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I am looking for some routes in North Cascades - Equivalent to Mt. Shasta Avalance Gulch routes.
Appreciate if anyone could help me out some - Routes options.
I will prefer some steep ice/snow climbs without ropes.
Dont have a belay partner at this time.

West McMillan Spire if you catch it before mid June should be pretty good.



If your feeling up to having a big trip with a little bit of class 4, Jack Mountain would fill your adventure cup. Not for the faint of heart.



A bit further south, but a much friendlier one is Colchuck Peak:

Quit sandbagging the poor guy Josh. I mean, the Pickets, really?

Josh Lewis wrote:West McMillan Spire if you catch it before mid June should be pretty good.

Nice picture. Not pictured: 5,000 vertical feet of rain forest you have to struggle through first.

West Mac spire is really not that bad, I was just giving Josh a hard time. For us the approach to high camp was 6.5 hours and there is an actual almost trail most of the way now. I responded to the OP over on cc.com with some suggestions.

I kept coming up with cool ideas and then was like "oh darn, there is glacier travel". West Mac is probably the most friendly Picket to access. Yes your in the forest a lot of the time, the same is true for most good quality Cascade Peaks. If you don't like being in the forest, what are you doing in Washington? I guess peaks like Liberty Bell have reduced trees but require a rope.

Are you set on the North Cascades? It is pretty hard to go anywhere without crossing a big, nasty glacier in the North Cascades.

South Spur of Mt Adams or South Side/Hogsback of Mt Hood might actually be more like what you are looking for (e.g. "Equivalent to Mt. Shasta Avalance Gulch routes.") as well as being many hours shorter driving time from CA. Both routes are high, require axe and crampon skills, but generally do not require glacier travel.

Anything in the Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness would fit your bill. It's a little further east and typically melts out faster.

http://www.summitpost.org/lake-chelan-sawtooth-wilderness/834945

Another option along the lines of the Chelan area Matt mentioned would be the Mt. Maude, 7 Fingered Jack, Fernow area. Probably won't melt out for awhile but might fit the bill.

Mount Maude is a walk up. I suppose there are some cooler routes up it.

Josh Lewis wrote:Mount Maude is a walk up. I suppose there are some cooler routes up it.

Entiat Icefall and North Face to name a couple.

ExcitableBoy wrote:Are you set on the North Cascades? It is pretty hard to go anywhere without crossing a big, nasty glacier in the North Cascades.

South Spur of Mt Adams or South Side/Hogsback of Mt Hood might actually be more like what you are looking for (e.g. "Equivalent to Mt. Shasta Avalance Gulch routes.") as well as being many hours shorter driving time from CA. Both routes are high, require axe and crampon skills, but generally do not require glacier travel.

Can you get me few of those types of routes...these are kind of routes exactly I am looking for.

tguha wrote: Can you get me few of those types of routes...these are kind of routes exactly I am looking for.

tguha,
Check it:
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/
http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... ripreports

tguha wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:Are you set on the North Cascades? It is pretty hard to go anywhere without crossing a big, nasty glacier in the North Cascades.

South Spur of Mt Adams or South Side/Hogsback of Mt Hood might actually be more like what you are looking for (e.g. "Equivalent to Mt. Shasta Avalance Gulch routes.") as well as being many hours shorter driving time from CA. Both routes are high, require axe and crampon skills, but generally do not require glacier travel.

Can you get me few of those types of routes...these are kind of routes exactly I am looking for.

Mt Hood, South Side (Old Chute variation - currently a less technical variation than the Hogsback) http://www.summitpost.org/south-side-ol ... ion/265416

Mt Adams, South Spur http://www.summitpost.org/south-spur/155590

Mt Hood and Mt Adams are in close proximately to each other, just across the Columbia River Gorge and would be a natural to do both.

There are not too many high peaks in the Washington Cascades that do not require glacier travel, and the North Cascades in general are heavily glaciated and many peaks there are at least moderately technical. Oregon has a few high volcanoes that would offer what you are looking for.

Mt Jefferson: http://www.summitpost.org/mount-jefferson-oregon/150576
South Sister (of the Three Sisters): http://www.summitpost.org/south-sister/150455

Best time for these routes in now, as you want the chossy volcanic rock to be well covered in snow and ice.