the Sherpa Glacier Couloir
Elain and I wanted to climb something alpine this weekend, after a three-week hiatus from any alpine climbing. For this climb, we teamed up with Aaron Zabriskie and his father Bill. We had originally intended to attempt Mount Shuksan via the Sulphide Glacier route, but we switched plans to Stuart at the last minute due to our concerns about avalanche hazard and snow conditions west of the crest. Our new plan was to climb Stuart via the Sherpa Glacier route on Sunday. Elain and I also hoped to get a chance to climb the Ice Cliff Glacier route on Monday.
When we met at the trailhead at 8:45 AM on Saturday, the warm temperatures suggested the day would be fairly hot. The main decision at this point was whether or not to bring snowshoes. I wanted to bring snowshoes, but was outvoted three to one. After some last-minute pruning of redundant gear, we were off. The hike in along the first two miles was very easy, since the snow had melted out completely. At the fork in the trail, we went right towards Mount Stuart, and into (for us) unfamiliar territory. The trail was still mostly dry, with just occasional patches of snow, until we reached a creek. Our route description indicated that we would have to cross the creek. From the swiftness and volume of water, wading would clearly not be an option. Fortunately we saw a large dead tree laying across the creek. However, the tree was about 15 feet above the water level, bridging the steep slopes on both sides. So, I put on my crampons and fastened the climbing rope to an upright tree on our side of the creek, and then and walked across the downed tree trailing the rope behind me. On the other side, I fastened the rope to another tree, pulling the rope as tight as I could. This made a sort of safety line that we could use for balance. With the safety line, it was easy enough to cross that we were able to walk across with our packs. After we shuttled the packs and climbers across the creek, I dismantled the safety line and we were on our way.
From the far side of the creek, the "trail" got rougher, and involved a bit of bushwhacking and stumbling over downed trees. After we ascended over a knoll and started descending toward Mountaineer Creek, there was a good covering of snow. We occasionally punched through the snow into air pockets underneath the surface, typically near buried, downed trees. We mostly kept on track by following footprints that took us generally along the Mountaineer Creek. Traveling through the forest, we remained at about the 4700-4800' level for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually the trail turned right and started to gain elevation, ascending through a boulder field and depositing us in another flat valley at about 5200'. The view of Mount Stuart, Argonaut Peak, and Sherpa Peak from here was incredible.
After one final creek crossing and an uphill slog onto a ridge, we arrived at a basin at 5300', with a good view of the Sherpa Glacier and the ice cliff on the Ice Cliff Glacier. The Ice Cliff Glacier was particularly impressive. We heard and saw small avalanches periodically from various parts of Mount Stuart and the surrounding peaks, including several small icefall avalanches falling over the ice cliff. But the best was yet to come. While Elain and I were relaxing in our tent, I heard a thunderous rumbling noise. I quickly unzipped the tent fly and saw a colossal avalanche sweeping down the Ice Cliff Glacier route. It was the largest avalanche I had ever seen. The slide completely obscured the ice cliff and the glacier, and must have travelled for several thousand feet, filling the cirque at the base of the glacier. We stared at it, eyes wide. When it was over, Elain wryly askd me if I still wanted to climb the Ice Cliff Glacier route on Monday.
As agreed, we woke up at 2:00 AM and got ready for our ascent. Aaron had a thermometer and reported that the temperature was 48 degrees, much warmer than one would want for this route. By 3:00 AM we were on the move, traveling in two rope teams of two. As expected, the snow conditions were soft on the Sherpa Glacier, even at 4 in the morning. We skirted to the right to avoid a steep, icy section of the glacier, and eventually came to a broad, lesser-angled part of the glacier below the couloir. At this point we switched to full 50m rope intervals. We climbed in a running belay, with the leader of the first rope team placing pro and the last climber of the second rope team cleaning the pro. Not wanting to stop every three pitches to exchange pickets, and concerned about the cornicing on the wall forming the left-hand-side of the Sherpa Glacier Couloir, I stuck to the right-hand-side of the couloir where it was possible to place some rock pro. After a while, Aaron took the lead for a few pitches, and we reached a belay at about 8300'. At this point, Aaron and Bill decided to turn around. Elain and I were concerned about the warm temperatures, but Elain wanted to at least tag the Sherpa-Stuart Col, so we continued upward. On our way up the couloir, we saw a cornice drop and sweep down the left-hand-side of the couloir; fortunately we were already above the point of impact. This provided some motivation to climb faster. After two pitches, Elain had both of our pickets, and we decided to just forego protection for the last pitch to the col, since snow conditions were a bit firmer in the last pitch. Once on the 8700' col, we marveled at the view, and the size of the cornice overhanging the south side of the col. The time was about 9:30 AM.
The sun was starting to really heat up the couloir and the walls forming the sides of the couloir, so we resolved to downclimb as quickly as possible. Unfortunately snow conditions were soft and very wet, which caused our crampons to ball up frequently. We ended up doing a fair bit of face-in downclimbing and putting in some pickets for running protection along the way; the price we paid for this lack of boldness was a rather long descent time. Perhaps with fimer snow conditions it would have been a faster downclimb. Once we were back down on the less-steep part of the couloir, it was possible to plunge-step. We decided not to glissade because of the two small open crevasses at the bottom of the couloir. I had to stop off to clean a couple of pitons that had been left in the rock bording the couloir during our ascent.
We reached camp at 2:00 PM, hardly a speed record for the ascent or the descent. Bill and Aaron had decided to spend Sunday night at camp. Elain and I began packing, and at 3:15 we started the hike out. We got a bit off-route in the forest above Mountaineer Creek, and ended up moving through terrain with a lot of downed trees. This made for slow progress with our heavy packs. Eventually we came to the large creek crossing with the downed tree. As before, we donned crampons and set up a line across the creek, this time using our 6mm cord. Just as I was starting to dismantle the safety line, I spotted Aaron at the far side of the creek. Evidently he and Bill had changed their minds and decided to hike out, after we had left camp. They were delighted to catch us before we had dismantled the line. The time was about 8:00 PM.
Bill set a blistering pace on the hike out, and Aaron stopped to do some bouldering along the way. We reached the cars at 9:30 PM. After dinner in Leavenworth, we were back in Seattle by 1:00 AM Monday morning.
Gear we used:
ice axe, ice tool, 8.5mm x 50m rope, 2 pickets, 2 short knifeblades, #4 hex, #7 stopper, short ice screwThe ice tool was probably not necessary, but was helpful for shafting in the snow, and pounding in pitons.
the Sherpa Glacier Couloir
the ice cliff on the Ice Cliff Glacier
Elain, at the Sherpa-Stuart Col
Steve, at the Sherpa-Stuart Col
Steve, downclimbing the Sherpa Glacier Couloir
Mount Stuart, from camp
Steve, crossing the creek