Devils Thumb sits just across the water from Petersburg it is a monolith composed of granite and ice. It was not been climbed by anyone who was born in Petersburg. Kyle Knight reached the summit after years of observing the mountain, fantasizing about the climbing.
Devils Thumb rises to nine thousand feet above sea level. one of the Boundary Mountains of the Stikine Icefield. The mountaineer Dieter Klose spent longer studying the Thumb than any other person. Klose came in Petersburg to climb the Thumb in the year 1980, and then established Petersburg as his new home.
“Like my son has said, Petersburg wouldn’t be the same without Devils Thumb” said Klose. “I believe for everybody that we all have a connection to this amazing thing. It’s inspiring. It’s daunting, it’s aberrant. It creates a sense of fascination in climbers, as well as those who aren’t.”
In misty, cloudy Southeast Alaska, the peak isn’t visible all the time. It’s also a shorthand whenever people hear “you are able to see the Thumb” it means great weather, clear skies.
The mountain’s remoteness and the extreme weather conditions make it infamous for rock climbers as well as ice climbers. It’s only been climbed less then 50 times in the time from the moment Fred Beckey first climbed it in 1946. This “classic” Eastern Ridge is sometimes called”the “easy way.” However, that’s just in comparison to the more icy Northwest Face which is unclimbed. Three people have perished on the way.
To the locals the Thumb is as integral to Petersburg as rain or the scent of fish during summertime. That’s one of the reasons the 35 year old Kyle Knight wanted to climb the mountain.
“It’s been an integral part of the landscape for as long when I was a kid,” he said. “And I believe the reason it’s so unique or important to me is the fact that it’s an edifice that has was dominating our skyline since the very beginning of time. It’s absolutely stunning. I’m sure everyone has some kind of connection with the skyline.”
His fascination began in middle school, when he discovered an old magazine about climbing from the 1970s in the library of his parents. The magazine contained a story about Bob Plumb and Dave Stutzman’s first climb to Devils Thumb’s Northeast Rib in the North Face of Devils Thumb in 1977. “I was absolutely enthralled by the story of their adventures in the mountains,” said Knight.
However, at the time Knight was a child, or later when he began climbing as a teenager and teens, climbing Devils Thumb seemed more like an ideal than a feasible objective. “I believed that this was in the realm of a elite alpinists and was a new difficulty at a risk which I was not going to have the abilities to be comfortable with,”” he explained.
However, the abilities developed. Knight was able to meet people who had been on Devils Thumb. After high school, he relocated into the lower 48, where he was constantly climbing. The goal was made a formal target.
It will require another 15 years before achieving the objective. This is due to the fact that the best season to ascend the peak is in May through August, which means there’s less risk of rockfall and avalanches. Knight has a fishing license, and is a summer resident of Bristol Bay. However, this year a trusted acquaintance with a wealth of climbing experience was in Petersburg. They decided to attempt this climb during August following Knight had returned to fishing.
Even in the summer, storms could make climbing Devils Thumb impossible. The group was blessed with a short period of clear weather within a few days of Knight’s return. They flew a helicopter to base camp, where they stayed for the night. About 7:15 a.m. they tied up their ropes and started their climb up the Direct East Ridge.
Knight admitted that he’s often tried to keep the view out while climbing. “It’s frightening,” he laughed. “So by focusing your attention on the movements themselves you will not be adversely affected by anxiety.”
They climbed the mountain around dinnertime. “I was euphoric,” Knight said. “But I am also aware that reaching the top is only half since you have to return to the ground and you do not want to feel so content that you lose the sensation of focus.”
Knight claimed that the summit is roughly the size of the size of a van. “The summit itself is large enough to allow one person to be seated with the exposure of 6000 feet on either side beneath the feet of yours,” he said.
They spent around two minutes absorbing the scenery and snapping pictures. “And then, my companion came up, slapped me on the back and said ‘okay let’s go for it.'” It was two in the morning when they arrived back at the base camp.
Knight stated that their slow speed may be due to his training or lack of. He was following a strict regimen of training in the months before the climbing. He described, “Bristol Bay – sockeye salmon fishing. There’s a lot of crawling into as well out of engine rooms.”
However, it was slower than anticipated due to another reason. There’s lots of newly exposed rock at the starting point of this climb, where previously there were been snowfields. The rock hasn’t had the chance to settle, meaning it’s loose and potentially risky. Knight admitted that the plunge into darkness was a risk he felt at ease taking at least once. “Yeah I’ve done it once. I’m not really looking to repeat it,” he said. “Which as an angler, you could be thinking about, for instance the big storm you had to endure, and you didn’t intend to go through, but got stuck in. The thing is, it happens. But do not try to become a regular occurrence of it.”
Knight admitted that he’s always considering the weather conditions of the climb when climbing. He’s always calculating the risks. But this risk isn’t a detriment to the pleasure. “In the sense that it’s a an aspect of the appeal,” he said.
However, have you tried the Thumb again? Knight stated that he considers it “a solid, maybe.”
It’s because “a large part of the reason I want to go there is looking back at it many years. But now I can gaze up and be aware that I’ve been there.”
A veteran climber Dieter Klose is delighted that Knight reached the summit of the mountain.
“He’s the only person to have was raised in Petersburg and also climbed Devils Thumb. Born and raised in Petersburg,” he explained. “And I was a resident here for that for many years I was the sole climber. I had to go up by myself, unless I brought someone else up. Then that was the only way for Kyle to be able to do it…in my mind, it’s the beginning of an enduring legend within Petersburg.”
One thing is for certain. It’s not the only mountain Knight will scale. He’s planning to keep fishing in the summer, and to continue climbing throughout the year.
