This past weekend, Climb For Kids hosted the 2010 Mt. Baker climbing event in the North Cascades. We had limited participation, ok no one signed up for the event, so Michelle Maislen and I were just going to climb it for fun. However, one of my friends introduced me to Mark Steelquist who runs a Venture Crew organization for young adults. Mark informed me that his organization’s goals are to help teach ethics to kids via outdoor activities. The emphasis on high adventure helps provide team-building opportunities, new meaningful experiences, practical leadership, and lifelong memories to young adults. I felt like it was a good cause, and Mark is an amazing guy.
Mark and I struck a partnership, where I’d help the young adults reach the summit and he’d help raise money for Climb For Kids. Combined forces can sometimes accomplish powerful things, and this was no exception.
On Friday, Michelle and I took our huge packs up to the camp sites below the Hogsback on Mt. Baker. Mark was already up there with 6 young adults preparing them for their new mountaineering adventure. Our climb would take us up the Coleman-Deming route, which is fairly benign with crevasses scattered here and there. Thus, it was important for everyone to learn how to walk with crampons, perform a self-arrest, and understand the mechanics of crevasse rescue.
At dinner, Michelle and I gave “the talk” about mountaineering. The talk is supposed to be a sobering reminder that people die on mountains, and the instructors are the final word for any decision on the mountain. The team didn’t bat an eye. This group was great and they were already giving me grief over tiny details. The playful banter was fun. At 7pm we all went to bed, except me. I had to stay awake to watch an amazing sunset over the mountains.
At midnight the next morning, I awoke a little freaked out. Michelle’s watch stopped working and I had no idea what time it was. I absentmindedly left my watch at home, so we had no back up time piece. I thought we slept thru our summit time. Finally, Michelle dug out her cell phone and discovered we still had an hour til our wake up time of 1:00 am. Well, I stayed awake for the hour thinking thru our route and my gear. I think I got a total of 2 hours sleep that night.
At 1:00, I awoke the team, we ate breakfast and tied in to our ropes by 2:00 am. The climb had begun. I had never been up this route, so I took the team a little off course up the hogsback, but after one rest period, we retreated to the main route up the Coleman glacier. Over the course of the next 6 hours, the team worked hard to climb the 10,700 ft mountain. It was a tedious snow slog, but the views were incredible. The sunrise was as spectacular as the sunset was the night before. These views were a good reminder of why I like to climb mountains.
Up on the football field (the flat crater of Mt. Baker that extends over the top of the mountain), our teams sequentially rested and patiently waited for everyone to catch up. At 9:00 am, the entire team as a whole, walked to the summit of Mt. Baker. 100% of our team summited, and the picturesque view over the North Cascades was our reward. This summit view is now my favorite summit view in Washington.
Overall, this climb was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed helping these young adults reach their goal. It was a great event, and it helped prepare me for the next challenge, which will be in the Alps in 2 weeks.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }