Overview
The North Cascades are known as the American Alps and live up to the name. Steep rock, hanging glaciers and beautiful meadows of heather are a few of the many highlights of this incredible National Park.
The climbing ranges from mellow glacier climbing to steep ice and 5th class rock. Often climbers choose to extend their North Cascades trip with a climb of Mount Baker's North Ridge. It's an awesome combo that integrates the incredible rock of the North Cascades with the steep ice climbing of Baker's North Ridge.
Routes
We can guide any route in the North Cascades National Park but we need to make sure you're up to the commitment grade of the route with physical fitness and technical skills. If this is your first time climbing with us, we'll need to review your experience and potentially do a less committing route first.
Some of our favorite offerings are:
Shuksan Fisher Chimneys
Shuksan North Face
Forbidden West Ridge
Forbidden North Ridge
Forbidden NW Face/NW Rib
Torment SW Face
Eldorado East Ridge
Mount Baker North Ridge
Mount Baker Coleman Deming
Mount Baker Easton Glacier
Mount Baker Coleman Headwall
Requisite Experience
Generally, the routes of the North Cascades are for experienced climbers who move well on 3rd class rock terrain, steep, firm snow and are accustomed to challenge of climbing rugged terrain with a full pack. We do have a few options for climbers with excellent fitness that are looking to gain experience in alpine terrain.
The best way to approach these climbs is to reach out and start a conversation about what is best for you and your group. Email Us!
Dates
Available Dates
Prices
| Mt Baker Price List | |
| Mountaineering Private | |
| Private Rates | Per Person / Per Day |
| 1:1 | $990 |
| 2:1 | $590 |
| 3:1 | $470 |
Itinerary
We'll work with you to create a custom itinerary for your trip.Equipment
Technical Gear
❏ Climbing Helmet
❏ Headlamp - with fresh batteries
❏ Climbing harness (alpine or rock harness)
❏ Two Locking carabiners - Petzl Attache, etc
❏ Climbing boots - LaSportiva trango, Scarpa Charmoz or similar
❏ Gaiters - OR mini gaiters to keep snow out of boots
❏ Crampons (Steel crampons that are compatible with your boots)
❏ Ice Axe (55 to 65cm Axe)
❏ Trekking Poles - adjustable preferred
Layers
❏ Sun Hat
❏ Sun Glasses
❏ Warm Hat
❏ 2x Buffs or face masks (These are for warmth and wind protection and are
required for Covid-19 face coverings)
❏ Long sleeve base layer top
❏ 1 to 2 fleece weight upper layers (I'm using a Patgonia R1 and Nano Air)
❏ Puffy - Mid Weight Down/synthetic, Patagonia Fitzroy or similar
❏ Waterproof Shell Jacket with Hood - Gore-Tex (or similar) - basic, lightweight shell, NOT
insulated
❏ Gloves-TWO pair
❏ one pair light/mid weight for warm temps
❏ one mid/heavy weight for cold
❏ Socks - TWO pair. Both mid-weight wool/synthetic
❏ Underwear - wool/synthetic
❏ Sports Bra - wool/synthetic
❏ Goggles (bring to gear check, we may choose to leave at the car depending on Weather
Forecast)
❏ Long johns (bring to gear check, we may choose to leave at the car depending on Weather
Forecast)
Camping & Backpacking Gear
❏ Sleeping Bag (20F) - down preferred due to weight and pack-ability.
❏ Sleeping Pad - Inflatables are comfortable, but make sure it is insulated for sleeping on
snow! Therm-a-rest NeoAir X-Therm or X-Lite are expensive, but excellent.
❏ Compression Stuff sack for sleeping bag
❏ Backpack - 50L (or the smallest bag that fits all of your gear and your share of the group
gear). Black Diamond Speed 50 or similar work well for this.
Other Essentials
❏ Sun Screen (SPF 30 minimum)
❏ Lip Balm (with SPF)
Food and water
❏ Two freeze dried dinner meals (or meals that can be made with just hot water):
I recommend Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai, and Mountain House Pasta Primavera, but
everyone has strong opinions on freeze dried meals. If you know you don’t like or do
well with Freeze Dried, please let me know and I will forward some
“just-add-water” options.
❏ Two Breakfasts:
Grits with cheese, oatmeal, cold cereal with powdered milk, bagel and cream cheese,
PB and J sandwich, mountain house freeze dried.
Bring whatever sounds appealing for a midnight breakfast.
❏ Instant Coffee (if you’re a coffee drinker, now is a bad time to kick the habit!)
❏ Decaffeinated tea for evening hot drink
❏ Cup of 1⁄2 liter Nalgene Bottle (for hot drinks). I prefer the 1⁄2 liter Nalgene so that I can
use it for water on the climb as well.
❏ Bowl
To keep things light and compact, I use the freeze dried dinner bag for my breakfast
bowl, but some people don’t like the remaining flavors. If that’s the case, bring a light
bowl (lightweight tupperware works great)
❏ Spoon - choose a long handled spoon if you’re eating freeze dried food out of the bag.
Normal spoons make it hard to reach the food and it gets messy.
❏ Snack Food - 3 days worth of snacks. I usually break this down as:
❏ Water - bring two liters capacity. I prefer using a 1⁄2 Liter Nalgene for hot drinks and a
soft/collapsible 2L Hyrdrapack Bottle) Please bring at least one hard sided water
bottle.
❏ Hand Sanitizer (Bring extra due to increased use for Covid-19)
❏ Toilet Paper
Optional
❏ First Aid/blister Kit
❏ Chemical hand warmers
❏ Hydration System (Camelback, etc). Please bring an additional hard sided water bottle if
you choose to bring a hydration system.