Mount Miller is an isolated peak of the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains () are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is notable for its position among spectacular

icefield An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and high ...

s, its distance from any inhabited place, and its large rise above local terrain. It is over from McCarthy, the nearest habitation, and over away from Yakutat, the nearest significant town. Exemplifying the size of the mountain, the south flank rises above the Duktoth River valley to the south in approximately . Mount Miller is the high point of the east–west trending Barkley Ridge, located on the south side of the

Bagley Icefield The Bagley Icefield (also called Bagley Ice Valley) in southeastern Alaska is the second largest nonpolar icefield in North America. It was named after James W. Bagley, a USGS topographic engineer who developed the Bagley T-3 camera and mapped Al ...

, one of the largest

s in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The

Bering Glacier Bering Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the ...

flows from the Bagley Icefield at the western end of the ridge, while the southeast slopes of the ridge head the Yahtse Glacier. The only side of the ridge that is not completely glaciated is the south side, where the Robinson Mountains lie between Barkley Ridge and the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...

. Since Mount Miller is so isolated, and is not of extraordinary absolute elevation by Alaskan standards, it was not climbed until very recently. The first ascent of the peak was made in April 1996 by Charlie Sassara, Ruedi Homberger, Reto Ruesh, Paul Claus, and

Carlos Buhler Carlos Buhler (born October 17, 1954, in Harrison, New York) is one of America's leading high altitude mountaineers. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relati ...

, via the West Ridge (as published in the 1997 AAJ, link below). Paul Claus, a renowned bush pilot and owner of Ultimate Thule Lodge, a private inholding deep in Wrangell St. Elias Park, as well as a mountaineer had attempted Miller on prior occasions. This included at least one attempt where their camp had to be abandoned on Miller's West Ridge due to the immense snowfall/wind storms produced on the mountain coming in from the Gulf of Alaska. In early 1996, Minot Maser, a former guide with St. Elias Alpine Guides, along with Charlie Wolf were awarded a Mugs Stump Grant to attempt Miller, yet, via the north face. Paul spotted the publishing of the Grant recipients in Climbing Magazine, and, naturally wanted to make the 1st ascent of Miller given his previous efforts. Maser and Wolf's substitute (Andreas Schmidt), landed on the Bagley Icefield below Miller's north face in May 1996. The face proved to be highly exposed to serac and cornice fall. Multiple attempts were made up spurs to the west of the direct north face. These, if successful, would have placed the team much closer to the summit than the month prior's first ascent by Sassara, Homberger, Ruesh, and Claus, which traversed the west ridge from approximately miles out. The first ascent team had alternatively flown to Miller's south side; thus, ascended to the west ridge from this approach. Maser and Schmidt ended up abandoning their attempt, given the objective hazards encountered by either seracs or cornices on each spur attempt. Thereafter, they skied further east down the Bagley Ice Field, and, made the 1st ascent of Peak 8,710' just west of Miller. Paul Claus, with whom Maser is friends, picked Maser and Schmidt up in Ultima Thule's Dehavilland Beaver off the north side of the Bagley Icefield. During this flight, Paul shared the tragic news of the 1996 Mt. Everest catastrophe that had just occurred in which 8 climbers died, including Scott Fischer, whom Schmidt was going to guide for that coming season. A subsequent successful ascent of Miller's north face has been done, which Paul Claus could verify. To the contributor's recollection (Maser) it was climbed and skied(!) by staff who worked at Ultima Thule. __TOC__

Gallery

File:Mt. Miller.jpg, West aspect of Mount Miller centered

References

External links

Mount Miller on Topozone

Mount Miller on bivouac.com

"Mount Miller, Alaska" on Peakbagger

Sassara's 1997 American Alpine Journal Submission
* Mount Miller photo
Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mount Three-thousanders of the United States Saint Elias Mountains Mountains of Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska

Gallery

See also

References

External links