SkiSickness

This is the first in a potential series of anthology threads. The North Face of Mt Shuksan is one of my favorite routes to this day.

Jeff Manor and I climbed the North Face in early November of a dry fall in 2003, with lots of blue glacier ice.

Got around to skiing it in July 2004 with Cyril Benda.

Skied it again with Wehrly and Hannah in 2006.


Overall conditions were good but Hannah hit a rough patch, took a fall and broke her leg. That was scary!

Squad action with Tim and Chris in July 2007.


Tim's trip report on TGR:
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/sho ... -7-14-2007

Tragically, Chris perished in an avalanche in February 2012. There is a good New York Times article about it:
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/sn ... nnel-creek

On my 29th birthday, Eric and I skied the North Face with a direct finish variation.

The standard North Face gets you 2800 vertical feet of quality, mostly steep skiing with glorious exposure, but the lower half is at a lower angle. The west-facing couloir variation saves the steepest terrain for the finish.

Then in February 2009, Dan Helmstadter and I skied the North Face in wintry conditions with the entrance being spICY (as Dan put it on summitpost).

Some days this drop of ~4300 vertical feet to Price Lake feels nothing but exhilirating. At this moment it might have felt intimidating.