Climber bagging Glacier peaks in winter

A Whitefish man has successfully summited four of Glacier National Park’s 10,000-footers this winter — all solo ascents.

Jason Robertson, 30, began climbing when he was 19 and says he likes winter climbing the best. His plan is to summit all six of the Park’s big peaks in winter, but last week’s snow stopped an attempt on Mount Cleveland. With multiple layers below the new snow, avalanche conditions are now considerable.

Born in Shelby, Robertson was raised by a single mother in Great Falls. He said the family remodeled their homes and sold them. He learned woodworking and now owns Glacier Custom Wood Working, a business out on Edgewood Drive in Whitefish.

Robertson is a competent technical climber whose Park climbs include six ascents of St. Nicholas and two of Mount Doody — two of the Park’s most difficult peaks. Two years ago, he soloed both peaks in 12 1/2 hours.

He was also turned back on the northeast face of Mount Gould, a notoriously dangerous route.

He and his partner left half their hardware rack behind rappelling late into the evening.

Except with the most technical ascents, Robertson says he prefers going solo.

“It’s hard to find people with the same mindset and goals,” he said. “You need to be on the same page with your partner.”

While solo climbers must cope with avalanches on their own, Robertson says the danger “is offset by not having someone with me.”

“I can go faster and spend less time in avalanche zones,” he said. “To me, it’s almost safer.”

Moving fast means less weight. Robertson said his packs never top 30 pounds. He eats pasta, carries a white-gas stove to melt snow, and finds holes in the snow to get out of the wind. At night, he sleeps in a bivvy sack and a light-weight sleeping bag rated for 35 degrees — in nighttime temperatures dropping to zero.

“I use my clothes to keep me warm,” he said.

Robertson headed out for a three-day climb of 10,142- foot Mount Stimson on Jan. 20. It was his ninth attempt on the difficult peak and his seventh in winter. The approach includes wading across the Middle Fork of the Flathead and multiple crossing of Coal and Pinchot creeks — using logs or snow bridges.

After skiing about 2,000 feet up to the saddle between Pinchot and Stimson, Robertson left his randonnee skis and donned crampons for the remaining 3,000 feet. Using an anemometer, he clocked wind gusts up to 40 mph. The last 1,000 feet included a steep climb requiring an ice tool in addition to his ice ax.

On Feb. 3, Robertson biked up to Many Glacier for a two-day ascent of 10,014-foot Mount Siyeh, his fourth winter attempt of the peak. He camped above Lake Josephine and then skied toward Piegan Pass the next day.

Just below the pass, Robertson veered left, crossing the divide between Siyeh and Cataract Mountain. He dropped his skis off below Siyeh’s southwest face, a route he was familiar with from summertime.

Partway up the face, however, he was bombarded by softball-sized rocks, which forced a 500-foot retreat to find an alternative route. Several hours later, it was another “bluebird day” at the summit — except for the wind.

“The winds were gusting to 60 mph,” he said. “I had to crawl the last 100 yards or so to the summit.”

Robertson hoped to climb 10,004-foot Merritt and 10,466-foot Cleveland on a four-day backcountry trip starting Feb. 8, but he “missed the weather window” because of work at his shop.

He skied up Chief Mountain International Highway to the Belly River and then west to Glenns Lake, where he camped. The Mokowanis route up Merritt again involved about 2,000 feet of ski climbing followed by 3,000 feet on foot.

“It was mostly rock climbing because the bowl was completely blown clear of snow,” he said.

Robertson said he turned back on several rock faces because “I didn’t want to go up something I couldn’t climb back down.”

The two-day ascent of 10,052-foot Mount Jackson began with a bike ride to Rising Sun on Feb. 17. He skied to the peak’s shoulder above Gunsight Lake, where he camped in trees. He had climbed Jackson in summertime in 1998 and was familiar with the route.

Robertson climbed 10,101-foot Kintla Peak on Dec. 12, 2004 — the most difficult of the winter ascents, he says. Having left his skis behind, he said he was able to avoid postholing by following bear tracks on the Inside North Fork Road to Kintla Lake.

The lake wasn’t frozen, but the trail to Upper Kintla Lake was mostly snow-free. He camped below Kintla’s west face and awoke to pouring rain the next day.

“I wanted to do something that day, so I started up,” he said. “About a thousand feet up, my soaking-wet jacket iced up. Another thousand feet and it was dry.”

Robertson headed out for Mount Cleveland on Feb. 22. While crossing the frozen Waterton Lake, he encountered two wolves. He skied within 70 yards of the more curious of the two. On his return, he found a fresh deer kill that he hadn’t seen on his approach.

Deep new snow stopped Robertson’s Cleveland attempt, and the 30 inches reported last week at the Many Glacier Snotel site has changed his mind about going back to Cleveland this winter.

“I’ll keep my eye on snow conditions, but they’re not good now,” he said, adding that his next goal is to climb Cleveland in a day — car to car in summertime.