Mount Shuksan
Interesting facts
- Sulphide Creek Falls, fed by the Sulphide and Crystal glaciers on Shuksan's flank, drops an estimated 2,100 to 2,200 feet, though it has never been precisely measured.
- The narrow, twisting canyon of Sulphide Creek hides the falls so well that they are very hard to see from the ground at all.
- The Lower Curtis Glacier on Shuksan's western slope is named after the photographer Asahel Curtis, a member of the 1906 first-ascent party.
- Glaciologists have measured the Lower Curtis Glacier every year since 1984, making it one of the longest-watched glaciers in the North Cascades.
- The Lower Curtis Glacier lost about 45 metres of thickness between 1908 and 1984, and its snout has retreated more than 200 metres since 1984.
- The 1906 first ascent by Asahel Curtis and W. Montelius Price is not undisputed: a 1907 letter credited a climber named Joseph Morowits with reaching the top in 1897.
- The rock of Shuksan arrived as part of the Easton terrane, a slab of ocean floor that collided with the western edge of North America.
- Climbing routes on the mountain cross several named glaciers, including the Sulphide, Upper Curtis, Hanging, White Salmon and Price glaciers.
- The Fisher Chimneys route, a classic rock-and-snow climb, threads up the middle of the face often seen in photographs from Lake Ann.
Why it is worth it
Mount Shuksan rises in the North Cascades of Washington as a sculpture of rock and ice: glaciers spill from its flanks, rock ridges climb to a sharp three-sided summit pyramid, and its reflection in the still water of Picture Lake has made it a favourite of photographers. It stands just east of Mount Baker, about 12 miles (19 km) south of the Canadian border, inside North Cascades National Park.
The summit reaches 9,131 feet (about 2,783 m), and with a topographic prominence of 4,411 feet (about 1,344 m) it stands clearly apart from the surrounding peaks. Unlike its volcanic neighbour, Shuksan is built of Shuksan greenschist, oceanic basalt that was metamorphosed around 120 million years ago, in the Cretaceous, and later carried here as part of a thrust sheet; the mountain we see is the eroded remnant of that plate. Several waterfalls drop from its slopes and from Jagged Ridge, among them Sulphide Creek Falls on the southeastern side.
The name comes from the Lummi language and is said to mean "high peak"; in Nooksack, names recorded for it have been translated as "high foot" or "golden eagle". The Nooksack and Lummi peoples historically occupied the surrounding country. The first recorded ascent was made on 7 September 1906 by a party that included the photographer Asahel Curtis. Today it is climbed as a combined rock and ice ascent, ending on the steep rock of the summit pyramid.
Getting there
Mount Shuksan lies in Whatcom County, Washington. Washington State Route 542, the Mount Baker Highway, runs about 57 miles east from Bellingham past Glacier and Picture Lake to Artist Point, which offers the closest views from the road. The nearest US airport is Bellingham International Airport (BLI), about 69 km away in a straight line.
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From the encyclopaedia
Mount Shuksan (/ˈʃəksɪn/) is a glaciated massif in the North Cascades National Park. Shuksan rises in Whatcom County, Washington immediately to the east of Mount Baker, and 11.6 miles (18.7 km) south of the Canada–US border. The mountain's name Shuksan is derived from the Lummi word [šéqsən], said to mean "high peak". The highest point on the mountain is a three-sided peak known as Summit Pyramid.
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