TR: 9-10 Dec 2017, - Ptarmigan Ridge, Mt Baker
12/9/17
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2533
5
Nick and I got an early start Saturday morning not sure about our actual objective - Mt Baker Summit or good skiing ...we were loaded with a light overnight kit and glacier travel gear.
We bee-lined it out the ridge, making good time to NE spur of the Coleman Pinnacle, then slowed as we booted up and back down the south side.
We pushed on through to the Portals where we made a route-finding error, and did not want to drop too far and tried getting to through a weakness on the south end of the Portals. The weakness was weak, but not worth the hazard of going up and over - so we ripped skins and skied an excellent 1200 foot run, but cost us a lot of time in terms of getting over to Mt Baker.
We brewed and tooled around considering our options - a little too late for the Summit, but nothing that really screamed as awesome skiing conditions. We ended up making two good runs around the NW side Portals and one on the E side of the Portals to a protected bivy spot.
We brewed dinner and were all settled by 6pm - leaving us a 12 hour nights sleep.
The next day we explored some more terrain on the NE side of the Ridge between the Portals and Coleman Pinnacle. We moved over to the S facing terrain hoping for some corn. We waited and brewed, but the breeze and temps prevented the true corn effect and we settled on a great run off the N side of the Coleman Pinnacle as we moved back towards the parking area.
We made a late decision to head around to Herman Saddle instead of just heading back through the S aspect of Table. We were rewarded with an excellent run from the Ridge, followed by some HEAVY, WET snow working back up to Iceberg Lake. A quick skin to the Saddle and a fun run back down to Bagley finished out the day.
First people we saw were on the Heather Meadow side of Coleman Pinnacle, and not many people or tracks out on the Ridge. Herman Saddle was a full house.
Glacier gear not required. Mt Baker still has a lot of open cracks on it.
Approx 25 miles and 11k vert.
We bee-lined it out the ridge, making good time to NE spur of the Coleman Pinnacle, then slowed as we booted up and back down the south side.
We pushed on through to the Portals where we made a route-finding error, and did not want to drop too far and tried getting to through a weakness on the south end of the Portals. The weakness was weak, but not worth the hazard of going up and over - so we ripped skins and skied an excellent 1200 foot run, but cost us a lot of time in terms of getting over to Mt Baker.
We brewed and tooled around considering our options - a little too late for the Summit, but nothing that really screamed as awesome skiing conditions. We ended up making two good runs around the NW side Portals and one on the E side of the Portals to a protected bivy spot.
We brewed dinner and were all settled by 6pm - leaving us a 12 hour nights sleep.
The next day we explored some more terrain on the NE side of the Ridge between the Portals and Coleman Pinnacle. We moved over to the S facing terrain hoping for some corn. We waited and brewed, but the breeze and temps prevented the true corn effect and we settled on a great run off the N side of the Coleman Pinnacle as we moved back towards the parking area.
We made a late decision to head around to Herman Saddle instead of just heading back through the S aspect of Table. We were rewarded with an excellent run from the Ridge, followed by some HEAVY, WET snow working back up to Iceberg Lake. A quick skin to the Saddle and a fun run back down to Bagley finished out the day.
First people we saw were on the Heather Meadow side of Coleman Pinnacle, and not many people or tracks out on the Ridge. Herman Saddle was a full house.
Glacier gear not required. Mt Baker still has a lot of open cracks on it.
Approx 25 miles and 11k vert.
Pics 1
Pics 2
Pics 3
Screen Shot of the route.
Nice! We skied great snow on the north slopes past the pinnacle on Saturday, and noticed your tracks through the portals. I was wondering what you were up to. Looks like a fun weekend!
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