JonParker

Love it! And really, the entire report top to bottom. I took two different ways to get back and forth over the Challenger E-W ridge line. The further east one was definitely harder. I think the west one is Solar pass, and wasn’t technical.

It’s a matter of personal preference. Chikamin is big and deep, there are some house swallowers there. But I think you’ll find 2 person parties are not rare.

Yeah 5 people in the vicinity within an hour or two of the event, on a Monday at least 1.5 days from a road (for most). Would have been game over otherwise. While remote, the ptarmigan traverse does seem to be blowing up.

Trip: Gunsight - E and SW faces of Middle, S ridge of South Trip Date: 07/13/2025 Trip Report: I had the tremendous luck of finding a pair of climbers (Rebecca and Shane) who wanted to check out the Gunsight range using a rope team larger than 2 for the Chikamin. We climbed as a party of 3. They turned out to be excellent climbers and excellent company. First I’ll stick mostly to the things I wish I knew beforehand, inaccurate beta, etc. On our second day we blindly followed tracks of a party about a half hour ahead of us in the Chikamin which led to the lowest pass. Getting on the rock it seemed like possibly low 5th slab and too far south of Gunsight. We decided we were in the wrong place. I briefly scoped the next gully north which was terrible. We then found the right path, using mostly clean slabs. In Blake’s book the arrow isn’t quite in the right place, we were one notch north of his line, in the “s” in “peaks”. We had hoped to climb E face of Middle this day but with the lost time settled on S ridge of S peak. We would later find out that doing E face of Middle on day 2 is doable only if everything goes right, no route finding issues, climbing and descending efficiently. A better plan that I’d recommend to most coming from Downey is to aim for SW face of Middle for your day 2. P2 and start of P3 on S ridge S Gunsight: S ridge of S Gunsight is a garbage climb. The first pitch is not terrible but the face after an ok corner is covered in black lichen and any pro seemed worthless. Hard to find an anchor on top of the choss ridge. Much less than the reported 45m. The next very short pitch, again much shorter than in our description, has an exciting knife edge lean + leap onto the rock that begins the cannon hole (my first trad dyno I think). From there we expected 5.4 to finish the climb. I went back and forth, high and low, repeatedly dead ending near a notch with lots of tat. Finally I committed to a delicate and highly exposed 5.8-5.9 stem around a corner to get to a downclimb to the notch. From there I ran the rope out to the summit at somewhat dirty low 5th. Looking back I saw how the follower would be exposed to a big pendulum and deck, so I encouraged my partners to just rap that step off the existing tat. With a couple raps we were back on the east side retracing our steps to the notch. Numerous steep hard snow interruptions to the slabs involved time sucking crampon on-off transitions. I was grumpy about 2 days of effort to climb 3 pitches of choss but we caught a gorgeous sunset just as we reached the notch. From there we traversed high on snow and slabs below Gunsight to get to where we had stashed our bivies. The next day we tried again for E face of Middle. Rather than circle around the peak again Rebecca had the great idea of climbing the SW Beckey route, rapping S to the notch, then rapping E to get to the E face. The Beckey route was straightforward low-mid 5th choose your own adventure on fun solid rock with lots of knobs, which we began from a small cave just above the best moat crossing we found. The summit register’s last entry was from 3 years prior, a party doing gunrunner. We did one rap south beginning a little below the summit, backing up the slightly suspect block. From there a double rope rap from a higher confidence anchor got us to the notch. The anchor we found there wasn’t very great but we couldn’t find better options. I immediately found the e side to be mostly steep dirt. Angling slightly south I found an ok nut anchor maybe 45m down from the notch. A double rope rap from there got us down to the very dirty snow. This might have been the dirtiest gully I’ve descended up to that point. The high quality of the E face lived up to the hype, though misleading beta vexed us at times. Our first pitch was quite long due to low snow and glacial recession. Comparing our photos to some from 15 years ago there was some thing like 50-100 feet of rusty rock that had been covered in snow in the earlier photos. The pitch 2 crux is right off the deck and maybe sandbagged (or I was just tired). Awkward, tricky, exposed to decking, it took me about 4 tries to lead through it. I don’t think the pitch was more than 15m. This was another ledge where a good anchor was hard to find. Pitch3 (10c) was actually easier than pitch2. Shane had stopped one ledge short of the proper start of pitch 4. We worried about linking that step into pitch 4 because it’s supposedly 45m. In reality pitch4 turned out to be more like 30m. Oh well. The pitch 4 climbing was