September 2025 –
For our next edition to the Ice Gallery series, we were pleased to speak to Kirsten Kremer. Kirsten is a long-standing contributor to the ice climbing scene here in Alaska and beyond. She has spent years perfecting her craft and establishing her reputation as one true badass in the far North. In the words of the late Brian Teale, Kirsten is known for “her eternal optimism, infectious laugh, and kicking boys ass.” (Planet Ice) She has established numerous first ascents and been a mentor to many others. In March of 2006, Kirsten started the “Alaskan Ice Pixies”, an all women’s ice climbing festival. Today, she is still traveling the world in pursuit of her passion. We were able to track her down and get a few questions answered.
AIC: Kirsten, how did you come to be? You’ve kept the mountain stoke alive longer than all of us. What drives this creative spirit?
Kirsten Kremer: Awesome question. Everyone should contemplate that one for a minute. The mountain stoke is easy to keep alive because it’s what keeps me Alive, in the sense of actually living. FUN drives this spirit. I am lucky to have parents who planned for a second child and hoped it would be a girl. I have a brother who is three years older. My parents supported me and gave me the tools to be a confident girl. I constantly tried to keep up with my brother, especially jumping off of cliffs into Lake Powell on our family vacations. I had some making up to do after my Dad took my brother skiing and never took me. I was self taught at Mt. High in Southern California when I got my driver’s license and was able to drive myself to the resort. My friend’s and I started our own little club called “Team Extreme” at Mt. High. We loved jumping and catching air on our skis. Joe Willardsen took me to the big mountains in Utah to ski Snowbird. I attended UCSB where I met John Morrison on a college ski trip on the bus, who would later take me skiing to Squaw Valley and in the backcountry of the Sierras. The first two years of college I attended courses at UCLA for the ROTC. Before college, I began working on my pilot’s license in Rialto, Ca. I did my Solo flight there with multiple touch and goes while the instructor waved his arms and yelled in vain for me to stop. My second year of college, I went to UCRiverside for a semester so I could work on ski patrol at Mt. High. After my second year of college, I was given my ROTC position which was co-pilot. I wanted the pilot seat and decided that co-pilot was not good enough. I dropped out of the Air Force. The 3rd and 4th years, John Morrison and I took the winter semesters off to ski Squaw Valley in Tahoe, opting for summer school instead. I joined the freestyle team at Squaw Valley. My coach, Greg Harrington, offered a camp in New Zealand and that was the start of my passion for global travel and extreme skiing competitions.
AIC: How did you find yourself in Valdez?
Kirsten Kremer: I often skied with Dean Conway at Squaw Valley. He was a total cowboy, amazing skier and funny guy. When we rode the lift together, he would say, “When are you going to dump that loser and go out with me?” I would laugh and spit my chewing tobacco which would turn most guys off, but certainly not Dean. He was competing in the World Extreme Skiing Contest in Valdez Alaska and asked if I might like to join him. He said if I could buy the plane ticket, I could join a posse of competitors in an RV for the week. I bought the ticket, they picked me up in the RV and Dean said, “ Hey everybody, this is Kirsten, my girlfriend.” That was news to me, but I loved every minute of that trip and would date Dean for several years. We met all the volunteers for WESC, Brian Teale being one of them. I would get the job as forerunner and fly first to the starting gate to give the judges a chance to have a practice run before judging. Such a good job, I would secure if for several years. “Hey Karen McCune, can you please put me down for forerunner next year?, I’ll be back.” I was addicted. Brian Teale would take me ice climbing in Keystone Canyon and my life would be forever changed and that is how I came to be…… hahah
AIC: You once said you wanted to be a fighter pilot and applied to the air force academy. Where did that idea come from?
Kirsten Kremer: I love flying. I think I always have. I have vivid memories of flying in my dreams on a regular basis when I was young. I would run as fast as I could and dive into the air and porpoise my body until I got the momentum to soar. I did it so often, I began to believe I really could fly. I was a good student in all the advanced placement classes and when given the question of what would I like to be… a fighter pilot seemed like the right answer. Who doesn’t want to fly an F-16?
AIC: You are close to your mom? Tell us about that relationship.
Kirsten Kremer: I am so incredibly lucky to have a mother who loves me so much. I found a deeper appreciation for this after working on a trip into the mountains with a group of women who had all been sexually accosted in some way. After hearing all of their stories, I found the one theme they all shared was a lack of love from their mothers. I felt guilty that I had taken the love from my mother for granted. She has supported me in all of my decisions even when she didn’t agree. Her love is completely unconditional and she has finally given up on the idea that I will outgrow this lifestyle. We talk regularly on the phone and I stop to visit her between all of my trips. I love her with all of my heart.
AIC: What was your first inspiration or awareness of the Alpine world?
