Beck Posted June 10, 2003 Posted June 10, 2003 The planning for a ski traverse across Glacier Peak and into the Dakobeds had been in the works for over a year. Reconnisance photos, scouting trips to find exit routes and escape strategies all pointed to excellent ski touring terrain across the south flanks of Glacier Peak. With a promising weekend weather forecast for the first weekend in june, I met up with Steve Barnett (for all you old ski farts out there, that Steve Barnett) at the Darrington IGA Saturday morning to embark on a ski traverse of Glacier Peak. Steve had it on the back burner for over two decades, and I had been eying the terrain around Glacier Peak since I first saw photos of it in the Cascade Alpine Guide. Our Plan: Ascend Glacier Peak via the Sitkum Glacier, then descend around the back side of Dissapointment Peak onto her southern icefields and make an exit off the White Chuck Glacier onto the northern slope of White Mountian and out the White Chuck River drainage. 30 or more miles in some of the more desolate reaches of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Our gear: minimal. No tent, just a bivy tarp, lightweight ski gear, to allow fast travel. My setup: Lightweight tele skis with ski crampons, voile 3 pin cable and leather Asolo Extreme 3 pin boots. Steve chooses an even lighter setup of Fisher Outbounds waxless metal edge skis, the Salomon SNS backcountry binding, and a Salomon Raid X Ski boot. 10 AM at the IGA puts us on the Kennedy Hot Springs trail at 11:30 and we trudge our way to the climbers camp at Boulder Basin Saterday afternoon. Finding a cleared patch of moraine with a rock wall gives us a great campsite for the evening. Blue skies in the evening gives rise to a gusty winds and a small cloud cap on the peak Sunday morning. We decide to go up and off the mountain as fast as possible in hopes of beating the weather, and set off at 7AM, climbing right out of Boulder Basin on skis onto the Lower Sitkum Glacier. The weather cooperated, with an intermitent cloud cap and strong but not hurricane winds. 11 AM found us ducking around a rock rib at about 9,000 to get out of the wind and enjoy a brief lunch. The weather is cooperating as we climb off the upper Sitkum on steep slopes to below the summit cone. There was a layer of rime over bluewater ice on the summit rocks, and with the clouds returning, we forgo the last scramble to the summit, and point our skis toward the Cool Glacier and Dissapointment Peak. We peel our skins off on just above the Cool Glacier and look for an enterance over the bergshrund. The shrund allowed easy entry onto the Cool Glacier, and we ski cautiously around a few gaping crevasses with an eye on our altimeters to guide our traverse onto the Gerdine Glacier at 9,140 feet. Skiing around some gapers to either side of a series of nunataks puts us on the compression zone between the Cool and Gerdine glaciers, and with an easy transition over some blue ice blocks and holes, we enter the upper Gerdine glacier for a long run of over 3,000 vertical feet on lightly crevassed terrain. The weather turns for the better, and we spend the rest of the afternoon making sweeping runs up and along the Gerdine and Suiattle Glaciers towards our next high point, Glacier Cap. this glacier cap divides the watershed of the Suiattle and WhiteChuck rivers, and we touched the headwaters of both that afternoon as we skied across the cap and onto the WhiteChuck Glacier. Ominous afternoon clouds gave use good cause to make an exit route clear for escape, so we camp a thousand feet lower than planned in case bad weather closed in overnight. If the weather holds, Monday will find us touring up the Suiattle Glacier and onto the expansive Honeycomb Glacier. Monday morning we awake in the clouds. No visibility and a heavy mist that isn't breaking up. By ten am we make a decision to bail out. We break camp, and navigate our way thru the fog to easier terrain. Route finding didn't present much difficulty, with only one wrong try that resulted in us reclimbing a gully, to put us smack dab on the trail across a crucial bridge at 4,900 feet just as the snow ends. A perfect navigational tour to the exit point we were shooting for put us twelve miles away from the cars, and by 7PM Monday night Steve Barnett and myself were back at the cars. A sucessful ski traverse of Glacier Peak across a series of five glaciers, thirty some odd miles and over six thousand feet of ski descent over three days was completed in fine form with lightweight ski gear. Quote
ski_photomatt Posted June 10, 2003 Posted June 10, 2003 Wow, congrats. Sounds like a great trip. Quote
Ned_Flanders Posted June 10, 2003 Posted June 10, 2003 It has been a dream of mine to get on that expansive honeycomb glacier. It sounds like you got awful close. Nice job. Quote
Touray Posted June 10, 2003 Posted June 10, 2003 hey beck Nice job!! I belive I met u in the parking lot when u got back. me and my freind Aaron did Frostbridge and descnded via the sitkum.. Sounds like a good trip Touray Quote
Thrashador Posted June 11, 2003 Posted June 11, 2003 What a trip. Thanks for the report. Cheers! Quote
Beck Posted June 24, 2003 Author Posted June 24, 2003 (edited) yas touray, congratulations yourself, but when I passed your climbing partner on the trail back to the cars, i noticed you guys didn't have any skis? anyway, i'm thinking of heading up there with the skis in mid july again, if any one wants to go. Edited June 24, 2003 by Beck Quote
Ned_Flanders Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 touray, no skis? tsk tsk. Yeah, the dakobed range traverse has been on my friend and I's mind for a while now. Quote
JoshK Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 I found that hauling skis up frostbite ridge was the only thing that made it tolerable. Having to slog down the sitkum glacier and boulder basin would have been misery! Quote
Touray Posted July 3, 2003 Posted July 3, 2003 im to broke to afford skis, so i walk every where. Im a true hard man Mr Stern =) Quote
gapertimmy Posted July 3, 2003 Posted July 3, 2003 how late in the summer could one ski the sitkum and it still be quasi enjoyable? maybe i'll just go on foot and scout it out for next spring, never been up before Quote
Beck Posted July 3, 2003 Author Posted July 3, 2003 probably most of the summer, if you know what you're doing- it currently doesn't have any extensive crevasse systems on the Sitkum year to year except in a couple of easily avoided areas. the northeast side of the peak has more broken up glaciers. Quote
Ned_Flanders Posted July 3, 2003 Posted July 3, 2003 Touray said: im to broke to afford skis, so i walk every where. Im a true hard man Mr Stern =) fraze Quote
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