It is hard to sum up an intense 13 days of alpine climbing in a few paragraphs but i'll try. The course started on Mount Shuksan where participants learned the basics of alpine climbing: basic rock climbing, glacier travel, anchor building, and crevasse rescue. The team put their new skills to the test and made an ascent of Shuksan's aesthetic Southeast Ridge.
Next, we took those basic rock and anchor skills and applied them to rock climbing in Leavenworth, WA. Participants learned
to lead climb on gear and build anchors in the incredible central WA granite. In order to get the climbers more milage on the rock this section of the trip ended with an ascent of a classic 700' rock climb R&D.
The group's solid rock skills allowed us to spend a day climbing the Southwest Buttress of South Early Winter Spire. Though we enjoyed great wether for most of the climb, strong gusts of wind a bit of precipitation on the descent gave this 5.8 classic a very alpine feel.
Finally we took our group of increasingly solid alpine climbers back into the mountains for an ascent of the Northeast Ridge of Mount Triumph. It was a long and intense day on an exposed knife edge ridge. All day we enjoyed some of the best views of the North Cascades I have ever seen. The team dug deep climbing all day long and rappelling into the night and did an incredible job climbing this huge objective.
There is no doubt in my mind that each of our four participants now has a solid foundation and some valuable experience to draw from as they begin their careers climbing in the mountains. Congratulations guys and I look forward to running into you in the mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment