Washington – Grandeur of the North Cascades
Looking South from Sahale Peak
Sahale Mountain, one of the most popular climbs in the North Cascades, is located near Marblemount. Compared to some of it’s close neighbors, to climb Sahale is relatively simple and straight-forward. An elevation gain of 6200 feet and outstanding views of the heart of the North Cascades are sure to satisfy. Climbing Sahale is very similar to the alps in terms of weather and the quality of alpine climbing. Source: Summit Post
This was a 12 hour climb for us. Much of it was on glacier, but the most severe effort was on loose shale rock and a couple places of near-vertical rock. We chose the east approach which turned out to be more difficult than the more popular west approach. Coming back down, I asked the climber beneath me to plant my foot in a foothold because I could not see what was below the rock face I was on. I could see the valley perhaps 3,000 feet below to the east. This was a real adventure for me never having any formal rock climbing experience beforehand. There were rope-climbers around us.
Sahale Peak Climbers (me on left)
