March 21, 2026
~ submitted by Evan Martin
This was suppose to be a report on a ski trip of the Forbidden Plateau Traverse. However, after a week of heavy rain and cooling temperatures nobody was excited about the potential for boot packing, icy ski conditions, and washed out stream beds. So what could I get people excited about? Sunny weather; low-low-low avalanche conditions; sounds like a day for gully climbing. I had been curious about Brugger’s Gully on Arrowsmith ever since we accidentally started it instead of the Main Gully a few years ago. So the plans switched and off we went.
We arrived at the new Climber’s Trail trailhead for 8:30. One quick glance at the mountain was enough to convince us to leave the snowshoes in the truck. We gathered our gear and headed up the trail. Other than a light dusting in places, the forest was almost completely free of snow and we made good time to the alpine. After a discussion on “pulling gear out before it’s needed” we proceeded up the partially exposed scree slope. Turns out the time to put our crampons on was before that slope!
At the top of that slope we got our view of Brugger’s. Looked simple enough, and there were no objections on proceeding. We took that opportunity to put on crampons, harnesses, and get out our ice axes.
All prepared we headed towards the gully. The gully started out at a relatively mellow grade. The snow was hard enough that kicking steps was extremely difficult and we resorted to a middle dagger axe position and trusting our front points. The nice thing about hard snow is that the ice axe has excellent bite. Once you learn to drop your heels and trust your front points it can begin to feel quite secure. Just don’t slip, as self arresting in these conditions is extremely difficult if not impossible.
As we continued ascending the gully, the slope got steadily steeper. After the start of the Newman-Foweraker Route the gully veers to climbers right and therefore is not visible from the bottom. At this point it narrows considerably and continues to gain steepness. There was no moat at the top, but in this year’s low snow pack the snow narrowed to just a few feet before reaching the top. We climbed out of the gully into the sunshine with only a light breeze – a rare condition for Arrowsmith.
After a short down climb we crossed over onto judges route and proceeded towards the summit. We arrived at the summit around 11:30 and enjoyed a short lunch break in the sunshine before proceeding back down. I had intentionally left our down route vague in the trip description as it would be highly dependent on the conditions. Based on the multiple trips up the Main Gully by several members of the group (including myself) we judged that it would be an easier descent option than returning to Brugger’s.
Our view from the top of the Main Gully revealed nothing surprising, the typical gradual slope down to the steeper mid section. What we didn’t see from the top was how much icier the Main Gully was than Brugger’s. Part way down the upper section we encountered a pure sheet of frozen rain on top of the snow pack. What phenomenon happened in this specific location to yield those conditions I cannot say, but it was highly localized to this narrow elevation band in this particular gully. The conditions transitioned back to those we were more familiar with as we descended further. Then we encountered the typical snow drift that creates a steep crux in the middle of the gully. However, this wasn’t like other years. The snow was low down in the gully, making it narrower than usual. We skirted the snow drift via climbers right where it’s not as steep. We then had to traverse down and left to keep off the gully wall. Maybe it’s only because we we’re down climbing- which is always more difficult- but this year, in these conditions, the Main Gully felt more difficult than Brugger’s and definitely more difficult than any time I and the others have done it before.
Having made good time down the gully we took a gradual pace down the approach trail. Good thing too as it was probably the hardest part of the day – at least that’s where we kept slipping and falling on our bottoms! We were back at the truck by 3:00 – lots of time spare to return to the gate and part ways.
Conditions were tough. There was another group that attempted the Main Gully this day and aborted their trip. However, our team was solid. There was lots of confidence gained by everyone in the group. Everyone did an incredible job. Thanks for those who came out and shared this incredible experience.