Mt. Shuksan

We were a little worked after the day on Black Peak, so we started slowly on this day, but eventually made our way to the Mt. Baker ski area and the Lake Ann trailhead for the approach to Mt. Shuksan. Our plan was to climb up the Fisher Chimneys route and squeeze in a climb of Shuksan prior to the start of a bad stretch of weather which was predicted to come in Thursday and last through the weekend.

(View of Shuksan and the Fisher Chimneys from Lake Ann)

Given our later start, however, we ended up only making it to the camps at Lake Ann. To make matters worse, I twisted my left ankle quite badly on the way in. My left ankle has been a problem since my college soccer days. I had a complete reconstruction of my right ankle during my freshman year at college, but never felt the left ankle was bad enough to justify the surgery. As if the alpine exam wasn't going to be hard enough already, now I've got a bum ankle to deal with. I still completed the trip on Shuksan with Pat and my good friend and Mountain Goat researcher Adam Wells, but I'm not happy with the badly sprained ankle as a result of the trip.
(Taped up the ankle right after the injury to prevent swelling)

The weather wasn't great in the morning so we opted for a later start and more of a reconnaissance day on Shuksan instead. We still climbed up the popular Fisher Chimneys approach route, and then accessed the upper Curtis Glacier via Winnie's Slide. Icy conditions pervade the mountain at this time, and all the warm weather has really melted things out on Shuksan.

(Guiding my friend Adam up the icy slopes of Winnie's Slide)

After a short tour on the Upper Curtis, we stopped at a crevasse and did a few run crevasse rescue practice runs. The exam has a crevasse rescue component that each candidate must successfully pass in order to pass the alpine exam. You want to make sure you're dialed in on this stuff prior to the stress of the exam so you can be on autopilot come exam time.

Poor weather is predicted for the weekend, which comes at a good time because I'm going to need an extended period of rest to try and heal this ankle.......

(Pat digging a t-slot during our crevasse rescue session)