Super climbing collab up Sloan Peak between #hikingwithhadland and The Dirt Bauguette aka Mel Fernandes, http://www.thedirtbaguette.com/ who planned and led an amazing trip. Mel is a great leader, climber, and I had one of my best alpine experiences with her and her crew on this outing! Sloan is an amazing peak and the corkscrew route is epically beautiful. We had a chance and surprise meeting at the TH with John Porter, aka #onehikeaweek - super fun to meet John finally on a trip. John opted for a more interesting route up and we re-met on the summit.
Quick TR for crevasse beta. The route in good shape. From the snowfield, you will want to ascend straight up and keep right, traverse directly below a large rock formation, zig-zag a few times to avoid the lower smaller crevasses, and just below the large one which opens (the main one in normal years I am told) keep just below it, use 2-4 pickets to secure and it should go just fine. The snow was in great condition. Everything felt solid on the snow. The corkscrew is completely snow-free to the summit scramble. Download our GPX from peakbagger.com for more details.
Other notes - Bugs - it was sultry, still, and humid. Bring spray and netting. Tons of blowdowns - terrible - I personally despise them as do my knees, the schwack from Bedal creek is legit (similar to Sorcery from the creek to Horseshoe Lake) - lots of pink flagging, but on the descent, keep traversing right as the tendency is to go straight down - as you see from our track we kelp losing the flagged route. I would advise long pants and a long-sleeved top. Blessedly the boulders open at 5000 feet to a beautiful alpine meadow traverse, to the saddle connecting with Cougar Creek - beautiful sub-alpine heather meadows and rock to gently ascend to the snowfields and glacier - last running water around 6000 feet from snowmelt - fill up or melt above. Snow ends after the glacier traverse at 7000 feet. Beautiful crevasses. Super airy walk up the corkscrew - one of the coolest trails I have hiked in the PNW. Scramble is fun, relatively "easy" with good holds - dirt is loose in places so watch your footing, especially on the descent. A couple of "exposed" moves to get to the summit - but good ledges and handholds make it manageable. Straight forward descent to a beautiful afternoon setting sun and amazing scenery.
blueshade - Aug 15, 2020 10:24 pm Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2020
Easy but kinda fun
Soloed the Corkscrew Route. RT in 8:20, so easily done in a day by the fit. Only a couple short spots of C3/4, but did about 100' of C5 at the top for fun. Trails at stream crossings are much more obvious on the way down. Have points and better info. PM me if desired.
... once the gain. Trying twice in one weekend, for a cumulative gain of 10,000', was not fun. Different parties on consecutive days. Completely worn out and felt sick afterwards.
ZakG - Apr 30, 2017 2:51 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2002
Corkscrew
A beautiful and fun route. Everybody loves Sloan Peak. It is the Michael J Fox of mountains.
Matt Lemke - Jan 12, 2016 9:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 27, 2015
West Face
Climbed the 5.7 Route on the west face as a day trip. Descended the south ledges route with just one rappel, but we had to make a 2nd rappel down the 20 degree icy snow at the bottom as we didn't have ice axes or traction. I found a nice 30 meter rope on the descent! Such an awesome day.
I tried this route on a lark, and it was mostly easy, with a bit of low 5th getting through two notches below the summit. Came down the corkscrew. This is definitely a high value-for-effort peak. Trip report.
relic - Aug 22, 2013 10:55 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2013
SE ledges
Solo, via the SE face ramp. This late in the year, the small glacier had receded enough from the ramp beginning that the first 50 feet bordered on low angle class 5.
Awesome day with the Somers brothers commemorating 40th anniversary of Wally Somers disappearance. Meaningful climb with Oyvind, Steve and Dave. I won't forget it.
ernestsson - Jun 11, 2013 2:13 am Date Climbed: May 28, 2013
Stopped at the 'Heather' Ledge
Intended to take the Corkscrew route. Got to the trailhead late one night, woke up and hit the trail at 5am. Still lots of snow on the approach, starting shortly after the first crossing of Cougar Creek. Put down a basecamp and continued on, hoping to catch the summit. Crossed the Sloan Glacier in slow-going soft snow and intermittent white-out conditions. Got to the transition to the 'heather' ledge from the glacier but stymied there. Hard to see where it was supposed to go, lots of snow and rocks poking out. Our attempts to make the transition revealed lots of holes and 'moats' around rocks. Also ran out of energy, turned back, crashed at camp. Decided not to follow around with it on the second day and hiked out.
Came in from Bedal Basin. From talking with other climbers, this sounds like an easier route.
bcory2003 - Aug 27, 2012 3:40 pm Date Climbed: Aug 25, 2012
Great Route!
This route has a bit of everything to it, and makes for a very long and demanding day!
Went out this past Saturday with a buddy of mine. Left Seattle at 5am and got back just before midnight. Had great weather and the glacier was still in excellent shape with no crevasses blocking the direct route across. From the top we could see from Baker all the way down to Adams, and had great views of all the ranges in between!
