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Peak Mountain 3

Blue Glacier

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Description

Typically done over 3 or 4 days.

On day 1, hike into Glacier Meadows. There is a rope ladder over loose scree that you have to down-climb located a few miles from Glacier Meadows. Otherwise, the trail is fairly straightforward to follow, albeit long.

Day 2 is summit day. Hike to top of the lateral moraine east of the Blue Glacier. Descend to the glacier over the loose moraine. The glacier travel is fairly moderate and easy-going. Depending on conditions, you can choose to traverse across or around the Five Fingers rock formation. After the false summit, you have two choices for the summit pyramid. One is to scramble the class 4 loose rock on the NW side. The second is to climb the 5.4 route on the north side, which is much more solid than the first option and somewhat protectable. For both routes, you may need to down-climb into a moat to attain the rock. The rappel down the north side of the summit pyramid usually requires a 60m rope.

Day 3 is your long hike out.

Olympic Mountains: A Climbing Guide

by Olympic Mountain Rescue has the best description of this route.

Protection

If you opt to climb the 5.4 route, a 60m rope is recommended to rappel from the summit block. Other than that, a light alpine rack of alpine draws, cams (in BD C4 sizes #.5, #.75, #1, #2), and set of nuts should suffice to climb the single ~100' pitch. You can probably get by with less depending on your comfort level with climbing on loose rock.


Routes in Mount Olympus


  1. 1
    Blue Glacier
    Alpine