This time I teamed up with Eiji Sugi and our prey was the Stuart Glacier Couloir, an icy couloir that splits the gnarly north side of Mt. Stuart to its west ridge where a few more pitches of fifth class rock stand before the lofty summit.
Beginning our 19 hour day at 2:30am wasn't a problem! I was so stoked! I knew this route would challenge all the skill, strength and knowledge I've gathered over my 6 year climbing career. The route was intimidating but I knew I was ready and Eiji had just out ran a tornado in his dreams. Honestly, that's pretty badass.
Anticipating a long day we kept a moderate pace on the approach to the base of Mt. Stuart we carefully weaved our way up the Mountaineers creek drainage careful to not lose the faint climbers trail and rock cairns to avoid wasting energy being lost. Around 6am we emerged from the treeline into the presence of Mt. Stuart, the king of the Stuart Range.
 |
| Whoa! Mt. Stuart |
 |
| Ice Cliff Glacier |
We cruised past the Ice cliff Glacier which looked super rad! By now it was super warm so stopped to strip off long underwear and continued to the base of our route.
 |
| Eiji traversing above the Stuart Glacier |
 |
| This is what we came for! |
At the base of the Couloir we stepped easily across the Bergshrund and cruised up towards the ice steps. Finally the climbing was getting interesting and I could hardly wait to sink my tools into some hard alpine ice luckily Eiji was happy to let me lead! We had two short ice screws and a spectre ice piton for the two pitche above us, this meant no falling and some creativity at belays would be in order. We simul-climbed the first step before extending the rope to full length. Eiji set up a belay and I headed up.
 |
| What's up Eiji! |
 |
| The ice runnel |
I found a bomber piece of ice for my sole screw half way up the pitch and continued on. After a few swings I placed the spectre ice hook figuring it would at least slowdown a fall. The ice wasn't steep enough to be to worried to much anyway. Some more swings and I hear Eiji yelling ZERO! Guess that means no more rope so I begin hammering in my tools and kicking a good stance then I belay Eiji up with a hip belay and hope the small chunks falling around us don't turn into belay ripping death missiles. Eiji climbed up quickly and then lead out the easy snow field to the notch.
 |
| Eiji heads up to the notch on the right |
At the notch we relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the phenomenal weather. We drank some water, enjoyed some snacks and then began simul-climbing on rock and snow towards the summit. We dropped down and climbed back up to another ledge and followed a ledge system on the north face to a very exposed move before climbing back up to the crest. We dropped on to the south side and traversed a ways before finally picking our way to the summit. Route finding was very difficult we found slings and pins frequently but some routes didn't make much sense or were to intimidating to attempt. Leading each snowy rock pitch in mountaineering boots was tough and required a calm and steady mind, all my recent climbing at Index was definitely paying off. It seems like a farther traverse onto the south face would lead to easier and faster climbing.
 |
| The summit from the notch |
 |
| Simul-climbing the first parts of the ridge |
 |
| A very short rap off the crest seemed easier than down climbing slippery rock |
At 4pm we stood on the summit of Mt. Stuart, 13.5 hours after leaving the trail head! White whispy clouds would swirl around us curious to see what were doing and then quickly float away. A few photos and a celebratory whoop-whoop and we began our descent down the Sherpa glacier.
 |
| Summit Views |
 |
| Summit views east toward Lake Ingalls |
 |
| Summit views |
 |
| Summit views of the rest of the Stuart Range |
 |
| Eiji begins the descent, definitely a cornice above the Ice Cliff Glacier route |
We glissaded some of the Sherpa glacier and made it back down to some warm rocks in the basin an hour and a half later. We enjoyed the running water and some freeze-dried spaghetti and the last of our power bars and began the hike back to the car at 6pm. We stumbled our way back down to the car focusing the lst bits of our energy into route finding through the basin until we found the trail. Finally at 9:30pm the parking lot came into view, we celebrated with Pringles and hit the road!
It was an awesome 19 hours in the Stuart Range and a great climb! The Stuart Glacier Couloir is an Alpinist's dream, it has all the ingredients for a complex and challenging adventure. I feel grateful to have climbed it with Eiji who had climbed it years ago and was happy to give me the chance to test myself on all the hard pitches. I'm also grateful to his wife and boys who let me tear him away for these great adventures!
