May 23, 2021
Ice Mountain via Refrigerator Couloir – 13,951’
North Apostle – 13,860’
Laura and I set out from home at 3am to attempt a climb we’ve talked about for several years. We thought we could catch it in good condition by going early in the year but knew we would add a few miles of road walking because of the early season attempt. We arrived at the Lake Ann Trailhead 4wd road at 5 am and drove about 1/2 mile before being stopped by a large snow drift blocking the road. It was 5:30 am when we started walking up the road. The walking was easy and dry as we passed the upper trailhead for Lake Ann and Huron Peak. Just a short distance later we would encounter continuous snow as we cut off toward Apostle Basin.
We put on our snowshoes and began the walk through the trees toward the base of the mountains. We passed a group of skiers and when we asked them what their objective was for the day they said the Refrigerator, just where we were headed. They seemed tired and frustrated when they answered and it seemed they were already considering turning around for some reason that Laura and I could not understand. It was not even 7 am and the day was looking beautiful! We continued on and after stopping for a snack, we exited the trees and worked our way through the open Apostle Basin. Postholing occasionally, even in our snowshoes, we slowly gained elevation and worked our way toward the base of the refrigerator couloir.
We started up the steep slope around 9:30 am and made steady progress as the narrow chute steepened. Looking back, we noticed the skiers we passed earlier were no longer following us. They turned around right where the climb and ski gets good. Again, we couldn’t understand their decision but that didn’t affect us as we continued upward. Climbing with one ice tool and an ice axe, we exited the couloir and scrambled the 100’ to the summit of Ice Mountain at 10:45 am.
Looking out across the ridge that leads to North Apostle, we knew we were in for a spicy downclimb and traverse. The snow conditions were not great and the rock was loose and slippery. Continuing on in our crampons, we scrambled down the exposed ridge making a few 5th class moves to get down to more solid snow. We chose what we thought was the easiest way to the saddle of the two peaks and it was not an easy chore. In summer there is likely a decent trail here but it is a completely different experience in winter conditions.
We only spent a few minutes on the summit before hiking and glissading back to where we stashed our snowshoes at the base of the refrigerator. The hike out was interesting as we postholed in our snowshoes every now and then, never really knowing when we were going to sink to our knees. We enjoyed the hike out to the car and made it right around 3:30 pm, exactly 10 hours car to car.
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