Shuksan via Sulphide Glacier & Southeast Ridge

Introduction:

            Ben and I climbed Shuksan on July 23^rd and 24^th via the Sulphide Glacier and the Southeast Ridge route on the summit pyramid itself. We used standard glacier gear and a rack consisting of 5 cams and 7 nuts, running from a yellow Metolius to a #2 Camalot and BD 3-10 stopper sizes, with a fair load out of single and double length runners. We also decided to bring rock shoes just to improve our climbing speed and efficiency. We ended up using a 60 meter 8.6 mm rope from the Skagit Alpine Club (thanks Don!) for the route, with the extra length being nice on the rappels and ridge climbing. We ended up not bringing a tent as the weather was scheduled to get progressively clearer

on Saturday the 23^rd, our approach day. We hoped to camp on the glacier at around 6500’ on Saturday and use that high camp to launch up the glacier and summit pyramid early to avoid crowds on the rappels on Sunday.

Saturday the 23^rd

            The day dawned on our approach day and I got a ride to the Burlington Haggens parking lot where I was going to meet Ben. We met at around 7:30 AM in order to make it to the Sedro-Woolley Visitor Centre when it opened at 8:00 AM to get permits to camp inside the national park. After Ben picked me up, we headed to Sedro-Woolley only to discover that all the permits for camping within the national park on the south side of the mountain were already taken. Some other parties were in the same boat as us and we all tried to finagle our way into a permit to save us some elevation gain on the summit day. All was for naught and we resolved to simply climb another 1500’ or so on the summit day. So, we then headed off to the trailhead up the Baker Lake Road.

We hit the trail under a light drizzle and slowly climbed up the overgrown old forest service road. After a bit of climbing and muddy trail, we finally hit Shannon Ridge proper and reached the national park boundary at roughly 5000’. We started looking for a nice place to make camp for the night and found one a couple hundred feet down the trail from the boundary marker in a small opening in the underbrush. After a quick break we decided to climb up to the ridge overlooking the boundary marker to practice some crevasse rescue and fill the eight or so hours we had until nightfall. The clouds tried clearing up a couple time as we practiced different techniques, but the sky was still grey by the time we descended back to camp. We ate dinner, I took photos, and we eventually went to sleep intent on waking up at 3:00 AM the next morning to make up for not sleeping at 6500’. The clouds finally dissipated under the guise of the setting sun.

Ben practicing pulling my butt out of a crevasse.

The crest of Shannon Ridge, to the north of where we practiced crevasse rescue.

Just a neat photo... Move along.

Ben taught me a cool new way to make a Z-pulley system and I taught him another cool way to make one as well. Photo By: Ezekiel Hocking

Mount Blum and Hagan Peak (?) from our camp at 4900'.

Komo Kulshan didn't want to be seen on Saturday.

One can barely see the Sulphide Glacier in the distinct notch just right of center.

From whence we came...

The sunset wouldn't let me sleep! It was too awesome!

Sunday the 24^th

            3:00 AM came way too quickly and soon we were up and making hot water for our breakfasts. I gazed up at the stars a lot (fantasizing about seeing the binary system that composes a part of the Big Dipper) and took a couple long exposures of them. We finished packing and set out up the trail in the moonlight. We hit the ridge crest where we practiced crevasse rescue pretty quickly and then wandered up into “uncharted territory.” Next, we hit the 6200’ “meh” camp and traversed for a while up and north across lots of snow until the angle kicked back near a creek underneath the 6500’ camp. At the 6500’ camp we racked up for glacier travel and took a short break to watch the sun begin its ascent from behind the Pickets. After that, we began ascending up the glacier slowly, but steadily, towards the summit pyramid. We crossed a large flatter section of the glacier before climbing a steeper slope for a while until we hit another flat section. We ascended for a bit more towards the top of Hells Highway and the last steeper section before the summit pyramid, all the while I was staring off at the Pickets and Greater Cascade Range. The surrounding mountains were engulfed in alpenglow, and the valleys were choked full of clouds, making it seem as if we were floating above the Earth and surrounded by fire. It was a pretty sweet sight to say the least. We took a break at the top of Hells Highway and then made one last push to the start of the Southeast Ridge just above a notch. A little bit of steeper snow, and some gawking at the cluster that was the standard gully ascent route, brought us to the ridge.

Jagged Ridge from where we roped up.

Komo Kulshan from the 6600' camp.

Me looking across at the sunrise. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

Me gawking at the Pickets bathed in alpenglow. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

Ben with the summit pyramid looming above him.

Me at the top of Hell's Highway. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

Only a few hundred feet more to the base of the SE Ridge. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

View from the notch at the base of the SE Ridge route.

