JoshK

From your somewhat differing recollection it sounds as if the guide's account could have been skewed due to trying to avoid the embarassment from the fall. I guess who knows who exactly fell first, but I imagine he will get a "talking to" for climbing roped without any sort of pro. Thankfully they were able to stop and minimize the severity of the incident. Shuksan was one of my very first climbs and I remember the summit pyramid being very steep and ivy when we climbed it in early May. A thought about the length of the potential slide certainly crossed my mind. I remember telling myself "at least it gently fans out on to that glacier..."

While I wish the snow wasn't melting so fast, at least sno-mos are done for the season starting tomorrow. Good riddance.

Great pictures! It looks like some awesome cilmbing. I like the various colors of lichen on the SG pics, but i imagine they aren't as pretty when you have to climb around them Mega dirtbag/green points on the bus ride, Jens.

I haven't done any of the routes you mentioned but a good friend of mine who has guided Rainer for years also believes Ptarmigan Ridge to best the "best" of those. He has always mentioned what a beautiful route he thought it was, and the best climb of his long career on Rainer.

Great link, 617, thanks a lot. I hadn't seen that thread before. From the lack of comments it seems like the north side of the peak is still really difficult to access, and I certainly think that is the more enjoyable side of the mountain.

Last time i did Glacier Peak was before the storms that totally destroyed much of the access. I've been meaning to go back for several years, optimistic that they would actually fix the road in a reasonable time from. At this point I'm not convinced they'll be fixed within the decade. (They claim "late 2010" for the White Chuck Rd. - yeah right...) Given the state of the destroyed standard roads does anybody know which approaches are left as the most feasible? I know about N. Fork Sauk which goes to the S side of the mountain. What about for the north side? I enjoyed the Frostbite Ridge tour but I'm not even sure what the most reasonable access to that side of the mountain would be these days. Any beta appreciated. -josh

Bumper cars.

I am stubborn and still haven't given up on skiing this Spring. Anybody interested in touring this coming week? -josh

Cool! Thanks for the report of a trip in a great area! I'd also be interested on the specifics of your approach and road conditions. Assuming next week allows me to get out, i still haven't given up on skiing this spring.

Sorry, i don't have any information on it other than looking at the topo myself. It certainly is remote. It almost looks like descending the south side of Spickard to the other small pocket glacier, and traversing around to the top of the couloir in your picture would be the "easiest" way to access it, unless there is better access up Silver Creek than I know of. Even if that was possible, you'd be left climbing back up and out of the couloir you just skied.

The guide pulled them off? Ouch...

I'm not familiar with the names devils tongue or tombstone, but it looks like this would be over near the mt. Spickard area, is that right?

ha! says the man who briefly tried claiming "illness" until i browbeat him up goode (dude!) Hours of emergency bowl evacuations and the loss of a new pair of boots in a raging river had indeed sapped my will to climb. I commend you for the brow beating that i well deserved. Those trusty trail runners are still going strong.

I'm assuming somebody was up on sahale this past weekend. How much snow is left from the cascade pass to the parking lot up to the pass, and then on the arm up to the glacier? has it turned in to the skis off and on again affair yet?

Ivan, you are a bastard for posting that. I'd say dirtyleaf not even saying "hello" back when you met him was a pretty good indication of the unpleasentness that lay ahead. Best wishes in rovering from the injury quickly.

Snowking is a favorite peak of mine, both on skis and hiking later in the season. I wonder if it would still be a worthy ski, hmm...

Has anybody seen the conditions of the Ruth Valley and Ruth mtn? I am hoping to find something to ski this week that doesn't require too much hauling of the skis on the pack. Stuff further east is melting out very very quickly.

Awesome! It's almost June and that looks like some spectacular alpine ice climbing. As Wayne said, great instinct on going for that route!

OK, So how about Wednesday->Friday, anybody up for a multiday (or even overnight) ski tour? Weather looks great! I'm down for almost anywhere in WA.

The last time I incorrectly assumed a lookout had an iron, but instead I ended up going to a black-tie event with a wrinkled pair of scholler pants. Oh so embarassing.

It turns out I will be driving to Wenatchee tomorrow afternoon and was hoping to do an overnight or multiday tour while on that side of the crest. I was thinking about something on the E side of glacier peak wilderness (white river, chiwawa, entiat?). If anybody is interested, send me a PM. I'll be hitting the road tomorrow around noon but will check my messages once there. I'd consider driving back to the west side of somebody was set on a tour there.

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

Pete has a good suggestion. If you are willing to do a bit more of skis-on-pack walking, some of the classic north cascade glacier routes make excellent skis. The sulphide glacier on mt shuksan is very tame and offers you the option to summit if you want. I also love glacier peak for skiing but access is still very difficult due to multiple washouts over the past decade.

Cool! Looks like a couple of very nice days in the mountains. Never know when you'll have to rely on one of those improbable looking snow gullies for a descent, eh?

I LOVE that area. I've been in several times, but never during that much snow cover. It is amazingly gorgeous! Great tour and pictures!