Virtue Mountain

Virtue Mountain from near the top of Cassiope. The climbing route first goes to "Feel the Love", a minor summit from which a long ridge descends and then rises to the base of the south ridge on Virtue. This point is near the lower left end of the glacier. From there one wanders up the south ridge, then takes snow to the base of the headwall and climbs the headwall, which is slightly looser than the rest of the climb.

The shot below shows Katie Larson on Virtue's summit. The right side of the distant horizon shows Moby Dick at far right, with Butters and Ahab left of it. While not clear in this photo, through binoculars we could make out many familiar peaks, such as those three, Scylla, Horseman, and International, and the many large peaks north of those.

Here I am climbing the fourth-class crux, which was steeper than the rest of the climb, but with such good holds that a rope was not needed. (Photo: Katie Larson)

Here is the view of the summit ridge, looking west from the main summit. We found that the easiest way through the headwall was at the far end of the ridge, near the snowpatch. But this photo gives a nice sense of the serious relief we felt on all sides. (Photo: Katie Larson)

On the ridge leading to the main ridge we found a nifty tunnel through the rock at one spot, providing a nice way around a steep section. Here I am returning through the tunnel. (Photo: Katie Larson)