Subzero summit

Climber bags Kintla in winter for second time

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

In the annals of Glacier Park history, few have climbed the massive slopes of Kintla Peak in the wintertime.

Jason Robertson, a cabinetmaker and avid climber from Whitefish, has now done it twice. Robertson repeated the feat on Jan. 30. He did this not because he's particularly enamored with the mountain, but the first time he climbed it in winter it wasn't actually winter.

It was mid-December. And mid-December may feel like winter. It may look like winter. But it's technically not winter. Robertson's goal is to climb all of Glacier's 10,000-plus foot peaks in the winter as defined by the calendar, Dec. 21 to March 21.

With the Kintla ascent, he's done five of the six peaks. Last winter he climbed Jackson, Merritt, Siyeh and Stimson. Many times in awful weather. The approaches alone, would be grueling for most people.

On the latest trip to Kintla, Robertson forded the North Fork of the Flathead on Jan. 29 and skied up the Inside Road to Kintla Lake. The lake was frozen, and he said he was able to ski all the way to the campground at the head of the lake.

"It was a beautiful ski," he said. "There were wolf tracks everywhere."

After getting some sleep, he got up at 4 a.m. and skied in the dark to upper Kintla Lake, crossed the outlet and then took off his skis.

The difficult 6,000-foot ascent from the valley floor began.

His approach was from Red Medicine Bow Creek and there were hundreds of trees down, trees that had been burned by past fires and have now fallen. On top of them was snow that was knee to waist deep. There was no way to ski through it, so he slogged ahead in boots.

"It was the most brutal conditions I've had in the winter," he said. "I fell at least a 100 times."

Above treeline, things got better. Dawn broke. The sun came out. For 1,500 vertical feet he kicked steps. One by one. The snow firmed up and the climbing improved as he scaled Kintla's north face.

The last 500 feet were 70 percent slope and "bulletproof," he said. His only holds were his ice axes and crampons. The last pitch was cliffs and rock bands. He worked his way through them and reached the summit at 3 p.m., time enough for a few quick photos and then the long descent. Still, the sun was shining and the views beyond compare.

"It was an amazing summit day," he said.

He'd tweaked his knee on the way up, busting through those downed trees and didn't think much of it until he had to descend.

"The first step I took it hurt like hell," he said.

Gutting it out, he made it down in time to go back through the deadfall in the dark. At least he could follow his own tracks. In the valley floor, comparatively safe, he let out a holler of triumph.

An owl hooted back.

He yelled again.

The owl replied.

In the dark he skied back to camp at the head of the lake, caught some sleep and finished the journey the next day. All told, the entire trip took under 48 hours.

Robertson doesn't recommend these sort of climbs to anyone.

"Unless it's something you're totally into, don't even try it. It's hard," he said.

Robertson said he will probably try Cleveland this winter. It's the last 10,000 footer on the list, and the most difficult. The approach from the Belly River is long and the mountain is gigantic.

His plan is to go in from the Belly River, begin the ascent in the Whitecrow Basin, climb to the ridge between Stoney Indian Peaks and Cleveland, and then complete the ascent from there.