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Topic: July 23, 2005, Sahale Glacier, NCNP (Read 1404 times)
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infamous
5Member
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Posts: 22
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Woke up at 4:30 to pick Vaget (the man with the plan) up at 5:00. Snoozed till 5:00 and found Vaget snoozing on the sidewalk at 5:30. Drove up through Darrington to Marblemount and took the Cascade River Road up to the trailhead. Hit the trail at about 9:15. Followed the well-kempt trail up to Cascade Pass in lovely weather which would persist for the remainder of the day. Began marching up the Sahale Arm at about 11:00 and enjoyed the first of many sweet views of Doubtful Lake and El Dorado. Reached the toe of the Sahale Glacier at about 13:00 and loaded up on greasy potato chips.
The glacier was untracked by skiers and snow was abundant. Followed the boot path up the first steep section of the glacier and on to the summit pyramid. After scrambling up the first bit and watching somebody knock a large rock off of the crowded summit route a couple hundred feet down a steep gulley, decided, lacking ropes, rock helmets and experience, to slowly work our way back down to the snow. I'm sure that the view of Boston Glacier would have been awesome, but we'll save it for another day (the route is considered an exposed class 4 and some people were free climbing it - it was definitely not an easy scramble, and it was very crowded).
Returned to the upper snow slope and traversed west above the gaping bergschrund about 200 feet below. Once a clear line to the bottom of the glacier presented itself, I sat myself at the head of the table and began to carve the snow turkey that glistened before me. Just a sweet, thin layer of crisp summer slush for a full 1500 feet of turns. One large cravasse at the break of the lower steep section gave me something to check out as I paused before the final descent. The one small section of ice toward the bottom of the glacier was easy to avoid.
Overall a sweet run with plenty of snow, and a fun hike. Oughta be good for turns well into August. Enjoy!
-Pete
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Sam Avaiusini
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Posts: 236
WWW
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I'm sure that the view of Boston Glacier would have been awesome, but we'll save it for another day...
Sounds like a nice way to spend a day. The Cascade Pass region will always be one of my favorites.
Incidentally, while you can see a small part of the Boston Glacier from the top of Sahale, the best views are had by climbing the Quien Sabe (or Queen Sloppy as I like to call it) to col between Boston and Sahale. From there it only takes a few (15-20) minutes to traverse the Class 3 ledges to the base of Boston Peak and the high point of the Boston Glacier.
Have fun out there!
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Sam Avaiusini
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wickstad
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Posts: 299
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My first time up Sahale was from the south. I thought I could reach the summit via the west ridge. Once I reached the ridge I about soiled myself as I looked down the NW face to the Quien Sabe below (has anybody skied that yet?). I then found the gully. There is one move there that is ok going up but really sucked for a short person coming down. Luckily there was a group on top that let me use their rope as a hand line.
Your handle reminds me of the Ned Needlander line from "The Three Amigos": "He's not only famous, he's infamous."
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philfort
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Posts: 605
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I looked down the NW face to the Quien Sabe below (has anybody skied that yet?).
I think A McLean, M Volken and others skied the W face a few years ago.
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