Kirsten Kremer: The memory that comes to mind is a backcountry trip to the Palisade Glacier in the Sierras with Jim and John Morrison to ski the U and V notches. We had our huge Sierra Design packs, with our downhill skis and boots with secure-a-fix bindings. We rented crampons. We post holed through the punchy boulder choked trail and up into the glacier above. We were freestylers gone rogue. We encountered 3 older women out “mountaineering” who were very upset with us for catching so much air in our crampons. We thought they were party poopers who didn’t appreciate our mad skills. We managed to ski the lines without hurting ourselves in the process. I remember being ultimately gripped trying to put on my skis on a 50 degree firm slope while clinging to the snow picket I punched into the firm snow.
I took a climbing course in college where I learned the basics, but Dean Conway introduced me to Yosemite. I cut my teeth with the Morrison brothers and Dean Conway in the Sierras. Dean and I would make a first descent of a tight couloir from the Dana plateau involving an overnighter with our secure-a- fix bindings and race boots (Very difficult to put on in the cold and required heating with our camp stove.) For you youngsters who don’t know what a secure-fix binding is; it is a heavy contraption that fits into a downhill binding and attaches to your boot allowing you to lift your heel to tour. Heavy and awkward compared to today’s equipment.
AIC: How did you start ice climbing and skiing?
Kirsten Kremer: I started skiing at Mt. High in southern California when I got my car and drove myself up for night skiing after soccer practice in high school. Dean Conway bought me Foot fangs, my first pair of crampons and took me to a frozen waterfall up Tioga Pass. Later that year, Brian Teale would take me up Bridalveil in Keystone Canyon where the hook was set.
AIC: Sweeney says you are the toughest alpinist Alaska has ever known. Because most of us agree, please tell us why that might be true?
Kirsten Kremer: Well, that’s funny but certainly not true. I am pretty good at suffering, an excellent camper and I can sleep almost anywhere without a problem which definitely helps make a tough alpinist. My regular lifestyle is basically camping involving hauling water and chopping firewood so I don’t get the opportunity to get too soft at home.
AIC: We all loved Brian Teale, but you had a special insight into Brian. How did he help shape your journey?
Kirsten Kremer: BT and I became quick friends, as do most girls traveling through Valdez looking to climb ice. We were kindred spirits and loved to laugh. We had a summer romance after Dean and I broke up because BT insisted that I needed a good man to take care of me. We climbed rock and boated in the summers and ice climbed in the winters. BT was an amazing kayaker and I worked as a raft guide. We did an awesome trip together down the Nizina River. When I got together with Paul Turecki, the three of us climbed non-stop in Keystone Canyon. We were always on adventures finding new ice lines and crashing on BT’s couch for the ice season. BT and Paul worked on the guidebook and ice climbing videos. We spent lots of days belaying each other out of his mini van with the propane heater on next to the Jaws Wall. When I started dating Skine, we continued our ice adventures with BT. One of the best ones was with Cash and Graffix dog out in the Prince William Sound on BT’s little boat. BT let us off on the shore and anchored his boat a half mile offshore and kayaked to the beach. Skine led us up a cool new mixed line and when we arrived back at the boat, it was sitting in the mud a half mile out. Our climb was named HIGH and DRY as we waited for the tide to come back up. As my boyfriends changed, BT stayed consistent in my life. We could and would talk about everything and we talked often. We respected each other and loved being friends. Brian was at my wedding and would later become one of Tim’s favorite ice climbing partners. Sometimes BT would just join us ice climbing mid route. He would solo up and tie in for the company. I would have never fell in love with ice climbing without BT. He made it so fun and he was a total boss at it. Watching him climb delicate pillars and mix climb opened my eyes to what was possible. We got to climb Spring Fling, a 1500ft. climb together a few years before he died. It was such a fun day. He wanted to swap leads. When I asked why he was belaying me so slow, he said he needed to delete photos because his phone memory was full and he needed to live stream our climb since he was picking up reception. We walked off laughing in the dark. I would call him whenever I was heading to Valdez or into the canyon. He would come visit me while I was guiding ski guests ice climbing on down days. With a speaker hooked to his harness, he was still soloing POS the year before he died. One day, Mike Hamilton and crew convinced BT to get into a pack raft to run the canyon with us. He climbed into the borrowed gear with his painting clothes underneath and completely aced Keystone Canyon. His eyes twinkling at the bottom, he said, “I’ve still got it!”
Tim and I were headed to Talkeetna to climb in the Kitchatna’s when I got reception and listened to my messages. We aborted our climbing mission and headed straight to the hospital. I spent the next 10 days with BT until he died. We were holding hands and listening to reggae while we slept. I woke up because I felt my toes being touched and expected to see the nurse. No one was there and when I looked at BT he was gone. I am sure he was letting me know it was time to go home.
