jonthomp Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Climb: Shuksan-North Face Date of Climb: 5/17/2004 Trip Report: After arriving at the trailhead a bit before 6 PM, we dropped down into the drainage and began the "difficult crosscountry travel" referred to in the guides. Steep and through the trees, but not overly difficult to get to the 5500' bivy site, with snow along the ridge near the end. We tossed around for a few hours in those ultralight bivy sacks and were happy enough to be up and moving around at 2 AM. The mountain had been quiet all night with the exception of two slides that rolled down off of the White Salmon. We were on the North Face and traversing below the rockband around 3:30. What began as good cramponing quickly deteriorated to breakable crust and plunging up to our knees. Beneath the crust was bottomless sugar snow. Needless to say, this soured our moods concerning our chances of success. We kept heading up and thankfully the snow changed as we headed through several old avalanche zones. Once on the upper face the snow was awesome—solid, but not icy. Soon enough we were at the top of the North Shoulder, up over the col, and onto the summit pyramid. We dumped our packs and headed to the summit up the central chute. This proved to be the most challenging part as the snow was approaching icy. While front pointing up the chute was not that difficult, coming down felt dicey. Self-arresting here would likely have been impossible in the event of a fall and as I passed a piton with a biner dangling from it, I was wishing for the rope stashed in my pack at the bottom of the chute so I could rappel instead of downclimb. We then descended the Sulphide to Hell’s Highway across the Upper Curtis Glacier and down the White Salmon. The snow was soft and mushy, but stable. We should have then cut up to the ski area and aimed for the road, but we chose the drainage instead. The only positive thing about that choice was that the devil’s club had not yet leafed out. We were back to the car at about 3:30 with a cooler full of cold beer and home in time for dinner. All in all, a great trip. (some pics to follow) Gear Notes: crampons, ice axe (had pickets, a fluke, and rope, but never used) Approach Notes: road to trees to snow and more snow to brush and more trees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen_Ramsey Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Hey Jon, Nice trip report! That was probably the pin that I left on the way down, about a month ago. I'm surprised nobody has bootied it yet! Cheers, Steve Ramsey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 that route's a good'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonthomp Posted May 17, 2004 Author Share Posted May 17, 2004 I'm surprised nobody has bootied it yet! More booty to be found by future archeologists--my partner dropped his GPS at 6600' on the N.F. We watched it gain speed and skitter off into oblivion, maybe to stop in one of our boot tracks, but probably to take a swim in Price Lake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 On my way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourteenfour Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 nice job pressing on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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