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Trip: Coleman Pinnacle - Standard Trip Date: 12/30/2025 Trip Report: It has been a slow start to the ski season. A very slow start. But despite the setbacks, I've managed to have a few good days the past several weeks up in the Baker backcountry. We're fortunate up this way in that our usual backcountry backyard emerged relatively accessible from the December Floods. US2 and 410 are quite so lucky. I've not been doing anything remarkable the past few weeks in the Baker backcountry, but I do have a new camera that I have been having fun getting to know and so why not post a few photos from the classic Coleman Pinnacle tour? This is an outing that I tend to come back to over the past 20 years or so, climbing it every 5 years or so if only for the views and the fun run down into Wells Creek. If you haven't been out that way.....you probably won't like it. Best to stay near town and reduce your carbon footprint. Sunrise from the parking lot: The classic view of Baker from Artist Point never gets old (to me): @Trent approaching the heli line: @Trent and Coleman Pinnacle: Der Shukshan: @Trent skinning up under Coleman Pinnacle: Summit of Coleman Pinnacle: Out to Chowder Ridge: Descending from the summit with Baker looming ahead: Ptarmigan in winter plumage down in Wells Creek: Windy on der Kulhsan: coming back up over Table on the way home: Shuksan is one of my favorites in the North Cascades: Sunset from the parking lot. As Ice Cube would say, "Today was a good day". Gear Notes: flotation, but please, leave the snowshoes at home. Approach Notes: Heather Meadows to Artist Point to alpine glory

Yep. That was me. I have a picture of me holding the approximately dictionary-sized rock that came through the tent while I was sleeping at thumb rock and embedded itself in the snow about 12 inches above the top of my head. It would have killed me if it had been 18” lower. Weird waking up in a fully zipped up mountaineering tent due to a weird noise and looking up and seeing the night sky. Wait, aren’t I still in the tent?

We are not dead! That was extremely trying. The server totally crashed in a terrible way right in the middle of a super intense week at work for me and I was taxed mentally to the max figuring this out. Luckily I have a couple really good friends, ex-coworkers...but they are friends to give me moral support and confidence to do everything I did which was rebuild everything on modern software. So the site is in a MUCH better place than it was pre-crash. I still have a bunch of maintainance to do, but the site is back up and going. Thank you for sticking around. We WILL keep this place alive dammit.

22.5y ago, holy shit! Trip report from 2003

Trip: New Hampshah - Black Dike and Frankenstein Classics Trip Date: 12/30/2025 Trip Report: Was in New England visiting family for the holidays and got to sneak away for two days of ice up in New Hampshire. Lots of beta out there on these routes, but I will just reiterate what you probably know... the ice is plentiful, plastic and easily accessible. Worth a flight out from the NW? Maybe not given the other options much closer, but if the opportunity arises I recommend. I found this website to be very helpful for partners and conditions... https://www.neiceconditions.org/ ...They also do some great things (like the instagram hack) that seems like it might be useful here too. Day 0 scoping after freezing rain Like every road cut... Day 1 Black Dike High of 8F, 50mph gusts Pitch 3, harder than it looks Looking over at Fafnir... next time! Day 2 Frankenstein Clif Pegasus Rock Finish, Hobbit Couloir, Dracula + some thinner TR laps... 10-20 min walk from the car park. Pegasus Rock Finish is a second pitch alternative that goes up the pillar... Partner topping out on the Rock Finish... Partner's shot of the top/crux of Hobbit Couloir... HC and PRF from the ground... Approach vibes... Dracula... Gear Notes: Standard ice kit Approach Notes: Micro spikes were helpful

There were so many rocks littering the tent platform at Thumb Rock that I tunneled into the up hill side about 2' so at least my head would be protected during the night. We were in bivi sacks so even a small rock would've been exciting. Wasn't there a TR a while ago where someone had a rock come through their tent in the night at Thumb Rock?

You can get free Copernicus satellite imagery here: https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=10&lat=47.66954&lng=-121.40991&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&visualizationUrl=U2FsdGVkX18z6Zi7g1Gbn2Jvf7fcB7hKdFXY56XViUM1f0y3pjlscnbMy4%2BSm%2FxjluCs8JUTQx8CDq%2BkXXcBjEKcs%2FIdXAgLCLpQHbynBn9mF0ONoxVS17wsMJ1aztTj&datasetId=S2_L2A_CDAS&fromTime=2025-12-22T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2025-12-22T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1_TRUE_COLOR&demSource3D="MAPZEN"&cloudCoverage=100&dateMode=SINGLE And free NOAA snow depth modeling here: https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html?ql=station&zoom=&zoom5.x=2&zoom5.y=14&loc=48.946+N%2C+122.239+W&var=ssm_depth&dy=2026&dm=1&dd=7&dh=15&snap=1&o5=1&o6=1&o9=1&o12=1&o13=1&o15=1&lbl=o&mode=pan&extents=us&min_x=-122.86666666667&min_y=47.899999999996&max_x=-120.99166666667&max_y=48.949999999996&coord_x=-121.92916666667&coord_y=48.424999999996004&zbox_n=&zbox_s=&zbox_e=&zbox_w=&metric=0&bgvar=dem&shdvar=shading&width=800&height=450&nw=800&nh=450&h_o=0&font=0&js=1&uc=0

The ledge is in good shape but the fly is undoubtedly no longer waterproof. Shoreline area.

Thank you Benjamin S!

On a road trip in Idaho and Montana and came across this hat in a thrift store in a little town in Montana when I stopped in to get some steak knifes. Got this and three steak knifes for $2. Thank you Steve and RIP.

My 2 cents, in general, July is now late for Liberty Ridge because, as you say, melting is far worse. Tons of rockfall and ice fall hazard, really just luck if you don't get hit by something. Memorial Day weekend (when the road to White River usually opens) through mid June are better options, but less reliable weather so have to be flexible. When I did it around Memorial Day weekend in 2015 we were nearly killed by a serac fall near the top of the route, and there was a ton of rock debris around thumb rock (fortunately none fell on us while sleeping). That was a low snow year, but my observation is Tahoma has only gotten rockier and less icy since then.