The West Rib Pub and Cafe is named after the West Rib, the first of the South-Face routes forged to the summit of Denali, or Mount McKinley. At 20,320 feet (6193.5 meters), Denali is the highest point in North America; and is climbed by over 1200 mountaineers each year. The first ascent was made June 19, 1959, by Pete Sinclair, Jake Breitenbach, Barry Corbet and Bill Buckingham. Conceived in the Log Cabin Saloon in Jackson, Wyoming, the significance of the West Rib is often overlooked these days given its proximity to the Cassin Ridge, another popular, but very difficult South-Face route. The first ascent of the West Rib was so notable in its time that it was the cover story in the 1960 American Alpine Journal and was mentioned in the Sports Section of the July 13, 1959 edition of Time Magazine.

Pete Sinclair with Mount Foraker in the Background

 

On June 7, 1959, after a six day road trip up the Alaska Highway, and traveling to Talkeetna by train, the four climbers flew into the Kahiltna Glacier, a staging area at 7200 feet, with the late Don Sheldon, Talkeetna's legendary bush pilot.

Twelve days later, on June 19, the entire party reached the summit. Making the climb even more remarkable was the facet that these 20-year-olds had very little 'big mountain' experience and only one had ever been on Denali previously.

Sinclair and Buckingham on the Summit

Sadly, Jake Breitenbach later perished on Mt. Everest and Barry Corbet was paralyzed after a helicopter accident while filming a ski movie. Bill Buckingham, after a teaching career, died in the late 1990's. Pete Sinclair is an English Professor at a Northwest College and Barry Corbet, who recently retired as editor of a national magazine lives in Colorado.

Our thanks to both Pete and Barry for providing the information on their historic climb and for the photos displayed in the West Rib Pub and Cafe.