It was the best of climbs, it was the worst of climbs... it was the winter of despair... we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. What the dickens am I talking about? Why, the mighty and feared Cleveland Mountain, world renowned for its magn ificent setting west of Skykomish. And how it took 17 people to drag me to the summit.

Part I -- Worst of climbs, Winter of despair, Everything before us

On Saturday 2/17/01, I joined a group of Mountaineers at the Monroe P&R at 6:30 after an icy drive from our homes. Our plan was to climb Evergreen Mt. However, snows at sea level led us to think the Beckler River road was impractical. So we changed our destination to Cleveland Mt. We slipped and slid east on Hwy 2 until we were parked at the bridge just before Money Creek on road 6420 (el. 960').

We walked up logging road 6422 to the first switchback at 1200-. Already the snow was deep enough for snowshoes, so we donned them and continued up the switchback. By the 4th switchback at 2300' we were getting discouraged by the arduous fluffy snow that was taxing our energy. Fortunately we had several strong members who enjoy a good workout, and continued to make progress. But after the 5th and 6th switchbacks our patience wore out and we headed straight uphill. Still the progress was very tough, even in the trees. John "Snowplow" Tolan was our hero, doing far more than his fair share of kicking through the infernal frosting. A few others also took some long pulls in an effort to get their lactic acid highs, and give Snowplow a brief rest.

After crossing the logging road numerous times the terrain became more gentle at about 4000', but still deep in powder. Somehow we missed the lofty and precipitous Temple Mt in our quest for higher points... and why Temple with it's whopping 80' of prominence even deserves a name we couldn't say.

We continued along the ridge as described in Kloke until we ran into the notch that several people described to me. This notch was easy to bypass with all the snow cover. Half the party elected to rest before this notch while the rest of us continued an other 1/4 mile in more arduous and slow travel to a sharp ridge where the route seemed to fizzle out. With energy nearly spent, the summit still far away, and time running out, we retreated with our tail between our legs. We had everything before us durin g this winter day of despair. However, the views were fantastic, and the descent was a blast running down the powder like hotdog snowshoers. This was one of the most energy intensive winter trips I've ever done, due to the snow conditions. 9 hours, 3900 gain, 9 tired bodies.

Part II -- Best of climbs, Nothing before us

The next day I joined a Boealps trip led by Signe Franzen. We were scheduled to go up East Long (Silverton area). Poor avalanche conditions nudged us to another location. One avalanche-safe route is... Cleveland Mt. Oh no! Not again! I can't take it any more! Well, ok, why not. Too late to go back to bed anyway.

So off we zoomed to the same parking area and up the packed trail we went. Joyce "VOmax" Holloway charged up the path while the peloton gasped far behind, hopelessly deep into anaerobic debt. I was "trashed", as they say in the climbing vernacular, and hung out in the back like a weak duckling unable to keep up with its siblings. After downing some food, some energy came back. By the time we got to our previous high point, we were 1.5 hours ahead of the previous day. We skirted to the left of the ridge on fairly stable snow and easily made it above the basin NNW of Cleveland.

At this point, Louis "Moses" Frank unleashed his humongous snowshoes, parting the white fluffy sea with a wave of his poles. (Thank God there were no burning bushes around, but he did come off the top with stone tablets listing the 10 essentials.) Powering his way through the powder and up the mighty hill, he awed all with his ferocious determination. Staying close to some trees on a suspect slope, we made it to the saddle at 5200' W of the summit. Then after a short steep scramble grabbing dead trees and a nice step sliding on powder covered rock, we made it to the top. Ah... the best of climbs, nothing before us but air. Quite nice! We enjoyed the magnificence of the summit for about 1/2 hour, then found an easier descent route south that corkscrewed around to the saddle area. The descent was uneventful (and long on the road walk), but fun when it was steep enough to enjoy the effects of gravity. 8.5 hours, 4300 gain, 8 satisfied climbers.

Score: Boealps 1, Mountaineers 0