Ascent of Mt. Kennedy

A FOUR-MAN Dartmouth Mountaineering Club team last summer succeeded in conquering the hitherto unclimbed North Ridge of Mt. Kennedy in Alaska, described by alpinists as the most difficult in North America.

The dramatic ascent, a 35-day expedi- tion capped by a virtually vertical climb of more than a mile, was led by David Seidman '68 of South Norwalk, Conn., who last year took part in the successful first assault of Mt. McKinley's Direct South Face. Seidman, former president of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and son of Richard L. Seidman '40, was accompanied by Philip Koch '70 of South Burlington, Vt., Todd Thompson '70 of Los Altos, Calif., and Joseph Faint of Yosemite, Calif., a friend.

During the climb of 14,000-foot Mt. Kennedy, Thompson survived being buried by an avalanche. On July 23 the climbers reached the summit via the North Ridge, which has turned back others in earlier attempts. A report of the achievement was delayed by the nineday descent and return to Juneau, Alaska, where Seidman wired: "Reached summit Mt. Kennedy via ridge after beautiful, very severe climb - undoubtedly most difficult expedition ascent in North America."

In a subsequent communication, Seidman described the climb as "fantastic, one which surpassed our expectations for the difficulty of ascent and beauty." He reported that the quartet was on the mountain, in Alaska's St. Elias range, for a total of 35 days, or five days less than had been anticipated. Starting from the Lowell Glacier, the team took 26 days in the ascent, the remainder in descent.

"On the entire 6,000 vertical feet of ridge," he wrote, "we did not find a ledge more than one foot wide. At all three camp sites we had to chop out of the ice platforms large enough to erect our tents. Camp II, which we called our Crystal Palace, took a full day of chopping by all four of us."

Seidman reported that they used about 8,000 feet of rope and 200 ice and rock pitons, and occasionally had to belay hanging only from pitons driven into the rockway of the mountain. "Several sections of the route were blocked by overhangs," he explained, "and several times, while carrying loads, we would dangle free 4,000 feet above the glacier. Todd was hit by an avalanche once. I was 150 feet diagonally below and saw him buried by the snow. The only evidence of his presence was a 15-foot high 'rooster comb' formed by the snow as it streamed over his body. He was okay."

The temperature was below zero Fahrenheit when they reached the summit, where they spent 25 minutes taking photographs. Together the four men took more than 1,200 color and 200 black and white photographs.

Just before Dartmouth Commence- ment, when Seidman received his A.B. degree with a major in art, the three Dartmouth men presented a slide show of last year's Mt. McKinley climb in an effort to earn the last few hundred dollars toward their $3,000 expedition budget.

In discussing the planned Mt. Kennedy climb at that appearance, Seidman said, "The North Ridge, which is uniquely beautiful rising in an unbroken line that makes the route aesthetically perfect, is one of the last great remaining mountaineering problems in North America. It presents a maximum test of the strength and the skill of the team. In technical difficulty, the climb ranks above the South Face of McKinley, the West Face of Mount Huntington, or Mount Logan's Hummingbird Ridge. In a larger perspective, the North Ridge offers climbing difficulties more complex than those found on Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain. It is, in effect, similar to four or five of the best European climbs laid on top of one another, and this makes it tremendously attractive."

In attempting the Mount Kennedy North Ridge, he added, the Dartmouth climbers were aiming in part at what they identified as the "myth of the super climbers."

"The nature of the climb necessitates pushing expeditionary standards to a new and higher level," Seidman said. "Alaskan expeditions have tended to be slow and tedious, using large amounts of time and equipment to achieve their goals. Our expedition hopes to rely on skill and speed to gain the summit, instead of the older siege-like tactics."

In preparation for the Mt. Kennedy assault, the Dartmouth climbers ran more than five miles daily through the Hanover countryside. They also ran daily up and down the Dartmouth football stadium steps, lifted weights, and climbed on nearby precipices.

The Kennedy climb was the first major expedition led by Seidman, although he had been climbing during his four years at Dartmouth and two years earlier while serving as an Appalachian Mountain Club hutman in the White Mountains.