaks that array the Eagle Hut.  We worked our way onto the Whiteout Glacier on crampons, and then put on our skis in the sparse snow above to traverse the yawning blue-black crevasses that seemed to be everywhere.  We arrived at the Whiteout Hut early enough for George and I to hike to the top of Hut Peak (6695').  We spent a long time on top picking out our favorite peaks in the Chugach, Kenai, Alaska and Talkeetna Ranges.

On the morning we skied around to the east side of Whiteout Peak (7135') and walked up the last 300' of the NE ridge to enjoy the hot, still sunlight on the summit.  Todd Miner's group had taken out the water-soaked register on 7/3.  The 1st ascent of Whiteout was on 5/28/67 by Bill Hauser, Kyle Atkins, Gordon Reese, Charles Munns, and Ward Hubert from Centennial Pass (see Scree 9:8:4). George and I then scrambled up the southern slopes of Insignificant (7000') and placed a cairn on the western summit that is clearly higher than the survey-marked 7005' eastern point.  The long down hill ski run home was very pleasant.

Blue skies again on 9/12 as we skied over to the East Fork of the Eklutna Glacier.  I scrambled up to the top of Anarctic View (5795') enroute.  This spectacular view was first climbed and named by the group that climbed Whiteout in 1967.  Their original register was intact.  Lower down on the glacier near Pichler's Perch we found the going tortuous among the bare crevasses.

Sunshine again on 9/13 - almost too much to bear.  It took us a long time to negotiate the bare ice below the Perch, but from there it was easy going down the snout.  We hauled out the feather-leaking sleeping bag from the Perch.  Below the snout we were unable to cross the stream, so we hiked the east side of the creek to the bridge.  Canoeing the lake on the still evening waters was more pleasant than feeding blisters on the road.