“Like the Sirens who lured Ulysses to a blissful yet certain death, the northwest face of the Devil’s Thumb continues to tempt the alpinist onto her flanks" Dieter Klose. Late night alpenglow adds a soft touch, however few peaks inspire the same mix of fear and respect as the Devil's Thumb in Alaska. A relatively low altitude peak at 2,767 m (9,077 ft) the notorious northwest face rises 2,042 m (6,700 ft) from its base. With an average angle of 67 degrees it is considered the steepest wall of that magnitude in all of North America.
While the peak itself was first climbed by Fred Becky in 1946, the northwest face remains unclimbed after five decades of attempts by scores of climbers including some of the world’s top mountaineers. Most never even made it to the start of the face, while at least three teams have perished in the process. Dieter Klose who in 1982 made it halfway up the route, higher than anybody else alive, commented in the American Alpine journal that “as a rock climb it’s a perfect place to commit suicide”. The warm coastal winds, extreme Alaskan precipitation levels, and Patagonian style variability in weather all combine to make the conditions on the face notoriously slippery and prone to avalanche. A small theoretical climbing window is possible during the spring transition when storms can create thaw-freeze conditions and stabilise the face however many believe the level of weather variability is so extreme that it will never be climbed. No one has attempted the face since 2003 when two Canadian climbers perished.
The mountain was known as Taalkhunaxhkʼu Shaa in native Tlingit, which translates to the "the Mountain That Never Flooded". The thumb is located in the Stikine Icecap region of the Alaska–British Columbia border, near Petersburg, and is often simply identified as Boundary Peak 71 on survey maps.
I took this shot while sailing in south east Alaska on a 50’ Catalina. It was shot with a Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS at 400mm. ISO 640, f/5.6, and 1/125s.
Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography
All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com
Awesome work as always! This made it to the #photofeed!
Thanks; very kind of you.
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
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Thanks for finding my own website ;-)
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Of all the keywords to choose : ‘pink’ !
Lol - Yep. No mention of mountain, landscape, climbing - just pink.
Surprised it came up with your site not a Barbie Doll site. Or a Rockstar fan page lol.
I never knew I had so many pink photos .
Is that wide shot of the mountain valley taken in Australia? Looks like it could be if it is not.
Sorry I am not sure what shot you are referring to? If it’s on my website you can click on the image and get the details .
Ahh, yes. Scroll over it and don't click brings up the details. Wollombi. Thought it was around the Great Divide somewhere, looks like Colo and some of the Blue Mountains region. Am probably heading up to Newcastle later in the week. Beautiful region and a lovely photo.
Ok yes the Wollombi shots are actually from our ridge top property there .
Lovely place. I have done a lot of hiking and fishing up around those areas.
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Goodness. Loving those colors and the layers
Thanks. I was blown away by south east Alaska.
Wow, great colors, and what a unique opportunity to be able to capture this from a yacht!
Yes indeed ; sailing around Alaska should be on everyone’s bucket list
I may have to start by sailing around a small lake - haven't done anything like that before. ;)
Lots of large lakes out your way
Yep, that's one excuse I can't turn to - haha!
Being an Australian, my definition of "large lake" is a little different. If any body of water is bigger than a puddle and deep enough to get your ankles wet, it is a lake. If your knees get wet it is a deep lake. If it takes 2 minutes to walk across it is a wide lake. If it takes yo two minutes to walk across AND your knees get wet, it is a large lake.
If you have a trickle of running water, or water flows down a course occasionally, it is a creek. If you have to jump across flowing water because it is too wide to comfortably step over, it is a river.
Bahahaha!
They have the opposite attitude in Newfoundland, where large lakes are considered ponds, and the ocean merely a big pond.
Lots of large lakes in Australia; just look at all that wide blue water when you search for "Lake Mungo NSW" in google maps. Problem is it has not had water in it for 10,000 years; no one seems to have told google.
ok consider it put on my bucket list! haha
@derekkind next group trip?
Lovely, and a great little write up on the North Face, it sounds like a great Sunday outing.
Lol. Yes for sure. I am heading out after I finish my tea and shortbread. ;-)
Don't forget to take a thermos of hot tea with you, and a scarf. Looks a little cool. Enjoy your evening jaunt ;) Pfft, these mountaineers are just pussies. Over complicating things like they do!
I have brought a team of 62 porters to help move the lounge set and red carpet to the base of the wall.
Oh, nice. Great idea. I hope the generator survived the trip undamaged, how else are you going to charge your cell phone?
They are installing a temporary telegram wire back to Petersburg as they hike out.
Oh, now that sounds like a plan. String a wire alongside for permanent power for the elevator. Nice.
Really nice also
Thanks
👌 Really nice! That pink in combination with the steep mountains wants me to look over again!
Thanks. It was a beautiful sky that night.
I have always wanted to see Alaska (since I was obsessed with Northern Exposure when it was on tv! lol)! It looks absolutely beautiful. If only I wasn't terrified of running into a bear.
Its a special part of the world!
Amazing and dramatic mountains. Really nice light and sky. Great picture! :) Helen
Thanks Helen. Very kind of you and I appreciate you having a look at my work.
I have an addiction to mountains to you got me with this picture! :)
Nice photo!
I liked your work
Thank. Glad you liked it.
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What a beautiful model you have! Grate photo, thank you :)
Not sure what you mean by model; but thanks anyway ;-)
Oh, ok. I ment the mountain, as it was the "model" for the photo, while she is being photographed.
Extraordinary place!
Awesome shot and really nice post!! Thanks for sharing ;)
Thanks
Wow! I hope I get to see this in real life. Thanks for sharing this awesome pic.
Thanks !
stunning colours!! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks !