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Trip: Kulshan - North Ridge Trip Date: 06/07/2018 Trip Report: Ever since I moved to Seattle three years ago it's been a dream of mine to climb the North Ridge of Kulshan. Last year I climbed the Coleman-Deming route and stared longingly at the north ridge on the way up. Finally this year I felt ready - physically, technically and mentally. Unfortunately all my usual partners have either already climbed it and were not interested in going back, or did not have the requisite skills, so I turned to cascade climbers to search for a partner. After some back and forth with a few people I was able to make plans with Casey - we were going to attempt the north ridge on Thursday and Friday June 7th and 8th. However the weather didn't cooperate with our plans - the forecast called for snow/rain starting on Thursday night. We decided that we would just attempt it car-to-car on Thursday instead. As the day approached I started having more and more anxiety. I had yet to even meet Casey much less climb with him. I considered calling it off or changing our plans but instead suggested we meet up to discuss the climb. We met up in Seattle on Tuesday and discussed our goals, abilities, gear and strategy for the climb. With my anxiety [mostly] allayed we decided to leave Wednesday night, sleep at the trailhead and start heading up around 3am. I estimated that it would take us around 15 hours car-to-car, giving us 5 hours to approach the north ridge, 5 to climb it and 5 to descend. Casey more or less agreed estimating that we would take between 12 and 16 hours. I picked up Casey after work on Wednesday and started driving north around 6pm. Somehow we managed to not hit any traffic and got to the trailhead around 8:45pm giving us plenty of time to eat dinner and get to sleep at a reasonable hour with a 2:30am wake up time. After a quick breakfast we were on our way. While signing the register we noticed that there was at least one other party heading up the north ridge. After about 2 hours and a little bit of faffing (I had forgotten my avy beacon in the car and ran back to get it, fortunately that was after only 5-10 minutes of hiking) we got to the hogsback where we stopped to take some pictures of the mountain and get roped up for glacier travel. Casey took the lead and we followed the bootpack across the Coleman glacier. The glacier was pretty mellow and there were minimal route finding issues so we pretty quickly found ourselves at the north ridge. We saw a party of two heading up the shortcut but it looked pretty steep to us and I don't think either of us were quite ready/awake enough for that level of commitment. We decided to continue around to the toe of the ridge and take the easier way up. Here I took the lead up the first steep section which consisted of soft but consolidated snow. It was pretty phsyical work as it was a bit too soft for easy front pointing and required a couple of kicks per step to get a solid stance. Maybe halfway up the toe we swapped leads so I could get a break. Eventually the angle eased off and we found ourselves on a relatively flat slope. Looking up we couldn't see any crevasses and decided it would be a good time to unrope. From here it was mostly just a slog until the ice cliff appeared in our sights. We could see two parties of two at the base of the ice cliff - one on the left side variation and the other on the right. Access to the ice cliff was guarded by a couple of long crevasses that ended just before the right side variation. We discussed which variation we wanted to do - the right looked a bit easier and quicker to approach, but the left promised more ice. We decided we would get closer and make our final decision when we could get a better look. In the mean time we headed towards the right side variation as that provided the only path around the crevasses. As we got closer the angle gradual steepened. Casey ended up climbing up some crumbly rock while I ended up a bit to his left on some steep snow. We were both starting to get sketched out as the angle kept getting steeper with no respite in sight. Eventually I made it to the base of the right side variation where I was able to put in an ice screw and get the rope out. I tied in and tossed down the other end to Casey. The mountain had made a decision for us and that was to climb the right side variation. After racking up I took the first lead. The right variation started with some thin ice climbing which quickly turned into traversing on crumbly rock with poor to non-existent tool placements. Fortunately the protection was good and I was able to get in three screws in the seracs we were climbing beneath. After the traverse was another short section of ice ending in a flat, sunny belay stance. Casey took the following lead which was mostly steep neve with a little bit of ice. I think he managed to place one screw and one picket in a full 60m pitch, building the final anchor using two pickets. When I got to the belay we discussed how we wanted to proceed. I was feeling pretty tired and didn't want to switch to soloing just yet so we settled on simul-climbing the next portion. We left one picket at the belay and I took