[TR] Mt Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 8/30/2008

[Brewer]

Trip: Mt Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys

 

Date: 8/30/2008

 

Trip Report:

 

Sorry, no pics here. Visibility rarely made them worthwhile.

 

Co-worker and I decided to do this route as it is a classic route with lots of variation in climbing situations. It was my first time on this mountain and the first time in 15 years for my partner.

 

Got to the Lake Anne trailhead on Saturday morning and hit the trail under cloudy and foggy skies. Took the wrong chimney at first (as many often do), but eventually made our way over to the right one within the last hundred feet or so of the top. Camped at the top of the chimneys. Chimneys were completely clear of snow, but damp from precipitation. Took a nap, ate dinner, and packed for our alpine start.

 

At 4:45 we woke and hit the trail by 5:45, just as the dawn was lighting the eastern skies. A few minutes got us to the base of Winnie's Slide. We didn't like the look of the runout on the left side, so we free climbed up the right side to a moat next to a rock. This offered a belay stance for the last steep part of the slope. Snow conditions were firm and nice for cramponing, with a thin layer of recent powder on top. A second tool helped a lot because the snow beneath the top layer was so firm that it was hard to sink the spike of the axe more than a couple inches in. The picks from two tools helped a lot. There's an 11mm rope slung over the rocks at the top of the slide that offered a good anchor for belaying a second or rapping on your way down.

 

A short walk over a small rock saddle took us to the bottom of a steep and icy section below the top of the Upper Curtis. A little tricky, but easier going up than down. Upper Curtis crevasses are all open, snow bridges of any size are nice and stable. Routefinding was easy, even in the poor visibility. Dropping a hundred or so feet down on the U.C. before hitting Hell's Highway sucked, but it wasn't too bad.

 

Hell's Highway looked different than any of the photos I've seen. The first section was heavily crevassed on the right, so we hugged the rocks on the left. Eventually we were pushed right and up the steep slope to avoid tons of crevasses, ice, and steepness that eventually showed on the left.

 

Topped out on the Sulphide and started the slog up to the pyramid. Navigating around a few crevasses was no problem, and visibility still sucked. Didn't see the pyramid until we were right on top of it. Took a break on the rocks at the base of the pyramid and assessed the situation. We decided to turn around and head down since: visibility sucked so vistas were not there, we didn't know exactly where the gulley started, and we wanted to save time and energy for our trip out of there. After checking some photos after we got back, we realized that we were pretty much on the left edge of the base of the gulley. Oh well, no big deal.

 

On our trip down we saw a group of 6 coming up the Sulphide; first people we'd seen so far. Trip down the Sulphide, HH, and the UC were all just like they were on the way up. Getting off the UC was tricky because it was so icy. I was pretty stoked when I found an opportunity to make an Abalakov anchor (V-thread) to rap the last section down to the rock saddle between Winnie's and the UC. Another rap down WS to the moat mentioned earlier and we were back to camp. A group of three were at the top of the chimneys (camped at Lake Anne) and were checking out route conditions. Don't know if they planned to summit at all.

 

The down climbing in the chimneys was a pain. Long and arduous, but at least we were on the right route the whole time. Met more climbers on their way up. Back to Lake Anne and the throngs of wet day hikers, and eventually made our way back to the TH, where I nearly threw up from exhaustion. Those last couple miles uphill are brutal after a long, tough day.

 

Fog, rain, sleet, snow, poor night's sleep, perma-dampness, heel blisters after 2 miles, no summit? A perfect mountain excursion!

 

Gear Notes:

Pickets, ice axe (second tool is nice to have), cords and slings, maybe some nuts and screws.

 

Approach Notes:

Approach by Lake Anne was typical as far as I know, although VERY muddy. Snow is gone (finally) except for a few small patches in the talus fields before the chimneys. Lots of rock cairns and orange markers to help you find your way.

[olymand]

Nice TR. Didn't you camp at the flat bivy sites right below winnie's slide? I remember getting right onto the snow in the morning. Maybe less snow for you? We had mostly just steep snow on Winnies and HH. We didn't have a mote under winnie's either. When we did it, we had lots of snow (2 mile hike to the Trailhead from the Baker parking lot.)Lost the trail in the meadow and were sloshing around for quite a while. That was a long day. Love that route.

[Brewer]

We noticed that there were some small flat bivy sites in the rocks between Winnies and the tops of the chimneys, but we decided to set up on the snow immediately at the top of the chimneys.

 

Sounds like you had quite a hike on your trip. I can't imagine adding another 2 miles in the snow before you even get to the trailhead proper.