Elevation: 9,131' Prominence: 4,411'
photo courtesy of summitpost.org |
| Mt. Shuksan epitomizes the jagged alpine peak like no other massif in the North Cascades. Here is something of the character of the Swiss Weisshorn, uniquely set in western Washington, rising in a spearhead of dark-hued rock (greenschist), carved by elements into deep cirques and ragged aretes, adorned with chaotic hanging glaciers, frosted and tiered with snow plaques and ice patches. Shuksan has no equal in the range when one considers the structural beauty of its four major faces and five ridges and the variety of routes they provide. There is no other sample in the American West of great icefall glaciers derived from high plateau, and in the Pacific Northwest it is the only nonvolcanic peak whose summit exceeds timberline by more than 3,000 feet. The distortion of Shuksan by a foreshortening effect increases as one comes close to the mountain's walls on the North, for here it rises 7,700 feet in just 3 miles from the valley of the North fork of the Nooksack River. The oft-seen Northwest face is its showpiece, known for the elegance and beauty of crevassed, steep glaciers and the great surmounting summit rock pyramid. - Fred Beckey, Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing & High Routes 3: Rainy Pass to Fraser River |
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