Decemer 3-4, 2005, Mt Baker

Well, I went out for the first tour and I must say that I am hooked. After spending a lot of time worrying about avy danger, the wife and I threw on the skins and headed out. The first day we climbed the cat track/skin track to Artists Point. We played it safe and kept to mellow aspects the whole way up. Once on top I dug a pit to get a shovel shear and compression test in. The snow wouldn't budge on the compression test and no shear planes were consistent.

Feeling safer we headed over towards Table and started planning our route down. There were enough people around that we could inquire as to routes and conditions while not seeming like total tools. After talking to a couple of boarders, we decided to decend a bowl that was recommended by a number of people. The top part was deep and fluffy and awesome...Then we got to the steep part. Getting down was ugly to say the least. No falls or injuries, but scared and downclimbing on a slope that was way too steep! Once down the chute, it was deep and fluffy again. Lots of fun. Skins went back on and we toured out.

Lessons learned:
1-Tour in from the bottom so you can see what you are going to have to descend
2-I am way more concerned with avy danger than most (not a bad thing) as I didn't see any pits or anyone doing anything other than slope cuts
3-Backcountry is way nicer than inbounds!