4,167 feet
Haystack, WI II Mixed

    Gear Used:
  • 30 meter 1/2 rope
  • 4 ice screws 1 set of stoppers
  • crampons & ice tools
December 25, 2007

The Approach

Mt. Si is a great conditioning hike that I do a few times a season to help get in shape. It's a good 4 miles and 4,000 vertical foot gain. Dylan and I decided to check it out to see if there was any ice in the gullies. We were greeted at about the 2 1/2 mile mark with snow on the trail. The trail quickly got icy from there and the hiking became slower as we were fighting for good traction.

Mount Si approach
Dylan taking a break on the approach.

By the time we made it to the Haystack we were in for a treat to have full alpine climbing conditions. There was about 2 feet of snow and the wind was howling at about 30 mph. We hiked to the base and froze our asses off while trying to gear up. I thought a 30 meter rope would be fine but I think I would of felt more comfortable with a 60 meter. We ended up only climbing 2 30 meter pitches and turned around as the weather was getting worse and we were a bit worried about descending in the dark.

Mount Si
Finally nearing the Haystack.

The Climb

climbing mt si
Getting ready for the climb.

Pitch 1

We hiked around to the main couloir and slung a tree for our first piece of pro. The route started up with about 20 meters of easy couloir. I then climbed an easy mixed ice section where I was able to place a screw with a screamer. Would the screw have held in the not so good ice? Probably not. I climbed to a tree at almost exactly 30 meters from where we started.

Mount Si pitch 1
Dylan climbing the first pitch.
Mount Si pitch 1
Climbing through the mixed section.

The weather was getting worse as we climbed. The wind was sending spin drift up and down the couloir. While looking up the route I could see another tree about 30 meters up but above that it was only rock and ice. Dylan and I discussed if we should continue knowing that it could take a bit longer to down climb from the top without good trees to rappel from. We decided to at least climb to the next tree.

Pitch 2

I started up the second pitch which starts off with another mixed section of rock and rotten ice. I tried to place a screw in the ice but nothing was working good at all. I eventually placed a screw in some bad ice and pulled over the ice section. It was pretty nerving knowing that the screw would not hold if I did fall. i climbed up the steep couloir to the tree. By the time I got there Dylan's glasses were freezing and he couldn't see at all. I slung the tree and rappelled back down to the first tree. We continued with one more rappel to the ground and hiked back to the base of the haystack.

rapelling down the couloir.
Dylan retreating down the couloir.

All in all this was a really fun day! It was actually great to be spanked by a mountain that is typically an easy day hike in the summer. Dylan and I had a great time and we both learned a lot from the experience.

Hiking back to the car.
On safe ground hiking back to the car.

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