fantastic and its crux (10d) was another possible sandbag. I could not have led it. Very demanding powerful moves finally got me through it after a few attempts. By now the hour was late and we were looking at the mental crux of the runout 5.9 slab. Shane led this one too. Rebecca went second and I came last. I was glad to have watched them for beta on the subtle step down crux at the most run out point. Brilliant colors lit up the horizon while it was my turn but I could give it only fleeting attention as I concentrated at the crux. Once through I ran up the ridge (low 5th? Didn’t notice any 5.8) in the twilight, basically a full 60m rather than the 15m our beta advised. We repeated the rap sequence south to the notch as it grew dark windy and cold. The rope got stuck during the pull here. With much effort Shane finally freed the rope. The descent to the east was a known thing at this point but I argued that it was so bad that the descent to the west couldn’t possibly be worse. About this I turned out to be wrong. We did one short rap to an anchor south of the main gut/vomitorium of the gulley, with resident snaffles greeting us at both ends of the rap. From there Shane plunged into the unknown, over an overhang, choss diarrhea of all sizes being released. At a full 60m we went off rope and I took a clean slab ramp around a corner and found good cracks while they pulled the rope. Somehow that rap didn’t destroy us or the ropes. We placed a cam anchor and got past the steep icy snow onto lower angle stuff and began the traverse back to camp, arriving around 2am. We made dinner, celebrated, and tucked in around 3. Next morning I went back with the suspicion that our anchor could be reached on class 4 slabs that we couldn’t see well in the dark. It turned out to have a little low 5th, so rapping was definitely the right call for the circumstance. But I was glad to recoup our gear. Having encountered the worst and second worse gullies of my life on either side of middle gunsight I now think that the best way to retreat is probably down the SW Beckey route. It’s ledgey so it would be best to downclimb most of it with some raps where it makes sense. And best done in the daylight, after climbing it at least once so you know the way at least approximately. Faded from the unexpected epics our only goal for day 4 was to get back to Itswoot ridge, beginning around noon. But around 1:40 at about 7K’ we heard a voice from a distance. We stopped and listened. Heard it again. Could barely make out words like “broken ankle” “helicopter”, “alone”. We pressed the SOS. The voice seemed to be vaguely in the Sinister area but we couldn’t tell where. We started backtracking and did some Marco Polo every few minutes without success. Finally passing east of the north face of Sinister we saw what we realized was a person. He was not moving and covered in a gray sleeping bag so we hadn’t been able to tell him apart from a rock at a distance. Maintaining some privacy here, we found that he was indeed immobilized and in severe pain and needed rescue. His inspiration and his equipment were in disharmony and this had culminated in a long and presumably very rapid slide down snow NE of Sinister. Fortunately over cracks, unfortunately meeting some rock(s) along the way. A little while later a father and daughter were coming down the Chikamin. It was nice to have more help. We did our best to keep him warm and as comfortable as possible as we waited for SAR. When the helicopter came we were surprised that it took so many laps through the area (maybe 5?) before two rescuers finally were lowered down with a litter. The morning had begun mostly cloudy but the afternoon was quite brilliant. Some rain approached quickly from the north and reached us just as the helicopter took off with the victim and SAR people aboard. We restarted our ascent in the rain, reaching our turnaround point >4.5 hours after we had stopped. This guy was quite fortunate that several people happened to be in ear shot on a week day in such a remote area. The rain cleared half way up the Chikamin and gave way to that kind of really clear atmosphere that seems to come on the heels of misty alpine weather. We found a wonderful spot past Dome glacier, well before Itswoot and called it a day. The highlights of our last day included a brief swim in cub lake, the flora above cub lake, and the many berries along Downey. Less fun was stuffing our pockets full with entirely unnecessary flagging all along very obvious trail along Bachelor. Some of it quite haphazardly stuffed onto bark like so Gunsight delivered adventure in more ways than I could have anticipated. For people going there for the first time I’d advise to stay the fuck out of the gullies on both sides of Middle, bring lots of gear for rap anchors because there seems to be little traffic there, skip south gunsight, and expect everything to take longer than you’d think. Photo dump will go here: Gear Notes: Double to 2, one 3, one 4. 2x60m twin. In reach (please people). Knife for tape. Approach Notes: Downey approach is currently straightforward. Trail work has been done all the way to Bachelor

