I have just returned from one of the most physically demanding weeks of my life. The idea: to climb and ski notable volcanoes among the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a chain that runs from Squamish to northern California. The team: myself, Chad Sayers, Andre Charland, Tobin Seagel, Jamie Bond, my brother Chad, Kellie Okonek (all the way from Alaska) and Ian “Cheddar” Watson.

We set off blitzing down the I5 overnight to Mount Shasta at the top end of California. On basically no sleep, we climbed 7000ft to reach the top at 14,100ft. The heat was considerable, 35c at the bottom. The descent was perfect corn, however, so all good.

With blue sky in the forecast we rallied back North to our next destination, Mount Hood, sleeping in the parking lot for 5 or 6 hrs before we hopped on the lift which took us half way up; much appreciated, as we only had to climb the remaining 3000ft to reach it’s 11,200ft summit

Back in the car once again we drove for several hours North to Mount Adams, which stands at 12,800ft. 6 hours of sleep was what we got in the parking lot before hoisting our heavy packs and setting out for yet another back-to-back day. This one hurt. 7000ft of slogging left me bagged on the summit, but fortunately the ski was enjoyable on the way down.

We decided to take a rest day after Adams. In Washougal, Washington, Kellie’s family took us (8 stinky skiers) in, fed us, and gave us a roof over our heads to get some decent sleep for once. That evening we made our way to Mount Rainier, the crown jewel in the chain of peaks. Unfortunately it was too late in the year to ski The Fuhrer’s Finger, a aesthetic couloir that runs on the South side. So, we went for the standard slog up the Emmons Glacier on the east side of the mountain. We went for a 8000ft push to the summit from a low camp at Glacier Basin. By the time we reached the summit it was the biggest day (let alone at altitude) most of us had been through. The 3 other peaks had seemed to help aclimitize us so the altitude wasn’t much of an issue. What was and issue was the line we chose to ski. Rather than going down what we had climbed up, the group made a decision to ski another line where we thought we could exit safely through some serac and crevasses at the bottom. Begin the nightmare. After descending down the line, we realized we couldn’t get through safely. We had no choice but to climb back up 2500ft to where we knew we could take the other route down. Slowely, the 8,000ft day became a 10,000ft+ day. The sun was going down by the time we began to descend once again and the snow began to freeze, making for 5,000ft of mostly side slipping – not exactly inspiring skiing.

We reached our sleeping bags way below and slept until the next morning before walking out to reach the cars.

Tobin put it best, “Thats one to remember and not to repeat.” I think we all look back on the trip with fond memories, but we also remember the sleeplessness, foot pain, and fatigue. What do we do these things? I’m still not sure…