Mt Shuksan, Fisher Chimneys: We skied that!?

2 February 2003

All photos by Ben Manfredi

We climbed and skied the red line, the Fisher Chimneys route. The blue dot was our high point.

Sky makes a jump turn on the first crux of the ski descent.

The jump turn in the photo above was made near the top of this very exposed, rocky section.

Sky makes a turn in excellent powder near the bottom of the chimneys. As Ben said, Back to Basics.

Ben Manfredi called me out of the blue on a Saturday evening. He was rather taciturn, as usual, but he asked me if I was interested in skiing the Fisher Chimneys route on Mt Shuksan. I had seen the route in the red Beckey, but I hadn't taken too much note of it. The proposition sounded interesting enough. I was glad to join Ben as always.

Unfortunately, I lost my film. I lost half a crampon somewhere on the descent, too. At least I didn't lose an edge; the descent went well. The chimneys were, by far, my most adventurous ski to date. My appetite was whetted to say the least. It was a rewarding adventure for Ben, too. He was ranting and raving throughout the day. Some of his more memorable musings of the day:

Yes, another descent brought to you by your good friends at Cascade Classics.

I feel like Alex F*&%#ING Lowe!

It's always exceptionally gratifying to have a good day in the hills when the weather and conditions seem so questionable beforehand.

See Ben's account of our Fisher Chimneys ski descent with more photos.