The ice climbing in Valdez is nothing short of spectacular. No other ice climbing area in the world has the amount of big ice, the quality of big ice in such a small amount of area, with approaches that are beyond short and easy. And of course the lack of crowds. The hardest thing about climbing in Valdez is where to start. With the opening of new areas in South Central Alaska for ice climbers to explore and Valdez’s lack local ice climbing populace now, the crowds of Valdez have become almost non-existent if there ever was such a thing. On occasion, like during holiday weekends or the annual Valdez Ice Festival, the center area of Keystone Canyon around Bridalvail and Keystone Greensteps will collect several climbing parties. On normal weekends you will find a few climbers dotting the cicles. But during the week, it is possible you may have the whole area to yourself.
It is 305 miles to Valdez from Anchorage and can take five to seven hours of diving depending on the road conditions and weather. Once pass the curving mountain section around the Matanuska Glacier area of the Glenn Highway, the road straightens and flattens till the town of Glennallen. This is a good place to fill the tank up, your body and vehicle, and stretch your legs. Access the Richardson Highway at the T and drive south catching glimpses of the Alaska Pipeline. Climb your way up to Thompson Pass which is a snowy area at the least. Several snowfall records have been established here (24" in an hour) and once you see the snow depth and tall snowplow markers along the sides of the road you can see why. It is smart to not drive over Thompson Pass during falling snow. I have seen it snow so hard that the tracks left by our vehicle just disappeared in the rear view mirror and it was very difficult to follow the highway even with the 25' tall markers. Coming down from the pass will find the start of the long canyon that produces the ice climbs of Valdez. Eventually the Richardson Highway will dead end in the town of Valdez.
I prefer to stay in the Aspen Inn for the free Continental Breakfast, cable TV, heated pool and the hospitality. They always make provisions and special rates for a room full of ice climbers. For the treats while in Valdez, the beer batter Halibut just up the street from the Aspen Inn is nothing short of superb. And of course while in Valdez I consume a daily, well twice daily the icecream from Mermaids.
For the harden alpinist or not that smart in my opinion, you can camp during your ice climbing stay in Valdez. I did this a couple times and the damp chill was too much with town so close. The Val-desease fever had us always headed into town in the morning to eat a high caloric breakfast while warming up and to dry out. If you do plan to camp, the flat area on the right side of the road just south of Keystone Canyon about milepost 10 from Valdez has good spots for tents. There are several caves along the road in the canyon with the one seen from the road at Wipeout Curve Bridge milepost 15 probably the best.
The cicles order in this guidebook all start from Valdez and proceed north. There are numerous more cicles to climb and an area or two I omit. Valdez is the area for big fat blue. There are a few mixed climbs and areas for mixed climbing but if mixed is your game, the mixed climbing around the Anchorage Bowl has higher quantity, better quality and stiffer routes. But, Sans Amis was the first actual mixed climb done in Alaska and was way ahead of the times, even for mixed climbing any where outside of Alaska. It is still very stiff by any standard any where in the world. But still, Valdez is about big fat blue. Over half the ice climbs in Valdez are grade 3 or easier climbs and I find it hard to make my way to Valdez to climb these lesser cicles. The routes listed here is my tick list of the best big blue Valdez has to offer.
Mineral Creek:
Dayville Road:
Hole in the Wall:
Keyston Canyon:
Bear Creek:
Sheep Creek:
19 Mile:
| North of Anchorage | Anchorage Bowl | South of Anchorage | Nebesna |
