[TR] Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 9/10/2011

[mountainmatt]

Trip: Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys

 

Date: 9/10/2011

 

Trip Report:

Executive summary:

Stewart and I headed out for a nice weekend on Mt. Shuksan climbing the Fisher Chimneys route. Our goal was to have a mostly relaxed weekend and try to find a nice high bivy to enjoy the views. We had a great time and I think we are both looking forward to getting on another route on Mt. Shuksan.

 

Long version:

We arrived late in the parking lot at the Mt. Baker ski area, dropped our sleeping pads and bags next to the car, and went to sleep. At about 6AM, the alarm went off which woke us up as well as the swarms of mosquitoes which made packing for the trip extra fun. After the usual last minute preparations, we moved the car up the road to where the gate was closed and headed out up the tourists trail. We crossed the road and found the trailhead for Lake Anne near a large stone block and hid our beers in the snow for the next day.

 

The first section of the trail follows easy switchbacks down 900 vertical feet, passing by multiple small steams made by the runoff from the melting snow above. The trail then drops gently downhill, providing the first good looks at the route ahead. Near the low point of the descent you scramble over some deadfall and yet another stream. At this point, we started back up, regaining the already lost elevation. This is also provided the last place where there was a nearly melted out toilet. After a few switchbacks the trail became snow covered for the last section heading up to Lake Ann. The lake provides great views and (if melted out) nice camp sites. The lake was still frozen over, but we found some dry rocks to take a break before heading back downhill again.

 

After a short drop back downhill, the trail goes up ad starts into a series of switchbacks, and then enters into a long scree field. The trail traverses the scree field for a few hundred meters before it ends at the base of a gulley. We cruised up the semi-wet gulley following the ladder like handholds until the trail traversed over again to the base of the Fisher Chimneys. We spent a few minutes trying to decide what gulley we should go up, finally deciding on the obvious central system. When we got to the base of the gulley, we knew we made the right choice as someone has spray painted a yellow arrow telling you where to go.

 

The chimneys themselves were not particularly hard; sections of class 2 and class 3 are separated by 20-30 foot sections of class 4. If you are fairly careful in your route choice, the route never feels exposed or scary, but the loose rock in sections adds some spice for sure. Occasionally another yellow arrow or some tat helps let you know you are still on route.

 

At the top of the chimneys, the route traverses across a short snow field and some rock that leads to a nice series of bivy sites and the base of Winnie’s slide. I am not sure what the history is on Winnie’s slide, but the ~40 degree slope in the right conditions sure would provide a fast ride if you slipped. Luckily for Stewart and I, there were some pretty nice steps kicked in already. Before heading up, we melted some snow for water, and headed up. At the top of Winnie’s slide we were greeted with additional bivy sites and nice running water (doh!). We took a break and started up towards the Curtis glacier that traverses below the summit pyramid. To get onto the glacier, we had to climb up a rock covered section of about 30 degree ice. Although the ice on its own was not too difficult, the rocks made it hard to get a good purchase with our aluminum crampons. We roped up and cruised across the Curtis glacier. The heat was fairly overwhelming at this point and both of us were drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated.

 

At the end of the Curtis, we headed up and left into Hell’s Highway. There are two ways to go up Hell’s Highway: the first (the way we went up) involved going up a steep snow face followed by a ridge line, a little more steep snow and crevasses. The second option (the way we came down) involved rock scrambling down some of the rock ridge (loose, but not hard) to a snow field below with a few crevasses. Depending on the conditions of the route, neither options are difficult, but the steep snow would be harder if it was cold.

 

We made our way up the sulfide glacier and found what looked like a nice bivy site. We stashed our gear and took a nice break in the little shade we could find. I was definitely showing signs of fatigue likely due to the heat. But after about an hour and some rehydration, we headed up for the summit pyramid. After crossing a few sections of snow, we got into the rock gulley that goes up the central face of the pyramid. Similar to the Fisher Chimneys, this section is not all that hard, but it’s definitely looser than the chimneys. We passed a party of three on their way down and cruised the rest of the way up enjoying the summit to ourselves. The views were fantastic, but the forest fires in the distance added enough haze that we could not see all the way down to Rainier. We took the normal photos and headed down, making one rappel near the bottom to cross over a slick section of rock.

