Hard and Free in the Cascades
August 2007Jens Holsten celebrates on top of North Gunsight peak.
Max Hasson and Jens Holsten, two young AAC members living in Washington, teamed up in late July to free one of the hardest faces in the remote Cascades. After a two-day approach, the two free-climbed the west face of North Gunsight peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area at 5.11+. Although the climb is fairly short, at five pitches, it is very steep and, of course, extremely remote. The two climbers swung leads, onsighting every pitch, including the crux second lead; two other pitches came in at 5.10+.
Hasson, 23, began climbing with Holsten, 24, in Yosemite five years ago. Last summer, during their first season in the Cascades, they climbed two Grade IV new routes, on Dragontail Peak and Boola Boola Buttress. Both are covered in the Contiguous United States section of the 2007 American Alpine Journal.
To see more photos from the climb, visit Cascade Climbers or Alpinist.com.