May 14, Colman Deming, Mt. Baker
5/15/06
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
1942
0
Saturday evening Rodger and I left Seattle with sights set on the Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead. We arrived at the end of a long line of cars on the side of the road by about 10:30 PM about a mile and a half before the parkinglot.
Much too quickly the alarm sounded at 0300. An hour of stumbling around we departed with skiis strapped on packs at 0400. About ¼ mile from our car, the road was well clogged with snow, so off we went on skiis. We skied to about the bottom of Heliotrope ridge. After boot packing to the flat camping field beneath the Black Buttes we put our skins until the ice at the bottom of the Roman nose necessitated the use of crampons all the way to the summit. The upper part of the mountain was a mob scene, at least 50 people above 9000 ft. See the link to a post on another site with Photos of the masseshttp://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB2&Number=572427
. Rodger reflected sadly "There are more people here than there were at the last Mariners game I went to." Everybody and their dog was up there, in fact there was a guy with 2 dogs at about 8500. Not sure I would like my pooch on a Glacier. Is it even legal according to the regs?
The ski down was variable from the Summit to about the top of the Roman Nose. The nose itself was very icy and full of people strung together with ropes, making for poor skiing. Was pretty good skiing from the saddle down to the Flats where the campground (KOA) was established. From the flats down to treeline was fine creamy corn. Not well formed corn, but slush on top of a solid base. Much fun and very fast. The trail skiing was not too much fun, but very passable compared to postholing. There were about 3 stream/rock crossings that demanded the skis be removed. The roadskiing was on a base of about 3-4 foot base on the road, I would expect the parkinglot to be snowfree no sooner than about 2 weeks unless something dramatic happens in the next couple of weeks. Skis were removed only once for a concrete culvert crossing of about 20 feet (I did the "one ski off hop maneuver").
We made 1000 ft/hour to the summit, far from Land speed record but fast enough to feel efficient. Rodger had to bail at the base of the Roman Nose due to the fact that he gave a pint of blood on Thursday, which goes to show that the person who is better for humanity is not necessarily better for climbing with the following weekend. Speaking of humanity, there was a nasty haze over the entire region, too much humanity burning too much gasoline, can't wait for $6 a gallon.... Will post photos of the smog later.
Much too quickly the alarm sounded at 0300. An hour of stumbling around we departed with skiis strapped on packs at 0400. About ¼ mile from our car, the road was well clogged with snow, so off we went on skiis. We skied to about the bottom of Heliotrope ridge. After boot packing to the flat camping field beneath the Black Buttes we put our skins until the ice at the bottom of the Roman nose necessitated the use of crampons all the way to the summit. The upper part of the mountain was a mob scene, at least 50 people above 9000 ft. See the link to a post on another site with Photos of the masseshttp://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB2&Number=572427
. Rodger reflected sadly "There are more people here than there were at the last Mariners game I went to." Everybody and their dog was up there, in fact there was a guy with 2 dogs at about 8500. Not sure I would like my pooch on a Glacier. Is it even legal according to the regs?
The ski down was variable from the Summit to about the top of the Roman Nose. The nose itself was very icy and full of people strung together with ropes, making for poor skiing. Was pretty good skiing from the saddle down to the Flats where the campground (KOA) was established. From the flats down to treeline was fine creamy corn. Not well formed corn, but slush on top of a solid base. Much fun and very fast. The trail skiing was not too much fun, but very passable compared to postholing. There were about 3 stream/rock crossings that demanded the skis be removed. The roadskiing was on a base of about 3-4 foot base on the road, I would expect the parkinglot to be snowfree no sooner than about 2 weeks unless something dramatic happens in the next couple of weeks. Skis were removed only once for a concrete culvert crossing of about 20 feet (I did the "one ski off hop maneuver").
We made 1000 ft/hour to the summit, far from Land speed record but fast enough to feel efficient. Rodger had to bail at the base of the Roman Nose due to the fact that he gave a pint of blood on Thursday, which goes to show that the person who is better for humanity is not necessarily better for climbing with the following weekend. Speaking of humanity, there was a nasty haze over the entire region, too much humanity burning too much gasoline, can't wait for $6 a gallon.... Will post photos of the smog later.
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