Nooksack Tower is an 8,285-foot peak in Washington’s North Cascades National Park, part of the Mount Shuksan massif above Nooksack Cirque and bordered by the East and West Nooksack and Price glaciers. More than a simple summit, it is regarded as one of the Cascade Range’s hardest climbs because of loose rock, knife-edge ice ridges, steep slopes, exposure, difficult access, and descents that may require many rappels. Its dramatic setting reflects the geologic history of the North Cascades, where terranes, uplift, faulting, and repeated Pleistocene glaciation created the sharp ridges, deep valleys, and sculpted cirques around it. Heavy Pacific moisture and dense winter snow add persistent avalanche danger.