Last Updated: November 28, 2024



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  • Lone Goat & Snow Camp Mountain - hike (September 2023)
  • Isollilock Peak - scramble (October 2023)
  • Mount Manson - Mount Hatfield Traverse - scramble (October 2023)
  • The Gargoyles & Columnar Peak - scramble (October 2023)
  • Opal Cone and Lava Glacier - hike (October 2023)
  • Park Butte (WA) - hike (October 2023)
  • Trappers Peak (WA) - scramble (October 2023)
  • Rattlesnake Ledge (WA) - hike (November 2023)
  • Sauk Mountain (WA) - hike (November 2023)
  • Sunshine Coast (Mount Daniel, Pender Hill) - hike (November 2023)
  • Mount Dickerman (WA) - hike (November 2022)
  • Verona Peak AKA Winter's End - snowshoe (November 2023)
  • Dolomites (IT) - snowboard (December 2023)
  • Red Rock Canyon (NV) - scramble (January 2024)
  • Flute Summit & Oboe Summit - snowboard (February 2024)
  • Whistler Miscellaneous (Train Wreck, Loggers Lake, Shadow Lake and more) - hike (February 2024)
  • Mount Underhill - hike (March 2024)
  • Bombtram Mountain - snowshoe (March 2024)
  • Steep Peak - snowboard (March 2024)
  • Ruby Mountain (WA) - snowshoe (April 2024)
  • Blustry Mountain - hike (April 2024)
  • Sowerby Peak (Barr East) - snowshoe (April 2024)
  • Picacho Peak (AZ) - hike (April 2024)
  • Kitt Peak Observatory (AZ) - (April 2024)
  • Mount Wrightson (AZ) - hike (April 2024)
  • Saguaro National Park (AZ) - April 2024)
  • Superstition Peak/Benchmark (AZ) - scramble (April 2024)
  • Mount Humphreys (AZ) - hike (May 2024)
  • Petrified Forest National Park (AZ) - (May 2024)
  • Piestewa Peak (AZ) - hike (May 2024)
  • Channeled Scablands (WA | Columbia Gorge, Ancient Lakes, Potholes Lake, Palouse Falls and more) - hike (May 2024)
  • Rhododendron Mountain ("Pk. 2220") - snowshoe (June 2024)
  • Flora Peak - hike (June 2024)
  • Gibson Peak - snowshoe (June 2024)
  • Mount Urquhart - scramble (June 2024)
  • Rock Mountain (WA) - hike (July 2024)
  • Ladies Pass Quartet (WA | Cape Horn, Ladies Peak, Snowgrass NE Peak, Snowgrass Mountain) - scramble (July 2024)
  • Old Snowy (WA) - scramble (July 2024)
  • Dog Mountain (WA) - hike (July 2024)
  • Mount Ratney & Mount Bardean - scramble (July 2024)
  • Torrent Peak - scramble (July 2024)
  • Steep Peak - Darkside Peak Traverse - scramble (July 2024)
  • Silvertip Mountain - scramble (July 2024)
  • The Old Settler - scramble (July 2024)
  • Silent Hub Peak - scramble (August 2024)
  • Saint Jacobs Mountain - scramble (August 2024)
  • Mount David (WA) - scramble (August 2024)
  • Goat Mountain West Peak & Table Mountain (WA) - hike (August 2024)
  • Griswold Pass (Tuber Hill, Glacier View Peak, Subatomic Peaks: Baryon, Meson, Muon, Lepton) - scramble (September 2024)
  • Yellow Aster Butte (WA) - hike (September 2024)
  • Mazama Dome (WA) - hike (September 2024)
  • Ptarmigan Ridge - (WA | The Portals East Peak, Coleman Pinnacle) - hike (September 2024)
  • Tetrahedron Peak - scramble (September 2024)
  • Lone Cone & Peak 86 (Tofino) - hike (September 2024)
  • Mount Athelstan ("Pk. 2460") - scramble (September 2024)
  • Excelsior Peak and Cowap Peak - hike (October 2024)
  • Hollyburn Peak - hike (October 2024)
  • Cheam Peak - hike (October 2024)
  • Blanchard Needle - scramble (October 2024)
  • Debeck's Hill & 4 Lakes Loop - hike (October 2024)
  • Mount Hallowell - hike (November 2024)

*As of 11/28/2024


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| Featured Trip Report |



Last Updated: Nov. 3, 2009

Overseer Mountain - Southeast Slope, August 2009



Eli and I had time for one more Coast Range climb before making good on our already twice-revised plans and high-tailing it east for objectives in the Canadian Rockies. Sticking with a theme that had treated us well up until now, we narrowed our choices to a handful of selections from the Scrambles Guide. With the vast expanse of snow and ice surrounding the peak, I had always wanted to climb Overseer Mountain, preferably as a spring ski tour. However, approach and access considerations aside, the peak was just too far out of sight and mind to register on most of my Seattleite friends' radar. Hiking down from our Cirque Peak camp at mid-morning on a smoky Wednesday in August, it occurred to me that there was probably no better time than the present to go for Overseer. We had the time, favorable weather conditions, and were in the general area to boot. I could always come back in the spring sometime if I cared enough to 'board down it. Eli was of a similar opinion and so without further discussion we set our sights on the highest peak in the Pemberton Icefield.

So, what's the appeal? Save for perhaps the final summit tower, there isn't much in the way of 'climbing' to be had on Overseer's Southeast Face. Aside from an endlessly boring walk along a mostly flat glacier, the peak is really just a chosspile of epic proportions. Yes, there's a 4-pitch 5.8 rock climb on the peak's Southwest Face but that wasn't why we came. Looking up towards where we surmised the rock route starts I can say that there's an awful lot of loose and steep gully action just to get there in the first place. Given the length and arduousness of the approach to the Harrison Hut and beyond, not to mention the undeniably remote feel of the place, the idea of sketching up some vague and seldom climbed route on rock of dubious quality just wasn't calling us. Truth be told, all that's really required here is a fair amount of stamina, good route finding ability, and a passion for the path less trodden. Leave the gear behind and instead lose yourself in the isolation and grandeur of seemingly endless icescapes that harkens back to the Pleistocene. The reward is arguably one of North America's finest summit vistas within weekend range of a major metropolitan area. The cost? A brutal approach, a couple thigh-deep creek fords, and long, tedious battles with scree and talus. Is it worth it? Absolutely! (more...)

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