[TR] Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 6/1/2013

[Bigtree]

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys

 

Date: 6/1/2013

 

Trip Report:

Had successful summit attempt of Shuksan via Fisher Chimneys. Booted in to ridge above Lake Ann afternoon of Friday May 31 in 2 1/2 hrs and set up camp.

 

Left camp at 3 am Saturday morning June 1. No freeze to speak of at ~ 5,000' camp so progress was slow but tolerable in ankle deep snow. Topped out on the snow covered chimneys by ~ 10:30 am in overcast conditions. Some brief periods of light snow/wind topping out on Winnies' Slide. Rounded the corner on Hell's Highway in thick cloud/white out conditions. Felt our way forward along the Sulfide Glacier to the base of the summit pyramid and met a group of Chilean skiers who had ascended via another route and were waiting until the clouds parted for a shot at the summit. On queue, the clouds parted enough and up we went on steep snow playing leap frog with the Chilean's who had ditched their skis. Tagged the summit at 2 pm or so, buried a picket in a T-slot and rapped off then down climbed to base.

 

Descent from there was uneventful until the chimneys which had softened considerably to the point where most steps would trigger big wet/heavy surface releases. We managed to find a few rock horns along left side of the trade route and rapped most of the steep/unstable sections (at one point had thought about crossing the chimney to a line of small trees and rapping down along that line until we saw one large slide sweep the area). The traverse back to camp from base of chimneys was, well, unpleasant. Snow had become deeply isothermic/unstable loon shit so we beat it across as quick as we could muster. Back at camp at 9 pm and glad to have made the summit and safely return in those conditions.

 

Gear Notes:

Alpine rack, 4 pickets, 3 ice screws.

Avy gear.

Pair of ice tools.

60 m rope.

 

 

Approach Notes:

Approach via Lake Ann trail head.

 

 

[Karl_S]

Nice climb! What did you use to track your route and onto GoogleEarth?

[Bigtree]

Garmin 60 CSx handheld for GPS track - unloaded onto Garmin MapSource on the PC - viewed track in Google Earth - saved screen shot to desktop as jpeg.

[daylward]

How much snow is there around the Mt. Baker ski area right now? Thinking of doing the NF of Shuksan this weekend, but I'm really afraid of the bushwhack that normally exists on the approach below the White Salmon after the snow is melted.

 

Dan

[Bigtree]

This much snow at the end of the road/gate...

 

 

 

[mattp]

That looks pretty promising. As an alternative, I remember reading at some point (does the guidebook mention this?) that you could head up through the woods to the left of the avalanche run-out area below Shuksan Arm and avoid the bushwack.

 

I've been up there twice in May/June without ill affect.

[Sol]

NF Shuksan Approach BETA: from base of chair 8 where most folks descend down old clear cut to lame valley schwack go uphill about 200 ft to rounded cattrack turn on climbers left side of cattrack/chair 8 run. From there, take sharp left, leaving ski area boundary, traversing perpendicular across slope for a few hundred feet. You will do a bit of schwacking and cross an unpleasant gully or two before the forest will open up to what we dubbed the, "magic carpet ride." An open snow slope/gully which heads quickly and easily down and left to the bottom of the white salmon glacier basin.

 

At least that's how it worked about 8 years ago. Super cruiser overall. The terrain may have changed, but it's definetly worth a look.

[counterfeitfake]

Hopefully Sol's beta is gold but even if it's not, don't be afraid of the bushwhack. Take some gardening gloves.

[AT84]

What did the summit pyramid look like? was it a snow climb or was there any exposed rock?

[Bigtree]

Steep snow climb. Rapped off the top on a t-slotted picket then down climbed the rest. Could have down climbed entire part but we were getting tired and had a long way to go.

[daylward]

Hopefully Sol's beta is gold but even if it's not, don't be afraid of the bushwhack. Take some gardening gloves.

 

I'm a seasoned Cascade bushwhacker in an intimate relationship with my gardening gloves, but we will be approaching in the dark on a new moon, which in my experience increases bushwhacking seriousness by at least an order of magnitude.

 

However, it sounds like there's plenty of friendly and reflective snowcover now, so I think we're golden! Thanks everyone for the info!

[KarlHelser]

Bigtree, saw your tracks appear just below Winnies Slide...we came up from the White Salmon Glacier approach on Sunday 6/2. Made the summit, and yeah, the descent was a soupy mess...and a little unnerving. https://picasaweb.google.com/105010285274528114328/ShuksanWhiteSalmonGlacier6213?noredirect=1# ...

[SemoreJugs]

That GPS track is gold! Might take away a little route-finding adventure if used, but nice to have if the weather turns to shite!

 

Thanks!