For contrast to the double moat encountered on 7/4/25, the 7/6/24 conditions are pictured in the TR linked here. No moats, easy downclimb.

I don’t, I’ve never looked into it. This is the best recent photo I have of the area

Trip: Terror - N buttress (attempt), Himmelhorn - Wild hair crack, Degenhardt NW+E route, Pyramid - W route Trip Date: 07/04/2025 Trip Report: Drawbridged again in the pickets for the second time in a week. After the standard rap into the couloir north of Otto-Himmel col my partner @aikidjoe encountered a moat that appeared impassable. He ascended back to the station and I took a look down the next gully skiers left. From lower down I could see it would have been no good to try the moat (which would have required an absurd running leap) because another moat was not far below that one. I kept descending adjacent to the couloir, finding mostly solid, even fun, exposed class 4. There was a short low fifth corner with a lemon cake sized block that kept it secure. I passed a slung block with old webbing. Where things cliffed out I found some good .1-.2 cam sized cracks that could be used for a rap anchor. My 60m rope easily reached continuous snow from there (maybe 20m rap). Last year at exactly the same time of year I downclimbed continuous snow down this couloir without even needing the first rap. And last year was a low snow year too. So I was pretty surprised at the state of the couloir. This workaround skiers left seems viable to me. Posting it here in case it helps anyone. The false start and exploration ate up enough time that we decided to bail on our plans for the Stoddard route and head back up to climb WHC instead. My partner was bemused because he expected a crack climb The day had started clear. On our way back down from O-H dark gray clouds moved in to block the ridge. I was glad we weren’t somewhere high on the north buttress of Terror. Next day was quite socked in. We headed off for Degenhardt, accidentally heading up from the south before correcting course for our intended NW route from near Terror’s east col. To gain the couloir there was short choke that steepened at the end to maybe 80 degree snow. We underestimated the angle from below. Odd, usually it’s the opposite. We were able to bypass this on slabs on our return. The foreboding weather and lack of visibility gave the climb a serious feeling. As it gradually cleared on the way back the route started to feel easier. There is plenty of choss on Degenhardt but I recall the scramble being pretty fun. While extracting the summit register I dropped its pencil down some hole. Sorry. From there we groped our way slowly toward Pyramid. The route finding in the clouds was trickiest near Degenhardt. Was glad to carry ax/whippet all the way due to about ten steps through a narrow and steep snow couloir to get to Pyramid’s rock pyramid. We had peek a boo views into McMillan cirque but could see nothing at all to the east. By the time we passed back west of Degenhardt the clouds were lifting and it was a relief to see where we were going. The weather kept improving and the sunset was a real mind melter. UFOs came out in force. Next morning greeted us with more clear weather but having had our fill we bid adieu to the goats and our impeccable camp. After the bruising descent we enjoyed copious berries south of terror creek. Gear Notes: 60m rope and light rack, crampons, ax or whippet Approach Notes: Goodell

Yeah that west side looks real sketch

Yikes, yeah that would do it. I’m curious was that on the west or east side of the buttress?