In our little stance beneath a rather large chockstone, we racked up and roped up for some simul-climbing and short pitching. We kept our boots on in order to get out of our stance and onto the ridge proper. I led a really short pitch on Skagit gneiss and brought Ben up behind me onto a nice ledge. There we put our rock shoes and I led off again up the ridge on easy ground. I tried to keep either to the crest or left side of the ridge, as per the beta I was given by both friends and trip reports. I bypassed a larger gendarme by heading off left under a series of roofs, up and across a small pillar, and onto a large ledge from which I brought Ben up. Then I led off up a short gully and back onto the ridge crest. From there we followed the ridge crest pretty closely up some mid-fifth class steps of steeper rock. The terrain was very conducive to short pitching and not to simuling, so most of our pitches ended up being a bit shorter than I anticipated. One last steeper bit, the highlight of the route for me, on slabby terrain brought me up to the top of the first rappel from the summit where a few, understatement, people were waiting in line to rappel.

I brought Ben up, unroped, and we scrambled to the summit. There we took a nice long break, talked to an International Mountain Guides guide, and took lots of photos of the Pickets, the North Face of Shuksan, and the mighty Komo Kulshan. We signed the register near the end of our stay and got ready to rappel.

Ben and the surrounding epicness.

Tahoma looming in the distance.

Shuksan's North Face and the White Salmon Glacier above the Ski Area and Hwy. 542.

North Face of Shuksan.

Spickard/Mox Peaks Group. 

Northern Pickets.

Baker Lake and the Sulphide Glacier.

Twin Sister's Range and the Olympics behind.

Me at the summit of Shuksan. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

We scrambled back down to the first rap station and found the IMG guide there lowering his two clients. It was funny talking to the guide as it looked and sounded like he was having not a very fun time lowering his clients. I asked him if we would recommend guiding to an aspiring guide and he responded by saying “A wise guide once said, do ANYTHING ELSE.” We all had a laugh and he rapped down to his clients at the next anchor. I set up the rappel, threw the rope, and started sliding down the rope to the next anchor. When I got to the next anchor the guide asked if I would want to do a double rope, full 60 meter, rappel by tying his and our ropes together with an EDK so that he could lower his clients a lot farther. I agreed, and while Ben slid down our rope, he tied our ropes together and rapped down his single strand down to his clients. Ben got to my stance and we threw our rope down, only to have it get stuck in a few places. I rapped down and fought the rope for most of the 200’ rap. I got to another rappel station to the rappeller’s right of the IMG guide’s stance, and told Ben to come down. We pulled the ropes and the guide lowered his clients once again while we rigged up our rope and some saddlebags to keep the rope from getting stuck and kinked every which way on the low angle terrain. The saddlebags worked really well, and soon I was back at the same station as the IMG guide again. Ben slid down and we waited for the guide to get clear of our rappel line. I let Ben rig everything up, including the saddlebags, and he slid down to the snow. I followed him and used a guide technique to make sure my rope pulled clean while I descended the snow to the base of the summit pyramid. We got a little bit of liquid water from a small trickle off the snow, and then descended the last few hundred feet of snow to the base of the pyramid.

Rigging our 2nd rappel from the summit. Photo By: Ben Johnson.

At the snow-free rock outcrop near the base of the pyramid we roped back up for glacier travel. We started our descent back down the glacier shortly thereafter. We gawked at the Pickets and other peaks some more as we descended, and eventually we got back to the 6500’ camp. We unroped and descended more, passing some much needed streams, to the 6200’ camp and eventually we hit the spot where we practiced crevasse rescue the day before. It was blazing hot by then and we took opportunities to sit/lay in the snow to cool off.

Sulphide Glacier and Shuksan's Summit Pyramid.

Picket Range from the 6500' camp.

Summit Pyramid from 6500' camp. The SE Ridge is the right ridge in this photo.

We got back to our camp and took a nice, long break before we packed up the rest of the gear and began our final few thousand feet of descent to the car. The final mile on the old road seemed to drag on forever, with each turn being met with yet another turn or some more bushes. Finally, we got to the trailhead. After a bathroom break and a good deed (putting a Subaru key on the bulletin board), we hopped in the car and headed back to Burlington. We got back to Haggens where my Mom was waiting, and went our separate ways, intent on climbing in the alpine again before the summer ends.

Conclusion:

            This trip on Shuksan was really fun for two reasons 1) I got to do it with someone that is practically my age and 2) Ben’s skill set and experience was a perfect complement to my skill set and experience. Ben has ice and snow skills, while I have rock skills. We can both learn and push one another into our respective areas of expertise, the other’s weaker points. Each of us contributed something vital to the team, and it was quite cool to finally experience something like that.

As far as what I would do differently, I would leave the nuts and rock shoes at home, make sure to get permits, and bring more tasty food! All in all, it was one of my better trips into the mountains! Hopefully that’s a sign that bigger and more fun things are on the way!