July 10, 2015
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- Glacier travel on Shuksan.
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- Let’s climb!
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- Good Times!
Cedric Gamble, Rob Jantzen and I just completed a climb of Mt. Shuksan with staff from the Washington National Parks Fund. The staff and their spouses rose to the challenges that the climb presented them in fine form.
Our four day trip began with a steep hike through the wooded hills of the North Cascades to our base camp at the foot of the Sulfide Glacier. Our second day was filled with working on the skills necessary to climb the mountain safely. We covered self arrest, cramponing and rope travel for glaciers. Cedric set up a short but steep top rope rock climb and rappel that gave our crew a sense of what the last 600 feet of climbing up the rock pyramid would be like. Dinner was early that evening and we were all bedded down by 7:00pm.
Our alarms rang at 3:00am and by 4:45 we were headed up the glacier as three rope teams. The views that morning were initially shrouded by all the smoke in the air from the forest fires in the state but later in the day Mt. Baker and the other peaks in the area began to show themselves. Our initial climb out of camp was steep but gradually the glacier eased back to a gentile incline. Keeping to the edge of the glacier enabled us to avoid the few crevasses that crossed our path. We reached the base of the rock pyramid in just three hours. Cedric’s rope team lead off first with Rob’s following and my team last. Each guide lead to a spot where we could belay our climbers up to us. Five or so short pitches of rock got us to the last bit of the summit ridge where we were able to travel short roped to the summit with all members of our team successfully reaching the top. After about a half hour of enjoying the views we started the process of rappelling down the pyramid the glacier below. From there, it was a tired but happy crew that completed the trip down the Sulfide Glacier back to our camp where we celebrated with a huge pasta dinner.
On our last day we retraced our path through the steep trails of the forest and reached the trailhead in about four hours. The Washington National Parks Foundation staff and the spouses were able to see first hand the benefits of the work they do that helps to ensure that our state continues to have wild places that are preserved for the sake of the environment itself and for the enjoyment of all. Thanks to Laurie, Nikki and Jane of the WNPF and their respective spouses Collin, Brad and Rory for making the trip such a memorable one.
Craig John