AIC: Throughout the years, you have tied in with several long time partners putting up a number of first ascents on vertical ice. Tell us about your partnership with others like Paul Turecki and Brian Teale charting first ascents up the vertical terrain.
Kristen Kremer: Climbing with Paul Turecki was a journey into uncharted territory. He preferred to put up climbs instead of following where others had been. We established many new routes together over the 8 years I spent with him. PT and BT! I was a lucky girl to hang with these guys. We had a ton of fun together ice climbing in Valdez in the early days with straight shafts and leashes. I learned a lot following these legends around. I also carried some extremely heavy packs of hardware on new routes together Big Walls with PT. We traveled to Thailand, Laos, Nepal, Zion, Yosemite and the AK range putting up routes. I remember going the Snake Farm in Bangkok so we could identify snakes. We watched a snake show where the handler was bit by a King Cobra. They stopped the show and said not to worry because they had anti venom on sight and the handler would be okay. Shortly after, we found ourselves face to face with a King Cobra coiled up in the tall grass and a Pit Viper in the jungle of Laos where we opened a new climbing wall. We put up a 3 pitch route on holy limestone with threads and found a snake skin on the second pitch when we came back to send it! I had so many WILD adventures with Paul. He was a true master at the art and I am thankful for the journey. PT , BT and I also climbed in the Pika Glacier together where we opened some fun lines on granite. Paul and I spent countless days at Weiner Lake putting up routes. That choss pile shaped up with lots of scrubbing and Epoxy! Paul and I built a cabin in the woods with the standing dead spruce trees with hand tools, a chainsaw and no power. PT and BT made an ice climbing video they called The Real Deal when we all crashed at BT’s place in Valdez. BT would often solo with his Sony video camera and film us from various positions! One day it was super windy and they were busy editing and working on the guidebook when I got anxious to climb. I couldn’t convince them to go, so I walked from the Hanagita House and soloed Downtown Julie Brown. BT filmed me from his house with his classic commentary!
AIC: What are your three most proud ice climbing ascents?
Kirsten Kremer: Bridal-veil and Greensteps in Keystone canyon. These were and are my training grounds. It’s where I learned to climb and where I continue to climb to get and assess my fitness. I can still see and hear BT encouraging me to lead the first pitch of Bridal-veil when we met in 1994. Old screws, my ski clothes, knee pads, goggles overheating, straight shafts, leashes, footings and BT’s, “You can do it” mantra. Bridal-veil holds so many memories. Steve Garvey on the killer pillar telling his belayer, “There’s a time to whine and a time to climb. Pay attention, you got a man on the line.” This is where you watched the masters from the car. Garvey, Sweeney, Tobin, Comstock, BT and more honing their big mountain skills on the roadside. I remember trying to show off for my partners, Gabe Lydic and Johnny Soderstrom by leading the left side of the killer pillar that went into an overhang. I thought I was strong, but when I came to the defining move to surmount the overhang, there was a one inch crack separating the pillar. I would either have to hook tor make a move above it. My heart rate accelerated as did my pump. My left arm ricocheted off the ice over and over. Finally, I thought it was good enough. I weighted it and tried to move my feet up and it popped. My last screw was in shitty white ice in the cave below and it ripped out. I sailed down stretching the ropes to land next to my belayers. “I think I’ll just go around the other way,” I said as I ate my humble pie. Greensteps would hold a bouquet of memories as well. Belaying BT as he gracefully glided up Roman’s pillar when it was exceptionally slim and being mesmerized by the beauty of the ice caves. When I was leading it in the cold morning to set ropes for The Ice Pixies Ice Fest, I got my pick stuck and struggled to get it out. Pulling and pulling until I finally got it out right into my face. I finished the lead and came down with a bloody face. I had to wash it with Natty Ice beer since that was all I brought.
Ham and Eggs on the Moose’s Tooth in the AK Range. I was asked if I would guide it by Alaska Mountaineering School after the scheduled guide for the trip got injured. “ I’m not sure if I can do it,” I told Rob Gowler who called to ask. “Sure you can,” he replied. “It’s easy,” he assured me. “Well within your ability. Plus, it’s a woman client who just wants to have fun and you’re really good at that.” I agreed as long as I could bring my rock climbing partner, Lisa Vansciver, just in case I needed any help. Lisa wasn’t an ice climber yet, but I knew her psych would help me get the rope up. We weren’t fast, but we had a ton of fun and made it to the ridge.
West Face of Huntington with the same crew. Lisa and our guest and new friend, Adina. I was psyched to lead us to the ridge where everyone was satisfied with our climb and we descended after a nap.
AIC: Tell us about your graphic art, journaling and creative inspiration.