Trip: East Fury - North Buttress Trip Date: 06/29/2025 Trip Report: In the couloir leading to the buttress from its east side, the drawbridge is up. It’s hard to think of a route in the cascades that I haven’t climbed that I was more excited to try. From Luna col the position of upper snow arete looks insane. And the photos in this 2017 report don’t hurt: https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/100747-tr-mt-fury-north-buttress-6232017/?tab=comments I was lucky to find a partner inspired enough to take a day off and put in the considerable effort to get out there and check it out. Saturday was a little cloudy and not too hot, which kept things relatively smooth on our way from big beaver to Luna Col. Even though I’d seen it before, the first sight of the northern faces of the southern pickets that rewards the grind up to -6400 was literally breathtaking. I let out a little pious whoa. The last mile or so took approximately forever but we arrived well before dark, 11.5 hours after drop off. A ghost set up our tent. From the col the couloir didn’t look too promising but wasn’t obviously impossible so we proceeded to go for it the next morning, leaving camp at 5am (4:30 might have been better). As in the trip report from 2017, we trended left on the descent to Luna lake, which worked well. From the lake we traversed W and SW, bottoming out around 4500’. At this point we could see the snow was not continuous in this first couloir and quite a bit lower, maybe 15-20 feet, than in the 2017 reference photo. We found a ~5.0 exit onto slabby rock and got up to easier ground. Continuing up we traversed as quickly as possible across the exposed face to the entrance of the main couloir. From below it still looked worth trying. But only about 200’ up it we encountered a hidden moat spanning wall to wall, just above where I am in this photo. It was tall and unnervingly hollowed out. Questing up and left on the rock for a bypass was fruitless. I found steep slabs without much pro. And transitioning from boots and crampons to rock shoes while exiting a tenuous snow location onto a narrow rock stance turns out to be very awkward. At 30m I ran out of rope (folded 60m half), placed a piece and down climbed on top rope back to the snow. We down climbed the steep snow back out the couloir. About to down climb to the first couloir. Looking up on our return to Luna lake I thought, hmm, we came down that? It looks improbably steep but is actually reasonable. All throughout the cirque there was surprisingly little activity given how warm the day was. At camp 12 hours after we left the evening was unpleasantly hot and buggy and I impatiently awaited the reprieve of dusk. In the meantime there was some helicopter activity near Outrigger. I hope everyone involved is all right. The heat was considerable already at 7am the next morning when we began our descent. I used crampons but there really was no hard snow to be found. We took a long break at the stream by Luna camp and it seemed then that we’d make our 5pm taxi in plenty of time. One small delay occurred when we saw two bear cubs climbing to the top of a tree right off of the trail. Mama wasn’t making herself seen or heard, so we backed up a little, made a bunch of noise and gave them a few minutes to clear out. We didn’t see the cubs again and did see the mother a little bit off trail, not acting aggressively. Checking the time. As the afternoon miles went by we realized that we were slipping behind and had to really push to get there right at 5pm. The driver was very nice and encouraged us to take the time to cool off in the lake. I don’t know if I have it in me to try this route again but if I did it would have to be possibly even earlier in the calendar, and in a year with above average snow pack come June. The west side alternative doesn’t appeal much to me, the photos from Steph Abegg make it look like overhead exposure would last a lot longer than it does while traversing in from the east. Gear Notes: Crampons, ax, whippet, 60m half rope, single picket, light rack and some bail gear Approach Notes: Big beaver to Luna col to Luna lake

Nice! I had hoped to do these peaks on skis this year but couldn’t get there in time. Was Klawatti already not skiable? Too bad about the mush and crevasses, that transition between Klawatti and N Klawatti glaciers looks like it must be the crux.

When I was there in early July of last year I took #1 from Fury to Luna. It is briefly on the glacier. Crossed a rib at 6600’, bottoming out at 6400’ before reascending to the pass that rejoins the ridge line at 7000’. Was a bit steep and slippery crossing the rib. Think I’ve seen gpx that cross the rib a little lower. @tanstaafl might be able to comment on route #2

Impressive climbing, super impressive logistics, congratulations on completing the crux!

https://issuu.com/kevinmax1/docs/1889_decjan2024_with_insert/s/61232102?fbclid=IwY2xjawG-Mj1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWQZhi15InprI7Dh9zvHjp2HNH3xnWI7pfRdnXkpc0JTJZIbJyG0jsBPgQ_aem_I4W3UaKjmpsTIbvy-Adujg

Wonderful TR! Sounds like a really enjoyable trip.