- All levels Skill Level All levels
- Ages 16+ Ages Ages 16+
Experience more exposure and complexity on routes like the Cathedral Ridge or the North Face on this Mt. Hood guided climb. Develop your craft, leadership, and mountaineering confidence.
Quick Details
Summit Mt. Olympus
Blue Glacier Route: Intermediate, Grade II, Class 4, Moderate Snow/Glacier Travel
Mount Olympus stands 7,969 feet tall, is the tallest peak in Olympic National Park, and is protected by rainforests and glaciers on all sides. It’s a diverse climb full of hiking, snow/glacier travel, and rock climbing with a 35-mile round trip. The summit is the highest point in the image, seen as you traverse the final glacier.
Additional Info
Our Mountaineering: Guided Climbs allow you access to the greatest experiences the Cascades offer. Many have been curated in guidebooks like Beckey’s 100 Favorite North American Climbs, Kearney’s Classic Climbs of the Northwest, Steck and Roper’s 50 Classic Climbs of North America, and Nelson and Potterfield’s Select Climbs in the Cascades. We’ve carefully chosen objectives that require the perfect balance of challenge and skill. As a result, these trips are all overnight, incorporate movement on snow/glaciated terrain, and varying degrees of 3rd, 4th, and 5th class rock climbing.
Each climb requires different management strategies, so the instructor to participant ratio changes dependent upon the terrain in which you will encounter on your objective. For instance, rock routes are limited to a 2:1 ratio, whereas snow/glaciated routes are 3:1. Please consider these practical limitations when planning your Pacific Northwest experience
Contact us to develop a custom itinerary for you and your party.
These are custom climbs; please visit our custom pricing page for the most accurate cost.
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This trip is 4-5 days long with a mandatory online pre-trip meeting.
All participants are required to attend a pre-trip meeting with their guide to check equipment, conditions and to establish a specific time and location to meet up on the morning of the climb. Pre-trip meetings are typically completed online from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, 2 days before a course (Thursday evening for Saturday course), and your guide will send out an invitation for this.On the day of a climb, participants are responsible for getting to the meet up location ready and on time. We appreciate environmental considerations and ride sharing. Please let us know if you would like to coordinate a carpool with other participants.Pre-Trip Meeting
- 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Online meeting. You will bring all personal gear and equipment to this meeting. We will go over the route and itinerary as well as go over personal and group gear to ensure everyone has what they need.
Transportation
All participants will be responsible for getting themselves to the pre-trip meeting. Kaf does not provide transportation for the outing; however, we recognize that transportation can be challenging. Once registered, Kaf will provide information regarding meeting times, locations, and any required parking permits. If interested in carpooling, we will orchestrate a meeting place between participants.
Out-of-Town Participants
We recommend that anyone flying into Seattle arrive as early as possible on the day before the trip. We also recommend you do not book a return flight until late (red-eye) on the last day of the trip, or the following morning.
Itinerary
Day 1
Travel to trailhead and hike 10 – 14 miles on trail
Day 2
Travel to the base of the glacier
Day 3
Travel to the base of the route
Day 4
Climb the peak and descent to milepost 19
Day 5
Hike the 19 miles on trail out
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- 18+ for adult courses or 16+ with consent from a guardian and Kaf approval
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Mountaineering: Beginner course is required prior to the climb of Shuksan.
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- Snow and Glacier Camping
- Rope Management and Glacier Rigging
- Technical Rock Scrambling
- Navigation, Map, and Compass Usage
- Gear Packing and Equipment Choices
- Self-Arrest and Ice-Axe Technique, Crampon Usage
- Snow and Glacier Camping
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- Professional instruction from full-time mountaineering instructors at a maximum of a 3:1 student-to-instructor ratio
- Passes and permits
- All group climbing gear
- All group camping and kitchen equipment
- Dinners and breakfasts while in the field
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- Personal clothing, climbing, and personal camping gear
- Lunches, snacks, water carrying capacity
- Transportation is not included. Kaf will assist in organizing a carpool. See further details below.
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You will receive a full packing list following registration, but please feel free to contact us with any gear or equipment specific questions you have. A brief list of what you will need to provide for yourself:
- Personal climbing gear: Multi-day pack, helmet, harness, mountaineering boots, glacier rig, ice tools, and crampons
- Personal camping gear: Sleeping bag and sleeping pad
- Weather-appropriate clothing
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Transportation and times will be coordinated by email when the pre-trip announcement is sent to all registrants.
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Consider joining us for any of our other Mountaineering Courses
“The date I want isn’t listed.” Please visit our Custom Courses page and contact us to book a private or custom course that fits your needs.
“I don’t see any dates.” Several of our courses run infrequently. We invite you to opt for a waitlist on our courses that do not have visible dates on the course calendar. When enough people sign up for that course, we will select a course date and invite you all to register then.