TR: Mount Buckner (Cascades)
Lowell Skoog
this year, but on Tuesday, July 20, I decided to play hooky from
work and ski one more day. Garth and I drove up from Seattle
Monday night and bivvied at the Boston Basin trailhead.
Around 5:30 am we started up the trail in tennis shoes, then
switched to boots and skis in Boston Basin after we hit snow. We
carried our skis over Sharkfin col and rappeled onto the Boston
glacier. The glacier was crevassed near Sharkfin Tower, so we
roped up to ski to the north face of Mount Buckner. We cramponed
up the face to the summit around 1 pm.
After a lunch break, we skied Buckner's SW route on good soft
summer snow. This 3000 foot slope has a panoramic view from
Boston Peak through the Ptarmigan Traverse to Glacier Peak and
Bonanza. We crossed Horseshoe Basin, kicked steps up to Sahale
Arm, glided to Cascade Pass and then finally skied down the
headwall to the road at about 6 pm.
This loop offered a lot of variety--glacier travel, rock
scrambling, a steep snow climb, steepish skiing (maybe 35-40
degrees), great scenery, a feeling of remoteness. I think the
best time to do it is just before the descent from Cascade Pass
melts out, probably mid-June in a normal year.
--Lowell Skoog
Seattle
Hugh Richardson
take?
Hugh
Lowell Skoog
My friend used regular length alpine skis and
"chopper" boots (AT boots with the cuffs cut down
for touring comfort). I used 130 cm firn skis and
mountaineering boots. The firn skis were nice for
the bits where I had to carry them (up the brushy
trail, scrambling and rappeling the col, cramponing
the north face). We used a 150 foot 7mm rope, but
it was almost too short for the rappel. The snow
on the face wasn't too hard, so we got by with one
ice tool and no anchors.
>Wow, that sounds like a dream day in the mountains.
It was. Consolation for a frustrating spring. ;-)
--Lowell Skoog
Seattle