My alarm was set for 6am but I was awake long before then. I never did fall asleep. I was too busy thinking about my situation. I worried about the climb -- would there be many hidden crevasses? We didn't have a rope. I worried about the ski -- would we be able to ski from the top? Avalanche danger was high. In other words: I worried about dying, not only for myself, but also for my friends.
I set my worries aside and proceeded to get dressed. I woke the others up and cooked breakfast while I waited for them to get ready. The sky was clear and the temperature was cold. We left camp just after 7am. The sun rose as we rounded the corner and passed the tracks that we made the previous evening.
Jason rounds the corner towards the Sulfide Glacier as the sun begins to rise.
We continued up the rolling slopes until we reached the Sulfide Glacier. It looked as though some snowshoers had gotten an earlier start. They were camped at the base of the Sulfide and were well ahead of us by the time we passed their tents. We followed their tracks most of the way because we were afraid of falling into a hidden crevasse. The west side of the Sulfide looked fairly harmless but we had no idea what was beneath us. It was not very steep so we were able to skin most of the way up.
I was pretty sure that we wouldn't be able to ski the summit pyramid upon first glance. The chute had snow in it but it looked terribly steep. The guide book says 50 degrees and that is no lie. I guess it would all depend on the snow.
Jason rounds the final roll as the summit pyramid takes shape.
As we rounded the final roll we saw that the snowshoers weren't too far ahead. They must have been traveling awfully slow because we caught up to them in no time. We met up near the base of the pyramid and they took off towards the east ridge. We were tempted to follow them but we didn't want to use their tracks and end up passing them near the top. That's just not nice.
We ended up breaking our own trail directly up the main chute. This was by far the hardest trudging that I've ever done. The snow near the base was armpit deep. It was probably deeper than that but my arms stopped me from going any further. The only thing that made me move was my fear of avalanches. Josh was right behind me when we began but I ended up topping out several minutes before him. Troy and Jason were close behind. It wasn't all that bad. In some spots there was only one or two feet of unconsolidated snow. I tried to stay near the edges of the chute to avoid the avalanches that could have broken off at any moment.
My effort paid off as I became the first person to summit that day. The views were incredible and the exposure was magnificent. Looking down the north side made my stomach drop. I turned to the south but that didn't provide much comfort. I looked down on Josh and the others as they made their way up.
Josh climbing the summit pyramid with Troy and Jason close behind.
I continued to absorb the surroundings. I've never been to such a panoramic summit. Most of the Cascade volcanoes have broad summits that require you to walk to see from one side to the next. On Shuksan all you have to do is lean.
Josh, Troy and Jason joined me after a bit and they were just as overwhelmed. I ended up spending almost an hour on the summit but I wasn't about to complain. Someone from the group of snowshoers took over our spot just as we left. There were many others that followed.
Troy and Jason make their way onto the summit ridge. Mount Baker and Lake Ann can be seen in the background.
Our dreams were about to come true as we put on our skis and slid towards the chute. There was a line of 5 or 10 people that we had to work with on our way down. We knocked plenty of snow off but it made for an easy ski down the steep face. We met up at the bottom to admire our lines. It would have been nice if the other people weren't there to distract us but I suppose that's part of the game. It's better than having to take leftovers.
A look back at our lines -- leftovers.
I didn't bother taking anymore photos. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the long ski back to camp. We were able to ski most of the way back to the car but that wasn't as enjoyable. Overnight packs made it difficult to telemark in the heavy snow. The temperature had warmed up considerably. The powder had turned to mush and I ended up paralleling most of the way back to the car. This gave my legs a chance to rest.
The secret was out. We had finally found the easy way to climb Shuksan. If only we could get up here in the winter (see Winter 00 and 01).