Winter Wallow on Whitehorse, Jan. 23 2010

  Due to a dearth of snow and a mediocre weather forecast, a winter ascent of Whitehorse seemed a plausible idea. Chris D., Alex and I met in Mt. Vernon at the unholy hour of 5am. An hour later we were trudging in the dark towards the grand dame of Darrington. The road is blocked off before the trailhead, adding another 400 vertical feet and 2.6 heartbreaking miles to an already long day. In retrospect, I'd wear light approach shoes in; the snow level was high on the trail, and after a full day in plastic boots, my dogs were barking!

  The three of us were on Whitehorse with the mountaineering class in April 2007, which was a fairly average snow year. It was amazing how different the terrain looked now with significantly less snow. That and occasional whiteout fog made us second guess our route-finding abilities a bit. The snow conditions were perfect for walking in without snowshoes, and there were no signs of recent avalanche activity. The abundance of flagging in the trees beyond Lone Tree Pass reassured us that we were on the right track.

  Finally, as the fog subsided, we saw High Pass glimmering in the distance. I was seriously sucking wind as the two Energizer Bunnies kicked infinite steps ahead of me. Chris, always the (smart ass) gentleman, gallantly offered to short rope me up to the pass a la Sandy Pittman-Hill. I reluctantly declined.

  We arrived at High Pass about 11:30am and took a lunch break, then headed out across the glacier somewhat blindly, as the fog was getting so dense, you couldn't see the summit block. Then the Mountain Gods smiled on us: the fog abated, and Alex led up the majestic last pitch: 20 feet of rotten snow and thin ice over rock.

  We were on the summit just before our turnaround time of 1:30pm. The weather was turning nastier and our descent involved a unpleasantly exposed down-climb. We had no pickets or pitons, it was looking grim. Alex came up with a brilliant plan to belay Chris and I down, then sling a rock horn for his descent. It worked! The hike out went smoothly and we were back to the car just as darkness fell at 5:30pm, and celebrating at the Porterhouse by 6:45pm. If anyone feels so inclined, there are some bomber rap anchors awaiting you on the summit, enjoy!