mattp Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Sloan Peak, February 7-8, 2003 Which Cascade climber hasn't stood on top of a summit, from Mount Stuart to Mount Shuksan, and noticed the striking profile of Sloan Peak, dominating the skyline west of Glacier Peak? Fred Beckey calls it "the Matterhorn of the Cascades" and while this accolade may be a bit much, I agree that Sloan Peak is outstanding and, besides, it stands near the Mountain Highway. I had been wanting to climb it for years. Earlier in the week, I had discussed a weekend ski trip to Canada but family obligations were to require my presence in Seattle on Saturday night. With the high pressure building and the weather predicted to remain stable through the weekend, however, I HAD to do something. When Wotan of Ballard e-mailed to ask if I could climb on Friday or Saturday, I replied: "what about Sloan?" His reply was: "that's what I was thinking." You see, two great minds do think alike: here was a peak that stands close to a road that normally isn't drive-able in the middle of winter so we'd be able to drive at least five miles closer than in a normal year. With recent rainfall up to high elevations, followed by only moderate amounts of well-bonded new snow -- and that having mostly fallen above 4,000 feet -- the approach would be relatively easy walking and the climb should not be avalanche prone. Lastly, with only minimal technical difficulties and those all coming above 6,500 feet, everything that mattered should be frozen (the freezing level had been at 4,000-5,000 feet for several days); we could pretty much count on being able to get up and down in a day or day-and-a-half in fairly casual style even though it was a significant Cascades summit and this was February. I could work 'till noon on Friday and we could still squeeze in a good climb (I worked 'till 10:00, and we split town). The hike up Bedal Creek was the standard Mountain Loop Highway stuff. Gooseberry, Slide Maple, and Devil's Club completely obscured the trail for 100 yards at a time, and numerous windfalls and icy creek crossings made for interesting travel. We walked, crawled and jumped to the end of the trail, followed flagging up a wooded spur, and crossed the high basin below the west face of Sloan. As the sun set slowly in the west, we gained sweeping views of the surrounding mountains as we gazed upwards at the great granite cliffs above; once again, we agreed, we were blessed to be shined upon by the mountain gods. Above 4,000 feet, there was enough soft snow atop an icy crust to impede progress but we made it to camp at the high col SW of the peak just after (rather than the planned-upon just-before) sunset. We set the tent and sat by the stove in fading light and, aided by the light of a half moon, enjoyed a windless and relatively warm evening. Dawn comes late at this time of year, so we enjoyed a full night's slumber. Well rested, we set out again as it started to get light and headed over to the base of the "lower shelf" on the south face. The knee deep snow proved hard work, and it took a full hour and a half to wallow over to the shelf, and swim upward to the connection point that had appeared tricky from camp but turned out to be relatively easy. Wotan took the lead, and this picture shows him just about to start on fifty feet of thunk-hard neve, about 45 degrees or so to reach the "upper shelf." Very nice. Above this, there was a gully pitch blocked by an ice-clad chockstone, and then we were on the upper west face, where goat trails wander to the summit during the summer. At this time of the year, however, it was real climbing. Not terribly technical, and any self-respecting hot-shot would turn his or her nose up at it, but the sun was out and this was quite enjoyable for a couple of old guys like us. Soon enough, we reached the summit. Ever mindful of my family obligation, we didn't linger for long but there was time for a quick victory smoke and then we down-climbed the route (leaving a couple of pitons in situ for a gear grabbers or clean climbing police of this world) and ski-daddled back to camp to pack up and run back to the car. I made it to dinner on time and I'm sure Wotan made points at home for returning at a respectable hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Nice job, Matt. Looks cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 whoa! Looks steep!!! (nice job guys, sounds like fun) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Is that a stogie? Looks like a fun outing, thanks for the TR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew_Jones Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Great TR! I did Sloan last summer, but it looks like a much more interesting and challenging climb in winter. Nice job! Drew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 blunted on Sloan too funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Wow. Great job! I really like the picture with the short sleeves! Short sleeves in the first of February! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Yeah buddy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 that was awesome. Nice use of conditions! This little guy performed a celebratory dance, which I captured on video: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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