Ptarmigan Traverse is an

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

route Route or routes may refer to: * Air route, route structure or airway * GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * Route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * ...

in the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and ...

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. The route, from

Cascade Pass Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

Dome Peak Dome Peak is a high, massive, glacier, glaciated mountain in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of Washington (U.S. state), Washington's North Cascades. The remote location of Dome Peak, combined with its height, make it a less common destination for Ca ...

, is generally remote, unmarked, and challenging, traversing rugged terrain and several glaciers.

History

The first traverse took 13 days in July 1938. The group consisted of four members of the Ptarmigan Climbing Club: Bill Cox, Calder Bressler,

Ray W. Clough Ray William Clough, (July 23, 1920 – October 8, 2016), was Byron L. and Elvira E. Nishkian Professor of structural engineering in the department of civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and one of the founders of the finit ...

, and Tom Myers. The second traverse was in 1953 and consisted of Dale Cole, Bob Grant, Mike Hane, Erick Karlsson and Tom Miller. Miller took high-quality photos of the peaks, valleys, glaciers, and lakes, which were later published in a book by The Mountaineers. The book, called ''The North Cascades'', was published in 1964 and proved instrumental in the bid to create the

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in Washington (state), Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the No ...

. The route is named after an alpine bird, the

rock ptarmigan The rock ptarmigan (''Lagopus muta'') is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan in Europe. It is the official bird for the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where it is known as the ''aqiggiq'' (ᐊᕿ� ...

. The "''p''" is silent and is pronounced "''TAR-mig-an''". The third successful traverse of the route was made in 1958 by a party led by photographer Ira Spring, with Coleman Leuthy, Ray and Marge McConnell, Peggy Stark and Russell Bockman. The trip was described in an article published in The Saturday Evening Post that was illustrated with Spring's stunning photos of the trip. Today the route is a common goal of

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

Route

Place names are listed from north to south:

Cascade Pass area

Buckner Mountain Buckner Mountain (sometimes called Mount Buckner) is a tall peak in the North Cascades of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state and in the Stephen Mather Wilderness of North Cascades National Park. At in elevation it is the highest in Skag ...

() – *

Boston Peak Boston Peak is a tall peak in the North Cascades in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington and within North Cascades National Park. At in elevation it is the 26th highest peak in Washington. Its nearest higher neighbor is Buckner ...

() – * Sahale Peak () – *

() – - last improved trail * Mixup Peak () – * Cache Col () – - boundary between

and

Glacier Peak Wilderness Glacier Peak Wilderness is a , , wilderness area located within portions of Chelan County, Washington, Chelan, Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish, and Skagit County, Washington, Skagit counties in the North Cascades of Washington (state), ...

* Magic Mountain () – *

Pelton Peak Pelton Peak is a mountain summit located in Chelan County of Washington state. It is part of the North Cascades, a subset of the Cascade Range. Pelton Peak is situated southeast of Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park near the norther ...

() –

Middle Cascade area

* Hurry-up Peak () – *

Middle Cascade Glacier Middle Cascade Glacier is in Wenatchee National Forest in the U.S. state of Washington and is to the north of Spider Mountain and east of Mount Formidable. Middle Cascade Glacier has a significant icefall that is thinning and may eventually sep ...

() – *

Mount Formidable Mount Formidable is a mountain in the North Cascades of Skagit County, in Washington state. Its first ascent was undertaken by members of the original Ptarmigan Traverse. It was named by early mountaineer Herman Ulrichs in 1935 because of the ru ...

() – *

Spider Mountain Spider Mountain is an mountain summit located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in western Chelan County of Washington state. It is part of the North Cascades, which is a subset of the Cascade Range. Meltwater from the Spider Glacier on the s ...

() –

South Cascade area

Le Conte Mountain Le Conte Mountain is a summit located on the shared boundary of Skagit County and Chelan County in Washington state. It is positioned on the crest of the North Cascades Range, and is set within the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Le Conte Mountain ...

() – * LeConte Glacier () – * Sentinel Peak () – * South Cascade Glacier () – - largest glacier on route after Chickamin Glacier on

* White Rock Lakes () –

Dome area

* Dana Glacier () – * Spire Point () – *

() –

References

* Beckey, Fred, ''

Cascade Alpine Guide Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of some of the tallest peaks and ...

Volume 2'',

The Mountaineers Books The Mountaineers is an alpine club in the US state of Washington. Founded in 1906, it is organized as an outdoor recreation, education, and conservation 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and is based in Seattle, Washington. The club hosts a wide ...

{{ISBN, 0-89886-152-7 * Karlsson, Erick, "South of Cascade Pass," The Mountaineer, 1953, p. 38 * Miller, Tom, ''The North Cascades'', The Mountaineers, 1964 Hiking trails in Washington (state) North Cascades of Washington (state) Landforms of Skagit County, Washington