jimd

Thanks Bill and Jake for another great climb! Bill, nice lead on the rock pitch. Doing laybacks with a full pack and mountain boots made for interesting climbing. Jake, good call on the weather. The minor threat posed by "onshore flow" was more than offset by the solid clear breaks and spectacular scenery for most of the climb. Jake's lead up the Price Glacier included routefinding around a snow chute that had been carved so deep and wide that direct crossing was impossible. On the summit pyramid, indeed, the central gully was in good condition, and we would have much preferred it over the SE ridge. At the summit, we encoutered a rarity which mightily hastened our descent: static electricity was felt both by me (tingling hands and arms) and Jake (ringing / buzzing ears). That bit of weather followed us down the mountain with hail on the Sulphide Glacier and a whiteout for our crossing of the Upper Curtis Glacier. From the Fisher Chimneys out, weather broke again into clear evening sunshine. There was little sign of the trail, still buried in snow, from the creek crossing below Lake Anne to Artist Point, so some navigation was required to get into the exit valley as dusk approached. Glad the pics turned out!

Bill, it was great climbing with you on this route. Also, it's a nice bonus to find that we are the third ascent party! The one detail I would add is that it is a full seven pitches of rightward climbing from the right turn at the start of the snowy basin to the left turn toward the flying buttress. Here are some additional photos: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=6289