Tag Archive for: Pacific Northwest

The entire team summits Mt. Baker!

Congratulation to our August 21st climbing team for another great summer 2021 Mt. Baker climb.  100% of the team made it to the summit of this iconic Pacific Northwest peak.  The weather couldn’t have been better and everyone had a fantastic experience.

Well done team!  Everyone is off the mountain and home savoring a job well done.  Make your plans to climb with us in the Pacific Northwest in 2022.

Dawn breaking during the summit push

Dawn breaking during the summit push (📷: Terray Sylvester)

Climbers on the summit plateau of Mt. Baker

Climbers on the summit plateau of Mt. Baker (📷: Terray Sylvester)

On the top of Mt. Baker!

Congratulation to our July 24th climbing team for another great summer 2021 Mt. Baker climb.  Nearly all of the members made it to the top of this iconic Pacific Northwest peak.  The weather couldn’t have been better and everyone had a fantastic experience.

Well done team!  Everyone is off the mountain and home savoring a job well done!!  We are looking forward to our August climbs.

Baker team heading up (📷: Denis Mishin)

Baker team heading up (📷: Denis Mishin)

Climbing the Easton Glacier up Mt. Baker (📷: Denis Mishin)

Climbing the Easton Glacier up Mt. Baker (📷: Denis Mishin)

Happy climbers on the summit of Mount Baker!

Congratulations to our July 17th team of three climbers and guide Justin Sackett for safely and successfully reaching the summit of Mount Baker this morning!  Well done team!  Everyone is off the mountain now and headed home savoring a job well done.

Here’s a couple of shots of the ascent.  Stay tuned for more PWN climbing this upcoming weekend when we will have teams on Mount Baker and Mount Rainier!

Sunrise on ascending Mount Baker climbers

Sunrise on ascending Mount Baker climbers

Nearing the summit of Mount Baker

Nearing the summit of Mount Baker

Hiking in on Mount Baker

After a thorough and fun(!) orientation and gear check on Saturday in Seattle, our July 17th Mount Baker team headed up to the trailhead at Schrieber’s Meadow yesterday and hiked up to the crest of the Railroad Grade to make high camp at around 5,800 ft.

Today after a hearty breakfast, the team reviewed glacier and snow travel skills, including rope-team travel, cramponing techniques, ice axe use, and self-arrest skills.  After dinner at camp, they are headed off to bed early tonight to get ready for an “alpine start” just after midnight when they will head for the 10,781 ft. summit.

The weather is looking just perfect for a star-filled night of climbing and a glorious clear view from the top of Koma Kulshan!  We look forward to sharing photos of the victorious team when they have descended back down.

2021.07.17 Mount Baker Gear Check and Orientation

2021.07.17 Mount Baker Gear Check and Orientation

Railroad Grade on Mount Baker's Easton Glacier route

Railroad Grade on Mount Baker’s Easton Glacier route

July 17 Mount Baker team

July 17 Mount Baker team

Wow! Do you see that? Such views from Mt. Baker.

Wow! Do you see that? Such views from Mt. Baker.

Team pose while climbing the Blue Glacier route on Mount Olympus in Olympic National Park

Nice end-of-season climb on Washington state’s Mt. Olympus last week.  Lead guide, Terray Sylvester, provided this report:

We made the most of challenging conditions last week on Mount Olympus’ Blue Glacier Route.

The trail to the route follows the milky Hoh River through the massive trees of the Hoh Rainforest for about 17 miles to Glacier Meadows campground, just below the foot of the Blue Glacier. It’s a uniquely beautiful approach, but since the Hoh Rainforest gets 12 to 14 feet of rain each year, it can also be a bit wet. We had rainy weather both days of our hike in, and for that, we all carried golf umbrellas. Maxfli isn’t a brand you often see on a mountaineering rack, but those umbrellas kept us dry each day until we climbed into our tents. For backcountry comfort, they were some of the most important gear we brought.

After all that rain, I was relieved to see stars in the sky when I stuck my head out of the tent at 1:30 a.m. We ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and hot coffee, and then hiked out of camp, over the lateral moraine on the east side of the Blue Glacier and down to the glacier at about 5,000 feet of elevation. By the time the sun was up, we had crossed the lower arm of the glacier and were climbing toward the top of the Snow Dome, a plateau at about 7,000 feet. But late-season conditions were slowing our pace. Lack of snow on the lower glacier forced us to pick our way carefully across the glacier’s deep, icy furrows. Higher up, I built a series of anchors to protect the final, steep slopes near the top of the Snow Dome. Earlier in the season, those slopes would have been covered in snow and we could have simply walked up them as a rope team. But with glacier ice exposed, it was too dangerous to ascend without belaying.

