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Trip: Guye Peak - South Gully Trip Date: 01/22/2026 Trip Report: My friend Vraj and I climbed the South Gully of Guye Peak during the strong inversion layer on 1/22/26. This was both of our first times up to the peak and we were rewarded with some great views above the low hanging clouds. We left Seattle later than intended due to the usually busy traffic on a Thursday and ended up parking at Summit West Lot W3 right around 0900. We asked one of the Summit employees about the parking and were pleasantly surprised when we learned you do not need a pass to park there on a weekday (non holiday). We then worked our way to the base of the South Gully moving pretty slowly and finally roped up around 11 AM. The conditions at this point were ~32F and cloudy as we were very much still in the inversion. Mixed climbing between loose Class 4 and snow for about 7-8 total pitches. The going was slow as it was both our first time in this type of terrain and found the protection to be limited. We were pleasantly surprised with how much snow remained in the gully due to our own pessimism on the south facing route. We were also looking forward to our friends who had told us to go find snow somewhere else! Some fun climbing through the chock stones (which were completely bare) led us up and out of the gully turning left prior to the end. Vraj took the lead on the last pitch before we decided to unrope and scramble the rest of the way to the south summit. This was ~1630 and the light was starting to fade. We wanted to make it up to the north summit before dark so we had to hustle. After reaching the south summit we traversed to the middle summit easily on a snow band. We were looking around for about five minutes before spotting the correct rappel station off a tree below the summit. We made it to the final ramp up to the north summit which contained the best snow of the trip. Topped out on the north summit at 1750 to a fantastic view of the backlit cascades. Downed some much needed calories we made our way back to the parking lot off the north side and through the Commonwealth getting back around 2000. Gear Notes: 60m rope 1x 0.5 - 3, nuts 2x pickets (did not even think of using) 2x ice screws (why) Approach Notes: Standard South Gully approach (MTN Project)

Also, N Face Cleaver FWA!? Look at those ice steps! Never seen them in before.

The snow is bullet ice from the freeze thaw right now. Black Spider has been climbed multiple times by multiple routes in the past week. If that ice is not all rotten and sun baked, and the "snow" patches are hard ice, then you can bet N facing routes are also in good nick. Re the schrund, I think it will probably go on the L side, but if not you can climb one of the snow fingers on the Lhand buttress and traverse in on the snow ledge or go all the way up and then rap/downclimb that snow finger onto the snow above the schrund.

Dakobed from Helmet Butte:

Sunset from bivy below Winnie's Slide

East side of Mt. Pugh two days ago.

i want to be stoked

Yeah, I think that there's a thin rimey layer over a lot of the rocks. I think they got like that during one of the high-elevation rain storms, but I'm not totally sure. I haven't been carefully monitoring over there so that's just based on memory. Upper ice step in the right gully looks really good! These are really great photos, you must have a nice camera.

Thanks very much for the photo! I just went up by TJ this morning to take a look for myself. Based on my photos, the Eliot HW looked pretty damn good!... but now looking at yours, I'm not so sure. What I thought was blue water ice is maybe just plastered ice/rime...? The upper ice step on the right n face gully looked good too. But both gullies seem very protected by the bergschrund. Hard to say if easily passable.

Oh man, thank you for postín these pics of Jiri. It's been a long time since we climbed together. I'll always remember him as a beast (in the best way)... charging through feet of snow seeking whichever goal we were after that day. We tried to ski a couloir in the tatoosh and it was snowplow the whole way. Jiri Led it all. To Jiri's family... sorrow and many hugs. We are grateful for our time with him. I didn't know Ben, but blessings to his family.

I only knew Ben through work, and I hadn't climbed or skied with him. I could tell right away from his Zoom backgrounds that he was a climber and skier, so we struck up that conversation. He was instantly likeable: smart, strong and good looking - He was a pleasure to work with. I was looking forward to downloading some Olympics beta to him some time. I am so sorry for his family! He will be missed!

Some great discussion here, if you haven't read it, but not probably that helpful since I think all right side talk?

I took a look at, but chose not to climb, Eliot headwall on 2026-01-25. Here's a picture. It's a bit difficult to tell but I suspect that much of the snow is very firm. I haven't been up the north face gullies this season but in late november cooper spur offered roughly 1000 feet of climbing with penetration varying from crampon points to the ball of the foot or so.

Didn't a big chunk of the steeper part of the pillar fall down like 30+ years ago? I know some routes were affected, just not which.

Does anyone know where the 1986 5.9 A2 Mark Bebie, Charlie Hampson route up the left side of Girth Pillar goes? I've a attached a photo from @Kyle M with where I think the line roughly goes, can anyone confirm this? There's a steeper corner on the pillar proper that seems more fitting to the grade than the line I drew.

Great shots Jason, the new camera is proving itself! Thanks for getting me out for a great day!

On Saturday, Jiri and Ben parked their car near to ours at the Paradise parking lot in Mount Rainier National Park. I spoke with Jiri twice—once in the overnight parking area and again at the Skyline trailhead. I was impressed by Jiri's patience and smile. When they set off for their summit hike, I wished them a safe and successful climb. Later, when I learned that the two hikers who had tragically died were the same people I had spoken with, I felt deeply shocked and saddened, and those brief, ordinary moments stayed with me for a long time. I wrote more about our conversation in my blog post (https://afterpeaks.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/i-met-jiri-ben-at-mount-rainier/). You can read the English version with Google Translate.

Original plan was to climb the south gully of Guye but decided to drive down the Alpental road to check out conditions. Ice cragging a short walk from the car doesn't come along very often in Washington! There was a decent amount of ice on the various Alpental falls. A grab bag of thin/brittle with some fatter bits and some low angle hero plastic thrown in. Plenty of water running under everything. Mostly we set up a top rope on the climbers leftmost side directly under the Phantom Slide (Aplental IV I think?)...I've skied this in fatter snow years ::sigh:: Alpental II looked pretty fun though dicey for good screw placements. Sadly I only brought a few screws because the original plan was Guye (sorry Michelle!) so we didn't go up it. Saw two guys who said they went up to look at NY Gully and it was totally dry/ice free, otherwise no other climbers. I think Alpental II is the far right flow

Anyone been up on the N side?

That indeed was it, though I had read one before that too.

I bumped that memorial thread about John Stoddard and there was MSFT talk on that one?

I hate that he had to leave us but I’m glad to hear from everyone he touched. Thank you for sharing. I did not know him but instantly wish I had.

Jiri and I were roommates in 2013-14. He was one of the first people I met outside of work, and he helped make me feel welcomed in Seattle. His athleticism was inspirational and I admired his love for travel. He took me on a memorable tandem paragliding ride from Poo Poo Point in Issaquah. I'll remember you, Jiri, for reminding me to keep doing the things that give you joy. RIP.

I’m looking for someone from Portland who is interested in climbing Mt. Hood in February or March and would like to carpool from Portland. Here’s a bit about my experience: Last May, I climbed Mt. Hood via the Old Chute with a guided group. I completed a one-day mountaineering course that covered crampons, self-arrest techniques, anchors, and roping up. I have also climbed Mt. St. Helens. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Thanks!

And now to this: