August 4, 2006, Ptarmigan Ridge, Baker

Tod, Steve, and I skied out to the edge of the Sholes Glacier. Conditions pretty much as Mark described for last weekend, but much better weather, so the snow was mostly nicely softened.

Hiked to just beyond the saddle on the south side of Table Mountain, then continuous snow possible to the saddle west of Coleman Pinnacle staying on the north side of Ptarmigan Ridge. Small to moderate suncups along the north slopes under the Pinnacle. A couple of short carries between the saddle and the edge of the Sholes, where we turned around due to time constraints. The snow looked to be a bit better on the Sholes. Returned the same way so didn't get a good look at the east side of Coleman Pinnacle, but from PeterC's photo from last weekend it looked like the coverage should still be good (for August) there as well. With my joke tele boots and "wide" waxless skis I was the gear heavyweight on this trip, as Tod and Steve both had narrow Madshus skis and absurdly lightweight boots which looked more like running shoes. A very pleasant trip.