Intermediate Alpine Climb - Inspiration-McAllister-Klawatti Ice Cap Traverse

Trip Report

Austera/Primus Peaks Trip Report - Intermediate Alpine Climb

Thursday, July 17, 2025:

6:30 AM - Picked up Klawatti Crosscountry Zone Permit in Marblemount. The Wilderness Information Center was pretty packed at 6:30 AM when I arrived and got a number from the ticket booth. There were about 15 groups in front of me about 30 minutes before opening at 7AM. I was called in by a ranger at 7:15 AM (only a 15 min wait). And I was able to snag permits for our 5 person group without any issues from the ranger. I would recommend arriving early to ensure you get your permits! FYI - The ranger asked us to limit our cars at the trailhead to 2 cars max for 5 people. We parked the other cars at roadside pullouts along Cascade River Road. 

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Friday, July 18, 2025: 

5:50 AM - We began the ascent up Eldorado Climbers Trail. Within the first 100-200 yards, we crossed what many refer to as a “creek”. On the map, it is referred to as the “North Fork Cascade River.” From the parking lot, walk down the road (west). Our group used a trail that meanders around the creek so that you do not have to touch the water. Much safer than crossing some of the sketchy logs on the main trail that many other climbers use. It took us about 3 hours to get though the steep section in the trees to the beginning of the boulder field. The first 2 miles of the climb are not to be underestimated. Lots of elevation gain!

8:00 AM - Entered the boulder field at around 4,000 ft altitude. The boulder field has several routes. We stuck to the climbers right (east side) and ended up dealing with some bushwhacking moments. No matter what route you choose, bushwhacking seems inevitable.Stopped to have a break and fill up water bottles at the big stream that crosses the trail. There are some great spots for filtering water and filling up at the top of the boulder field - right before you hit the meadows/slabs.

Entering Boulder Fields at 8AM

10:05 AM - We officially made it out of the boulder field and into the meadows/slabs. There were some lingering wildflowers and sunbathing marmots. The wind also picked up at this altitude, which was much needed after all that elevation gain and boulder hopping. (The mosquitos also had trouble keeping up with the wind and they finally disappeared in the meadows/slabs.) 

10:45 AM - At about 6,000 feet, we went up the notch  on the northwest ridge and then descended down a small gully. The small gully has plenty of holds and shrubs with little-to-no rockfall hazards. Then we continued on the climbers path through the boulders and up to the snow line.  The slabs on the other side of the ridge is a great place to filter water. Beyond this, it is very difficult to find running water during the summer months.

12:15 PM - Arrived at the base of Eldorado/Inspiration Glacier. No crevasses or major hazards were seen for most of the climb up to Eldorado High Camp. 

2:25 PM - Arrived at the Eldorado High Camp. Our group took a much needed break and used the restroom before continuing on. At this point, the weather was shifting from decent to not so great. The forecast showed some light rain in the afternoon. We had some sprinkles falling as we crossed the glaciers, but nothing that soaked us or concerned us. After the Eldorado High Camp, we put some of our glacier navigation skills to use. There were quite a few crevasses and steep sections on the Inspiration Glacier. Gpx tracks were helpful, but our team deviated slightly from them a few times to find the best path for the current conditions. 

Our Team on Inspiration Glacier

4:15 PM - Arrived at Klawatti Col Camp. It took us about 2 hours to traverse the Inspiration Glacier to camp. Like I mentioned earlier, there were some pretty gnarly crevasses. But, nothing that was truly concerning or hazardous. 2 of our 5 group members climbed up Klawatti Peak while the rest of the group filtered water. ate dinner, and set up camp. (Unfortunately, I don’t have any beta on Klawatti Peak since I did not climb it myself.) 

8:00 PM - The weather cleared up for several hours for a beautiful sunset. Then the winds picked up around 8/9PM when we got ready for bed. We got battered by strong winds all night (with some gusts up to 25 mph based on our forecast). It made the 37 degree night feel a lot colder.

Tent at Klawatti Col Camp

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Saturday, July 19, 2025:

6:30 AM - Our group decided to start at sunrise in order to better see and navigate the route over to Austera. Especially with the rock (cleaver) crossing being the first obstacle we’d encounter. We didn’t want to do that in the dark. With the winds and cold temps, I do not regret the late start. The clouds rolled in and out for most of the morning. 

7:30 AM - Within the first 1/2 mile of our climb over to Austera Peak, we reached Klawatti/McAlister Cleaver (a big band of rock on the north side of Klawatti Peak separating the two glaciers. 

We face-in down climbed off the glacier and onto the rock with no issues. 

