Trip Date: May 27-28, 2020
Whitehorse Mountain Climbing Trip
Moose Creek
Niederprum Mine
Lone Tree Pass
High Pass
Whitehorse Glacier aka So-Bahli-Ahli Glacier
Whitehorse Mountain (6852′)
Trip Report Summary
Region: North-Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: West Sauk Mountains
Area: Boulder River Wilderness
Starting & Ending Point: New Niederprum Trailhead at Moose Creek Bridge on Mine Road #2030 (Elev. 500 feet)
Way Points: Moose Creek Bridge & Furland Creek crossing & Old Niederprum Trailhead & Niederprum Mine & Lone Tree Pass & Whitehorse Ridge platform (trail hike & off-trail hike & snow hike & snow climb)
Campsite: Whitehorse Ridge platform (Elev. 4900 feet)
Sidetrip: High Pass (snow hike & snow climb)
Summit: Whitehorse Mountain (snow climb via Whitehorse Glacier—North Face)
Approximate Stats: 15 miles traveled; 7200 feet gained & lost.
Related Posts
Whitehorse Mtn via Lone Tree Pass—Whitehorse Glacier—North Face – June 1994
Whitehorse Mtn attempt via Lone Tree Pass—Whitehorse Glacier – August 1993
Full Trip Report
Eileen had been badly wanting to climb Whitehorse Mountain for the past several years, but we always seemed to miss the window for good conditions. In early spring, there tends to be more soft snow and avalanche risk; by early summer, the perennial breach in the summit snowfinger tends to open up. When suitable conditions appeared to present themselves at the end of May, we didn’t hesitate.
Day 1: Trailhead to Whitehorse Ridge
The dramatic north face of Whitehorse Mtn was basking in sunny splendor when we pulled off the Mountain Loop Highway on Wednesday morning. It was reassuring to see that the summit snowfinger looked to be completely intact—at least from this distance.
There were no other cars parked at the trailhead, which is located just before the Moose Creek Bridge on Mine Road, but there was a new sign marking the start of the Niederprum Trail. Incidentally, this name gets spelled “Neiderprum” in many references (such as 100 Hikes), but both the trailhead sign and local historian Harry Majors (author of Exploring Washington) agree that it is spelled “Niederprum.”
We hiked up the overgrown road for 1½ miles to the original Niederprum Trailhead (0.7 hours + 400 feet from car), then turned onto the trail. For the first 1000 feet, this old mining trail is actually quite civilized as it passes through shady evergreen forest. Then, rather abruptly and rather rudely, it degenerates into a steep climbers’ path, with numerous muddy spots, rocky steps, and fallen logs. Continuous snow was encountered around 3200 feet, and soon after, Whitehorse Mountain could be seen through the forest.
We booted straight uphill to a 4100-foot sloping bench, which lies near the location of the former Niederprum Mine and also marks the spot where most climbers begin a leftward traverse over to Lone Tree Pass. A conspicuously large, broken, silvered snag stands in the middle of this bench; could it be the eponymous “lone tree”? I don’t know, but I do know that our crampons were particularly welcome on the steep snowfield leading to the pass.
Upon arriving at 4800-foot Lone Tree Pass (6.5 hours + 4350 feet from car), we turned left and contoured for ½ mile to a broad snow platform at 4900 feet on the crest of Whitehorse Ridge (7.0 hours + 4450 feet from car). This platform provides room for a dozen or more tents, along with an outstanding view of the entire northwestern Cascade Range extending from Mt. Baker to Dome Peak.
Day 2 (AM): Whitehorse Mountain Summit Climb
Following a wind-free night, we awoke to a lightly overcast sky and were underway at 6:30am. From camp, we descended 350 feet into a small lake bowl, then began a gently rising traverse toward High Pass. Our traverse route stayed in moderately dense forest between 4500 and 4700 feet until reaching a broad snow couloir leading up to the pass. The distinctive blocky tower of White Benchmark (Point 6357) serves as a lighthouse for the ascent to High Pass. A timely solar halo also showed the way.
We gained 6000-foot High Pass in mid morning (2.6 hours + 1550 feet from camp) and got a close-up view of the upper Whitehorse Glacier. Thanks to a well-defined boot track leading over to the summit block, there was no mystery about where to go.
Snow conditions were surprisingly soft on the glacier as we made a rising southeasterly traverse. The upper 12 to 18 inches was very mushy, even in the old tracks.
We crossed under the north face of the summit block and stopped on the crest of a wind cirque. This was a convenient place to rope up for our final ascent of the summit snowfinger.
With our 50-meter rope, I was able to climb the snowfinger in a single long pitch, using two snow flukes for protection. Most of the finger offered easy step-kicking in soft snow, but the uppermost part consisted of rotten ice over shallow rock. Thankfully, the runout is friendly—as long as you don’t veer into the wind cirque!
We both topped out by late morning (4.9 hours + 2300 feet from camp) and took some time to enjoy the summit views. Whitehorse Mountain is quite removed from the Cascade crest as a whole, but nearby Three Fingers Mountain completely dominates the southern view.
Our descent involved one rappel off the summit ridge, using a rock anchor. This got us just past the steepest and most exposed portion of snowfinger, such that we could readily boot down the remainder.
The midday sun had turned the upper 18 to 24 inches of glacier to mush, creating a relatively slow wallow back to High Pass. Once over the pass and down the couloir, we took a higher traverse line, staying just under the big cliffs at about 5100 feet. This proved to be more efficient than our inbound traverse, and we were back in camp by early afternoon (2.4 hours + 400 feet from summit).
Day 2 (PM): Whitehorse Ridge to Trailhead
After breaking camp, we contoured back to Lone Tree Pass, then retraced our steps over to the broken snag and down to snowline. The next several hours involved a tedious, sweaty descent of Niederprum Trail, during which we passed three climbers (including one with a snowboard) heading uphill. Eileen and I reached our car at Moose Creek around 8:00pm, feeling the effects of a 6500-foot descent day. Our overall level of pain was most definitely commensurate with the stature of this magnificent mountain!
Route Map
Photo Gallery
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