Alpine Ice: July 17th 2006

Our departure was set for 3:15 am, but a Mountaineers climbing club group were up earlier and probably had most of the other groups up as well. While I heated up some water for coffee, I poked my head outside and was happy to see a sky full of stars.

Most groups at the Black Buttes were heading up the "normal" Coleman-Deming route. We took off straight across the Coleman glacier to descend around some huge crevasses and approach the north side of the mountain.

After an hour of easy glacier travel we'd moved out of the wind and both of us needed to stop and loose a layer of clothing. Adjusted, we started climbing up just as the eastern sky was beginning to glow. Far off to the north and west we could see arrays of city lights from both US and Canadian cities.

My attention was snapped back to the task at hand when we approached a sidewalk sized snow bridge spanning a crevasse that could have swallowed a dump truck. As we neared the bottom of the Hourglass Couloir we repositioned ourselves from glacier travel to steep climbing. Trekking poles were stowed away, second ice axes were brought out and the coils of rope we carried for crevasse rescue were undone and we each tied into the very ends of the rope.

Joseph led up the gully, traversing through a bergschrund on a nearly horizontal snowbridge. Then he headed straight up and placed the first picket at the end of the rope. That was my signal to start moving and climb through the bergschrund myself and keep heading up. I spotted two other climbers approaching the base of the gully and start to prepare themselves for the climb.

We climbed the entire gully with splayed feet in duck walking fashion. I found my limbs protesting this form of abuse and vowed to practice this stance when walking the hills of Indiana like I did with the side-step techniques.

At the upper end of the gully the terrain began to moderate a bit and we headed toward the start of the crux on our left. Below the ice cliff, Joseph setup a few screws for an anchor then began climbing the near vertical slope. The other team of two came up from below and scouted another route through the ice cliffs so they wouldn't have to wait for us.

I sat in the shade and the wind ducking under my helmet from the small ice chips that rained down from Joseph's progress above. The belay had an admirable view of the contorted Roosevelt Glacier below. Once Joseph established the next anchor above, I removed the screws and swallowed what fears I had to begin the climb.

The next 60 feet was definitely the most exposed climbing I'd ever done. I tried to concentrate on the task at hand and not to think about the huge crevasses below or the transient medium I was relying on to hold my ice axes and crampons points. My legs had begun shaking in nervousness and from lack of skill, but thankfully the slope angle eased and I arrived safely at the belay.

Joseph quickly took off on the next pitch and I could warm up in the sun as I belayed him. The climbers from below made another appearance, having decided to follow our route after all. When my turn came to climb, this second pitch proved to be much easier and even enjoyable.

Joseph led off again and once the rope came taunt I removed the anchor and we returned to climbing simultaneously. The slope here had eased, but was still very steep. I couldn't help thinking what would happen if I did slip and would I be able to self arrest on this surface of solid snow? I tried to concentrate on keeping in balance and moving steadily with the rhythm of the rope.

Now we arrived beneath the summit ice cap and set off to traverse below the ice cliffs to the gap between the true and false summits. Once again, the Roosevelt glacier lay directly below and I concentrated on smooth and careful movement toward the picket Joseph had placed. As I reached each of these anchors, I'd have to pry it from the snow, clip it into my harness, then slide the T-shaped hunk of metal between my lower back and my pack. Not the most comfortable way to climb.

We crossed the final bergschrund and followed an easy slope to the gap between the two summits. Untying from the rope, we hiked up to the true summit and looked down into the crater. The volcano's heat had melted part of the summit free of snow, and I lay there dodging the wind as a desire to climb Mount Shuksan began to grow. Besides the views of Shuksan's summit spires, I admired the upper peaks of the North Cascades poking out of the cloud layer and the other volcanoes showing their dominance of the skyline to the south.

We headed back down and tied into the ropes, again configured for glacier travel with extra coils. Up and over the false summit then we looked down at the "Roman Wall", the steep upper section of the normal Coleman-Deming route. We could see a few climbers ascending upwards, but most had completed their climb and were returning to the Black Buttes. We'd hit a nice gap between groups and had enjoyed the summit to ourselves.

We shot straight down and towards a barren and rocky hogsback while taking in the view of the lower Colfax Peak directly in front of us. Far below we could see the tracks in the snow leading all the way to our tents in the middle of the Black Buttes campsite. Once off the hogsback, we started catching and passing other groups as we descended on automatic, working around the open crevasses and across a few small snowbridges.

Just before noon we returned to camp and looked forward to the rest of the afternoon for relaxing and eating. The clouds had moved upwards and barely existed at our elevation. We appreciated their coolness and efforts in blocking the baking sunlight as we cooked lunch.

During the afternoon I walked up to the ridge above camp and sat on the rocks to work on my journal. The views of Thunder Glacier were heavily obscured by the clouds, but I watched ravens float only a few feet above my head in the wind.

After dinner the clouds cleared off and I re-ascended the black rocks to finally capture the views of Thunder Glacier. Returning to my tent I chatted with another Canadian group who were going to attempt the normal route the next morning. All the other groups had packed out this afternoon, so the camp was noticeably quieter.