 

Back at camp, Stewart found a nice stream melting out from the glacier and I started getting camp ready for some dinner. We spent the evening relaxing with food, cigars, and peach schnapps. The forest fires provided a spectacular sunset, and the full moon was so bright on the snow it was like having a nightlight on.

 

In the morning, we cooked up some breakfast and coffee and started down at about 8 AM. We made fast time down the sulfide, Hells Highway and the Curtis glacier. Coming down the last section of ice to the top of Winnie’s slide was much harder coming down. There were nice steps coming down Winnie’s slide and we were at the top of the Fisher Chimneys in no time. We cruised down the chimneys, running into a couple of parties also on the way down. The nice part of the route is there are many options in the chimneys making passing fairly easy. We continued down and were on the trail in no time. The heat was fairly overwhelming to me at this point, so the rest of the hike out is a bit hazy. I do remember clearly walking up the hill on the way to the Trailhead, suffering in the heat. But Stewart cruised up ahead and was waiting at the end with our hidden beers.

 

Looking up from lake Ann:

 

Stewart on the approach:

 

Starting up the chimneys:

 

Stewart heads up the next section after a traverse:

 

Getting close to the top:

 

The frail ice above Winnie's slide, below the curtis:

 

Stewart on towards hells highway:

 

Stewart on hells highway:

 

The opening snow section that leads to the summit pyramid scramble:

 

Matt scrambling up the loose rock:

 

Stewart on the summit:

 

Matt on the summit:

 

Looking down on the curtis:

 

Matt works some dance moves on the way to the bivy site:

 

Looking down from the bivy:

 

View from bivy:

 

Stewart grabs some water from a melt just below:

 

Stewart enjoys the sunset:

 

On the way out:

 

 

Awe yeah, nothing tastes better at the end of a hot hike:

 

Gear Notes:

Standard crevasse travel gear, bivy sack, peach schnapps, and cigars.

[spionin]

sound of music!

 

 

 

 

nice job and great route descriptions!

[DPS]

Very nice report and photos. The North Face, Price Glacier, and the new rock routes seem to get most of the attention on Mt. Shuksan, but I feel that in manny ways FC is a more interesting, varied, and enjoyable route. The bivies on top of the chimneys are hard to beat too.

Edited September 28, 2011 by DPS

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Very nice report and photo. The North Face, Price Glacier, and the new rock routes seem to get most of the attention on Mt. Shuksan, but I feel that in manny ways FC is a more interesting, varied, and enjoyable route. The bivies on top of the chimneys are hard to beat too.

 

+1 on the route and the bivies - the latter is a great place to watch the sunset while sipping whisky.

[dougd]

Thanks matt for that very detailed TR. Looks like you had great weather. Pics turned out great too. I was on a solo car to car climb of Shuksan via shannon ridge/sulphide glacier/gully on the 24th and met up with another solo climber just above the notch. We joined forces and had no problem navigating the sulphide unroped staying fairly close to the W ridge although it was more crevassed than I had expected... Wanted to just add a pic of the summit pyramid from about halfway up the sulphide in case anyone was interested in current condition (dry...) of the gully & SW ridge...

 

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/IMG_07821.JPG[/img]

 

There was a sizeable NOLS group (13) and they kindly let us pass them just below the gully. They were the only other people we saw on this beautiful Saturday. The mountain looks to be in late spring shape this fall...

 

Note: 2 litres of water was just barely enough for the 13 hour day...

 

d

 

 

[OlympicMtnBoy]

More pics here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/matthiesen/MtShuksanFisherChimneysWithMatt?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

I also thought it was a great climb, all pretty easy-moderate but several different types of climbing made for a very interesting and fun trip. Although doable in a long day the high bivy was well worth hauling some light sleep gear and it was nice to get the summit pyramid at the end of the day with all the crowds already headed down. Here are a couple more pics of the bivy on the ridge.

 

 

Oh and to add to Matt's gear notes, we did use two tools downclimbing the glacier ice since the rocks on it were kind of like ball bearings under our crampons. I think it would have been easier to downclimb the rock there.

[Sol]

Great way to send it with the high bivy. So classic! Nice.

[Lisa_D]

That was a beautiful weekend, but very hot! Nuun tablets are nice for days like that. Nice climb on an amazing mountain -- probably my favorite mountain since I grew up in Bellingham.