By the time we approached Crystal Pass at 7,200 feet, we were running out of time to make it to the summit. We would still have to climb and descend the final 5th class rock pitch below the summit pinnacle, but we also faced a more immediate problem – a wide bergschrund that spanned the glacier below Crystal Pass. Having climbed down into and back out of the bergschrund a week earlier, I knew we could do it safely, but I also knew it would cost us quite a bit of time. Ascending higher would have pushed us into a long summit day when nightfall and fatigue might conspire to make an accident more likely. With clouds coming in, we returned to camp, taking off our packs at our tents just before dusk.

On many climbs, the most difficult choice is when to turn around. It was disappointing not to stand on the summit of Olympus on this climb, but that was the price we paid for a lesson in decision-making, and for the experience of climbing on this remote, beautiful peak in late-season conditions when the dramatic crevasses and seracs of the Blue Glacier are most visible. We also got to practice some teamwork and rope skills as we moved through the belays on the Snow Dome. All in all, it was a valuable trip to one of Washington’s most remote and beautiful peaks.

Team with golf umbrellas hiking to Mt. Olympus high camp

You don’t always see gear branded Maxfli (golf umbrella) on mountaineering trips!

Sean hikes from the Hoh River to Glacier Meadows at the base of Mount Olympus in Olympic National Park

Climbing the Blue Glacier route on Mount Olympus in Olympic National Park

Climbing the Blue Glacier route on Mount Olympus in Olympic National Park

Team pose while climbing the Blue Glacier route on Mount Olympus in Olympic National Park

Mount Rainier

Driving up through a hazy smoke lining the valley near Mount Rainier, our 2019 Climb for Conservation team launched from Paradise en route for Camp Muir (10,188 ft). After a enjoyable day learning climbing skills with Garrett Madison, including techniques for cramponing, use of the ice axe and self-arrest, rope team travel, we tucked into our sleeping bags at Camp Muir. The next morning we woke up at 7am, ate breakfast and moved up toward Ingraham Flats at 11,100 feet to set up high camp. Around 2pm we geared up and started our summit ascent, first challenge being the rock climb over the Disappointment Cleaver. While the sun came down over the mountain the temperature quickly dropped below freezing as we continued to move higher on the mountain.

As the sun was setting across the horizon we reached the summit at 4,392m / 14,411ft. Climbers quickly made their way to sign the summit book inside a large metal box before roping up again and making our descent. The wind picked up to 25mph or so and all climbers were ready to move toward our warm tents and dinner back on the Ingraham flats.

To view our Washington programs for summer 2019, please click HERE.

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Please enjoy a few of our top photos from this climb! 🙂

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Photo by David Kernan

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Photo by David Kernan

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Photo by Jason Korb

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Photo by Christiane

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Photo by Christiane

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Photo by Christiane

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Photo by Christiane

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Successful Mount Rainier summit at (14,411 ft) this week with Climb for Conservation! Our team climbed the Disappointment Cleaver route and gained 9,000 ft and covered 18 miles. Thank you to our rockstar team who joined the Climb for Wildlife Conservation cause!

For future Climb for Conservation adventures please contact Ginna Kelly 🙂

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Mount Rainier summit

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Mount Shuksan

It was going to be hot, super hot on Mount Shuksan. We decided it would be prudent to get an early start so we left camp at 1:45am walking under a moonless sky across the Sulphide Glacier. Smoke from wildfires to the north turned the sunrise into an hours long epic, we arrived at the summit pyramid just as the sun crested the horizon. The summit was cast in shadow and we hurried down before we cooked. It was a beautiful day in the mountains.

Guide Sid Pattison

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Mount Shuksan

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Mount Shuksan

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Photo credit: Melissa Arnot

Mount Shuksan

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Mount Shuksan

We had a successful Mount Rainier climb, Washington’s highest peak and largest volcano at 14,411′.  Our team elected to push for the summit in the afternoon, rather than do the traditional midnight start, so we ended up reaching the summit around sunset, it was a beautiful view from the top, and we had it all to ourselves.  Below are some photos from our climb, enjoy!

To view some of our other Washington programs please click HERE.

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

 

We had a successful Mount Rainier climb, Washington’s highest peak and largest volcano at 14,411′.  Our team elected to push for the summit in the afternoon, rather than do the traditional midnight start, so we ended up reaching the summit around sunset, it was a beautiful view from the top, and we had it all to ourselves.  Below are some photos from our climb, enjoy!

To view some of our other Washington programs please click HERE.

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb

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Mount Rainier climb