AAI Program Coordinator and Guide Coley Gentzel tells his North Ridge story:I have been alpine climbing for a little over 10 years. Over that span, I been fortunate with weather and conditions more often than not and can recall having failed on alpine climbs only a handful of times. In nearly every case, there has been something unique about these failures. More often than not, when I have failed once on a route, it has taken me at least a couple more efforts to finally succeed on it. In many cases these routes have become my nemeses.
Mount Baker’s North Ridge was one such route. I made three attempts with various partners over a two-year period before finally succeeding on the route on my 4th attempt. On my first attempt, we chose an approach route that led us into a maze of bottomless crevasses in the middle of the night. After probing particularly close to the lip of one gaping monster and causing a small ice avalanche, we decided to forgo the effort and climb the standard route.
My third try came later than summer. Another AAI employee and I took a mid-week day off from work to give the route a go in classic Cascades car-to-car style. After a brisk hike from the trailhead that we started at about midnight, we were approaching the edge of the glacier in good time. My partner got a case of the hot heels and we headed down only hours into the mission. I was at work on time in Bellingham, with a case of sour attitude to go along with the disappointment.
The next spring, Andy Bourne (AAI International Programs Coordinator and Guide) and I decided to finish this thing off for once and all. We climbed the route in 12 hours car-to-car, and the climb couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Well that is not entirely true. I forgot my sunglasses and had to poke holes in the back of my balaclava that I used for a face mask. During a brief stop on the decent, Andy fell asleep with half of a Cliff bar still in his mouth and nearly had to be revived. Quite a pair.
Though they have been hard to swallow and rough on my pride, I have learned as much if not more from these failures than I have from many flawless outings on other peaks and routes. Remember that failing is part of trying and if you are doing one, you probably aren’t doing the other!
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Contact Coley if you are interested in setting up a climb of Mt. Baker’s North Ridge at cgentzel@aai.cc or 800-424-2249. You may also be interested in our 6-Day Alpine Ice Course, during which we make an attempt on the North Ridge or another technical ice route on Mt. Baker.