Normally when I come back to visit WA, I typically engage in irresponsible behavior while lamenting the poor weather forecasts and lack of motivation of all parties involved.
This time was different. Since malted alcoholic beverages are no longer legally allowed to contain 'energy' we had to find a different source of motivation.
Hiking below Corteo peak from WA pass.
Heading up the summit ridge to 8900' Black Peak. Conditions were slightly manky due to persistant evening cloud cover.
The ridge scramble was fun and exposed.
The summit offered spectacular views of the range.
Drew took the 5.6 variation.
Skiing down the S. face was cool, but constant isothermal mankalanches kept us on our toes. This would be a repeating theme. It seems the death slurpee season came late this year and persisted.
Black Peak was nice warm up for Liz and I. I had been sitting on my ass for the last six weeks learning maths while Liz was coming off a case of chronic Achilles tendonitus.
Now, we needed some true suffering PNW style. A "Wilderness Jungle."
Our objective was Primus peak, accessed from the Thunder Creek trail near Diablo lake. A rainy depart supressed our stoke, but our camp at Mcallister Creek was pleasing nonetheless.
The "wooded ridge" offered a nice warm up of nearly a vertical mile of steep forest interspersed with punji stick traps and deadly rotten tree wells. A few vertical rock steps and several hours later we made it to tree line.
Drew crossing the site of the old Borealis glacier, which now covers only about half of this lake as opposed to a constant ice fall filling the lake in older photos.
Heading up the shoulder, we were quite skeptical of our ability to safely ski the N. couloir. Isothermal mank was kept warm overnight as a constant cloud deck covered the higher peaks. Looking down the N. couloir forced a team bowel movement.
As we approached the summit, blue skies appeared; the best weather all day.
Excellent views from the summit were quickly re-covered with a return of cloudy conditions. We opted to ski the W. shoulder to avoid a slurpee-related demise. When descending, slope cuts sent wet slides crashing down the N. face.
Despite the conditions, the skiing was acceptably fun and the mountain offered a rewarding outing.
Though these previous two mountains offered a rewarding and refreshingly un-Euro experience, we both had the desire to some more skiing and less forestry.
After 3 days of constant phone-phuckery and hours of indecision, a last-minute aborted trip to ski Ptarmigan ridge and several mojitos later we were headed for good ol' Mt. Baker. We stopped by Ryan's house to pick up Drew's boots where we ran into Dan and his dog. Drew and I joked about a possible link up of climbing the N. ridge to ski the Park Headwall to the Coleman headwall.
After fiddling around in Bellingham for the day, enjoying a beach session and some reasonable college-priced food, we headed up the verdant Mt. Baker Hwy. Some persistent clouds lingered around the 4500-6000ft level as we approached the Heliotrope trailhead and started our hike. We were able to park about 1/8 of a mile from the trailhead. A very short walk to Grouse Creek (~300 yards) deposited on a impressive 20 foot-deep pile of debris which made very quick travel to the Heliotrope camp.
Sunset was limited, but it was solstice and we had the nice spot.
We got a 6:45 (I think) start below brilliant skies. It was still quite crisp and the snow was nice and firm. Travel to the base of the N. face was long but not complicated.
Crossing the Coleman.
Upon starting the climb of the N. ridge, we had found unconsolidated snow that had taken morning sun.
We didn't really have a plan to climb the ice step except to make it as easy as possible by bypassing the steep right part. We were able to climb the quickly mankifying left side by front pointing the hard but rotten black ice underneath. We simuled up to the snowfield above. Climbers to our right reported difficulty located solid ice for placements.
It got my juices flowing. Liz climbed it with one axe. I'm not quite sure how.
Once reaching the summit zone, it was time for high tea. It was fantastic.
While we were waiting for our friends on the summit and killing time, we decided to drop into Park Headwall. It was just too alluring. The entrance was an easy step and the face offered a sublime pitch in less-than-perfect snow conditions.
Drew.
Back on the summit, we regrouped with LIz and fellow skier Adam Roberts. We all decided the Coleman Headwall would be an appropriate descent and we cautiously headed to what has been dubbed "The fucked-up Rollover."
I went ahead of Liz to scope and it was indeed icy and 'fucked-up.' Fortunately conditions drastically improved after the rollover and Liz made her way in safely as Drew and Adam shreded up the upper face.
It's not not steep.
Crossing the first 'shrund.
Liz shredding with Drew down below.
The middle snowfield was enthralling. Perfect corn.
The exit was guarded by a double shrund in rippable corn. Rockfall was starting to pose a risk.
Well that was nice. A+++ Will ski again.
The caravan heads back across the glacier. Baker provides. Now we soak in the tidewater.
