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Secret Agent Man
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Secret Agent Man
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PostMon May 14, 2018 11:09 am 
I took advantage of the North Cascades Highway opening and went up Silver Star Mountain via Silver Star Creek on Sunday 5/13. Conditions were as good as could be expected given how warm it was - plenty of snow, but it got soft quickly as the day went on. I was glad to have snowshoes and got a bit of a burn despite plenty of sunscreen. I took six and a half hours to summit, four hours or so down. There was tons of avalanche debris on the ground, I didn't see as much falling off the walls as I expected but it still seemed like Silver Star Creek was the wiser route than Burgundy Col and traversing under the spires. No sign of any cracks or crevasses. The slings on the summit block are fresh from this weekend and are handy to have for aid-down climbing the class 3-4 move. Snow takes you most of the way up the summit block with just about 20 feet of rock at the top - I think very few people would need a rap rope. Great trip on a great mountain!

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rbuzby
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PostMon May 14, 2018 12:53 pm 
Nice trip indeed. That is a great mountain. Important too. Does anybody ever do the Willow creek approach? Seems like it doesn't get used much, it must be longer than the others. There's a lot of textbook class 3, then 1 or 2 class 4 moves at the very top. And a very sweet little idyllic basin near the head of willow creek to camp in. Beats car camping down on the highway.

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TK
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PostTue May 15, 2018 9:04 am 
Thanks for the post. How was the summit block? Thinking of doing it this week solo. Anyone interested in joining?

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Secret Agent Man
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PostTue May 15, 2018 10:53 am 
TK wrote:
Thanks for the post. How was the summit block? Thinking of doing it this week solo. Anyone interested in joining?
Summit block was not an issue. Firm snow all except for the last 20 feet or so, there will probably be some melting but not a dramatic change. It's probably class 4 at the top but there are fresh slings and cord placed you can grab onto for extra handholds that make it feel more like 3, and it's only a couple moves. If it's a weekend, you should see plenty of other people up there even if you're not in a group.

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cartman
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PostFri May 18, 2018 11:13 am 
That's the way to do Silver Star, way better than the Burgundy Col approach. That valley is classic, ringed by peaks on three sides.

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