May 12, 2005
Paul, Justin, Sky, Amar, Barry, Patrick
The weather was good on Thursday, and was supposed to become nasty on the weekend. We decided to ski Baker. There was some talk of going up the Squak, summitting the sub-summit Sherman Peak, and skiing something from there.
The fog broke when we reached the open slopes below Crag View, and we were above the cloud layer for the rest of the day. We skinned straight up the Squak, with no need for roping up. We skinned nearly to the crater rim saddle before heading right, booting up a rimed-up rib, and walking to the impressive summit of Sherman. The altitude had hit me like a sack of bricks at 9500. Justin and I both remarked on our heart rates going through the roof, perhaps due to our not being been high in the mountains for months.
The plan was to ski the Talum Glacier, which drops away from the summit toward the East. The first slope is a bit steep, and there were barely-covered rocks in the top ten feet. Justin downclimbed, had Patrick hand him his board, and after probing conditions, he traversed out. I followed his downclimb, Patrick was kind enough to hand me my skis, and I followed. Patrick impressively straight-lined the entrance, and we headed lower to wait for the others.
Sky, Amar, and Barry skied down the ridge, then cut back and traversed in, avoiding the rocks that Justin and I found bothersome. The first slope was about 40-45 degrees, with good powdery corn on a firm base. Lower down we cut off some sluffs, but the skiing was very fun.
Click on the thumbnails below for larger photos. Clicking on one closes the others automatically.
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| Group in the fog. | Breaking out of the clouds. | Patrick skins the Squak. |
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| Sky and Barry. | Looking up the summit ridge. | Justin rips it, below the summit spire. |
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| Patrick's turn. | Shuksan. | Barry was having fun. |
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| Amar on the first steep slope. | Barry was ecstatic. | For once, someone took a photo of ME! Just below the summit. Photo by Justin Ashworth. |
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| Barry again. | And again. Notice the sluffy snow. | Tracks on the lower Squak. L to R, me, Barry, Sky. |
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| Baker, with our line drawn in red. |
Amar's TAY report
Justin's trip report.
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