1983 - Manning, Mt. Kennedy, Three Brothers, Mt. Raineer, Depot Creek & Yellow Jackets

Manning Park Powder
Location of Big Buck Mt. on the Manning traverse
My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Keith enjoying Manning powder.

The picture to the left was taken of me on the Three Brothers traverse in Manning Park and was taken by Corina Acheson (Harris) who did some some photography for the publishers of Whiskey Jack.
We had spent the night in a quinzee just west of the Three Brothers and did the traverse over to Blackwall Peak and down the road to the Manning Park Lodge. Great weather and good company.

Three Brothers traverse route.

Mt. Kennedy - Yukon Territory - May 1983 - Written by Chris Cooper
Location of Mt. Kennedy

Ryan Shellborn enjoying the view

Members of the expedition:

Chris Cooper,( Organizer ) Ryan Shellborn, Steve Grant, Dave Timewell, Danny Verrall, Steve Ludwig and Helen Sovdat.

In late 1982 Dave Timewell and I got together to plan a ski expedition to Mount Kennedy in the Yukon Territory in preparation to follow in the footsteps of senator Robert Kennedy who was assassinated in 1965.

We flew in from Kluane Lake just west of Whitehorse to the Cathedral Glacier a magnificent setting with huge peaks surrounding us, Mount Hubbard, Mount Alverstone. We flew in with the famed pilots Phil Upton and Andy Williams.

Once on the Cathedral Glacier we established a base, then prepared a 10 day supply of food and equipment for the assault of Mount Kennedy, we established two camps one at 8000' and a high camp at 11300', hence we took just a few days to get to high camp as the weather was very good.

Steve Grant.

Once high camp was established we were off to climb and ski down the west ridge of Kennedy, with some incredible views along the way we reached the summit on May 14th 1983. Beneath us The Gulf of Alaska, distant.... Mount Logan, Mount St. Elias, Mount Vancouver to name a few.

Upon our return after some very intense skiing and down climbing we returned to High Camp, Steve Grant announced that we hadn't yet experienced a St. Elias storm!! The next day we really got it with a few meters of snow dumbed on us, we were held up here with poor weather for 7 days, luckily we were blessed with a 4 hour window of opportunity to get down to basecamp where we were delayed another 6 days in storm.

After a lengthy discussion, our group decided to ski out to Pinnacle Peak where our pilot very luckily was able to pick us up on the upper Lowell Glacier, the next day Andy picked us up with his ski plane and returned us from the world of white to Kluane Lake which is the launching spot for all expeditions to the St. Elias range.

This report was prepared 23 years after the expedition! There are reports in the CAJ 1983 and the American AlpineClub 1983.

There's an old saying ' Nothing Venture Nothing Win ' What a life it has been... What's next!! Chris G. Cooper

Three Brothers Traverse - Manning Park
Location of Big Buck Mt. on the Manning traverse

Chuck cranking a turn

We have made a number of traverses from Cambie Creek to Blackwall Peak via the Three Brothers area and this trip was one with good snow conditions as the picture suggests. He Chuck McCafferty is cranking a turn in the powder on the way down into the Buckhorn campsite area.

Tahoma Glacier Try on Mt. Rainier
Location of the Tahoman Glacier on Mt. Raineer

Bob Cuthbert

Bob Cuthbert suggested we try the Tahoma Glacier as a way to climb Rainier and get away from the crowds. We took the trail up Klapatche Ridge and camped near Aurora Lake.

Finally, a view.

The next morning we worked our way up through the clouds and camped on the Puyallup Cleaver at about 9 000 feet,
 The weather was not good. Occasionally we could get enticing glimpses of Sunset Ridge, but only for short times. We never got a real good look at our intended route up the Sickle of the upper Tahoma Glacier.
 In the morning, rime ice formed on all the gear we had stashed under a rock beside our tent, and I remember having to stamp my feet while I cooked breakfast. Needless to say, visibility was lousy and we headed down amid thunder, lightning, and falling snow. This was summer? We camped again at Aurora Lake and the next day saw us walking through REI.

Yellow Jackets and Depot Creek

Bob on oxygen.

Chuck McCafferty, Bob Cuthbert, and I started to make a trip into Mt. Spickard in the summer. About two hours from the car, Bob frantically took off his pack and started digging into his first aid kit. We didn't really know what had happened, but when he started to realize that he was starting to lose control, we knew something was up. He managed to tell us he had been stung by something. Bob quickly started shaking and needed help getting his anti-histamines down. I ran for water and by the time I got back with it, Chuck was doing mouth to mouth. Chuck left to get help and for the next two hours I kept Bob's air-way open and did mouth to mouth when needed. His heart raced and he was a bit delirious. After about two hours, Bob settled down, and with ground insulation and a sleeping bag, Bob managed to sleep. Chuck came back with a guy from Center Creek correctional camp and some ambulance people who obviously didn't realize the length of the hike from the cars. Bob couldn't walk for four hours after being bitten. He finally was able to walk, and we got out to the cars by late afternoon.

Bob underwent treatment for his allergy and carried adrenaline from then on.