Basic Alpine Climb - The Brothers/South Couloir

Our team of four took the ferry from Edmonds on Saturday morning and arrived at the trailhead in time for a 10:30 AM departure from the parking lot. It was a straightforward hike to Lena Lake, and then onwards to the climber's camp the routefinding was less straightforward. There's several fallen trees and a significant washout between Lena Lake and the climber's camp, so look out for orange/pink flags to stay on route, and be mindful of where you cross the creek. It's a total of 6.2 miles from the parking lot to the climber's camp, which is snow-free and does not require a backcountry permit. We arrived at the climber's camp by about 2:30 PM in time for a rest, dinner, and time to scout the route in daylight.

On Sunday, we left camp at 4:30 AM for the summit and followed the flags through a rooted trail through the trees. When the trail opens up to the valley, there's a section of burned trees and tongues of snow with a creek beneath. The flags become few and far between, and the snowbridges aren't stable, so stay in the mess of trees until you clear the creek at the top. Then you'll hit the snow. At about 5,200 feet, there are options of different couloirs to ascend, stay in the one all the way to the right until you hit the ridge. There's a great photo of the route on previous trip reports. The snow is mostly stable with a solid bootpath to the summit. Some cracks and holes in the snow, so be mindful of conditions and start early. Once we reached the summit block, we took off our crampons and scrambled to the top. It was 9 AM when we arrived at the summit, just in time for beautiful views before the clouds came in. Great trip!