Stephen Fortune, Viv Scott and Tony Stone, supported by a BMC Expedition Award, made a two-day ascent of the much-admired Moonflower Buttress on Alaska's Mt Hunter.
The trio arrived at Kahiltna Base, hoping to make the first ascent of the so-called Z Buttress on Hunter's West Ridge. However, they were somewhat dismayed to find two Swiss had beaten them to it just one week previously.
Hearing that conditions were good on Hunter's North Buttress, they set off for the Moonflower, climbing the 1,200m buttress in two days and finishing in excellent style by continuing the remaining 600m up the North East Ridge to Hunter's 4,444m summit, and then descending the rather revered West Ridge.
Stone climbed the route completely free at Scottish VII, 7, apart from the pendulum onto the McNethery ice dagger. The three reached the end of the technical climbing late afternoon on the second day, and after some unacclimatized gasping and crawling, arrived on the summit at 3.00 the following morning. Technical ground and poor snow conditions on the West Ridge, combined with general fatigue, meant it was late evening before they safely reached the glacier.
The route proved to be the best any of the team has climbed in the mountains, with continuous high quality and sustained technical terrain.
Lying towards the right crest of the North Buttress, the Moonflower was climbed to the end of the difficulties - above the final rock band - in 1981 by New Zealander Paul Aubery and legendary American alpinist Mugs Stump. In 1983 Todd Bibler and Doug Klewin climbed significant variants in the lower section and on the final rock band (the Bibler Come Again Exit) before continuing up steep snow to the Cornice Bivouac and then the North East Ridge to the summit.
Bibler and Klewin called their route WPOD (White Punks on Dope), rating it Alaskan 6, 95°, 5.8 and A3. It is the line followed today, though due to the enormous respect amongst climbers for the late Mugs Stump, it has continued to be referred to as the Moonflower Buttress.
American Stephen Koch and Slovenian Marko Prezelj made the first free ascent of the route in 2001, climbing the route to the Cornice Bivouac in just 25 hours. A broken stove forced them to return from this point, though they had originally intended to continue to the summit. Both had met for the first time on a BMC International Winter Meet a few months previously, but had not climbed together before arriving in Alaska.
Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell were the first British climbers to complete all the major difficulties, reaching the snow slope above the Come Again Exit, but not getting as far as the Cornice Bivouac, before descending. They climbed most of it free at Scottish 7 and an overall grade of ED3.
This year’s British team reports plenty of action on the North Buttress with at least two more ascents of the Moonflower and additional ascents of the French Route, Wall of Shadows and Deprivation. All these routes have been climbed several times over the last few years and it appears that only the 1980 Billy Ireland route on the objectively dangerous West Flank (not surprisingly), and the 2000 Cartwright-Parnell offering, The Knowledge (ED4), have yet to attract suitors.
Poor weather thwarted other ambitions for the British trio but after Fortune returned home, Scott and Stone managed a quick trip to the Ruth Gorge and partial ascent (to the top of the pillar and end of the major difficulties) of the seldom-climbed Cobra Pillar (Donini/Tackle, 1991: 800m: 5.11) on Barrill.
The two confirm the reputation for poor rock in the lower section, particularly on the crux pitch, but found excellent climbing high on the route, including the infamous 5.11 off-width to finish.
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