Snowfield Peak/Neve Glacier

Trip

Basic Glacier Climb - Snowfield Peak/Neve Glacier

A very strenuous but very beautiful climb in North Cascades. We will take another day to tag other peaks in the area. Priority for Foothills Basic Students until 6/25

  • Fri, Jul 22, 2022 — Sun, Jul 24, 2022
  • Foothills Climbing Committee
  • Climbing
  • Basic Alpine
  • Adults
  • Basic Glacier Climb, Technical 2, Strenuous 4
  • Challenging
  • Mileage: 18.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 9,500 ft
  • Pace: 800 - 1000 ft/hr

Pyramid Lake trailhead, 7.30am (more details will be shared with participants closer to the trip date)

When requesting leader permission, please include the recent history of trips/conditioners with more than 4000ft of gain, preferably with overnight pack. Please also include your experience in scrambling terrain. The priority goes to Foothills climbing students until 06/25 (but must have passed Snow 2 field trip), other branches can request permission after that.

This is a mentored climb for Magda Bojarska. Mentor: Takeo Kuraishi.

Trip details

Day 1: We will start at Pyramid lake trailhead and go past Pyramid Lake and then using steep and bushwacky climbers trail gain the ridge. Then we will traverse below Pyramid Peak to the campsite, ideally at the bottom of Colonial Glacier at 5900ft (around 4700ft of gain).

Day 2: We will head up the Colonial Glacier, through the notch that connects two glaciers and then up Neve Glacier to the summit pyramid of Snowfield peak (3200ft of gain). We will then carefully scramble up to the top, setting up the handline if necessary. If we have time and energy, we may also go for Neve Peak on the way back.

Day 3: For those who still have energy after previous two days, we will do an optional trip up a Colonial Peak in the morning and then all of us will retreat our steps from Day 1 and go back to the cars.

If the weather does not cooperate for all three days, we will shorten the trip to the best 2 out of 3.

Expectations

This will be moderately paced but very strenuous climb, especially on the first day. It is crucial that all participants are in a good shape for this trip. The leaders may ask you to stay in camp if your conditioning is not up to the expectations. Since it is 3 day trip, excellent expedition behavior is a must!

We will be following Covid-19 guidance from the Mountaineers during the trip. All participants must be fully vaccinated.

This route requires a backcountry camping permit from North Cascades National Park. The leader will apply for it in a pre-season lottery and if that is unsuccessful, will visit a ranger station for a walk-in permit the day before.

All participants must be familiar with the route and be ready to take part in the route finding discussions

Route/Place

Snowfield Peak/Neve Glacier



  • USGS Diablo Dam

    USGS Ross Dam

    Green Trails North Cascades Ross Lake No. 16SX

    Green Trails Diablo Dam No. 48
  • See full route/place details.
Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

  • The Ten Essentials
  • Mountain boots that can accept crampons (not hiking boots)
  • Crampons
  • An ice axe (not technical ice tools)
  • A sleeping bag rated to +20 degrees or colder
  • A sleeping pad
  • A back pack (40 to 60 liters)
  • Webbing and accessory cords
  • 6 straight gate carabiners
  • 2 locking carabiners
  • Large pear-shaped carabiner
  • Belay device
  • Climbing harness
  • Helmet
  • Rescue pulley
  • Fleece or puffy jacket
  • Rain jacket and full-zip rain pants
  • Warm gloves or mittens
Trip Reports