May 26, 2003, Mount Shuksan: Sulphide Glacier

The first time on this mountain for us (myself and four other friends). Road 014 is clear up to the trailhead. We car-camped in a turnout and started marching at 5am. Hiked in with sneakers to about 3400', then booted and bushed wacked until 4600'. The snow was clean enough to skin, so we did. Approaching the "notch" (gateway to the Sluphide) at 5400' was straightforward because of the hard early-morning snow. The traverse from the notch to the toe of the glacier was a bit stressful because of the steep slope and cliffs below. One person in group used an axe for safety. Just around the corner after the traverse noticed signs of recent activity--debris from cornices above. Once on the glacier we relaxed. No sign of threatening crevasses so we skinned up unroped along the western edge of the Sulphide. This is a beautiful and gentle glacier. Cloud cover provided just enough protection from the sun and the snow was in perfect condition...hero corn for everybody!

Just before the traverse back to the notch, we saw a large cornice hit the deck and the debris stopped just short of our route back. The sun was doing its job. Stressful! We waited a few minutes, then jetted back to the notch one by one as quickly as possible. Back at the car by 3:15pm. Overall, the skiing was incredible. Made a small (low res) movie:
http://www.leang.com/kam/gallery/movies/

-k