Mt Shuksan, Fisher Chimneys: We skied that!?

2 February 2003

All photos by Ben Manfredi

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

scary jump turn 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.

skiing powder
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.

Washington Ski Map SkiSickness.com