Americans Ben Gilmore and Freddie Wilkinson teamed up with Canadian Maxime Turgeon to make first ascent of the Bat’s Ears, an 11,044-foot peak that was possibly the highest unclimbed major summit in the Alaska Range. The trio climbed the nearly 3,000-foot south face of the peak in a 23-hour round trip from base camp, descending via the southwest ridge [Photo] Courtesy Maxime Turgeon
According to a report posted on the American Alpine Club website, Americans Ben Gilmore and Freddie Wilkinson teamed up with Canadian Maxime Turgeon to make first ascent of the Bat’s Ears, an 11,044-foot peak that was possibly the highest unclimbed major summit in the Alaska Range. The trio climbed the nearly 3,000-foot south face of the peak in a 23-hour round trip from base camp, descending via the southwest ridge.
Bat’s Ears peak rises between the upper Yentna and Lacuna glaciers on the infrequently visited southwest side of the Mt. Foraker massif. Last spring, Gilmore, Wilkinson, and Peter Doucette made the first ascent of the Fin Wall, a very steep face above one fork of the upper Yentna Glacier, and during that expedition they spotted the line on Bat’s Ears (Read about the ascent of the Fin Wall in this May 11, 2007 NewsWire).
After their successful climb on Bat’s Ears, the trio hopped a plane shuttle to Kahiltna base camp and then climbed the 4,000-foot Moonflower Buttress of Mt. Hunter. They continued to the summit of the 14,570-foot peak and then downclimbed and rappeled, making a 52-hour round trip from base camp.
Gilmore was the recipient of an American Alpine Club Lyman Spitzer Cutting-Edge Award, a grant supporting small, light, alpine style ascents around the world.