Two weeks ago, Matt, Adam, and I wanted one final ski mountaineering trip to cap off a great winter. After discussing various options, we decided to gun for the North Ridge of Mount Baker, a classic easy alpine ice climb that I had actually climbed once 13 years earlier, when I was 16 years old, as part of a guided climbing class. There was only one problem - despite my previous ascent, none of the present-day team had placed an ice screw in years. “Whatever…” Adam said, “the point is for this to be a learning experience!” To further ensure team bonding, all three of us decided to bring our ski blades.
Me following ice on my previous ascent of the North Ridge of Baker, age 16, in 2012. Photo courtesy of Everett Chamberlain, American Alpine Institute.
After a rainy Saturday, we drove up to the Heliotrope trailhead as it cleared up in the evening, spotting a black bear on the Glacier Creek Road and enjoying a lovely sunset. We car camped, and got up early. We were moving by 2:30am, hiking the superhighway trail through the woods by headlamp until we reached snow near the moraine of the Coleman Glacier at ~4,800 feet. We hiked for a bit longer before stashing our trail runners just below Hogsback Camp at transitioning to skinning as it was starting to get light. It was a beautiful clear morning, with a few remnant clouds swirling over Baker’s summit and the Black Buttes.
Matt and Adam starting skinning at first light.
We headed onto the Coleman Glacier following the obvious route to the base of the North Ridge, with crevasses mostly filled in, making for easy travel. We set the party ahead of us in our sights, and passed them before reaching the base of the North Ridge. We climbed some steep snow, passing another party that pitched things out, then cruised on up to the ice pitch, ahead of everyone else.
Matt and Adam soloing some steep snow low on the North Ridge, as we passed another party.
Matt and Adam having fun in the sun on the mellow snow below the ice pitch, which is visible high and left.
Great views of Colfax (snowy summit) and Lincoln (rocky summit) above the Coleman Glacier.
Matt and I were thrilled with our speedy progress, and doubly thrilled that there appeared to be a straightforward and easy route up the icy headwall ahead of us that would barely require any ice climbing. But when we checked in with Adam, he threw a curveball: “the point of coming up here was to have a learning experience! If we take the easy line, what will we learn?”
The ice pitch on the North Ridge, which presents a range of options. The easiest route was taking the snowy ramp above the rocks on the right, but Adam talked us into taking the steeper ice at far left.
Matt and I weren’t so sure, but Adam’s enthusiasm was admirable, and soon enough, we were heading left towards the steeper part of the headwall, and Adam was racking up to lead a ~20 foot pitch of degree ice up to 80 degrees. This was Adam’s first ice lead ever, and he did an incredible job, despite mediocre ice quality. Matt and I shivered at the belay below, but soon enough Adam had built an anchor on gentler terrain out of sight, and he put us on belay to follow the pitch. Matt climbed second, and I took the rear, cleaning the screws that Adam had placed. Just as I thought I was getting the hang of things, my tool popped and I weighted the rope - sure glad I wasn’t leading!
Adam at the top of the crux ice pitch on the North Ridge.
Relieved to be done with the ice climbing, Matt and I joined Adam at the belay, and we simuled for a few more rope lengths of steep snow before deroping and cruising up straightforward terrain towards the bergschrund at the top of the ridge.
Adam and Matt soloing easy snow towards the summit.
The bergschrung was easy to get around, and soon enough, we were on the summit plateau, the first party up the North Ridge that day. We put our skis back on to skin the short distance over to the true summit, were we joined the hordes of folks that had come up the more popular Easton and Coleman-Deming routes. The views down to Mount Shuksan far below us, poking out above an undercast, were lovely.
Mount Shuksan poking out through the clouds.
The boys and their blades on the summit. Thanks Lane for snapping the pic!
On the summit we ran into Lane, a friend of a friend of mine whose exploits I was vaguely aware of, and it was a fun small world coincidence to meet him as he and his partner almost caught us just below the summit. Apparently our reputation precedes us: “You must be the Weld brothers!” he said (kidding, Lane).
After enjoying the view for a while, we ripped skins and skied over to the top of the Roman Wall. We had considered skiing back down the North Ridge, but with the firm snow and cold temps, we figured the CD would offer better skiing. The Roman Wall itself was rock hard chunder, and we saw the aftermath (but not the fall itself) of another skier who had fallen, lost his skis, and slid the better part of a thousand vertical feet, unable to arrest, before coming to a stop not too far above a gaping crevasse - scary! And a good reminder for us to take it easy.
Adam skiing the upper Roman Wall, with Colfax Peak far below us.
Below the Roman Wall, however, the skiing was far better than we expected, with a few inches of fresh pow on top of firmer snow - ideal blading conditions. We had a ton of fun absolutely flying past other parties as we skied down to Hogsback Camp, with incredible views.
Adam skiing some late season powder, with Colfax in the distance.
Adam making a speedy pass on the Coleman Glacier.
Adam skiing mellow terrain on the lower Colfax Glacier.
Before we knew it, we were back at our boots, and we skied down until we ran out of snow before making the short hike out to the car - less than two hours after leaving the summit! For those of you that want to play, here’s the same riddle that Adam tortured Matt and I with on the hike out:
Two prisoners are given the opportunity to be released. Each prisoner is taken into a separate room where they are unable to communicate with one another. Before they are separated, they may discuss their strategy, but after that, they cannot communicate further. In their separate rooms, each prisoner flips a standard, unbiased coin, and then must guess what the results of the OTHER prisoner’s flip. If either (or both) prisoners are guess the result of the other’s coin toss correctly, they are both released. If neither one guesses correctly, they are both executed. What strategy should the prisoners use to guarantee their release?