Colchuck Peak

While in Seattle, Dianna and I headed out to the Cascades with Josh to attempt Colchuck Peak. It was a crazy climbing experience to say the least. I got my first look at a glacier and then quickly saw how unforgiving they can be. The photo above shows the peak in the center and glacier approach to the saddle. The picture below is of a snow band while approaching the Colchuck glacier.



Here's Josh "battling" the elements before the snow became a thin layer above the ice and he did what you could describe as an "apline style glacier exit of no return". You can see the ice section right behind him. This is the spot where Dianna and I stopped because the ice became too steep and we didn't have a rope or ice screws for protection. Shortly after this I was standing in what I thought was a secure rest position, but the snow slid out from under me and I began a fast retreat down the mountain. I was able to self-arrest after only about a 30 foot slide, but it was a hair-raising experience.



All of this coupled with a lack of experience in glacier travel led to a retreat. The image below shows Dianna down-climbing some scree below the glacier.



A little sketchy ice didn't deter Josh and he managed a summit. But he did pay a price and I'll let him tell you the story if he wants. I'll just say that what took about an hour or so to climb took only 10 seconds to descend. And Josh may have managed to use the rest of his 9 lives.

Below is an overall shot of Colchuck Peak (right) and Dragontail (left) with a mystical shroud of cloud cover from Apline Lake. You can also see Alpine Lake in the photo above.