Mike Fletcher (with Lindsay Griffin, Richard Leech and Oliver Shergold). June 2001

In 1906, the American explorer Dr Frederick Cook returned from Alaska claiming to have made the first ascent of the highest point on the continent, ie Mt McKinley or Denali, 6194m, with a photograph of the US flag flying from a peak as 'proof'. That this was not true was proved in the mid-fifties by Brad Washburn and Ad Carter, since when the 1631m peak concerned has been known as 'Fake Peak'. It has been climbed several times since then, but a number of other spiky granite peaks awaited first ascents, so this team established their base camp on nearby Fake Glacier (aka Glacier 1). They succeeded in making first ascents of the two most attractive summits in the area, both c.1920m: Lee was climbed by 2 separate routes simultaneously and Glisen by an indirect 650m route on its W Face, which they graded Alpine TD (Scottish 5 mixed). The unnamed Pt.c.1770m also received its first ascent while repeats were made of the notorious Fake Peak and Sholes,1890m. A new AD line was climbed on the NW Face of this last named.