NW Couloir Shuksan

3/11/21

WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)

1446

2

Posted by Kyle M on 3/14/21 12:44pm

https://climberkyle.com/2021/03/11/mt-shuksan-nw-couloir/

Anthony and I skied the NW Couloir on Thursday, while Sam and Will did the White Salmon.

The upper Hanging Glacier was straight blower but the NW Couloir was definitely more variable and wind effected - still easy to edge and turn. The traverse was pretty exposed and had one short section of white ice, but was not too challenging to get through. Still definitely attention grabbing. The rest of the line was pretty good snow and such an incredible position. Minimal sluffing and no stability issues noted.

We also skied the summit pyramid, which was not the best, but still skiable. A bit of rime and weird snow, but the sun softened things nicely.

Felt great to be back in the alpine!