2021 Trip Reports

I climbed in a team of six up Mt. Shuksan via the Fishers Chimneys Route between July 10th and July 11th. This was my first grade III climb and the following are my notes of highlights during the trip:

• There were two moats to deal with: one before the first chimneys section and one past the lower camp entering the second chimneys section. Not hard to cross but we needed to handle with care.

• Winnie’s Slide was in good condition. There is a suspect area but it was easy to protect via a running belay and still has good snow coverage.

• There was exposed blue ice and small crevasses to cross after the highest camp above Winnie’s slide (getting on Upper Curtis Glacier). We didn’t feel the need to protect it as it was a short section. 

• Hell’s Highway was in good condition. Fairly easy to protect in a running belay. I did place one ice screw down for a small icy section.

• Sulfide Glacier was in good shape with some minor open crevasses.

• Tip for those considering to summit on a Saturday or Sunday: Plan to reach the summit pyramid by 6am or earlier. Otherwise you’ll deal with crowds or get stuck behind a huge line trying to rappel out.

• There were plenty of good rap stations everywhere.

• There was a good water source at the highest camp above Winnie’s Slide.

Tahoma (also know as Mt. Rainier) has been a peak that has alluded me for several years. As a prominent feature seen from Seattle, I have always been in awe of its size, annual snowy slopes, and potential volcanic danger. I first attempted Tahoma back in June 2019 by way of the Disappointment Clever route. I witnessed copious amounts of new snow and strong winds on my ascent and my group decided to turned around at the Disappointment Clever after the winds and avalanche conditions were deemed too dangerous to continue. I was devastated by this attempt but knew I would be back to try again.

In June 2020, a friend of mine was able to obtain permits for two weekends in hopes that we had flexible options if the weather was variable. Unfortunately both weekends ended up having poor weather so we never made it to Tahoma. This stung a little as I felt like I was cursed to never see Tahoma's summit. Fortunately I was able to see other incredible summits that summer including Dakobed (also known as Glacier Peak) which narrowed my Washington volcano summit goal to one.

Fast forward to 2021; I again was invited to join another wonderful team in June to climb the Emmons route of Mt. Rainier. We obtained our permits online in April and had an official weekend in the books. This had to be the year! Unfortunately the curse continued as weather was predicted to have intense snowy accumulations and high winds on the weekend we reserved permits. We called the trip off before even leaving Seattle which made me so disappointed. I vowed at that point that I had to keep my eyes open for a good weather window opportunity and try again.

Two weeks after my cancelled attempt I received an exciting message I couldn't ignore. The same friend who had invited me for my 2020 attempts had obtained permits for the Emmons Route. It was super last minute but I decided to accept the challenge as the weather window was perfect. I packed my bags, tried my best to finish my work, and drove off to Tahoma early Thursday morning. We picked up our permits at the ranger station and started our long trek to Camp Schurman at 8:30AM. 

The views were clear but the temperatures were high while slogging up the Inter Glacier. We could see the large boot pack on the Emmons from far away and passed a few successful parties who expressed good things about the route. We reached Curtis Camp around 2:30PM and roped up for our final approach to Schurman. We reached our base camp around 3:45PM and immediately set up our tents. The ranger for Camp Schurman met with us to discuss our plans and we agreed to start our final ascent no later than midnight. 

The group woke up around 11PM. In the distance you could see Seattle's city lights and the dim remnants of the sunset. We left camp around midnight and immediately started navigating around crevasses in the dim moonlight. The freezing level was around 16,000 feet that day so the snow was pretty soft in the beginning of our summit push. The boot pack was a little sloppy which made rest stepping nearly impossible. Our first major obstacle we faced was a steep wall that was somewhat icy, so we placed protection with pickets. We passed the wall with little issues and continued the slog up.

We started to notice the sun rise around 4AM. The silhouettes of Mt. Baker, Dakobed, and Mt. Stuart stood out in the horizon and the alpenglow on the Emmons Glacier was radiant. We faced two more obstacles in the last two thousand feet which included a suspicious sinking snow bridge in a large crevasse and crossing a bergschrund. We relied on setting up anchors with pickets and ice screws and did running belays for these portions. At 7:30AM, we officially reached the crater rim. The winds were strong so we didn't stick around the summit for too long but the views were absolutely spectacular. We saw Pahto in the distance and steam rising from a fumarole in the crater. We snapped our summit pictures and started our descent around 8:30AM. 

The way down was definitely a slog with the sloppy snow and high temperatures. We were especially careful in probing the surface for weak snow bridges and relied on anchors and running belays. We made it back to Camp Schurman a little before 1PM and decided to quickly pack up our stuff to continue back to our cars. The descent beyond Camp Curtis became a little easier with the help of a mellow 2,000 feet of glissading in the Inter Glacier. We reached our cars a little before 6PM and celebrated our victorious climb. This climb exceeded my wildest dreams and I'm so happy I got to do it with an incredible group. It feels so good to finally finish my Washington volcano summits goal!

I spent four days on Mt. Baker doing a Women's Ski Mountaineering course with Pro Guiding Service. It was an incredible experience camping in the snow, learning skills for ski mountaineering and spending time with a guide who provided valuable insight to skiing in the backcountry with glacier conditions. We were able to summit on the third day which had clear skies, views for miles, and excellent snow conditions. Here's a breakdown of the days:

Day 1: May 13th, 2021

We all met at the ranger station at Glacier, WA around 9:30AM. We did some final packing in the parking lot and established the game plan of getting to Hogsback Camp. We drove as far as we could on Glacier Creek Road and walked some road before reaching consistent snowpack to skin up. We had about 3600 ft of elevation gain to climb and doing it with 50lb packs was no easy feat. We reached camp before 7PM, made camp and dinner, and passed out after a long day. 