We found a rap station at 7,900 feet that consisted of 3 pitons and some yellow cord. We backed up the rap station with our blue cordalette and left it there to retrieve on the way back. We had a 60m rope and a 50m rope for our 5 person group. It was a short rap, either rope would work for this section. 

Photo showing rap station down to Klawatti Glacier

Photo showing rapt station with 3 pitons and yellow cord

We rappelled down onto the Klawatti Glacier. There was a small moat beginning to form. Nothing too intense getting from the rock back onto the glacier. It added time to take crampons off and on for the transition. 

Rap to Klawatti Glacier with a small moat

8:45 AM - Made it to the base of Austera Peak and got off the Klawatti Glacier. Scrambling Austera Peak was fun and challenging. Several routes to get to the top. We scrambled along the right side and avoided the chockstone gully route. 

At the false summit

We made it to the false summit. A point where you are high, looking over at the true summit, but you need to down climb (from the false summit) into a gully. Then that is where folks start the final pitch to the summit. 

Looking down into the chockstone gulley from the false summit.

There’s some yellow cord hanging on the left side for an anchor probably for the chockstone route. It looked to be too high though and it was unreachable due to snowmelt. The gulley was snow free, we were expecting to see some snow in this section. We had seen it mostly full in past trip reports and photos from this section.

A second view slightly to the right, looking into the chockstone gulley. A tiny patch of snow remaining. Snow in this gulley was probably obliterated during the recent heatwave in July. 

We expected to see a big wall of snow where some folks may have to used the snow for a stem move to get onto the climbing route. We could see the blocky step (in the middle) that many use to start the pitched climb to the summit and it was about 10-15 feet higher than the ground below. 

Additionally, the face of the rock to climb up to the true summit had no visible pro placements (in the lower section where we expected to find some snow). We had a light rack with 6 slings and some cams. Not sure if this would be enough pro to make the longer climb. 

Unfortunately, with the snow melted out so much it was very difficult to make it to the true summit of Austera Peak. We decided to skip the traverse over to the true summit 8,334 feet. Our GPS via Gaia showed us at 8,326 feet while the Garmin Fenix watch showed us at 8,303 feet. 

Looking down from the false summit at Austera Peak.

There were many clouds and the visibility was so low that we couldn’t see much beyond our immediate area. We made the tough decision as a group to skip heading over to Primus Peak and call it a day. It will be best to return on a blue sky day to fully enjoy Primus Peak and the North Cascades views.

Unfortunately, this is the best view we saw of Primus during the trip.

Exploring other options from scrambling up down below from where the rappel ends, when coming off the summit. If we had a full rack, we could have tried this option.

Group selfie at the false summit. 

Heading back to camp from the summit. You can see Austera Peak in the background. The true summit is on the left. The false summit is on the right. With the gulley in the middle. 

11:45 AM - We scrambled down Austera Peak back to the McAllister Glacier. And, eventually, we hit the wide chimney climb next to where we had originally rappelled off of. Our group leader led the rock climb up the wide chimney and we slowly made it up the ridge one by one. To start she had to go down into the moat a little and up some dirty rock before getting to where she could move up and place pro. She placed 5 cams and slung 2 rock horns. Everyone then followed with a belay to the top. Using the same anchor we rapped off earlier, with the pitons. It was a fun little climb! We put our crampons back on and continued the climb back to Klawatti Col Camp.

Protected rock climb back up to rap station (Klawatti Glacier To McAllister Glacier)

An alternative option to climbing the wide, dirty gully would be to climb back up the line from the rappel. Our leader mentioned considering trying this option on a future trip. In the photo above this is climbers left of the route we took back up. 

1:30 PM - We arrived back and made a last-minute decision to break up camp. After breaking up camp, we were back on the glacier and started the traverse back to Eldorado High Camp. Like before, we navigated efficiently and safely across a couple of crevasse fields. Upon arrival at the high camp, we took a quick break and met with some rangers who checked our permits.

4:30 PM - We were off the Eldorado glacier and back in the slabs.

8:15 PM - We made it past the boulder fields and onto the climbers trail.

9:15 PM - We crossed the river/creek and made it back to the parking lot. Long day!

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Key takeaways:

• Navigating to Primus Peak from Austera Peak looked quite challenging. The snow melt and receding glaciers in mid-July are making the traverse to Primus a little spicy. Due to cloud cover, we couldn’t see which snow finger would be best for getting off the glacier and onto rock. These were some of the reasons why our group decided to cancel Primus and leave one day early.
• The snow is melting faster and faster with the heat waves and harsh summers. This makes the moats and snow fingers harder to navigate and cross. This climb might be best to complete in late June or early July. 
• The scramble up to Austera Peak took us longer than expected. Make sure to plan for enough time to scramble to the top and find the best routes.

Map