January 21, 2004, Coleman Pinnacle
1/21/04
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2697
1
My mother Regine and her husband Andrew (ACAREY) made a very rare appearance in Bellingham on Tuesday night. After railing against the powers that be while quaffing a few too many beers, they crashed and I went back to work before we all got up at 6 AM and headed to the Mount Baker Ski Area.
We hustled up the cat track, past Artists Point, across the sun-baked and debris-covered south face of Table Mountain and on to the gentle rollers of Ptarmigan Ridge. On the approach snow conditions had been variable with light crusts on most every exposure. On Ptarmigan things were far better, a fine layer of surface hoar on top of four inches of powder on a firm base. Andy's knee was acting up from too much skiing so he wisely choose to turn around while I convinced my mother to continue on into the north bowl of Coleman Pinnacle. A descending traverse across steep slopes led us into the bowl and a quick 800 foot climb to the small notch just west of the pinnacle. Clouds were beginning to build and a pinkish haze outlined peaks from Rainier to Glacier. We could also see Bacon, Blum, Shuksan, Slesse, Larrabee, American Border and up to Judge Hollway and beyond. There are some damn nice views from the area!
We pulled the skins and Regine scooted over to an honest twelve-foot drop into a steep pocket of pow. I should have shot some film but the lightning was flat. Airing it out she didn't quite stick the landing but we can't hold that against a grandmother. I took the mellower option into the 1600 vertical foot and over mile-long bowl. The snow was amazing consistent and made for great skiing even on the mellowest of slopes. A long slog took us back to the Table-Ptarmigan col, our skin track and eventually Andy napping in the car.
IMHO skiing the north bowl of Coleman Pinnacle is the best genuine tour in the area. It's really mellow turns and a long way out there but can be in great condition when everything else sucks. Just wait for a very settled snow pack with 1" or 2" of new at the ski area. That should translate to double or triple that out on Ptarmigan Ridge. Yeah!
We hustled up the cat track, past Artists Point, across the sun-baked and debris-covered south face of Table Mountain and on to the gentle rollers of Ptarmigan Ridge. On the approach snow conditions had been variable with light crusts on most every exposure. On Ptarmigan things were far better, a fine layer of surface hoar on top of four inches of powder on a firm base. Andy's knee was acting up from too much skiing so he wisely choose to turn around while I convinced my mother to continue on into the north bowl of Coleman Pinnacle. A descending traverse across steep slopes led us into the bowl and a quick 800 foot climb to the small notch just west of the pinnacle. Clouds were beginning to build and a pinkish haze outlined peaks from Rainier to Glacier. We could also see Bacon, Blum, Shuksan, Slesse, Larrabee, American Border and up to Judge Hollway and beyond. There are some damn nice views from the area!
We pulled the skins and Regine scooted over to an honest twelve-foot drop into a steep pocket of pow. I should have shot some film but the lightning was flat. Airing it out she didn't quite stick the landing but we can't hold that against a grandmother. I took the mellower option into the 1600 vertical foot and over mile-long bowl. The snow was amazing consistent and made for great skiing even on the mellowest of slopes. A long slog took us back to the Table-Ptarmigan col, our skin track and eventually Andy napping in the car.
IMHO skiing the north bowl of Coleman Pinnacle is the best genuine tour in the area. It's really mellow turns and a long way out there but can be in great condition when everything else sucks. Just wait for a very settled snow pack with 1" or 2" of new at the ski area. That should translate to double or triple that out on Ptarmigan Ridge. Yeah!
And I've rarely seen many people out that way, even on weekends. Nice report.
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