Home > Trip Reports > 6/16/09-Ptarmigan Ridge Environs, Blueberry Chutes

6/16/09-Ptarmigan Ridge Environs, Blueberry Chutes

6/16/09
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2738
5
Posted by skierlyles on 6/16/09 4:41am
Nathan and I planned to meet Telemon at the Baker upper lot by 8am, we were there by 7:59. Good timing!

Cloudy morning and not much evidence of an evening freeze. Made our way out to Artist Point, then around the corner to the backside of Table Mountain. Telemon was nice enough to provide a verbal description of the mountains and various objectives around us.  This was quite nice given we could not see but a few hundred feet in front of us most of the morning. Views started to open up, providing picture windows into the wonderful terrain that abounds in the Baker area. Coleman Pinnacle and the access route to the Sholes Glacier opened up enough for us to get a glimpse into future tours being planned.

Lasiocarpa Ridge lurked in the distance and the weather finally gave way to views of the entire basin. This place is nicely filled in, and has a weekend's worth of objectives a few miles from the car. Next time I will be setting up camp here.

Decided to ski the peak south of Table mountain- pt 5,600. Booted up between the two large cornices and then up the ridgeline. Skied down this face on a nice soft slightly suncupped surface. Then decided to venture further to the west and towards 4897. We then followed this drainage of Wells creek northward downvalley to scope out a drainage coming down off of lower w-sw table mountain to see if it goes. It does, and we shelved that for a bit to ski another face, a sw facing slope hugging a treeline. This we skied to approx 4,400 feet, then booted right back up. Snow was perfectly bootable and much easier than slipping while skinning.

We then decided to ski the drainage we scoped earlier on the w-sw side of lower table mountain. Skied nicely but beginning to be a bit runneled for my tastes. Set another bootpack up to our lunch point (the upper saddle) and made plans to head out and ski a final run in the Blueberry Chutes. Bob expertly led us into position after we retrieved our trail shoes despite a low visibility situation. We skirted the melted out cliff bands and positioned ourselves above the chutes. Visibility not getting any better, we headed down the nicely softened slope towards Bagley Lake. Liked this run so much that we decided to boot back up and ski it again. I definitely have my bootpacking technique down now.

The day ended with great views opening up of Herman Saddle, Goat Mountain, and Nooksack ridge. The day culminated with Shuksan coming out for a dramatic backdrop and a perfect end to a great day.

Thanks to Telemon for showing us around and inciting lots of excitement for future trips.

Chris
It was a pretty decent day. I have been spoiled with many successful trips into this area.We got enough glimpses of what is out there to enjoy both visually and ski-wise to give the day a thumbs up. The cloud issues were a  bit of a pain, but all and all ,a half FULL glass kind of day.  http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=806613#806613

How quick were you on snow from Heather Meadows?

Nice, good coverage by the looks of it.
Snow Bell and I skied the N Face of Ptarmagin Peak last year and it's a nice steep ski.( good pictures of it on Telemons TT post).
Think I might get up there this coming weekend, thanks for the conditions report.

author=alpine-earth link=topic=13646.msg56966#msg56966 date=1245191607]
How quick were you on snow from Heather Meadows?

When we stepped off the parking lot pavement. ;D

author=Telemon link=topic=13646.msg56969#msg56969 date=1245195994]
When we stepped off the parking lot pavement. ;D


excellent, that's what I was hoping to hear.

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6-16-09-ptarmigan-ridge-environs-blueberry-chutes
skierlyles
2009-06-16 11:41:44