looking for a partner for Mt. Shuksan

[brian_I]

I'm going to be in Washington in August, the week of the 3rd. I'm doing Rainier and want to tag on Shuksan via the sulphide glacier route. i'm experienced and have the gear, i just need a partner. call or email me. 207-495-2728, birwin@mainegeneral.org

Brian Irwin

[nobody]

Usually that time of year the cravasses are very large, open, and easy to detect, and avoid. So, if you can't find a partner, you should be able to solo the peak safely. I did it solo with a light sleeping bag, a bivy sack, light stove, crampons, and ice axe and never felt concerned. This is of course assuming a cetain level of compentancy with ice axe and crampons.

(I know some out there will say I am sending you on a death climb, and don't listen to nobody, whatever). Permits can also be a bit of a bitch that time of year.

Good luck

[brian_I]

Thanks! I'm competent, but still like the whole rope bit. if i can't find a partner i may solo, but i'd much rather climb with someone. interested?

by the way, how's the rock finish? simple 5.0 stuff? way loose rock, i hear. would you bring extra slings to rap off, or is it wasy to downclimb?

[DPS]

The left hand skyline of the summit pyramid (as seen when ascending Sulphide Glacier) offers fun scrambling on good rock. Easy to down climb. The 'normal' route takes a gulley in the center of the face and is loose and often crowded.

[brian_I]

any thoughts as to how i could find a partner for this route? i've tried here and summitpost.com--no luck yet. ideas?

[nobody]

I was there on a week day and was the only one on the mountain. I did the center gully as DPS describes. It was simple and fun scrambling. Use a little caution coming down, but nothing diffcult.

I know other parts of the summit pyrimad can go up to about 5.6. One thing about the gully is that it is easy to find and know that you are on what you want to be on...not wondering if you are on the blank ridge or the blank arete or the blank side...you get it. I bet if it is crowded that gully would not be fun.

Good luck

[Dru]

its hard to find a partner now for august cause nobody wants to commit in case the weather is jingus. try posting again a week before you trip.

[fleblebleb]

Yeah, post again much closer to your trip. You'll definitely find someone. I'd be up for the Fisher Chimneys route myself, but I don't plan that far ahead.

[brian_I]

yea, i know. when i've got to plan way in advance it's tough. i'll post later. is this climb as great as the guidebooks say? is it worth doing over coleman glacier on baker if i had to do one or the other?

[Maurice]

If you want "to tag on" that mountain it's best to just hire a prostitute. Although if you swing the other way I would contact the Mountaineers.

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by brian I:

yea, i know. when i've got to plan way in advance it's tough. i'll post later. is this climb as great as the guidebooks say? is it worth doing over coleman glacier on baker if i had to do one or the other?

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they are both slogs. i would do coleman instead as it is higher, if you are into slogs then the higher one will probably mean more to you. also view is potentially better from baker assuming you arent up there in a whiteout.

[westernbackcountryskier]

I was on the top of baker in a whiteout and it sucked, all that work and I got sunburnt and no view, I want to climb shucksan, maybe a better view of the picketts, and I can bivi during the summer, BIVI=GOING LIGHT

[HernyG]

Brian, if you still care (original post is days ago), the summit pyramid of Shuksan is fun in that it ends with a dramatic point a couple of boulders wide as opposed to a snow field. The shwack up to sulfide is also a bit more remote than Baker. I enjoyed that aspect as well.

If you solo gullies on Mt. Washington, NH, you will feel fine going solo on this one. But play the game at your own level.

[ 04-10-2002: Message edited by: HernyG ]

[roboclimber]

I don't have any plans yet for August. I might bite. Yes Shuksan is a great climb. I did it two years ago on sulfide glacier. The crevasses do get big late. Standard gully up is safe. I tried to be a hotdog and climb off route. The route I choose was on a slab of death over high exposure. Good thing my fingers were dry and my boots sticky. Unless you like to push it stay roped or stay on route. I could talk my buddy into an August climb. Rainier and Shuksan back to back can be physical. How much time do you plan between the two? Anyway sounds good.

[ 04-10-2002: Message edited by: roboclimber ]