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North Country Alpine: 

Climbing in the Cascades

Desk-to-Dirtbag and ICC team up for a sequel adventure to the Mt. Whitney trip. This time the crew hit up the classics of the Pacific Northwest, particularly Mount Stuart, which was one of the legendary 50 Classic Climbs of North America, and it is a title that is very well deserved. Getting to and from the route is an epic in and of itself. The approach crosses over 3 passes over the course of 6+ miles before depositing you onto a real glacier, which you must cross in order to enter the approach gully, which is 400 ft. of loose, scary high 4th-low 5th class climbing to get to the base of the route. The climbing itself is constantly exposed, with 18 pitches of class 5 technical climbing. While a large chunk of the ridge can be simul-climbed, there are a few steep steps at which we had to stop and pitch things out, including the infamous Great Gendarme.

This particular route was made full value not just because of its difficulty of access, but also of its vulnerability to the unpredictability of Cascades weather. While Mt. Stuart is not, by far, the biggest mountain in the state at 9415', it still ranks among the highest, especially of the non-volcanic peaks in the range, of which it ranks second. Weather patterns have a tendency to move from SW to NE in the region, meaning that any foul weather can blindside climbers on the North Ridge. That is precisely what struck us during our first day of climbing. Visibility crashed as we were relegated to climbing in the clouds. 

Our bivy on night 2 was downright awful, for the most part, as we stood around hoping for a clearing pattern, sitting through bouts of rain that moved over the top of the mountain. However, the late evening brought one of the most incredible sunsets I have ever witnessed. Some of the photos are included below.

Summit day graced us with a clearing pattern and we climbed beneath blue skies, sending the crux pitches on the Great Gendarme without much problem. The offwidth pitch, for those of you planning to venture on the route, will be one of the most exhilarating experiences you will have in the world of alpine climbing. This pitch is the wildest for the grade: a burly 5.9 offwidth with 1000 ft. of exposure of near dead-vertical terrain all the way back down to the Stuart Glacier. Add on a pack full of stuff you are carrying up and over the mountain and this pitch becomes a serious test of climbing ability for aspiring alpinists.

The summit itself yielded a great afternoon, as we basked in the sun and danced to Macklemore's "And We Danced" just for kicks. The panorame offered up everything from the Boston Basin to the mighty flanks of Mt. Rainier and even to the summit cone of Mt. Adams far off in the clouds. The only problems with the summit is, perennially, that you have to get your ass down, and with the Cascades, the descent is much like the approach: no easy feat. After scrambling down exposed terrain to the sub-summit, we were greeted by the prospect of chasing the choss-filled Cascadian Couloir down into the valley below. Sure, such a choss descent is arguably part of the alpine game, but this was on a different order of magnitue than I had experienced before. The couloir itself was about 3000 ft. long, and filled with "kitty litter:" small bits of sand and gravel that behave like ball bearings under foot. Indeed, there is a reason why many Cascade climbers refer to the gully as the spectacular "Crap-cadian" Coulouir... That was not even the final obstacle standing in our way of the search for a burger back in the town of Cle Elum. Once down in the valley, we had to hike up and over a FOURTH pass before finally returning to the trailhead.

Ultimately, the stats look like this:

- 4 passes crossed

- ~13 miles of overland trekking

- 1 glacier crossing 

- 18 pitches of roped climbing (simul-climbing included)

- ~13000 feet total elevation change

Enjoy the rest of the photos below and make sure you subscribe to get notifications when our Cascades video is released! 

We are also starting a gear advice page for adventures like this one, so if you are wondering what to pack for these types of great adventures, the new page will be a nice helping hand to staying light and moving fast in the hills.

Peace and good climbing.