Seraphim Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Trip: Boston Basin - Sharkfin Tower SE Ridge Date: 7/11/2014 Trip Report: Location: North Cascades (Boston Basin) Objective: Sharkfin Tower (8,120 feet) My friends Steve, Jeff, Matt and I left the Seattle area around 4:30am Friday morning with hopes of climbing Sharkfin Tower via the south east ridge in one looong day. This is a really fun climb with a little bit of everything (including a steep brutal hike), crossing a glacier, and some pretty solid rock climbing, and a summit with amazing views of Boston Basin and bigger peaks of the North Cascades. We arrived at the trailhead around 9am, and began the long brutal hike up to Boston Basin. Once we reached Boston Basin we were greeted with beautiful views. We ran into a group of Veteran's doing multiple climbs over the course of the week for some film festival on July 16th. If I am not mistaken, there should be a forthcoming article in Outside Magazine regarding their journey. After a brief conversations we made our way up the left side of the Quien Sabe Glacier. Greeted with wonderful views of J-Burg and the North Cascades. Once we reached the base of Sharkfin Tower we were faced with a nasty gully leading up to the base of the climb. At this point one of our team members decided to bail and wait for us because he was not feeling comfortable with climbing through the first gully. There was a very large rock teetering on the right side of the gully. Once we made it up through the first gully we ascended a small notch too the base of sharkfin tower. The second (and best pitch of the climb) After the second pitch we decided to simul climb the rest of the route. Summit of Sharkfin tower. Boston Glacier looking gnarly. We completed 5 rappels total combined with a little bit of downclimbing. \ Back at Boston Basin. We got back to the car just around 9:40pm! Just in time to avoid having to walk down in the dark. Conclusion: This is a pretty fun climb. The quality of the rock on the second pitch is pretty nice. The biggest objective hazard in my opinion is the first gully you have to climb in order to reach the base of Sharkfin Tower. There is quite a bit of loose rock, and large boulders. The hike up to Boston Basin was worth the views! Gear used: 60 and 50 meter rope, small set of nuts and cams (placed two pieces), standard glacier gear. Edited July 14, 2014 by Seraphim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 When you say you climbed the "first gully": Did you climb the couloir with the small, single snowpatch in it -- or the couloir on the right with the long, diagonal snow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphim Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 When you say you climbed the "first gully": Did you climb the couloir with the small, single snowpatch in it -- or the couloir on the right with the long, diagonal snow? We climbed the gully/couloir on the far right. There was quite a bit of water coming down the middle, and some loose rocks. The snow in the lower gully was melting fast. I would imagine that it would kind of suck trying to get up there in late August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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