mrefranklin

Thanks for the info. The route you described is the one that we were looking to take. Selected Climbs, however, states that the "standard" way is to follow the graded road up from the parking lot. It looks much quicker to take the snow ramp but it was way too sketchy last weekend. E

I forgot to ask you, since it sound like you've been up there a lot - if you follow the trail from the parking lot, where does it spit you out in relation to the Sahale Arm? Do you still have to traverse under the cliff band at 5400 feet or so or do you go right over it on a more direct line to the upper arm?

Hey there, Mr. Hollett, Yep, I saw your track on the way out - I just never saw you except while we were driving up the road. While we were hiking in that clumped up mess, I thought I heard a voice below as well - must have been you again. I never saw anybody all day, though. Well, there's going to be another month or more of rideable snow up there. Perhaps we'll bump into you next time under more favorable snow conditions. Sorry about any of the random sluff piles. We were in the trees to try and limit that kind of crap from happening. I certainly hate having stuff kicked down on me from above.

Greetings folks! What a weekend that just passed! I hope that you all had pleasant Easters while preparing your taxes. I just wanted to give y'all an update on the Cascade Pass region. Currently, the Cascade River Road goes up to somewhere past milepost 21 before becoming so snowed over that we could not proceed. Basically, you're going to have hike in for about a mile or so to get to the parking lot and trail pass. My buddy, Jeff, and I ascended through the trees on a beeline towards the lower Sahale Arm. Throughout the day, Avalanches of varying sizes continued to pummel J-burg and some of the other peaks like Triplets and Mix-up. I would not consider hiking the valley below the cirque at this point. Mucho activity and weak layers are making it more dangerous than I would want to risk. The valley floor is totally scarred with recent avalanche activity. Jeff and were traversing at about 5400-5500 feet to try and start up the Sahale Arm when we came to a cliff band that we would have had to traverse under. After watching two smallish slides come off of it in ten minutes, we decided to be prudent and ski a chute into the valley and back to the car. Neither of us were interested in testing what were pretty obvious signs from on high... With a little consolidation for safety, the Sahale Arm climb will be in good shape. Perhaps, if we had actually followed the trail up, instead of ascending the trees, it would have been better as well. Either way, it was gorgeous day to be in the backcountry. We didn't see a soul the whole day. I'd definitely like to get back into the area within the next couple of weeks. With a little warm weather, the road should melt out and give us a few weeks of great backcountry boarding and skiing before climbing season is fully upon us.

I only wish I had taken my snowboard. If that had been the case, I definitely would have ascended the full face to drop some turns in the goods. You better hurry up and go get your snowboard descent or I may beat you to it. I would take snowshoes if I were you, even though you'll only use them a little bit, it will save quite a bit of time crossing open powder fields.

We followed the route prescribes in Beckey which is basically in the tree line from the get-go. Our ascent to high camp was mostly in the trees on the east side of the valley. The problem was that any time that we came to an opening, especially higher up, the snow was incredibly deep. We did not have snow shoes and the snow looked great for a ski or snowboard descent. Despite the bushwhacking, we moved pretty quickly when in the trees, it was only open spaces (probably due to a lack of knowledge of the area) that nailed us. The snow is currently too deep on the North Face to call it a climb. Right now, it's more of a straightforward posthole slog. With a little consolidation, the route will be in great shape for climbing very soon so keep your eyes peeled. How was the traverse on the Shuksan Arm?

So my buddy and I were looking for a spectacular winter climb and thought that this would be it. Forecast called for clear skies, cool nights, so we expected some snow consolidation to put the route in shape. Well I'm here to tell you that this year's low snow coverage makes this route more than a little bush-whacky. I have heard horror stories of the spring and summer approaches on this climb requiring crampons to get through the slick rocks, vegetation, and downed timber, even though there isn't snow there at that time. Well, now imagine the same approach with many of those obstacles hidden or just plain slick as snot. Right now, I honestly do not believe that the route can be safely completed in two days. My climbing partner and I are both in good shape and regularly beat the time estimates given for routes in guide books. Well, in this case the guidebooks said that it would take us up to 6 hours to reach high camp. It took us 8 HOURS of utter post-hole drudgery. Scaling slick timber and sparse snow coverage is quite a lesson in abject humility. Even better are the open powder field of waist deep snow with breakable crust (sarcasm). We did reach high camp and awoke at 1 AM for an alpine start on the North Face. We were climbing be 3 AM after breaking down our bivy site, melting more water and a quick breakfast of oatmeal. It took us a solid hour of breaking trail to reach the very lowest section of the North Face. What we found is not terribly encouraging. The snow is knee to thigh deep. While climbable, this is definitely not the stuff that will give you fond memories of the place. My partner and I made the correct decision in turning around at that point because it took us another 7 hours to get back to the car. This is no fun at the moment. If the terrain was flatter and I wasn't worried about conserving the wilderness, I'd tell you to bring a machete. Now, for the big WARNINGS y'all are probably looking for: 1. There is a very real threat of avalanche with all of this loose new snow over a skimpy base. If you cannot summit and be back down through the danger zone by 9-10 AM or so, DO NOT DO IT. We heard a larger avalanche in the middle of our approach day around noon. At present, the route may make a beautiful 3-day adventure with a second bivy below the Summit Pyramid after a successful summit day. 2. DO NOT DESCEND DIRECTLY DOWN THE VALLEY ALONG WHITE SALMON CREEK. While the top of the descent is quicker, it is prone to major slides on several sides, and funnels you into a morass of covered trees, scrub, and converging creek beds. The lower section of this valley is post-holing at its absolute ugliest. I strongly suggest exiting close to the way that you came in. Stay in the trees for consolidated snow an on the way down even if you have to climb or traverse a little bit to do so. When you can take the trees pretty much the whole way, angle for the clear cut area below chair 8 at Mt. Baker Ski Resort. This will also insure that you cross the creek after all of the drainages have funneled into it. Why cross more than you asolutely have to? Ascend the tree line on either side of the clear cut. Use trees, bushes, and whatever else you can find to haul yourself up. Keep an eye out for ascendable tracks in the cut. We found the tracks of a wayward snowboarder that had to hike out. This track saved us at least on hour since it was so firm and consolidated in the prints. It's a pity the poor guy didn't ride all of the way down the cut into the valley. We only got to use his prints for the last 150-200 vertical feet. In Summation: You can do this route with a favorable weather window and by taking precautions in the avalanche terrain. I think that it is currently a three day route, but a decent consolidation period with warm temps could put the route in good shape in no time at all. Extreme bushwhack approach and exit. Keep that in mind. If you're good climber, the approach is probably the current crux of the route.