Kirsten Kremer: I remember coloring a lot as a kid. I would get very upset if I shared a coloring book with a friend and they went out of the lines. I took lots of art classes in college. I loved art and still do. I’m an avid collector of these Alaska Women’s art: Dawn Gerety, Leighan Falley, Reanne, Katie Writer, and Meg Smith. My art is fun, but it’s more like doodling. I make cards for friends with their name and blend it into an outdoor scene. Usually mountains and sunsets or sun rises. I often journal on trips and expeditions, but mostly I just write in my calendar that Dawn makes every year. I write what I did that day and keep track of upcoming obligations. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. I’m trying to convince myself to write a book with so many adventures and lessons learned. I’m getting inspired again to be creative. I like building unorthodox functional structures in the woods. I collect rocks and shells and have created perhaps the best outhouse in the world.
AIC: You travel year-round, but talk about home and what it means to you?
Kirsten Kremer: I have a unique ability to make many places feel like home when I am camping in beautiful places , but there is a deep feeling of home when I fly back to Alaska. Looking out the plane window watching row after row of mountains filing into view like books in the biggest library. A lifetime of stories and adventures to be had. Nameless peaks. I really like that. The deep state of wild places registers so deep in my soul and the people that share this same sense of awe are home to me. I’ve called Alaska home since my early 20’s when I decided to buy a school bus and a piece of property in Chickaloon for a total of $2565. The $65 was for the new battery in the bus. Chickaloon wasn’t where I wanted to live, but it was cheap and in between the places I was traveling to work: Valdez, Girdwood and Talkeetna. One of the best selling features was the Chickaloon was home to Chuck Spaulding, owner of Nova Riverrunners. I loved hearing his stories when I drove through. He loved flying, too and had hiked his hang glider up King Mountain and flown off in the 70’s! In those days the King Mountain Lodge was open and I would belly up with Chuck and Donny Dowd to talk about all things Alaskan and so much more. They were happy to give me advice and help this So Cal girl figure out how to make it in Alaska. The community I built between skiing in Valdez, rafting in Hope/ Girdwood, and mountaineering out of Talkeetna was a collection of the most talented and impressive people I had ever met. I was and and still am amazed at the amount of capable women in Alaska. Women pilots, aviation mechanics, ski guides, our entire ClassV Whitewater guides, you name it, women are doing it in Alaska. It gave me an I can do attitude and I proceeded to build out the bus and help Paul Turecki build my 12ft x 12ft cabin in the woods from the standing dead spruce trees on the property. The bus, I could drive to Valdez to live in during the Heli Season with Valdez Heli Ski Guides. Chickaloon would become my post office box and main hub for trip packing. I would haul water and live without electricity to keep the bills low. Plenty of wood to keep the cabin warm and propane lights and a Coleman cook stove. Tim and I now have a yurt at 19 mile just past the Keystone Canyon and before the Thompson Pass. I still migrate around the state, but Chickaloon and Valdez are my “homes”. I am an expert at tiny home living and camping. I don’t have a flush toilet and enjoy outdoor showers. “Home” means skiing and ice climbing in Valdez and rock climbing, swimming, paddling, flying and biking in Chickaloon with field trips to the AK Range in the summer. Tim and I have been spending a lot of time in Chile and Argentina during the heart of Alaska winter. We purchased a van down there as well. It feels a bit like Alaska with so much wilderness, mountains, rivers and ocean. Home is where the heart is and mine is definitely in Alaska!
AIC: How do you view women in the sport of ice climbing, mountaineering, and alpinism today?
Kirsten Kremer: I am super impressed by the women getting after it in the mountains. Years ago my heroes were Catherine Destivel and Lynn Hill. It’s really awesome to see women at the top of the game and realize what is possible. My new hero is Babsi! It is so cool to see women excel and be competitive with the men as well. The real heroes are often the ones you know. Sue Nott gifted me some new ice screws after I accidentally dropped Paul’s screw in a hole at the soon to be named “Fifty dollar Falls”. She was proud of me for leading it and told me not to give the screws to him in her high pitched voice. It was awesome to watch her fearlessly climb steep ice. Kathryn Hess and Georgie Stanley were role models to me when I watched them guide Denali. When Georgie climbed the West Face on Huntington and led the crux pitch, it made me want to try as hard as she did. It’s really important to have mentors and women who inspire you to find your tiger. I love my all girl climbing trips because we bring the best out of each other. I will forever cherish my trips with Sarah Garlick and Janet Bergman in Patagonia and New Foundland. Without Lisa Vansciver cheering me on, I wouldn’t have found the courage to do The Moose’s Tooth or Huntington. Climbing with Janet and Emily Drinkwater in India on unclimbed high altitude peaks was such an honor. We try hard and step up because we have to. I am a huge fan of all the women out there climbing in the mountains. I hope I’ve inspired some women out there. I view women on ice, mountaineering and alpine climbing as role models for what success looks like to me.