Looking for ice in the North Cascades, November 25-26th, 2000

On the highway after Ross Lake, we drove past many exciting-looking-but-too-wet-to-be-any-good-since-the-elevation-is-so-low-roadcut-seeps. Approaching Rainy Pass, we had good views of the North Face of Graybeard (looking mighty thin this time of year) and the southeast ridge of Fisher Peak (looking frosted and hardcore this time of year). Then Cutthroat popped out. The Washington Pass peaks looked beautiful with their reddish-orange rock contrasting with the fresh white snow. After cresting the desolate pass (I think we had seen only one car since Ross Lake), we passed by some solid-looking roadcut seeps, beneath the Liberty Bell massif. Looked tricky to set up a top-rope though. Then some more seeps lower down.

But then I saw something that caught my eye.

There appeared to be a large frozen waterfall up Willow Creek, one of the standard route approaches to Silver Star Mtn. I asked Greg to turn around, and we went back up to a pullout to have a better look.

We both agreed that even though it was an unknown, it would be more adventurous than trying the roadcut stuff. I had also been up through Willow Creek before, so I sort of knew how to get there, sort of. We geared up, and headed into standard-Washington-Pass-irritating-brushy-crap-you-need-to-bushwhack-through-to-cross-a-river-and-start-going-back-up-the-other-side-where-the-good-stuff-is. The trees repeatedly dumped snow down our necks and we travelled up towards Willow Creek. The going was fairly easy though, the snow only about a foot deep, and very dry. I led us right up to the yucky slab headwall, with no waterfall in sight. Greg took over and forged a route up the brushy slab, making a successful attempt at avoiding some extremely dire bushwhacking. We saw a gully to our left, and headed over on mellowing terrain. There was the waterfall - we were on top! After tying an anchor to a lone tree clump, a look over the edge revealed - nothing. Too steep to see anything.

Then we heard voices. What?? People! We looked back towards the highway, and there was another car beside ours. Weird. I finally made contact with one of them, and asked what was below me, where I should set up a top rope. This didn't really work very well, and we were getting jealous of this guy bouldering around on OUR waterfall, that we scooted around the side and down to the base to start hacking away at some ice!

It was an impressive chandeliered falls, with lots of caves and rotten-looking overhangs, and a large cone at the bottom that provided the main area for bouldering. The ice was dripping wet, but seemed stable. 20 feet up was a cave you could climb into, where you could boulder around safely on the backside of the pillars. Greg and I, and the other three dudes, spent the day hacking away at the bottom of this waterfall, with nearly continuous ice-smashing sounds. You knew when the sound of breaking glass rose in volume and intensity, that someone was having fun behind those pillars! There was also some delicate 60 degree glazed rock stuff to play around on.

Dave, who seemed to be the spokesperson of the other group of 3 "dhhhhudes", told us they had been here the day before, and there was really nice soloable ice in the next gully over - it went on for a long ways apparently.

So we had a nice day of playing around, and talking about climbing, and listening to Dave talk about stuff, like his buddies' crazy skiing antics in the Wine Spire couloirs, and their ski descent from 10 feet below the summit of Silver Star. We asked him about other ice climbing in the area, and he talked about the roadcuts, and how they're deceptively easy to lead - but then you get up to the top, and it's suddenly it's loose 45 degree crusty snow/ice/mixture which doesn't take any pro, and it gets pretty sketchy to find a belay.

It started getting late, and Greg and I decided to take off. Both our groups said we might be back in this area tomorrow, maybe set up some top ropes or something.

On the way back to the road, I finally realized why this Dave guy was so familiar. I had met him before, three and a half years ago, also in Washington Pass, the week after I moved to Seattle. At that time, we were talking with him afterwards in the parking lot ("It's a go!"), and offered him some jalapeno chips. He grabbed our bag and devoured them, saying how much he liked jalapeno chips.

After a dinner in Twisp, and a trip to the quik-e-mart to get some jalapeno chips, we drove into deserted Lone Fir campground to set up shop for the night. Greg packed the snow down with his new hardcore 4x4 truck.

The next morning it was snowing pretty hard, and visibility was low. We decided against heading back to the waterfall, and instead decided to "explore" some of the roadcut stuff.

The ice on the roadcut was nice and firm - the best ice I've seen in a while! Unfortunately, it was hard to set up a top rope. So we bouldered around. Greg was kicking ice ass on his traverses.

I noticed a 20ft snow-covered gully that showed a bit of ice on top. I waded over there (the snow was deep on the side of the road), and started up - yup, ice underneath, as I thought. I went up till it got vertical, then backed down and decided I wanted to try to lead it - it looked fairly tame. We both walked back to the truck and got the gear out.

Back at the little climb, I headed up to the vertical step, and placed an ice screw all the way in bomber clear ice. Stemming, I climbed above the screw and got my tools over the top of the vertical bit, and scraped away the snow. Hmm.... the ice here consisted of some kind of crusty snow with sugary stuff underneath, and then loose pebbles on slab. Just like that guy said yesterday. I considered pulling on a very thin bush to get myself over the top, but decided not to, and backed down. Oh well.

The snow kept coming down hard, and we were a little worried about the driving, or that the pass might close, so we packed up and left at around noon.

I guess it was a good thing, because later in the day, back in Seattle, I learned that the pass was closed due to an avalanche. And I guess they aren't going to clear it, because on Monday it was listed as being closed for the season.