Home > Trip Reports > July 6, 2007, North Ridge, Mt. Baker

July 6, 2007, North Ridge, Mt. Baker

7/6/07
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
10757
12
Posted by skykilo on 7/7/07 7:10am

The NRNR ski line.  Image taken July 2006. 
Amazing, you are exploring the concept of skis as mountain descending  tools.  Never a dull week. 

Here are a few pics to go with Sky’s TR:

We had the pleasure of climbing on some fantastic alpine ice for five short pitches as mentioned above.  One of them is shown in the first picture. 

The second is of Sky mastering the monkey trick as he descends the key gully on the ice cliff.

Finally, we broke free of trickery and enjoyed great turns on slopes and snow not requiring an ice tool to ski comfortably.

You guys are nuts!

I agree...you guys are crazy. I want to be just like you when I grow up! ;D
Your photos and stories are always so inspiring, it's great to see somebody really pushing the limits of ski mountaineering on some of the mountains that I can see every day!

Incredible.

That has got to be one of the most extreme pitches done in the Cascades so far. I'll leave it to Lowell to judge.

I love reading your TRs Sky (better than any of the ski mags). I was going to say I can't imagine doing any of it, but I have a great imagination, so I can feel my blood presure rise just looking at the pictures! Doesn't look like my idea of fun, but people used to think I was nuts soloing easy 5th class rock back in the day, so I understand that difficulty is relative.

Keep up the great work (but don't take it much further man), and stay "safe."

author=jd link=topic=7543.msg30171#msg30171 date=1184070231]
That has got to be one of the most extreme pitches done in the Cascades so far. I'll leave it to Lowell to judge.


I don't rate them. I just record them.

Conditions are everything, and clearly the ice cliff was different this year than during the July 2000 descent. There was no sidesteppable ramp that year.

Did I ever tell you Lowell, I was up there the day your brother skied the n ridge (it was my first climb of baker)? I passed him and partner by on the way up and Carl was carrying a lot of gear (like he was apt to do). I didn't realize until I had meet him years later that they were one and the same.

And, of course, nice work Sky and Dave. :)

author=Lowell_Skoog link=topic=7543.msg30210#msg30210 date=1184130503]
Conditions are everything, and clearly the ice cliff was different this year than during the July 2000 descent. There was no sidesteppable ramp that year.


Lowell,

I'm not trying to detract from Carl and Rene's descent at all.  Like I said, Dave and I pulled a dumb-monkey trick.  They definitely skied the money shots.  But your statement seems absurd to me.  I've climbed that route three times and I can't say for sure whether there's been a ramp there or not; I didn't look there last time.  I always climbed it farther to the right previously, where it's more vertical.

You do rate them.  You just rated the Y2K North Ridge unsidesteppable.

author=skykilo link=topic=7543.msg30219#msg30219 date=1184177443]
I'm not trying to detract from Carl and Rene's descent at all.  Like I said, Dave and I pulled a dumb-monkey trick.  They definitely skied the money shots.  But your statement seems absurd to me.  I've climbed that route three times and I can't say for sure whether there's been a ramp there or not; I didn't look there last time.  I always climbed it farther to the right previously, where it's more vertical.


Good points, Sky. I wasn't with Carl and Rene, so I don't know for sure what the conditions were like for them. I have looked through all of Carl's pictures though, and I know Rene made a half-dozen attempts on the North Ridge before they completed it, so I figured they would have found a lower-angle ramp if there was one. Still, I could be wrong.

You guys definitely hit it perfectly. You took advantage of a good snow year on Baker and found a non-obvious feature to ski. Congratulations on a great descent.

p.s. I deleted my snark about sidestepping. I can see how it might be taken wrong. Your term "dumb-monkey trick" expresses well what a strange game steep skiing can be.

Best regards,
Lowell


Did you hit this kicker?

It was tough to pass on this one


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2007-07-07 14:10:49

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