Mount Stuart North Ridge

From the very first time I had picked up Cascade Range climbing books written by Fred Beckey and Jim Nelson I had always been attracted to Mount Stuart. I remember thumbing through those alpine guides in the mid 1990's wondering what it would be like to attempt a climb on this mountain. The pictures had always seemed like they were taken of a destination that I may never visit.

During my first few years of climbing I was busy trying not to die while learning on granite boulders and domes in Leavenworth, WA, toproping chossy stone at Fossil Rock, or bumbling around at Spire Rock. These climbing experiences were limited as I was spending plenty of time out in the "field" with the U.S. Army at the Yakima Training Center. The good thing is that both of my climbing partners were in my unit. I owe pretty much all of my skills and experiences to those two guys, Rush Twilley and Mike Adamson.

The first attempt I made on Mount Stuart was on the West Ridge with Mike. We were not too motivated at the time and were basically trying to figure out logistics and routefinding. We didn't make it very far since we headed up the wrong gulley but I learned a few things that day and we didn't die. That was the most important part.

Some time later I returned with Rush to climb a variation to the Lower Northwest Face of the West Ridge on Mount Stuart. We had spent some time together on larger crags like Snow Creek Wall, where we had fine tuned our skills to give us more courage. Rush and I originally had intended to climb the north ridge route but we still did not have the logistic issues figured out yet. Our packs were huge and we were still on the short end of the learning curve when it came to mounteering. There was a gap between rock cragging and mountain climbing when it came to our skills. We were both fit and could scale the most miniscule rock at a grade of 5.10 or 5.11 but we couldn't quite come to grips with tackling routes over a thousand feet envolving half a day's approach stacked on top of it.

Anyway.. Rush and I made several attempts over the span of two years on this route. I remember a couple of times we were thwarted by inclement weather near Goat Pass. I have recollections of spending the night there with hail and snow pummeling us and wind threatening to rip apart our PX bought a-frame pile of shit 10 dollar tent. Ahh yes those were great moments. Looking back on those times I think that the military dictating our schedules didn't help out one bit. I moved away to Reno, Nevada for about 3 years or so and focused on strippers and wakeboarding instead.

I returned back to the Seattle area in 2000 and started getting in to shape again for climbing. I met plenty of folks and learned to view things in a new light when it came to the mountains. In 2001 I had managed to cut my teeth on the Serpentine Arete of Dragontail Peak nearby and felt that it might prepare me for my nemesis on Stuart. Finally I teamed up with my good pal Scott Jouppi and we planned it out. Scott's a great person. When you hang out with him you definitely get the feeling that he is a genuine friend and solid person. That matters to me because I would rather sit at home and do nothing rather than climb in the mountains with some geeks. Scott and I headed out and eventually climbed the upper North Ridge with one bivouac on the tiniest ledge two pitches below the Great Gendarme (which we bypassed). Our climb was good and really helped me put those demons at rest. For a while ...

Later that summer I was marching back to Mount Stuart again with Dan Cappellini, Leavenworth climbing local. Once again we were refused a climb by rain in Mountaineer Creek. It would be a couple of more years before I would be back. Surprising enough it was with Dan again in 2005. We had just climbed the Backbone Ridge on Dragontail Peak a few weeks prior with Ben Stanton.

Dan established the plan and I agreed. It was a one day attempt of Mount Stuart North Ridge with intentions to be back at the car and no sleeping in the mountains. When we rose in the morning I already knew it was a little bit too late to actually think we would make it. But we went anyway and I never mentioned my feelings at all. We made quick time up Mountaineer Creek having been there before. There really are only faint climbers trails up there. But even in a few years they had seen much traffic. Finally we stood below the route in person and with good weather in the sky. Even with a later start than I liked we would continue. It was fairly obvious where to begin. But first we filled up our water bottles with drainage from the Ice Cliff Glacier.

When we got to the 5.8 squeeze it was just like Mitch Merriman had told me it would be like. I remember him mentioning that I would be happy to have a small pack. I heeded that warning and still have not had the chance to thank him for that piece of advice. There was a sweet 5.9 finger crack above that and then things petered out to low 5th for a long way until we reached the notch were the upper portion of the route starts. Right here we ate lunch and drank some Juicy Juice which Dan brought. Man that drink was like gold up there.

From here we climbed moving together for the most part until we neared the gendarme. I did manage to take a small video of climbing on Mount Stuart in there somewhere. Those Geat Gendarme pitches are beauties, just like everyone said. I knew that if I would climb them this time I could let those demons in my brain rest. Dan and I made it to the summit with little daylight left. We began scrambling down to look for the entrance to the Cascadian Couloir. If we got low enough out of the rocks we had intended to go around and back via Goat Pass. Darkness came quick and we were caught out without any bivouac gear. This was my 3rd time doing this. A couple of years before Fred Beckey and I lied back to back during a rainy night in Five Finger Creek after we did a new route on Rusty Peak in the Niut Range of B.C.'s Coast Mountains. Then before that on Slesse's Northeast Buttress. It was a miserable evening but it could have been much worse. I kept trying to convince Dan that lying back to back would allow us to share body heat. I think he was more worried about being called gay or something. Finally around 3 am he finally was able to overcome that he he.

We rose at dawn and dashed across and round Sherpa Peak. Here we picked a notch to drop down the northwest part of that mountain. Don't do this. These gullies all seem to dead end with cliffs at the bottom or things like that. We ended up rappelling down about 5 times double rope lengths and leaving some rock gear behind. The wild nature of the Cascades showed us it's face as we stood below Argonaut Peak's west side getting water. Many bushes and scratches later we arrived back at our car.

God it was great to climb Mount Stuart all three times. Each moment left it's scar in my memory which I will never forget. Who knows maybe I'll be back for more some day.