DRep Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Trip: Mt. Shuksan - North Face Date: 1/26/2009 Trip Report: On Sunday, January 25th my friend Eric and I climbed the North Face of Shuksan. Judging by the previous inversion and the forecasted temps to be very cold up high we thought this would make for a good ice/neve route. We left the car at 1:00am and botched the approach somehow. Arrived at the base of the climb just before sunrise where we brewed some water and studied our route. Temps had to be in the single digits, but we were fine. The top of the col between the face and the White Salmon was a posthole sufferfest. Here we met two parties of skiers going to attempt the face as well . Once we passed the schrunds, conditions turned to low angle alpine ice and then hard neve. The climbing on the face was easy and alot of fun, we didn't rope up . The top out onto the glacier was loose jumbled rock frozen together. We descended the White Salmon and found the most variable conditions ever (2" breakable sun crust, wind slab, pow, and ice) making it a real slog. At the bottom of the valley there was a gargantuan avy debris field that took a long time to stumble through. The hike back uphill to the truck really really sucks after a long day. A great climb with a great partner on a gorgeous day. Eric had the camera maybe he'll post a pic or two, or you can just go see for yourself. Gear Notes: Simul soloed. Skis would have been nice for the descent. Approach Notes: From the White Salmon Lodge take the left cat track for about a half mile to a Y. Take the left and descend down an obvious clearcut to the White Salmon Creek. Stay on North side of valley until you reach the face. Edited January 27, 2009 by DRep Quote
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 Great job! How many hours did it take you car to car? Quote
Joe_Poulton Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 Cool climb. How did the NW couloir look? Quote
Peakpimp Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 Very cool! I wanna climb that route badly. Quote
spacecadet Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 We were one of the ski groups. Here's a few pics. We left the car at 2am on Sun the 25th and back a 7pm (17hrs). Unfortunately most of our group left the ice tools and just had single mountain axes and there were a couple of hard ice sections that I would have been more comfortable with tools. Overall conditions were cold and great, the ski down Winnie's Slide and the upper White Salmon were fantastic. Quote
DRep Posted January 27, 2009 Author Posted January 27, 2009 Right on guys, glad you made it up with those enormous packs. cool pics! NW coulior was definitely in. Quote
sukiakiumo Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Hey, that's me, Ian, with that heavy-looking orange pack. It was only ~40-45 lbs... And skis were quite nice on the descent. Kind of wish that we did it in a day trip like yourselves, instead of carrying that extra weight and camping. Glad you guys made it up there! Quote
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