Nov 1, 2006; Coleman-Deming

Headed to Baker for 2nd time in 4 days in hopes of skiing some powder after the storm that dumped earlier in the week.  Hannah, Sky and I left Seattle area around 3:15, and the trailhead sometime before 6.  Good dusting in the parking lot gave way to excellent conditions once we reached the toe of the glacier.  Began skinning above 1st roll out of camp.  Snow was around 6" of low density powder over a crust that made for relatively easy trail breaking.  Conditions above the bergshrund around 8'500 feet worsened, which we figured was due to high winds & low density snow that fell.  The Roman Wall had very few pockets of powder, and mainly consisted of firm-to-icy conditions.  I stopped on the south side of the Summit Plateau, while Hannah & Sky continued to the true summit.  I downclimbed a good portion of the upper face due to the icy conditions, which improved on the lower half of the wall & saddle for skiing.  Phenom pow conditions existing below the 'shrund at 8,500' back to camp, with a few sections mixing with the crust layer below.