Bushwhacker Climbing Club

Oh you thought we were just a climbing club?? Think again. Pics from two recent Bushwhacker ski trips to Alaska for both Alyeska and the backcountry!! They don’t call it The Last Frontier for nothing 😎😎

Trip Report: Bonanza Climb and Martin, July 25-27, 2025
Adam, Kate, Said, and Bjorn

Day 1 – Friday, July 25, 2025: Journey to Holden Pass and Martin Peak
We kicked off our adventure boarding the Lady of the Lake ferry at 8:30 AM. We disembarked at Lucerne, where we helped unload luggage from the boat and hopped on the bus that wound up a twisty road to the charming Holden Village. By noon, we gathered our gear and began the trek to Holden Pass. The trail involved switchbacks, overgrown trails, and refueling with delicious trail blueberries. We reached Holden Pass, set up camp, and then Adam, Kate, and Bjorn headed off to tag the nearby summit Martin Peak. The ridgeline to the base of Martin had flat spots that made for pleasant hiking, but the scramble up was challenging with loose rock and plenty of route-finding. We summited, soaked in the stunning views of surrounding peaks like Glacier peak and Bonanza (oh and also Glacier Peak), and returned to camp by 9 PM for dinner (thanks to Said for filtering enough water to fill a small pond) and some rest before Bonanza.

Day 2 – Saturday, July 26, 2025: Bonanza Summit
We were up before the sun, fueled by a quick breakfast, and started for Bonanza by 5:30 AM. We traversed boulder fields and Crossed waterfall slabs, leading us to the Mary Green Glacier. We roped up at the glacier’s start, Adam led and navigated (some would say “perfectly”) around and over some amazing crevasses. At the glacier’s edge, we unroped, and stashed some glacier gear. The final 1,000-foot scramble up Bonanza was on sturdy rock, a nice contrast to Martin’s looseness. Staying left was critical—we noticed another team veered right and missed the true summit, a knife-edge ridge connecting the main peaks. We reached the top, signed the logbook, ate, and savored the panoramic views from the highest non-volcanic peak in Washington. The Descent involved one rappel from the summit, followed by downclimbing back to the glacier and waterfall slabs. We returned to camp, packed up, and hiked to the camp just outside Holden Village, where we ate, made a friend, and camped for the night.

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West McMillan: 7/3-7/6 - Ben, Hannah, AP, Alison, Said

A long-awaited revenge climb for the 2014 leadership grad (Said), this year’s crew of multi-leadership grads (2023, 2025) had their hearts set on getting Said to the summit!

Day 1 – Goodell Creek TH to base of climber’s path: A very chill 4ish mile hike with a 1k feet of gain to the bottom of a climber’s boot path. Though chill, 100 yards in, you quickly realize where the love for bushwhacking comes from for our beloved club!

Day 2 – Terror Basin Camp: We promptly left camp an hour after planned departure time (lol) with nothing but uppity up gaining 4k ft in 2 miles thru steep boot path, lots of down trees, tree ladders and ample berry bushes along the way to lift the spirits! Once above the tree line, you can finally see the pickets on display including, of course, the main object West Mc! We reached the top of the k**b above terror basin around 5pm (it’s a slow-moving terrain people!). Again, the conditions to get down were slightly different than over a decade ago. Had to do a bit of faced in steep down climb then a short steep dirt/rock before descending into camp by 6pm!

Day 3 – Woke up at 5am to low clouds and poor visibility and decided to wait it out a bit. Left camp at 8am and made it thru some fun terrain transitioning back and forth between snow and slabs before ascending the steep snow gulley below the ridge col. We made it to the col by noon and the summit by 1:30pm. We safely made it back to camp and enjoyed truly one of the most beautiful camps I’ve been to. We all clumsily carried our quilts up the slippery slope of the little k**b while wearing slippers and crocs to watch sunset across the Goodell Creek valley. It was a special way to celebrate the day.

Day 4 – Back to Goodell creek TH: Left camp at 7:30am and safely made it back to the cars by 3pm. Everyone participated in the required creek bath in Goodell Creek before grabbing food at Marblemount.

The total trip was about 14ish (slow) miles and 8500 ft of gross gain. Fun fact: the West Mc team and the Inspiration Traverse team had a lot of fun on the rockie talkies. Let the videos do the talking!

Inspiration Slam - Klawatti, Dorado Needle, Eldorado, Primus, Austera - 7/3-7/6 - Adam, Kate, Shannon

Day 1: Woke up at 5am and made the approach up the steep trail with heavy packs. It was warm and clear. Filled up on water at the Eldorado camp and roped up for the traverse to Klawatti Col. We made it there before another group (who seemed to be racing us) and snagged tent spots on the rocks. They went for Klawatti while we watched and made commentary. We waited until they were higher up and set out ourselves, opting for a different route. The scrambling got easier the higher we went. Shannon found her favorite rock on this summit. Scrambled down and rapped the hardest section back to our ice axes. Adam filled our water bottles and dromedaries from a tiny stream below our camp. Beautiful sunset. Saw the moon over Eldorado.

Day 2: Woke up at 5am. Roped up and headed across the Inspiration Glacier to Dorado Needle. Climbed steep snow up to the first anchor. Adam led 3 short pitches and one reallllly short pitch to the summit. There was one optional au cheval section featuring an old piton and one mandatory au cheval section near the summit. Most exciting butt scoot of yr life! Reached the splitter crack block we had read about. This was Adam’s favorite rock. There is a light spot where another (probably super helpful) rock used to exist. We went around to the right. Good feet and minimal hand holds. This was the really short pitch. Enjoyed amazing views of Eldo and more on the summit.

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