Stuart Glacier Couloir has an elusive reputation – anyone researching the great mixed climbs in the Stuart Range will run across this route, but they probably don’t know anyone who’s been there. The namesake feature, an icy couloir, rises from the Stuart Glacier for a thousand feet to reach the rocky West Ridge, which is followed to the summit of Mount Stuart. I’ve always been a bit intimidated by this route despite the moderate technical grade – regardless of the route taken, this is a beast of a mountain! Mitchell McAuslan and I climbed Stuart Glacier Couloir on April 26, 2026 on a three day roundtrip from the car. Despite the fearsome reputation built up in my head, the route was no more stressful than an alpine mixed route has to be. This is one of the best mixed climbs I’ve done in the Cascades! Perhaps this rose-tinted view is because we caught the route in perfect conditions. More on that later.

Any climb of Mount Stuart requires a legit approach – for this trip, it was even longer because the gate was closed at Icicle Road. This adds four miles each way, which is a minor bummer. The approach from the car up Mountaineer’s Creek to camp at the foot of Sherpa Glacier took us 8 hours. Along the way, we experienced the typical confusion of a brushy, unmaintained trail and lost a bit of time thrashing around in the bush. Classic! These frustrating moments can be endearing once you’ve been in the game for a while. The spirit of the Cascades is rugged – you have to earn it here.

Cramponing out of camp before sunrise, we ascended a long snow slope to the base of the North Ridge where we shivered as we geared up for the day. Mitchell led us onto the Stuart Glacier toward the base of the couloir. The bergschrund normally presents an obstacle, but it was well-bridged on the left and we easily climbed over it without shenanigans or a real belay. Mitchell continued leading us up the couloir on steep snow.

The steep snow of the coulor continued over a few minor, steeper constrictions until we arrived at the base of a much steeper ice step. I took the lead and cruised up some nice WI3 terrain. This is the kind of stuff that both Mitchell and I would feel comfortable soloing, but the risk of rockfall, icefall or snow sluffs convinced me that we should protect ourselves where we could. After a few tries, I was able to find somewhat good ice for two screw placements in the steeper section. Other protection came in the form of rock gear in the walls of the couloir, but it was hard-fought and we only had a piece every thirty meters or so. Mitchell and I have each done a lot of ice climbing so this didn’t feel too spooky and we mostly enjoyed the high-quality alpine ice. After the constriction and a cool gully feature, the couloir broadened and mellowed slighty. Steep snow carried us to the West Ridge notch.

Now on the crest of the West Ridge, it was time to switch gears from snow/ice climbing to proper mixed climbing. Conditions were better than we could have hoped for! The steep rock on the ridge crest was completely dry, while every ledge, crack and gully had rivulets of high-quality water ice. Unreal. Swapping leads on the West Ridge, we followed the exact same route that I’d done last August in approach shoes and running shorts. This time, I was fully suited up with boots, crampons and two ice tools – so cool to experience the same terrain in completely different conditions. A couple of easy pitches went by in a blur before I traversed out over the North Face with tremendous exposure. Using ice tools on this terrain is always an exercise in creativity. Careful taps into thin ice overlaying slabby rock alternated with torqued picks in thin cracks. This pitch was super fun M4 mixed climbing with good gear and perfect granite.

We continued swapping leads, always finding a convenient spot to belay every 30 meters as we scratched our way toward the summit. Mitchell led an awesome pitch with bare hands before I took the final, crux pitch. This section is pretty casual 5.6 in summer conditions. With a coat of snow and ice on the ridge, I found myself doing powerful layback moves until I could hook a flake overhead with an ice tool. A few more moves went smoothly until I built our final belay. Summit!

The long descent of Stuart’s East Ridge was just steep and firm enough to require a lot of face-in downclimbing. At the top of the Sherpa Glacier, I was a bit surprised because the couloir was much steeper than I recalled from my summer descent of the same feature. Maybe I was just getting tired, but I was feeling the toll of the physical and psychological tax levied by long hours of downclimbing steep snow with a potential death fall looming. After 1000 feet or so, we exited the couloir onto the Sherpa Glacier proper where the terrain eased and allowed us to walk rather than downclimb. Exhausted, we collapsed at camp for our second night out, but not before Mitchell fell through a hole in the snow about 50 feet from camp and had to fight his way out. Ouch! We were earning it. We hiked out and drove home the next day.

Gear Notes

Offset nuts, cams .1-3. We could have easily skipped the .1 and .2 cams.. We used a 70m 7.5mm twin rope folded in half for all of the climbing.

Strategy Notes

Three days is a nice timeframe for this route when the road to Stuart Lake trailhead is closed.