Trip Report

The scheduled climb of Little Tahoma did not go because not enough climbers signed up to justify the long trip. An alternative was selected closer - North Sister via Villard Glacier. Steve Hall, Carol Enns and myself arrived at the trailhead of pole Creek at 1215 and hiked via trail and cross country to the 7120' campsite at the base of the East Buttress. The three hour hike was on both snow and dry ground - we camped in the treeline on dry ground. That evening the wind picked up - 30 mph for many hours, 40°.

The group was up at 0300 and departed on crampons, at 0400. In calm clear weather we reached the ridgetop at 9800' at 0700 - here the wind was biting and the temperature in still air was 34°. Here we found that the snow had melted from the Glisan Peak - true summit saddle, meaning that we would have to drop down 300' and traverse under some rockfall to a gully leading to the summit chute of the regular route. This would take a substantial amount of time under exposure of rockfall. The rockfall had begun on the east side at 0500 and we were forced to use the NE ridge as the route of ascent. Taking these factors into consideration, we retreated down our route and headed back to camp. While the summit was not gained, the group enjoyed some excellent cramponing and views of Washington, Jack, Jeff, Hood, and Adams.

With clouds moving in we hiked out to the car in 2½ hours and went into Sisters for a milkshake. Climbers: Carol Enns, Steve Hall, with leader Steve Ross.