Mount Sbuksan, First Complete Ascent of East Face. On July 1 Bill Tilley and Don Claunch climbed the trail up the north fork of the Noaksack River about four miles, to the trail’s end, crossed the river on logs, and continued up three miles of boulder-strewn valley to Noaksack Cirque. There we camped in a dried-out river bed. The climb the next day took ten hours and we reached the summit even though a bad storm threatened. The descent was tedious and we did not get back to camp until midnight. Helmy Beckey and Lyman Boyer, in 1941, had climbed the face, but did not complete the climb. Long slabs led us up to the extreme right of the glacier, which was so hopelessly distorted that I sawonly one possibility: to cross an exposed rock outcrop and to climb up through an overhanging ice wall with much avalanche debris along its base. We moved up this as quickly as possible. Finally, after soft snow, hidden bridges, and a 60° snow-ice slope, we emerged on the broad slopes above, just below Jagged Ridge. Soon a terrific rain and thunderstorm enveloped us. Lightning struck the peaks about. Shuksan was finally covered and we sat down to wait without hope. At last Shuksan’s peak cleared, and though still a great distance away, we made the long, exhausting climb to the summit.

Don G. Claunch