The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
53°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Reasoned retreat

Sunrise on the Chinese Wall, a 1,000-foot high, 22-mile long escarpment along the Continental Divide, captured with a digital camera by Spokane hiker Rick Diffley on Day 3 of a six-day, 70-mile backpacking trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana.Sunrise on the Chinese Wall, a 1,000-foot high, 22-mile long escarpment along the Continental Divide, captured with a digital camera by Spokane hiker Rick Diffley on Day 3 of a six-day, 70-mile backpacking trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana. (Photo courtesy of Rick Diffley / The Spokesman-Review)
Peter G. Williams Spokane
Sunrise on the Chinese Wall, a 1,000-foot high, 22-mile long escarpment along the Continental Divide, captured with a digital camera by Spokane hiker Rick Diffley on Day 3 of a six-day, 70-mile backpacking trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana.Sunrise on the Chinese Wall, a 1,000-foot high, 22-mile long escarpment along the Continental Divide, captured with a digital camera by Spokane hiker Rick Diffley on Day 3 of a six-day, 70-mile backpacking trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana. (Photo courtesy of Rick Diffley / The Spokesman-Review)

The Ptarmigan Traverse is a mostly unmarked 42-mile route that cuts through North Cascades National Park and the Glacier Peak Wilderness in north central Washington. This rugged traverse is considered one of the Northwest’s classic mountaineering routes, full of difficulty on a good day, and rife with danger when the weather turns sour.

A decade later, I still have vivid memories of five days on the Ptarmigan Traverse, which includes a challenging 24-mile section that follows high ridge crests and crosses a number of active glaciers from Cascade Pass to Dome Peak.

Two close friends, Crispin Prahl of Seattle and Pete Robichaud of Moscow, and I set off on Memorial Day weekend of 1994 into this remote traverse through the glacial heart of the North Cascades. Outfitted with five days of food and fuel, we traveled on telemark skis as well as by the more traditional glacier techniques using crampons and ice axes.

No snow had fallen in weeks, leaving the snow pack consolidated and very hard. We made good time the first two days, and reached the midway point at the frozen Yang Yang Lakes.

After settling in for the night, snow began to fall. It just kept on and on, snowing, non-stop for 36 hours. On top of the frozen snow pack, this created extremely dangerous conditions ripe for avalanches.

This high traverse provides no safe option for bailing out. The three of us disagreed as to whether to stay put, continue or retreat. After some debate, and with the weather looking more threatening, we decided to continue onward.

As we ascended toward the col between Sentinel Peak and Old Guard Peak, an avalanche slid and almost buried me. After further discussion, we decided to retreat through known terrain.

During a stressful two days, we witnessed hundreds of avalanches as we retreated back the way we had come.

It was with great relief that we descended out of the mountains and returned below snowline to the safety of my truck.