Mile High Club - 5.10 Multi-pitch Climbing

 Yesterday I climbed Mile High Club, a 7 pitch sport route in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, with Forest. We left Seattle around 6:30 am and after a few wrong turns left the trailhead around 8:45. The first portion of the trail was forested with several creek crossings and cool waterfalls.

There was a short sunny section of switchbacks after we left the trees, which was sweltering, but as soon as we crossed into the valley below the climb we were in shade. Once in the valley we could see the base of the climb. The tower the climb is on is pretty impressive looking. After a couple miles of trail we cut across the boulders towards the base of the route.

We scrambled up a short gully and arrived at the base of the route. The first pitch started on a small ledge a couple hundred feet up the tower, so I slung a horn as an anchor for the belayer. Forest won rock papers scissors and got to lead the odd pitches. We started up pitch one, some steep climbing that lead into delicate face climbing. Pitch two was short and not super memorable. Pitch three had a fun headwall followed by a long scramble. Pitch four was pretty fun. Pitch five was the money pitch, a clean dihedral with small crimps, tiny footholds, and technical climbing. 

Pitch six had some really cool climbing down low that lead into an airy arete. Pitch seven was a fun but easier arete to the summit. The climbing on the route was varied and fun, also the difficulty was pretty consistent. Pitch five felt like the crux to me, although I didn't lead it. The rock quality was also generally good, with only a few loose or hollow sections.

Once we were on the summit (about 2:30 pm) we ate some food, drank water, and signed the summit register. We hung out for a bit, the views were amazing, and after 15 minutes I began rigging the first of eight rappels.

I used a saddlebag for the first rappel to avoid tossing our rope on the climbers below. On our way down we passed the other party on the route, they were visiting from Portland as part of their honeymoon trip. The rappels were mostly straightforward and not too bad. The first rappel put the rope on a sharp edge so we were careful to not bounce or swing much. The last rappel we used the wrong anchor, but it got us close enough to get to the starting belay ledge.

The hike out was pleasant, lots of huckleberries and a couple Sooty Grouse (I never seem to write a post without mentioning birds). The climb was overall awesome, short approach, fun climbing, great scenery, high quality rock. I would highly recommend it.