Trip Stats
Trip Report
We left Seattle a little past 5am and made it to the upper parking lot of Mount Baker Ski Area around 8am. There was considerably more snow at Baker than there was at Snoqualmie Pass and it looked like we had made a good choice. It was cold out, but that meant the snow would be nice and light, with the clear sky sucking out the moisture.
We threw on our skins and made our way around Table Mountain. We took a direct approach, which was a little on the steep side, but made it up to looker’s left of Table Mountain. Once we reached the top, we were rewarded with fantastic views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker. The sun was not out and it was actually warm in the sun, although it was still very cold in the shade. .
We traversed underneath Table Mountain and began our ascent on a skin track that was already laid. The cold, dry snow made it a bit slippery at times. Once at the top, we were joined by another skinner and his dog and we all decided to head towards the Pinnacle to do a little exploring. We took off our skins and made a short but very sweet descent through the light snow. .
After putting our skins back on, we ascended and hoped onto Ptarmigan ridge, which we followed for a ways. After a while, we ended up on a south facing slope and Trevor let loose a small wind slab. Crossing the slope, we could feel a solid layer underneath the unconsolidated snow. We decided not to go to the Pinnacle, opting instead for steep entry into the wide open slope. .
The ski was so nice, that we skinned back up to the ridge and made another descent. It was approaching 2pm and we decided to make the long slog back around Table Mountain. We ended up going around the opposite side we came from and made it back to the car around 3:30pm.
We threw on our skins and made our way around Table Mountain. We took a direct approach, which was a little on the steep side, but made it up to looker’s left of Table Mountain. Once we reached the top, we were rewarded with fantastic views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker. The sun was not out and it was actually warm in the sun, although it was still very cold in the shade. We traversed underneath Table Mountain and began our ascent on a skin track that was already laid. The cold, dry snow made it a bit slippery at times. Once at the top, we were joined by another skinner and his dog and we all decided to head towards the Pinnacle to do a little exploring. We took off our skins and made a short but very sweet descent through the light snow. After putting our skins back on, we ascended and hoped onto Ptarmigan ridge, which we followed for a ways. After a while, we ended up on a south facing slope and Trevor let loose a small wind slab. Crossing the slope, we could feel a solid layer underneath the unconsolidated snow. We decided not to go to the Pinnacle, opting instead for steep entry into the wide open slope. The ski was so nice, that we skinned back up to the ridge and made another descent. It was approaching 2pm and we decided to make the long slog back around Table Mountain. We ended up going around the opposite side we came from and made it back to the car around 3:30pm.
