My first trip to the Cascades was in June of 1999. I climbed the Easton Glacier route on Mt. Baker, just west of Shuksan, as part of a glacier course. Baker is a wonderful peak and a nice climb by numerous routes (I will likely go back for the North Ridge or Coleman Headwall someday), but my real motivation to ascend it, at that time, was to get a look at Shuksan. Unfortunately the cloud ceiling was just above 9,000' that day, so when we summitted Baker, only the giant mass of Mt. Rainier to the south was visible.

I knew I would return, and I did. I came back and climbed Mt. Hood, paid visits to Mt. Shasta, made an ascent of Mt. Rainier, and did a superb, though rain-soaked line on Eldorado, over the next several years. Every trip was special in its way. It's a long way for me to travel to the Cascades, but I go back every year. It is my favorite range in which to climb; apologies to all others and my friends who climb elsewhere.

From the summit of Eldorado last year I could clearly see Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. I knew that I would have to come back for the latter. My regular partner Brian had expressed interest in a mountaineering objective for the spring. I thought that the Fisher Chimneys route on Shuksan would afford us the opportunity to climb a variety of terrain: rock, mixed gully climbing, snow involving glacier travel, and perhaps some ice, if we were lucky. We picked a date, packed up, prayed in vain for current beta before leaving (none existed for the most part) and got on the plane.