the lead. I placed two pickets and one very marginal screw before reaching the avalanche crown mentioned in a previous trip report. I found some steps cut into the crown and continued up a bit before building an anchor out of the remaining picket and my ice axe. At this point it became clear that we did not have the time to continue protecting the route so we switched to soloing. Casey took the lead, navigating the remaining crevasses and seracs until we reached the summit plateau. Casey had never summited Kulshan before so we traversed the plateau to the true summit where we spent all of ten seconds enjoying the top. It was 3:30pm, we had spent over 12 hours ascending the north ridge and we were exhausted. This is when we made our biggest mistake of the day. Casey started heading down and asked me where to go, as I was familiar with the descent route. I said "head across the plateau and go left." We followed the bootpack that trended left and began our descent. As we were descending I remember thinking to myself "the route sure is different this year, there must be more snow." After maybe 1500 feet of descent I looked over to Sherman peak and thought to myself "Wow, Colfax looks really different...". I took out my phone and looked at the map. "Casey - we royally fucked up. We are descending the wrong side of the mountain! We have three options - we can climb back up, we can descend and try to hitch a ride or we can try to traverse the Deming glacier to the col between Colfax and Grant peak." We decided to traverse. Fortunately we were able to more or less follow the 9200ft contour line across the Deming glacier, neither gaining nor losing much altitude, and arrive at a notch in the ridge between the Coleman and the Deming glaciers. From here it was a pretty standard descent. We made our way down to the hogsback where we unroped, refilled our water and packed our bags. We made it back to the car a little before 9:30pm, for a total time of around 18 hours and 10 minutes. We had underestimated the route, but survived. Gear Notes: 7 screws, 4 pickets Approach Notes: Standard approach from the heliotrope ridge TH.

Trip: Buckner Mountain NF, Horseshoe Peak - North Face Trip Date: 06/07/2018 Trip Report: Who: Josh Lewis and I What: North Face of Buckner and Horseshoe Peak. Bulgers #82-83 for me When: June 6-7, 2018 With good weather in the middle of the week, and Josh recovered from his surgery he had late last month, who else to call and invite for a mid-week climb of two Bulgers neither of us had done before? Leaving Renton at 10:30am Wednesday, I made the now routine pick-up of Josh in Lynnwood, and after a quick stop at the hardware store to buy some 90 degree aluminum angle bar (for more pickets...I lost most of mine on Lincoln Peak) we drove out in my van to the Cascade Pass TH (well, the gate at mile 21). Although we made it to the gate one mile beyond the Eldo TH, it is now gated AT the Eldo TH for more repairs. This earlier closure to the road took effect yesterday morning just fyi to anyone going up there. We began the walk up the remainder of the road for 1.5 miles to the Boston Basin TH at 3pm Wednesday, and hiked the somewhat brushy trail all the way to 5,600 feet before hitting any snow! I couldn't believe how fast everything was melting. The snow however began extremely suddenly and within a matter of 50 vertical feet went from nothing to 5 feet in depth! Here I switched out of my approach shoes and into my boots, and we continued up the Quien Sabe glacier, passing a large Mountaineers Group along the way who were all camped at roughly 6,200 feet. We broke trail through the fresh snows of the past week, following the mostly hidden existing tracks all the way to the Boston Sahale col, where we planned to bivy for the night. To my surprise however, the ridgecrest bivies were all still snow covered, so we opted to continue over to the Boston Glacier to camp. We still had a couple hours of daylight left, leaving us enough time to made the tricky scramble (tricky with big mountain boots that is...) up the ridge towards Boston Peak and onto the upper reaches of the Boston Glacier. Small cornices remaining on the ridge made the traverse a bit more interesting, as we had to traverse small ledges below them on the east side of the crest, with 1000+ feet of air below us down to Horseshoe Basin! We made it to the Boston Glacier, and descended 500 feet to the first flat spot, and laid out the tarp for our bivy. We cooked dinner and melted snow and despite the haze/pollution/high clouds, the sunset was still a nice sight. We set the alarm for 4am. Totally dry below treeline! Large group we saw in Boston Basin Sharkfin Tower Sahale Peak Traversing to Boston Glacier It was quite chilly in the morning (granted we were camped at 8,000 feet), so we were slow to get out of our sleeping bags. We even had some frost on our bags and tarp! Eventually, by 5:45 am we roped up and started the traverse across the upper Boston Glacier to the north face of Buckner. Crevasses were easy to spot and navigate around, and most had large snow bridges covering them. We passed beneath the north face of Horseshoe Peak along the way, and once at the base of the route, we unroped