Kurt Hicks

Snoqualmie Mountain NW Face Topo

kurthicks — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:39:14 +0000

I’ve spent a good bit of time this winter climbing and skiing on and under the NW Face (often mistakenly called the North Face) of Snoqualmie Mountain at Snoqualmie Pass. Here is a photo topo of the current routes on the face – - from left to right: Pineapple Express, Blue Moon, New York Gully Direct, New York Gully, and LA Express. I’ll do a traditional topo sometime soon.

Click on the photo for the full sized version.

The Northwest Face of Snoqualmie Mountain

Approach Notes:

The easiest approach to the NW Face of Snoqualmie utilizes the Phantom Slide approach. This approach is aptly named, being a avalanche path, so time your ascent based on avalanche conditions.

Part at the groomer lot of Alpental–this is on the left about 200′ past the main parking lot with the footbridge. Walk up the south facing hill on your right towards the Alpental waterfalls. Once at the base of the waterfalls, veer left into the woods for about 100′ and then go straight up through two steep snowed up cliff bands (there is often ski or bootpack here). After about 300′ of elevation gain, move back to the right to the edge of the Phantom Slide path (be wary of avalanche conditions) and climb straight up to about 4900′. Then continue leftward and up into a lower angled clearing that leads to a notch in the West Ridge at about 5200′. (1-2 hours to here depending on conditions). From the notch, downclimb a couple hundred feet in the obvious gully (~45 degrees) to the north into Thunder Creek cirque. This section can be corniced and wind loaded. Once at the bottom, traverse across to the route of your choice. Approach times depend on conditions, but can be as little as 2 hours total.

A Well-Rounded Day on Chair Peak

kurthicks — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:15:23 +0000

I had an amazing day today in my local alpine backyard of Snoqualmie Pass. It was apparent a few days ago that Wednesday was going to be a clear (or mostly so) sunny day in the Cascades…and one that happens to fall at the end of a long dry spell–meaning that conditions for alpine climbing were going to be good, if not excellent. I schemed up a plan with my guiding buddy Lyle for a late-start day mission objective, given his inability to leave Seattle until about 7:30am. There aren’t that many options for winter routes that meet our criteria (late start and a shaded aspect), so we chose to have a go on the North Face of Chair Peak. I woke at the very sane hour of 7am and rendezvoused with Lyle in North Bend shortly thereafter.

Approaching Chair Peak

The approach is a familiar one after spending a good bit of time here this winter and in years past. We set a nice moderate pace and found ourselves skinning up to the base of the route about two hours after leaving the car, just shy of eleven in the morning.

The north side of Chair Peak

We climbed the route in three pitches, after Lyle opted to not build a belay atop the first pitch. Conditions were icy on the face and, as such, I didn’t mind a bit of simul-climbing in lieu of pitched climbing given the solid conditions.

Finishing up pitch two

Starting pitch 3

Arriving at the belay on pitch 3

The remaining pitches went smoothly and soon we were basking in the sun near the summit. I hadn’t climbed the route in almost a decade, so it was quite fun to take in the view, soak up some rays from the windless sky, and enjoy our ascent of a true Cascade classic. Since we had carried our skis up the route, we decided that we may as well make use of them on the descent. After a short false start (in the wrong gully…it had been a decade after all), we found ourselves making jump turns down the descent route towards the rap station.

False Start!

The alternate couloir

...and the real descent gully!

Lyle skiing down to the rappel station

A short rappel and some downclimbing positioned us for a 2500′ ski back to the car. What a great day in my backyard!

Red Rock in March!

kurthicks — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:35:34 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

The month of March in the desert of the American Southwest is simply awesome. The sun is out, days are getting longer, and the temperatures are perfect for rock climbing. This year I’ll be heading back to the multi-pitch rock climbing Mecca that is Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to teach at the annual Red Rock Rendezvous (March 31 – April 1). If you’ve been looking for an excuse to head to Red Rock, this is a great reason…lots of climbers, great instructional clinics, a late night dance party, and free(!) beer.

If you’re interested in smaller groups, private climbing, or instruction, I’m still available from March 17 – 30 through the American Alpine Institute. Please contact me for more information about planning your trip to one of the nation’s best climbing areas.

Finally, here is a short clip from 2011 that was produced by Mountain Gear with me in it (at :23 in).