Basic Alpine Climb - Ruth Mountain & Icy Peak Traverse

5:00 AM at Tacoma

From camp, ascend SSE to low point on ridge (possibly Christmas Tree Col); may need to rope up for steep snow or short glacier segment. From col, drop down to Banded Glacier and ascend to the Banded-Douglas Col, then climb snow to the summit. 1.5 - 2 hours on glacier. A large bergshrund at the top of the glacier is traversed on the left. Follow snow and rock to summit block. Some class 4 climbing is required to reach a small summit area. This climb is 42 miles round trip. It should only be attempted by very strong parties if planning to do it in 3 days. Most parties would prefer to do it in 4 days. Not recommended in late season. A large bergscrund develops at the top of the glacier. Also, in late season, there is more loose rock, ice, and exposure. An alternate route, via the Fremont Glacier, may be done for Basic Alpine credit. Its approach is from either Park Creek Pass or up the Thunder Creek trail to near Park Creek Pass.North Cascades National Park has a party limit of 6 in this area.