climbingshuksan

Fenderfour, Jason, Dylan - thanks greatly for the replies. It was an image I saw in the Ice Forum (few days ago) that suggested a longer pitch was possible. Jason - I think I know the spot your friend likely went down, it is very dirty and the only way down seemed by rope. We though you might be able to lose the dirt once you shifted to a more centered position at the base, but that may happen. We worked the ice just up from that location and got in a good day of single pitches. Dylan - I'll look into your suggestion. I'm pretty sure I know the area you are talking about. We stayed away from that area last year because of ice fall which as you said - can't be underrated. On one Baker trip we had great day until a chunk swept the slope 60 m from the face we were working. It erupted into blocky shrapnel leaving us with permanent reminder of the risks associated with using this area for training. v

We've climbed seracs at Baker a number of times to prepare for the North Ridge, but nothing over more than a rope length (with anchors). We worked the lower glacier east of the bluff along Glacier View. Can you get better climbs by dropping entirely to the bottom of the Coleman Glacier? This would mean heading down the trail (from camp in trees), left at the moraine and dropping all the way to the bottom. In the past we've gone left from where the trail breaks on to the moraine, down about 200 m, and working those faces, but you only get about one rope length. There's still a lot of ice below that point - better climbing lower? Thanks.