The Laggards To The Slaggards

by Martin le Roux

Slaggard Massif, St. Elias Range, July 1997

N. ridge of S. SlaggardSummer of 1997, ten members of the Toronto Section enjoyed a peak-bagging holiday in the St. Elias mountains of the Yukon. Our destination was the mighty Slaggard massif, site of Canada's last unclimbed peaks over 4,000m. Chief credit for choosing this area goes to Roger Wallis, whose assiduity in poring over topo maps, aerial photos and climbing journals led to the discovery of a suitable aircraft landing site at 3,535m, thereby ensuring that we were at least 75% of the way up the mountain even as we stepped out of the plane.

S. Slaggard and Paul Claus' planeWe flew straight to base camp, which allowed us to stock up with all manner of luxuries. Judging by the look on our pilot's face (Paul Claus of Ultima Thule Outfitters) when he saw our vast pile of provisions, it seemed he might be about to leave us to spend our holiday sitting by the roadside in Chitina, Alaska. In fairness to Paul, this was probably the first time he'd ever been asked to transport a couple of sheets of plywood and four bags of ice to a glacier. He turned out to be a highly competent pilot, though, and he succeeded in dropping us off at the appointed time and place despite less-than-ideal flying conditions.

Our landing site was at the foot of our primary objective, "South Slaggard", at 4,370m Canada's highest unclimbed peak. Beyond "South Slaggard" towered the south flank of Mt. Slaggard proper (4,742m) and further down the valley were "West Slaggard I" (4,290m) and "West Slaggard II" (4,210m), also unclimbed (such poetic names! - Ed.).

W. Slaggard I and II as seen from base campBase camp was a highly comfortable affair - "a real neat high elevation resort", as Roger had promised prior to the trip. It included a spacious kitchen and dining area under a large tarpaulin, not to mention a magnificent toilet pit, complete with stairs, seat and roof, whose construction was masterminded by Tony Marshall. We laid down two large black plastic sheets on which to melt snow; in warm, sunny conditions, these would yield over 100 litres daily. Thanks to these copious amounts of water, we were all able to maintain clean scalps, shaven chins and fragrant armpits throughout the trip.

S. Slaggard as seen from base campThe first peak we climbed was South Slaggard. A recce established that the east face seemed to be the easiest way up the mountain, and on July 1 Norm Greene and Martin le Roux set out for the summit. They decided to add to the challenge by making a late start, thereby ensuring that they (i) clmbed in the heat of the midday sun, (ii) sunk to the thighs with every step in the soft snow, (iii) arrived at the summit just in time for the views to be obliterated by clouds rolling in from the west, and (iv) fell over on every second turn on the way back to base camp as they attempted to ski on thin crust over deep porridge. They took six hours for the ascent; subsequent parties left earlier in the morning and reduced the time to four hours.

summit of W. Slaggard ISouth Slaggard having been conquered, our attention turned to "West Slaggard I", that week's highest unclimbed peak in Canada. Our first attempt had to be abandoned on account of poor weather, despite Paul Geddes's determined leadership. The heavy snowfall didn't faze Paul, but when the visibility dropped to near-zero and large seracs started to appear where they had no right to be, we decided to call it quits. We returned en masse two days later, this time in perfect weather. With the peak stripped of its cloud cover, we found an easy ramp that sneaked up between the bergschrunds and crevasses on the south-east flank. This led to a short scamper up a 45-degree slope, and then on to the broad east ridge and up to the summit. Paul, Martin and Mark McDermott were the first to the top, at 8 AM, followed over the next hour or two by the seven others. With our Toronto Section 40th Anniversary pins glittering in the sunlight, we rejoiced in the splendid views - to the east, Slaggard, Wood, Steele and Lucania were revealed in their true proportions; to the south, Logan and St. Elias towered over hundreds of intervening peaks; and to the west were the giant volcanoes of Alaska - Bona, Churchill, Blackburn, Wrangell and Sanford.

view of Lucania, Logan and St. EliasLucania and S. Slaggard at dawnA few days later, Bill McKenzie led Roger, Tony and Dave Britnell up the north ridge of "South Slaggard". This was a fine route, technically quite easy but highly exposed, starting from the col between Slaggard and "South Slaggard". The same day Norm and Martin attempted the south ridge of Slaggard, also starting from the same col. They climbed up to 4,380m but decided to retreat when the avalanche-scarred 45-degree slope on which they were standing gave an ominous crack and shudder.

Other points included "South-East Slaggard" (4,207m), "Near North Chitina" (3,650m), another repeat ascent of "South Slaggard" and a few other points too embarrassing to mention, mainly on account of being lower than base camp!

Martin le Roux and a friendWe enjoyed much fine weather during the trip, but on a couple of days we were completely snowbound. On these occassions we were kept enterntained by Joe "Pavarotti" Piccinnini and his extensive collection of three CDs (the "Three Tenors", followed by the Beatles, followed by the "Best of the Beach Boys", followed by the "Three Tenors", etc., ad infinitum), and tortured by Bill's fiendish brain-teasers. There was much hamming in front of Mark's camcorder, and everyone made heroic efforts to consume as much food as possible - we were determined to avoid the embarrassment of having leftover food for Paul Claus to fly back down the glacier!

We planned to fly out on July 13, but woke up that morning to heavy cloud and intermittent snowfall. We spent a few anxious hours wondering how long the poor weather would last, how we should ration the remaining food and fuel, and what it would cost to re-book our flights back home. Our worries were unfounded, however. The next day the weather improved enough for Paul to collect us, and by foregoing a night's stopover at Paul's backcountry lodge, we found ourselves back at the roadside in Chitina at exactly the appointed time and date.

Sketch map of South-East Alaska and the approach to the Slaggards;Sketch map of the Slaggard massifParticipants were Roger Wallis (honourary leader), Joe Piccinnini (executive chef and maitre d'), Mark McDermott and his amazing collection of electronic gadgetry, Martin le Roux, Norm Greene, Tony "the Fire Extinguisher" Marshall, Bill McKenzie, Paul Geddes, Willa "the Purple Lizard" Harasym, and someone whose identity is uncertain but judging from the snores that came from his tent 18 hours daily we think was Dave Britnell. A good time was believed to be had by all.