Misty Fiords National Monument

Misty Fiords (or Fjords) National Monument is located southeast of Ketchikan and is located in the southern part of Southeast Alaska and on the west coast of Canada. The weather patterns are directly from the Pacific Ocean leading it be among the wettest places on earth. Ketchikan averages about 160 inches of rain a year, enough to drown out thoughts of most climbing efforts. But on a clear day it is also one of the most beautiful places and there are times when the rock does dry out.

In Misty as locals call it, there are many big walls of granite rising out of the various bays and Punchbowl Wall rising right out of Punchbowl Cove is one of the most stunning of them all. It is seen in many advertisements, brochures, and books about the area. Punchbowl Wall is 3,150 feet in elevation, much taller to climb when taking into account the slope. The wall itself extends along the coast for more than 2 miles.

Attached is a route description for a climb of Punchbowl Wall that was completed in 1994. It is quite possibly the only ascent of the wall. Earlier discussions with local pilots told tales of legend Fred Beckey being flown in to Punchbowl Wall for several days back in the 70's, where he found some of the worst climbing conditions, it probably rained on him non-stop. There also looks to be potential climbing on the granite walls rising out of nearby Punchbowl Lake and other possibilities on granite walls throughout the fiords.