Washington Pass – Autumn Alpine Rock Camp

2 nights (3 days) of climbing at Washington Pass in the North Cascades.

This is a beautiful autumn destination and the perfect end to the fall climbing season.  We'll camp at the Early Winters Campground, just beyond Washington Pass. We will have 3 days climbing: 2 short days and 1 long day in the middle.

I have Ian Nicholson's “Washington Pass Climbing” guidebook, which everyone should have a look at or the Becky guides to get an idea of the climbs. Washington Pass has a great range of alpine rock climbs, all within easy access of Highway 20. There are 5.7 climbs for people like myself and harder test-pieces for others. The main area is the Liberty Bell group, but the Wine Spires and Cutthroat Peak also have good climbs.

The plan will be to leave Vancouver early on Friday morning, arrive at the pass after 4-4.5 hour drive and return late on Sunday. Everyone must be self-reliant on this trip and take full responsibility for themselves and their own safety. It is not a guided trip. You must have experience doing similar multipitch/alpine climbs.

We will be traveling to the USA and everyone must have a passport. If you are not a Canadian or American citizen you must arrange US travel documents ahead of time, as we don't want to spend time at the boarder processing visas. It's always a good idea to purchase travel health insurance whenever climbing or skiing outside of BC. For about $20 you can get travel insurance that covers mountain sports from the BCAA website.