Day 2: May 14th, 2021

Everyone got to sleep in a little bit and enjoy a relaxing morning before getting ready for a skills review day. We did a short tour up to a high vantage point and reviewed skinning up with crampons, traveling on steep terrain with an ice axe and regular crampons, evaluating snow conditions, rappelling with skis, practicing essential knots and other ski mountaineering skills.  

Day 3: May 15th, 2021

Summit day! We left camp around 7:30AM with clear skis and perfect conditions. We roped up for a small portion of the glacier until we reached the top of the Colfax Col. We proceeded to pack our skis on our packs and climb the Roman Wall on foot. We reached the summit around 3:15PM and enjoyed incredible views with little wind. We skied down excellent corn conditions and got back to camp before 5PM. 

Day 4: May 16th, 2021

We started the day with one final short tour to get an epic view of the Thunder Glacier. We also practiced crevasse rescue skills through simulated falls and building out a 3:1 system. We then skied back down to camp, packed our bags and headed back to our cars. Couldn't have imagined a more perfect trip! 

We were three skiers who skinned up the Worm Flows route (also known as the 'Winter Route') of Loowit. We started our trip at 7:30AM from the Marble Mountain Sno-Park. The lot was not crowded as a permit is now required to reach the crater. A strong fog persisted for the first three miles of our trip and we started with minimal layers as the humidity was super high. The weather report was not very promising as high winds and snow were predicted near the summit so we hoped to get as far up as possible to see what we could achieve. 

The sun started to peak through the clouds at around 5,200 feet. Along with the sun came some stronger winds so we took a quick break to layer up. The snow became icy at around 6,200 feet so we put on our ski crampons to have better traction. The wind got stronger as we got closer to the summit and the surface showed signs of rime ice. As we persisted through the rough conditions, the clouds started clearing out and we finally saw better views around us. The last 500 feet were rough as winds picked up to 25 miles per hour but we persevered and reached the crater rim at around 1:20PM. We were greeted with views of Tahoma and Pahto in the distance and Loowit's epic crater. 

The sun helped soften the snow on our descent but the first 1,000 feet from the summit caused our skis to chatter a lot. We then got some sweet corn snow for the rest of our descent which was so much fun. We saw evidence of wet loose avalanches closer to the bottom near the trees and I managed to get my ski stuck for a little bit in a steep spot. Luckily I was able to get free with the help of my trusty shovel and we enjoyed the last two and a half miles in the trees. We were back at the car around 3:30PM and celebrated our success with beers and guacamole. 

My main takeaways:

• Depending on conditions, ski crampons can be super helpful for keeping the skis on the entire way up!

• Timing really matters.  Make sure you consider how long it will take to reach the summit and when you'll ski down. Conditions change a lot throughout the day.

• Keep an eye out for slope angles when conditions heat up. There are a lot of steep slopes with large cornices and opportunities for avalanches. 

Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HW2Bo52xfZY8SxEaA

Strava: https://strava.app.link/gsZ28hKndfb

We were two backcountry skiers who circumnavigated Chair Peak, a major peak in the Snoqualmie Pass region. We started our trip at 8:15AM from the Alpental lower parking lot. The weather was a little stormy with lots of fresh snow which caused visibility to be variable throughout the day. There were so many people around us going to the backcountry which made us super excited for our objective. 

Our goal was to go around Chair Peak counterclockwise so our first major stop was Snow Lake. The powder was deep and avalanche conditions were moderate so we moved conservatively and made sure to consider the slope angle and snow before skiing down. Snow Lake felt like a dreamy snow globe as we traversed to the Northwest side of the lake. We had to wear our ski googles and shells as the wind was persistent in this open area. As we glided across the frozen lake, we got our first glimpse of Chair Peak and it's complex features. For a peak that is only 6,238 feet tall, it sure looks like a hard peak to climb!

We reached the other side of Snow Lake before noon. Our next major stop was Chair Peak Lake. We went a little too far East which got us off track but we were able to find out quickly enough and traverse back to our original track. We did our best to stay on moderate angle terrain as there was a lot of evidence of storm slab avalanches around us. The powder was remarkable and we saw many folks skiing near us. Chair Peak Lake was stunning in the snow and we saw little glimpses of Kaleetan Peak in the fog. 

Our next objective was to cross Melakwa Pass. We had to be especially careful going up this pass as there were very large cornices at the top. When we reached the top of Melakwa Pass, we saw Melakwa Lake and backside of Chair Peak. We did our best to remain high when we were skiing to Melakwa Lake as there was evidence of a stream and some debris at the bottom of the basin. Our last climb of the day was another saddle between Chair and Bryant Peak. 

At the top of our last ascent, we saw an incredible coulior to ski down. We took it slowly as it was dark at this point but we had lots of fun skiing some incredible snow! We did trigger small wet loose and slab avalanches but overall we were able to descent down to Source Lake safely. Looking back at our track revealed we skied our first double black diamond coulior called Bryant Coulior! We saw the orange glow of the Summit at Snoqualmie ski resort which got us excited to finish the day. We were officially done and back at our cars by 7:30PM. 

This trip was so incredible and taught me so much. Here are a couple of my takeaways:

• Type of skis matter. I have skis that are more ski mountaineering focused and I struggled a bit in the thick powder. I was able to make it work overall but I think some thicker skis are going to be my next purchase in the near future.

• Start this trip early! We did a lot of ascending and got off track once during our journey. We would have finished before dark if we started our trip two hours earlier.

• We did awesome mitigating avalanche terrain! We made sure our spacing was good when we were crossing questionable terrain and kept good communication throughout our journey. Take AIARE 1 if you want to do a trip like this!

Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oSfon398C5a5NDqM9

Strava: https://strava.app.link/t5xpkYO9udb