Eldorado Peak

Eldorado Peak stands at 8,868 feet and offers one of the most direct glacier summit ski descents in the North Cascades. This car-to-car tour covers 14 miles with 7,300 feet of gain, starting from the Cascade River Road gate closure. A 2-mile bike approach on the closed road saves time before the real work begins: a brushy climber's trail with a river crossing on bound logs, then relentless vertical through alder before the terrain opens up.

Above the brush, the route climbs through Eldorado Creek Basin gaining roughly 4,000 feet of sustained snow climbing, then traverses into Roush Creek Basin for another 1,400 feet to the Eldorado and Inspiration Glaciers. The final summit push crosses relatively flat glacier terrain before a steep knife-edge section to the top. Views from the summit span the full North Cascades skyline including Johannesburg Mountain.

The descent skis at blue-run difficulty through the glacier sections, with conditions deteriorating to slushy breakable crust in the lower basins as the day warms. The brushy exit and bike-out round off a full day. This route works well as an introduction to glacier mountaineering for parties with basic crevasse rescue skills, though the sheer vertical and distance demand strong fitness.