| Summary: | Mud Is Factor In Scaling Of Alaska Peak. Mud Is Factor In Scaling Of Alaska Peak Alaska and a hazardous mountain climb, the success of which depends, strangely, on the consistency of mud in flats near Valdez, Bradford Washburn, youthful explorer, was completing last-minute arrangements in Seattle today. He will sail north tomorrow on the steamship Aleutian. The mountain that Washburn and three companions will attempt to scale is Mount Luciana, 17,150 feet high, the greatest unclimbed peak on the North American continent. "The only way to reach a glacier at the 8,500-foot level, where we must establish a base camp, is by air," Washburn said today. "Robert Reeve, an Alaskan pilot, is going to take a ski-equipped plane off the mud flats near Valdez, and get us across the 250 miles of mountains between Valdez and our camp. We think the mud is going to solve our difficulties." Photographs that Washburn took on a previous Yukon expedition will be shown tonight at the Moore Theatre. One member of the expedition, Russell Dow, is already in Valdez. Two others, Robert Bates and Norman Bright, famous middle distance runner, will follow Washburn.
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