In reply to UKC Articles: A totally awesome effort from the two Toms, so much psyche is always gonna have a result!!
Regarding the last paragraph, i was told by a Ranger on Denali last year that i was the youngest person to climb the Cassin - i was 21, but i find that unlikely. Even on a mountain as well documented as Denali there will have been many ascents of the Cassin that went un-noticed, or were selectively remembered, it is the "trade route" of the face afterall.
I remember the year before last, being in Kahiltna basecamp hanging out with some really talented french climbers/skiiers aged 19-25. Among single push ascents of the Moonflower, fast ascents of Foraker by the Sultana Ridge, and doing backflips over their tents on approach skis, they'd made several serious first ski descents of coveted lines in the area. Chatting to American guides and rangers at the time none of them had even heard that the descents had been made, even though their tents were pretty much in earshot. Nothing will have been documented bar a very casual paragraph on a random french blog that gets 100 hits a month.
In a range so frequently traveled by talented climbers, i doubt whether myself and Jon's "record" on the Cassin last year is even the fastest ascent, despite at the time all the yanks being so certain.
Nice one Tom's
Will