and simply continued ascending solo, passing around 4 small bergschrunds on the lower part of the face without difficulty. Here the steepness increased to 45 degrees as we continued climbing the perfect snow that took front points beautifully. We took small breaks here and there when we had a chance (rock ledges, slightly softer snow etc) and made it to the summit ridge just over two hours from leaving our camp on the Boston Glacier below Boston Peak. The final 200 feet of the face offered the steepest terrain, approaching 55 degrees, which was also the most insecure snow. Soloing this section got my heart racing a little more! We left packs on the ridge, and traversed to the eastern summit of Buckner, bypassing a large gendarme on the south side descending 40 feet or so to get around. We decided it is worth ascending both summits of Buckner since they are likely impossible to determine which is the highest. After a quick stay on the east summit, we returned to our packs and finished the last 30 feet to the west summit and signed the register. Plenty of snacks were consumed as well! Our bivy at 8000 feet on Boston Glacier Boston Peak Boston Glacier and Forbidden Josh finishing the route Western summit from the top of the north face route Josh on his way to the east summit Looking down the north face from the west summit By around 9:30am, after over an hour on the summit ridge visiting both summits, we began descending the SW slope, dropped 1000 feet or so and curved right onto a the snow finger leading up to Horseshoe Peak. We ascended this 30-45 degree slope to its highest point where it dumped us off on a large ledge 100 feet below the summit. I swapped into my approach shoes here for the summit scramble, and we worked our way leftward, around a small buttress and into the loose gully leading up to the notch just east of the summit. Then we scrambled up the left-leaning ramp on the south side of the slab, and I solod the short, one move wonder 5.2 finish to the top. Josh was right behind, although since he didn't have approach shoes, the final move was slightly harder for him, but still no problem. We watched from the summit as clouds began to slowly roll in from the west, now obscuring Jburg and Eldorado. We decided to start the long haul back quickly as to avoid a potential whiteout. Horseshoe Peak in the middle Josh making the final move Buckner from Horseshoe We made a long descending traverse across Horseshoe Basin, dropping to a low point of about 6,600 feet, then ascended the ramp and onwards up 1000 more feet of snow back towards the Sahale camps at 7,600 feet. We then traversed over to the Sahale Arm, where we saw a couple skiers and a large Nols group coming down from Sahale Peak, and ran down snow slopes directly to the Cascade Pass Trail, bypassing Cascade Pass itself and in quick time, made it back to bare ground, where I was very happy to once again be not wearing my boots. As always, the stupid trail dragged on, with much annoyance until we reached the parking lot, which is now bare of snow. Only the last switchback just below the parking area still has some snow on the road, but I wouldn't expect the road to be open for a while still. The 2 miles back to the van were nice, as we caught up with the couple skiers we saw and chatted with them for a bit. Upon returning to the van at 4pm, I saw everyone parked at the upper gate had a notice the road was now closed at the Eldo TH and we could still exit at the gate there, but to close it behind us, as it was just "dummy locked". On the way out, milk and muffins awaited in Marblemount, and unfortunately with deteiorating weather for Friday (today) we decided not to attempt Tower and Golden Horn and just return to Lynnwood/Renton. All in all, another great trip with Josh. We ascended 5,500 feet, then descended 500 in 6ish hours Wednesday and 3,200 feet gain, plus the hike all the way out in just over 10 hours on Thursday with packs, and managed to get both peaks. I call that a pretty good success! Gear Notes: Boots/Crampons, one technical tool, bivy gear Approach Notes: Boston Basin - Quien Sabe Glacier to Boston Glacier and traverse to NF of Buckner

Trip: Graybeard - South gully Trip Date: 05/20/2018 Trip Report: You'd think, looking at Graybeard from multiple angles, that there isn't a reasonable ski line on the peak. But a clever wee gully splits the south side and deposits one a few meters from the tippy top (some loosey goosey 3rd in ski boots to keep the finish spicy). On a clear day (which we didn't have) the view is not too shabby either, esp. the gulp inducing perspective looking down the north face. Yowza. It has been off my list for a long time but this only reinforced why. Descending back to Easy Pass in the afternoon brought us back to the crowds that are now unfortunately common in the North Cascades on weekends (3 people). Go midweek. This report is a bit late for the photos to be useful, but there is always next year. Summit ridge: Agnes! (L), Gunsight, and Sinster: The entrance is a bit steep: Across to Hardy (a great ski as well, with a bit more snow): Time to pack 'em: Gear Notes: skis, ski crampons Approach Notes: Careful on the side hill from Easy Pass. Cliffs below!