Buckner-Logan Traverse

The Buckner-Logan Traverse is a multi-day spring ski objective in the heart of North Cascades National Park, linking Buckner Mountain and Mt. Logan through a series of glacier crossings. The standard execution is four days, with a Diablo Lake shuttle on the back end and a Cascade Pass approach on the front. Distance hovers around thirty miles with significant elevation across multiple climbs and descents.

The route works through four named glaciers — Buckner, Wyeth, Douglas, and Banded — each adding its own commitment. The crossover into Horseshoe Basin demands careful steep-snow management. The Wyeth Glacier descent ends in a rappel exit through forest, requiring a thirty-meter rope to drop into the upper Thunder Creek drainage. The exit walk back to Diablo finishes with miles of dense alder bushwhack and blowdowns through old growth.

Spring corn windows make the difference — the trip runs on all-day corn cycles when conditions cooperate, with cold pow holding in shaded couloirs even into late April. This is one of the most committing ski traverses in the lower 48: glaciated, exposed, with no easy bailouts and a non-trivial finish. Plan for a stable weather window of at least four clear days, full glacier-rescue gear, and rope work on the descent.