May 31-June 1, 2003, Glacier Peak - Sitkum Ridge
5/31/03
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
4945
6
So we decided to do a summit ski off Glacier Peak this weekend.
The approach was hellish, as snow did not start until 5700'in Boulder Basin, and the TH is at 2300'. Plus that is about 5-6 miles in before you can skin to base camp.
It rained on saturday night and crappy on sunday morning
I told everyone there was no way I was not going to go for the summit, since we had tracks from previous climbers, and we had 50 wands and only 3500 feet to go to the summit from base camp at the base of the Sitkum Glacier
But since it rained and was windy, tracks were hard to follow, and I went over a hidden crevasse on the lower sitkum that night when I went to yo-yo the slope but it turned out to be white out for my ski down, so it was a total waste.
Sunday morning we got up to Sitkum ridge and found our way up to the upper sitkum glacier, and around 9k it opened up to blue skies and we got above the clouds
From there on to the upper ridge it was perfect skinning, but on the ridge saddle is where I left my crampons, and of course that is where I started to boot it up, and only 200 feet up it got real icy, as the freezing level had dropped the night before as there were a few inches of freshiez. Scarpa Lasers do kick good steps evern in hard ice and rime though!
We traversed under the summit and everyone went right around to the summit and I went left since there were steps up the gulley, then went straight up that steep headwall to the summit plateau, and then up to the final summit.
The ski down was icy and Chuck and I followed previous tracks, and from the ridge saddle down to the lower ridgeline was some of the best skiing I have had this year. We skied past 2 rope teams of 3 (rope?). After the ridge it turned to mush since it had rained there and it was survival skiing from then on.
The ski down from base camp (7200) to our shoes sucked as well, but better than booting it. Our shoes were soaked that we had left there, and the hike out literally sucked since we had the skis on our packs with a full pack. I vow to never go back there again
Now alison says she wants to go next year...........
Our times were:
TH to Base camp: 5 hours
BC to Summit: 3 hours
Summit to BC: 23 minutes
BC to TH: 4 hours
I am trashed.................
The approach was hellish, as snow did not start until 5700'in Boulder Basin, and the TH is at 2300'. Plus that is about 5-6 miles in before you can skin to base camp.
It rained on saturday night and crappy on sunday morning
I told everyone there was no way I was not going to go for the summit, since we had tracks from previous climbers, and we had 50 wands and only 3500 feet to go to the summit from base camp at the base of the Sitkum Glacier
But since it rained and was windy, tracks were hard to follow, and I went over a hidden crevasse on the lower sitkum that night when I went to yo-yo the slope but it turned out to be white out for my ski down, so it was a total waste.
Sunday morning we got up to Sitkum ridge and found our way up to the upper sitkum glacier, and around 9k it opened up to blue skies and we got above the clouds
From there on to the upper ridge it was perfect skinning, but on the ridge saddle is where I left my crampons, and of course that is where I started to boot it up, and only 200 feet up it got real icy, as the freezing level had dropped the night before as there were a few inches of freshiez. Scarpa Lasers do kick good steps evern in hard ice and rime though!
We traversed under the summit and everyone went right around to the summit and I went left since there were steps up the gulley, then went straight up that steep headwall to the summit plateau, and then up to the final summit.
The ski down was icy and Chuck and I followed previous tracks, and from the ridge saddle down to the lower ridgeline was some of the best skiing I have had this year. We skied past 2 rope teams of 3 (rope?). After the ridge it turned to mush since it had rained there and it was survival skiing from then on.
The ski down from base camp (7200) to our shoes sucked as well, but better than booting it. Our shoes were soaked that we had left there, and the hike out literally sucked since we had the skis on our packs with a full pack. I vow to never go back there again
Now alison says she wants to go next year...........
Our times were:
TH to Base camp: 5 hours
BC to Summit: 3 hours
Summit to BC: 23 minutes
BC to TH: 4 hours
I am trashed.................
Great trip report. You're an animal ! :)
It's refreshing to read a trip report that we've all experienced but may not have posted.
Zap
It's refreshing to read a trip report that we've all experienced but may not have posted.
Zap
Nice TR, Scott. An epic trip.
I, too, have vowed to never go back to the "Other G-Spot" that decent folks don't talk about in public. ;D
I, too, have vowed to never go back to the "Other G-Spot" that decent folks don't talk about in public. ;D
Ditto from me too, I'll never go back either. After you have done this trip you realize that there are much easier tours where you can get out of the car walk about 10 feet, start skinning, and have a great day with a lot less headache. You get the kudos for posting such a gruesome trip.
Thanks for the kudos, and just thinking about the slog makes me want to vomit. All i could think about was dropping the skis in boulder basin and coming back later in the spring to get them. With my BD Ice Pack (44L) and all my gear, it was just too much for my shoulders. Now if I had my Bora 80 it might have been less painful, but heavier for sure.
Frostbite Ridge looks like fun, but it'll be a few years before I want to do that again, and I wont bring my skis. I don't ever want to have to carry my ski boots again!
Frostbite Ridge looks like fun, but it'll be a few years before I want to do that again, and I wont bring my skis. I don't ever want to have to carry my ski boots again!
What a difference a week makes. We did the same route on Memorial Day weekend and had perfect conditions. Camped much lower - at the junction of the PCT and the trail leading to Boulder Basin.
The summit gulley had a lot of avalanche debris, so started skiing about 100 ft down. Icy for the first 1,000 ft. Then 6-700 ft of grabby crust, followed by almost 3,500 ft of corn (got progressively heavier).
Nice trip that I'll probably never repeat....
The summit gulley had a lot of avalanche debris, so started skiing about 100 ft down. Icy for the first 1,000 ft. Then 6-700 ft of grabby crust, followed by almost 3,500 ft of corn (got progressively heavier).
Nice trip that I'll probably never repeat....
"Painful Inflammatory" is now up on my site, a movie that documents are painful ascent and descent. www.nwog.org
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