North Couloir of Mt Buckner

29 April 2004

north aspect of mt buckner The north side of Mt Buckner, photo by Jim Nelson. This photo can also be seen on page 188 of Selected Climbs in the Casdcades, Volume I, Second Edition.

north aspect of mt buckner The north side of Mt Buckner, photo by John Scurlock. I shamelessly nabbed the R channel from his RGB image here. John, If you want, I will remove this posthaste. However, it does not seem like this one made his wonderful book, Snow & Spire: Flights to Winter in the North Cascades.

Josh Kaplan knew better but somehow agreed to try this with me as a day trip. The first time, on April 22, 2004, there was too much fresh snow. After bailing from the North Couloir, I was caught in a significant avalanche high on Boston Peak above the Quien Sabe Glacier (and it was nobody's fault but mine). He still knew better but somehow tried it with me as a day trip again the following weekend! The second time was a charm and we had good ski conditions for a descent of the beautiful North Couloir.

Josh Kaplan prepares to ski from the top of Sahale Peak Josh Kaplan prepares to ski from near the summit of Sahale Peak.

Sky skis the north couloir Sky makes a turn near the top of the North Couloir of Mt Buckner, wearing a backpack that was on loan from Jim Nelson.

Sky skis the north couloir Skiing the North Couloir of Mt Buckner, above the Boston Glacier.