Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier - April 6-7
4/15/07
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
4239
2
Here is Mike's report of our ski of the Easton Glacier which can be found with pics at http://uw.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3434&highlight=
My pics can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/samcrary/MtBakerEastonGlacierApril672007
"Sam and I noticed the excellent weather forecast for the weekend--so we headed for Mt Baker, where we climbed the Easton Glacier to the summit and skied down. We drove up Friday afternoon (note: the road is snowed in 4 miles before the trailhead). We skinned for a few hours and camped around 5,000 feet. Our campsite was way too comfortable, so neither of us heard the alarm go off. Accordingly we started at a leisurely hour, which was not a big deal as the remainder of the climb, and the ski down, went very quickly.
The snow was well frozen early in the day, making for easy travel (ski crampons were extremely useful). The snow also softened up enough to allow for good skiing on the way down. We started out the second morning at the begining of the glacier. The summit was in and out of the clouds all day.
By the way, this area is popular with snowmobiles...(only the north half of the mountain is closed to motorized vehicles) and by mid-morning they could be heard and seen all over the Easton.
At the top of the glacier, we reached a notch. This led to the summit crater. We then realized that accessing the summit from here would require climbing down into the crater, then ascending out the other side....
Sam at the crater.
Descending near the crater seemed like a bad idea, so we backtracked a bit and traversed around some cliffs. This took us to the Roman Wall. I left my skis in the snow and kicked steps up the steep, icy slope. However Sam managed to skin all the way to the summit, then ski all the way down! Impressive.
Mike booting up the Roman Wall
On the Roman Wall, we found a bird frozen in the snow around 10,500 feet. I don't think birds can fly that high, so it may have been carried by the wind. We then reached the top of the mountain, where we were greeted by whiteout conditions and blasting winds. So we started back down shortly after summiting.
Sam skied the Roman Wall on breakable but edgable crust, and we enjoyed great corn skiing on the Easton Glacier below about 9,000 ft. We skiied all the way to the car for an 8,000 vertical foot descent."
Mike in the sun on the descent.
My pics can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/samcrary/MtBakerEastonGlacierApril672007
"Sam and I noticed the excellent weather forecast for the weekend--so we headed for Mt Baker, where we climbed the Easton Glacier to the summit and skied down. We drove up Friday afternoon (note: the road is snowed in 4 miles before the trailhead). We skinned for a few hours and camped around 5,000 feet. Our campsite was way too comfortable, so neither of us heard the alarm go off. Accordingly we started at a leisurely hour, which was not a big deal as the remainder of the climb, and the ski down, went very quickly.
The snow was well frozen early in the day, making for easy travel (ski crampons were extremely useful). The snow also softened up enough to allow for good skiing on the way down. We started out the second morning at the begining of the glacier. The summit was in and out of the clouds all day.
By the way, this area is popular with snowmobiles...(only the north half of the mountain is closed to motorized vehicles) and by mid-morning they could be heard and seen all over the Easton.
At the top of the glacier, we reached a notch. This led to the summit crater. We then realized that accessing the summit from here would require climbing down into the crater, then ascending out the other side....
Sam at the crater.
Descending near the crater seemed like a bad idea, so we backtracked a bit and traversed around some cliffs. This took us to the Roman Wall. I left my skis in the snow and kicked steps up the steep, icy slope. However Sam managed to skin all the way to the summit, then ski all the way down! Impressive.
Mike booting up the Roman Wall
On the Roman Wall, we found a bird frozen in the snow around 10,500 feet. I don't think birds can fly that high, so it may have been carried by the wind. We then reached the top of the mountain, where we were greeted by whiteout conditions and blasting winds. So we started back down shortly after summiting.
Sam skied the Roman Wall on breakable but edgable crust, and we enjoyed great corn skiing on the Easton Glacier below about 9,000 ft. We skiied all the way to the car for an 8,000 vertical foot descent."
Mike in the sun on the descent.
Nice TR. Any idea how well Mike likes the Grivel Condor pole grip?
Thats a good question, and I'll ask him. As far as skiing, it didn't seem to be good, and he didn't bother bringing a mountain axe, but I don't know if he has ever arrested with the condor thing.
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