Vic Hanson - Aug 11, 2012 1:32 am Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2012
Great summit views
August 2012 glaciers - 3. Great climb, camped on the saddle just before the glacier, checked out the west side then traversed around the glacier and did the corkscrew. Great views with clouds below us, warm weather and good snow.
beaudaddy85 - Oct 4, 2010 5:36 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
Long Day Corkscrewin Around
Gimpilator and I did this climb in one long day. Left the trailhead at dark and returned to the truck at dark. Car to summit in 7.5 hours and summit to car in 6. Made it up to the high camp in under 4 hours at a good pace, but the Glacier slowed us down a lot. Glacier was really broken up so we took some time navigating around all the crevasses and thin bridges. The views were the best I have seen so save this one for good conditions and a clear day for the views. Amazing!!!
gimpilator - Oct 3, 2010 2:39 am Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
With Beaudaddy
This peak has the best views I've ever seen and one of the most interesting routes to match. The glacier was really broken up and gave us a bit of trouble. We had to double back a couple times. I made a Trip Report and video.
Great day out. It rained on and off on the ascent but cleared up and stayed nice while we were on the glacier. On the way up, we didn't take the high traverse on the glacier and had to cross a couple snow bridges, including a very thin one over a large crevasse. Took a high traverse on the way back, which was very straightforward. Also, we were able to cross all the rivers without wading at this time. The trail traversing the summit block was gorgeous! Car to car in 11.5 hours.
Mr. Clam - Nov 3, 2008 8:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2008
North Ridge solo attempt
Climbed with dory to the start of the technical section then went on solo, poor visibility and sketchy free soloing turned me around a few hundred feet from the top.
Pantilat - Sep 5, 2007 6:50 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2007
Corkscrew Speed Climb
7:10 roundtrip including nearly 36 minutes on the summit.
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/714390/page/1#Post714390
markhadland@gmail.com - Jul 12, 2021 1:13 pm Date Climbed: Jul 10, 2021
Sloan Peak Corkscrew SummitSuper climbing collab up Sloan Peak between #hikingwithhadland and The Dirt Bauguette aka Mel Fernandes, http://www.thedirtbaguette.com/ who planned and led an amazing trip. Mel is a great leader, climber, and I had one of my best alpine experiences with her and her crew on this outing! Sloan is an amazing peak and the corkscrew route is epically beautiful. We had a chance and surprise meeting at the TH with John Porter, aka #onehikeaweek - super fun to meet John finally on a trip. John opted for a more interesting route up and we re-met on the summit.
Quick TR for crevasse beta. The route in good shape. From the snowfield, you will want to ascend straight up and keep right, traverse directly below a large rock formation, zig-zag a few times to avoid the lower smaller crevasses, and just below the large one which opens (the main one in normal years I am told) keep just below it, use 2-4 pickets to secure and it should go just fine. The snow was in great condition. Everything felt solid on the snow. The corkscrew is completely snow-free to the summit scramble. Download our GPX from peakbagger.com for more details.
Other notes - Bugs - it was sultry, still, and humid. Bring spray and netting. Tons of blowdowns - terrible - I personally despise them as do my knees, the schwack from Bedal creek is legit (similar to Sorcery from the creek to Horseshoe Lake) - lots of pink flagging, but on the descent, keep traversing right as the tendency is to go straight down - as you see from our track we kelp losing the flagged route. I would advise long pants and a long-sleeved top. Blessedly the boulders open at 5000 feet to a beautiful alpine meadow traverse, to the saddle connecting with Cougar Creek - beautiful sub-alpine heather meadows and rock to gently ascend to the snowfields and glacier - last running water around 6000 feet from snowmelt - fill up or melt above. Snow ends after the glacier traverse at 7000 feet. Beautiful crevasses. Super airy walk up the corkscrew - one of the coolest trails I have hiked in the PNW. Scramble is fun, relatively "easy" with good holds - dirt is loose in places so watch your footing, especially on the descent. A couple of "exposed" moves to get to the summit - but good ledges and handholds make it manageable. Straight forward descent to a beautiful afternoon setting sun and amazing scenery.
blueshade - Aug 15, 2020 10:24 pm Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2020
Easy but kinda funSoloed the Corkscrew Route. RT in 8:20, so easily done in a day by the fit. Only a couple short spots of C3/4, but did about 100' of C5 at the top for fun. Trails at stream crossings are much more obvious on the way down. Have points and better info. PM me if desired.
Redwic - Jul 24, 2017 8:46 pm Date Climbed: Jul 23, 2017
Twice the pain...... once the gain. Trying twice in one weekend, for a cumulative gain of 10,000', was not fun. Different parties on consecutive days. Completely worn out and felt sick afterwards.
ZakG - Apr 30, 2017 2:51 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2002
CorkscrewA beautiful and fun route. Everybody loves Sloan Peak. It is the Michael J Fox of mountains.
