dms
Active member
On July 26, 2004, my son Dan and I summited Mt. Shuksan in the northern Cascades. We ascended via the Sulphide Glacier route. We camped at 6500 feet, on a snow field with fantastic views of the summit pyramid and the head of the Sulphide and Crystal Glaciers. Shuksan, which means roaring mountain, lived up to its name, as all day we were treated to the incredible sounds of tons of ice moving and shifting. At night we had some fantastic scenes of the northern lights. This mountain is reputed to be one of the most photographed in the world, and once you see it you can understand why. We started our summit climb at 2:30 am, so that the snow conditions were perfect for cramponing. We got to the pyramid at about 5:00 am, just as dawn was breaking. Instead of ascending the "gully" we opted for an ascent of the south ridge, basically a 5.2/5.3 steep slab scramble. It was exhilirating, fantastic exposure with 1,000/1,500 foot straight drops down to the glacier! We were both exhausted by the time we reached the top at 9:00. We had magnificent views of Mt. Baker, the Picket Range, and even Mt. Ranier, 150 miles to the south. The mountain is not crowded as the Forest Service limits permits to only 6 groups at any one time, and since we timed our ascent for a Sunday, virtually everyone else had already left. For some pictures of the trip go to www.pbase.com/dspurling and click on the Mt. Shuksan gallery.
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