Mount Shuksan is a

glaciated A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires d ...

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

in 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 ...

. Shuksan rises in

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

immediately to the east of

Mount Baker Mount Baker (; ), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most ...

, and south of the Canada–US border. The mountain's name ''Shuksan'' is derived from the

Lummi Lummi most commonly refers to: Lummi people *Lummi people, a Coast Salish people located in western Washington state **Lummi Nation The Lummi Nation ( ; Lummi dialect, Lummi: ' or '';'' officially known as the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi ...

word '' �éqsən', said to mean "high peak". The highest point on the mountain is a three-sided peak known as Summit Pyramid. The mountain is composed of Shuksan greenschist, oceanic

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

that was metamorphosed when the Easton

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its d ...

collided with the west coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, approximately 120 million years ago. The mountain is an eroded remnant of a thrust plate formed by the Easton collision. Mount Shuksan tarn

The Mount Baker Highway, State Route 542, is kept open during the winter to support

Mt. Baker Ski Area Mt. Baker Ski Area is a ski resort in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located in Whatcom County, Washington, at the end of Washington State Route 542, State Route 542. The base elevation is at , while the peak of the resort is at ...

. In late summer, the road to Artist Point allows visitors to travel a few miles higher for a closer view of the peak. Picture Lake is accessible on the highway and reflects the mountain, making it a popular site for photography. Sulphide Creek Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in North America, plunges off the southeastern flank of Mount Shuksan. There are four other tall waterfalls that spill off Mount Shuksan and neighboring Jagged Ridge and

Seahpo Peak Seahpo Peak is a subsidiary peak of Mount Shuksan, which rises in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located about east of the main peak of Shuksan and rises to about . It is located in North Cascades National Park and is part of the North Ca ...

, mostly sourced from small snowfields and glaciers. The traditional name of Mount Shuksan in the

Nooksack language Nooksack (, ) is a Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Nooksack is spoken by the Nooksack people, who reside primarily along the Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington. Linguistically, Nooksack is most closely related t ...

is ''Shéqsan'' ("high foot") or ''Ch’ésqen'' ("golden eagle"). Both the

Nooksack Nooksack ( Nooksack: ''Noxwsʼáʔaq'') or Nootsack may refer to: * Nooksack people, an American Indian tribe in Whatcom County, Washington ** Nooksack language, the language of this tribe Places *Nooksack River, a river in Whatcom County, Washing ...

and

are indigenous tribes who have occupied the watersheds of the Nooksack Rivers and Lummi River, respectively. They are both federally recognized tribes in the United States. The first ascent of Mount Shuksan is usually attributed to

Asahel Curtis Asahel Curtis (1874–1941) was an American photographer based in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. His career included documentation of the Klondike Gold Rush, Klondike Gold Rush period in Seattle, natural landscapes in the N ...

and W. Montelius Price on September 7, 1906. However, in a 1907 letter to the editor of the

Mazamas The Mazamas () is a mountaineering organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1894. Promotion of mountaineering The Mazamas has been an important part of the climbing community in the Pacific Northwest of the United State ...

club journal, C. E. Rusk attributed the first ascent to Joseph Morowits in 1897. He said that he himself would have attempted it in 1903 if he had not been sure that it had already been climbed.

Nearby mountains

* Mount Triumph * Mount Despair * Mount Terror * Mount Blum *

* Church Mountain

References

External links

* * Weather forecast
Mount Shuksan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuksan, Mount North Cascades of Washington (state) Mountains of Whatcom County, Washington North Cascades National Park Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin