1980 - Squamish Rock, Mt. Slesse, Snowcreek - Leavenworth, Sphinx, Uto, Judge Howay

Squamish Rock Climbing
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Dave Harris

We did a lot of climbing in the "Little Smoke Bluffs". We scraped a lot of moss. Here David Harris climbs somewhere around the Burgers and Fries area.

Randy Wheating

Yes, we did quite a bit of aid climbing. Here Randy Wheating is aiding some route higher up in the bluffs.

Mt. Slesse - Regular Route
Location of Mt. Slesse

Corina Acheson

Mt. Slesse had held a dark mystique about it ever since I had learned that an airliner had crashed into its east side. In 1956 a west bound plane had disappeared from radar scopes, evidently caught in a powerful downdraft and slammed into the sheer eastern face of Slesse. The crash site wasn't discovered until some time later. (See report at http://aviation-safety.net (Thanks to Todd H. for a date correction and the pointer to this site.)
David Harris and Corina Acheson had suggested we climb Slesse so one late afternoon we started up the relentless trail on its west side. Somewhere below the shoulder at tree line we found some snow and some fairly flat ground so he stopped for the night.

Keith Rajala and Dave Harris on the summit of Slesse.

The next day we did the regular route by first going almost up the gully that heads for the north side of Slesse and then took obvious ledges across the west face and onto the big bench below the upper west face. A gravelly gully headed up to the base of the final south ridge. We roped up and did the short class 4/5 pitch and were soon on the summit. Going down the trail was probably the worst part. By the bottom my thigh muscles were screaming. I had trouble walking down stairs for many days after.
For me, climbing Slesse felt like a real accomplishment. Its dark brooding demeanor had intimidated me for some time, and now that I had been to its summit, I had conquered some of my demons. It was very satisfying.

Snow Creek Wall - Leavenworth
Location of Snow Creek Wall

Barb, Chris, Lynn, Chuck, Terry, and baby Scott.

We made a number of trips to Leavenworth. This trip was on May 18, because it was on this trip we thought we heard blasting up in the hills above our campground on Icicle Creek, only to discover later that afternoon that Mt. St. Helens had exploded. The haze in the afternoon was volcanic ash!
This picture shows Barb and Chris Cooper, my wife Lynn Rajala, and Chuck and Terri McCafferty. The little baby was Justin, Barb and Chris's little boy. The picture was taken after we had done some scramblining around the base of Snow Creek Wall.


Sphinx North Ridge- Garibaldi Lake
Location of Sphinx Mountain

North ridge of Sphinx on the left hand skyline.

We flew by float plane from Squamish into Lake Garibaldi on a beautifully sunny day and hiked up on to the glacier just north of Sphinx. We had lunch and headed for the 5.8 north ridge of Sphinx.

Chris Cooper

We were Ryan Shellborn, Chris Cooper, Chuck McCafferty, and myself. The rock was nice granite with good cracks for climbing and protection. Unfortunately the weather was starting to turn for the worse.

The back side of Chuck McCafferty

The crux was on the last pitch. It was kind of an awkward overhanging move but the jams were good and it took you to the summit. The views were great, but the clouds were coming. We headed back to our tents for supper.

Ryan enjoying the view of Mt. Garibaldi.

The next morning was socked in. So much for Phyllis' Engine. We traversed around towards Castle Towers in the mist, found Gentian Pass, and camped just above it for the night.
The next day we hiked out in more mist down to our cars and headed home after a shortened, but memorable trip.