Matt Lemke - Jan 12, 2016 9:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 27, 2015
West FaceClimbed the 5.7 Route on the west face as a day trip. Descended the south ledges route with just one rappel, but we had to make a 2nd rappel down the 20 degree icy snow at the bottom as we didn't have ice axes or traction. I found a nice 30 meter rope on the descent! Such an awesome day.
seano - Jul 19, 2014 12:39 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2014
North ridgeI tried this route on a lark, and it was mostly easy, with a bit of low 5th getting through two notches below the summit. Came down the corkscrew. This is definitely a high value-for-effort peak. Trip report.
relic - Aug 22, 2013 10:55 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2013
SE ledgesSolo, via the SE face ramp. This late in the year, the small glacier had receded enough from the ramp beginning that the first 50 feet bordered on low angle class 5.
Vinny - Jul 31, 2013 11:29 pm Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2013
Somers Memorial climbAwesome day with the Somers brothers commemorating 40th anniversary of Wally Somers disappearance. Meaningful climb with Oyvind, Steve and Dave. I won't forget it.
ernestsson - Jun 11, 2013 2:13 am Date Climbed: May 28, 2013
Stopped at the 'Heather' LedgeIntended to take the Corkscrew route. Got to the trailhead late one night, woke up and hit the trail at 5am. Still lots of snow on the approach, starting shortly after the first crossing of Cougar Creek. Put down a basecamp and continued on, hoping to catch the summit. Crossed the Sloan Glacier in slow-going soft snow and intermittent white-out conditions. Got to the transition to the 'heather' ledge from the glacier but stymied there. Hard to see where it was supposed to go, lots of snow and rocks poking out. Our attempts to make the transition revealed lots of holes and 'moats' around rocks. Also ran out of energy, turned back, crashed at camp. Decided not to follow around with it on the second day and hiked out.
tcingrum - Sep 19, 2012 10:49 pm
SloanBedal basin approach. Short scramble up to corkscrew.
kevinsa - Sep 15, 2012 9:21 pm Date Climbed: Jul 26, 2009
Sloan PeakCame in from Bedal Basin. From talking with other climbers, this sounds like an easier route.
bcory2003 - Aug 27, 2012 3:40 pm Date Climbed: Aug 25, 2012
Great Route!This route has a bit of everything to it, and makes for a very long and demanding day!
Went out this past Saturday with a buddy of mine. Left Seattle at 5am and got back just before midnight. Had great weather and the glacier was still in excellent shape with no crevasses blocking the direct route across. From the top we could see from Baker all the way down to Adams, and had great views of all the ranges in between!
Vic Hanson - Aug 11, 2012 1:32 am Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2012
Great summit viewsAugust 2012 glaciers - 3. Great climb, camped on the saddle just before the glacier, checked out the west side then traversed around the glacier and did the corkscrew. Great views with clouds below us, warm weather and good snow.
beaudaddy85 - Oct 4, 2010 5:36 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
Long Day Corkscrewin AroundGimpilator and I did this climb in one long day. Left the trailhead at dark and returned to the truck at dark. Car to summit in 7.5 hours and summit to car in 6. Made it up to the high camp in under 4 hours at a good pace, but the Glacier slowed us down a lot. Glacier was really broken up so we took some time navigating around all the crevasses and thin bridges. The views were the best I have seen so save this one for good conditions and a clear day for the views. Amazing!!!
gimpilator - Oct 3, 2010 2:39 am Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2010
With BeaudaddyThis peak has the best views I've ever seen and one of the most interesting routes to match. The glacier was really broken up and gave us a bit of trouble. We had to double back a couple times. I made a Trip Report and video.
Larger Size
Doehle - Aug 23, 2010 2:10 pm Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2010
CorkscrewPretty pleasant day, with mostly clouds and some sun. Long day with lots of variety.
RSBARNES - Apr 12, 2010 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2009
Great timesUp and down in a day. Great trip. Glacier was really broken up. Had to climb a 20 ft. 80 degree head wall to get up to the rock cliff. Good times.
RomaK - Jul 26, 2009 12:29 pm Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2009
The Corkscrew in a dayGreat day out. It rained on and off on the ascent but cleared up and stayed nice while we were on the glacier. On the way up, we didn't take the high traverse on the glacier and had to cross a couple snow bridges, including a very thin one over a large crevasse. Took a high traverse on the way back, which was very straightforward. Also, we were able to cross all the rivers without wading at this time. The trail traversing the summit block was gorgeous! Car to car in 11.5 hours.
Mr. Clam - Nov 3, 2008 8:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2008
North Ridge solo attemptClimbed with dory to the start of the technical section then went on solo, poor visibility and sketchy free soloing turned me around a few hundred feet from the top.
Pantilat - Sep 5, 2007 6:50 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2007
Corkscrew Speed Climb7:10 roundtrip including nearly 36 minutes on the summit.
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/714390/page/1#Post714390