[TR] Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 8/8/2008

[burglar]

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys

 

Date: 8/8/2008

 

Trip Report:

Round two. After last years incredibly unsuccessful attempt at this route, this time we planned for 3 days, and did it in August instead of April. Drove from PDX Wed. night up to Lake Anne TH and descended for an hour to the valley floor, stopping to camp in a grassy patch around 3:00am. Woke up at 8:30am to a few mosquitoes and a pair of hikers, but very sunny skies. Got going around 9 for the hike up to Lake Ann with amazing views of Baker and Shuksan.

 

 

Since we "thought" we wanted to stay high on the west slopes, (confusing them for the slopes to the base of the chimneys) we opted to not descend to Lake Ann (team motto: don't lose elevation) and instead tried to cross a few gullies to get to the side of the mountain. This took us a good 2 hours of bushwhacking and then walking on a few scree slopes instead of simply losing 300ft to the lake and then following a the established trail. Tactic duly noted.

 

Eventually we got back on the trail and along the way we encountered such awesome sites as nature's A/C via the cool breezes blowing out from under a carved out snow field. Amazing, and just what we needed.

 

 

Finally made our way to the chimneys and took a break to hack off some snow to crush on our baking skulls and then headed up. The chimneys were solid, no snow, and very sturdy hand and foot holds. Once at the top, it was a quick walk up Winnie's Slide to our bivy site at the bottom of Upper Curtis. Great, just need to get my crampons and ice axe. My crampons and...ohmygod...where's my iceaxe? Answer: Uh, where you left it you fool - at the base of the chimneys. Just perfect. Luckily, a carabiner, some webbing, and soon my snow picket was my new best friend. Maybe someone will bring it up with them tomorrow? Who knows.

 

Anyway, once up the slide, the views from the bivy site are really hard to beat, and we were in bed just as the sun went down. Windy and somewhat restless night, but crisp skies, heat lightening and sounds of ice and rock falling in the distance made it all the...better?

 

 

Woke up around 8 and were moving around 8:30. As you can see, the route up the first slope of the Upper Curtis was pretty heinous with mixed ice and snow.

 

 

For some reason we chose to climb it and just hoped our crampons would stick, and after the initial ice section it wasn't so bad. A much better idea (and what we did on the descent) is to just climb the rock ridge to the left in the photo which drops you out right above the ice section. Way better, and no more difficult than the chimneys.

 

Crevasses on the UC are easily avoided, and the descent down to and then up Hell's Highway was easy going. The Sulphide glacier was amazing to look at as you crested the ridgeline.

 

 

Alas, soon we met the masses coming up from the Sulphide route. Two rope teams of 5 each headed to the pyramid, followed by two more parties of 4 each. We passed them and were encouraged to try the ridge route to the summit as the group was going for the center gully.

 

This way seems a bit tricky as you hit a few gullies that don't easily connect to the path to the summit.

 

 

We eventually hit the uppermost rock on the ridgeline near the summit and ate some lunch trying out best to fight the wind. With other parties waiting and setting fixed lines, we waited a few minutes and then headed down, all the while trying our best not to rain rocks down on them. As it was 1:00 and there were 9 people waiting, I'm not sure how many made it up.

 

Slog back down was nothing of note, except that it actually took a lot shorter than we imagined. We though about glissading Hell's Highway (much steeper on the descent) but instead just carefully stepped down and started the uphill climb back to camp. Once back at the bivy site around 3pm we packed up and did a quick rappel/glissade down Winnie's Slide to the chimneys to try and get to Lake Ann.

 

Lo and behold, look who was waiting for me at the base of the chimneys:

 

 

Reunited with axe, we chose to bivy at the beginning of the lake Ann trail rather than to keep going to the bottom. This is a perfect spot (with no wind) and makes for a really reasonable hike the next day.

 

 

The hike out the following morning was slightly adventurous only because it was a rain soaked white-out and we lost the trail to Lake Ann once we hit the snow fields. After an hour of searching, we ascended the ridge line where we stopped the day before and regained our bearings. Hiking out for another 2 hours was a somewhat somber experience as it was pouring the entire time. Definitely felt like we picked the right weather window though as we passed a bunch of hikers and climbers on their way in. Big thanks to those that helped answer a few key questions before we left. Definitely glad I left the plastics at home.

 

-Burglar

 

Gear Notes:

Ice axe, picket (aka pseudo ice-axe), crampons, 60m rope.

 

Approach Notes:

Snow on the upper part of the trail to Lake Ann. Snow melting at entrance to chimney's makes it hard to hop on/off without feeling like you may freefall off the edge of the snowfield. No snow in the chimneys. Take rock ridge to the left ofthe Upper Curtis to avoid the icy slopes.

[mikehaft]

Fun climb huh? Whats Whinnie Slide like? Is a second tool and screws needed?

[burglar]

It's steep, but we just used an axe and crampons to get up it. Don't think a screw would do you much good as the snow is soft, but the picket worked like a charm if you wanted to set some protection.

[mikehaft]

Well thanks man, appreciate the beta, glad you guys had a successful trip.

[Bigtree]

Great pics/TR Burglar