brambo

Nice TR & pics. Two years ago the climbers left side of the ice tongue was pretty easy (max 55dg ice for 8-10m), this is exactly on the ridgeline TR here

Great TR and info on the Valhallas! Thanks for sharing!! The area is on my to-do-list now for sure.

Have a look at this ClubTread post for current (May 17th) images from Garibaldi Lake. Looks like there are some blue slush patches on the lake...

A question about the McParlon Main FSR (road usually used to get to Ash Pass/Pebble Creek hut/Thiassi)... Does anyone know if the rock slide at km6.8/7.0 is currently passable (location here )?? And I'm assuming the bridge at km10 is still out (location here), so it'll be still a ~2.5km hike to the road's end. Rest 4wd/2wd?? Last reports I found were from Sept. 04 where the rockslide was still passable And an earlier report from July 04 where the rockslide was not passable Also, Bivouac isn't really giving any recent info either... Thanks a lot! Bram

Trip: Mt. Baker - North Ridge up, Coleman-Deming ski down Date: 7/12/2008-7/13/2008 Trip Report: ThomasB and I climbed the North Ridge of Mt. Baker last weekend. A superb snow/ice climb! Walked/skinned up to Heliotrope ridge on Saturday (see approach notes below). Great views from the campsite on Heliotrope ridge. Woke up early on Sun (3am, after not wanting to wake up for half an hour). Left camp at 4am and started skiing down with headlamp. After a short ski down put on skins and started traversing through complex glacial terrain (read: lots of crevasses). Met up with two other groups here (all on foot). Had to pull out the rope to belay over one snowbridge. Kept the rope on for the remainder of the glacier traverse. Saw some people who bivouaced just west of the north ridge toe (I'm not sure if I would sleep very well here below the seracs of the NNW face). Opted for the left hand start of the ridge. An interesting, but not too technical bergschrund crossing at the start led us on the north ridge proper. Snow was already pretty soft on the slope(facing the sun), but not really a problem here. Did a couple of simul-climb ropelengths (used pickets/ice axe for belay) until the slope mellowed out, at which point we took off the rope and walked to the start of the ice tongue (crux). Snow was much firmer up high. Choose to go up high and close to the ice tongue, and then traverse over to the left on steepish (~45dg) sometimes dirty ice slopes just below some rotten rock and not too unstable looking seracs. Started belay when we were out of this somewhat sketchy zone. Good ice screws. Probably better to traverse on snow/glacier lower down and then go straight up to the leftmost part of the ice tongue (where it formes a ridge). From the leftmost part of the ice tongue Thomas fearlessly led the crux, but as it turned out, it wasn't nearly as steep as some reports mentioned. Perhaps a couple of meters of 55 degrees. After this we continued simulclimbing on very enjoyable, moderately angled ice!! Impressive views of seracs on our left. Continued simulclimbing for a while until slope mellowed out again. Used ice screws on the ice tongue, and pickets higher up on the slope. Walked up to the bergschrund that guards the summit. By this time we were pretty tired, and going was slow but steady. We had lost sight of the (three) groups behind us (they topped out of the right hand couloir when we were climbing the crux). Started using rope (simulclimbing w/ pickets) again below the upper bergschrund and finally topped out on the false summit plateau just before 1pm (total time just under 9hrs). Happy and ready to ski! But first a short jaunt to the true summit. The wind was pretty brutal (pretty much since we started on the crux of the route), so we didn't stay long. Skied down the Roman wall in pretty decent snow. At the pass between the Coleman and Deming glaciers we had to take off our skis for a bit, but after that we were good to go again. Crossed some small crevasses en route (perhaps 20cm wide), but as long as you don't turn right on top of them you should be fine ;-) Had to skin up to our camp, and after some relaxing and drinking lots of water we headed back down the way we came. Some more reasonable skiing and some more bushwhacking. Good times! I'll see if I can post some pictures soon. Gear Notes: Skis, skins, 2x25m twin ropes, 8 ice screws, 3 pickets, 2 ice tools (used all gear). We simulclimbed pretty much everything, so a bit longer rope would probably have been faster (30-35m), or a bit more gear would have done the trick too. Approach Notes: From Glacier Creek Road/Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead (3700ft) walk along the west side of Grouse Creek through mature forest. Head into slide path when forest starts to steepen (bushwhack). Skiable from approx. 4600ft. At 4700ft follow a snow filled gully to the SE and onto Heliotrope Ridge. Camp at ~7100ft.

I went up there this Sat (Jun 7th), and took the Brohm River to Brohm Crossover FSR (turn left after 1.5km on Cheekye FSR). Got stopped by snow at 7.4km (1000m el.). 4wd(hc) to there. We walked and skied from there. Saw some tire tracks from people that had driven up the Cheekye FSR to as far as the upper junction with the Brohm Crossover FSR, so presumably this branch goes as well.

NOAA Special Weather Statement: A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...WITH ONE TO TWO FEET OF SNOW IN THE CASCADES AND OLYMPICS ABOVE 5500 FEET. THIS WILL RESULT IN A HAZARD FOR MOUNTAINEERING AND TRAVEL IN THE HIGH BACKCOUNTRY WITH POOR VISIBILITY...WINDY CONDITIONS...COLD TEMPERATURES...AND THE POSSIBILITY OF RENEWED AVALANCHE ACTIVITY.

Most recent trip report on turns-all-year forum. Not sure how the recent snow is going to change the conditions though. Keep an eye on the weather forecast!

picture from Coleman-Deming route on Sat. May 31st. Looks pretty good. Note that it is probably going to snow Thu-Fri.

Did the Spearhead last Saturday (Apr 26th). A lot of people on the traverse. Excellent conditions up high. Ski out Singing Pass was still okay. Whistler got some new snow over the last couple of days (http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/snowreport/index.htm), but this will probably settle pretty fast. Whistler Blackcomb is still writing avi forecasts, so check these regularly to get an idea for the conditions.

Cool, thx.

Thanks Hubris, very helpful information!! Would you happen to know if the Cloudworks IPP project is currently working on the Fire road (i.e. keeping the road clear of snow)?? Cheers, Bram

The roads in N. Sloquet Creek are indeed very overgrown. However, when looking at fairly recent air and satellite photos, the roads up Fire Creek and Glacier Lake/Snowcap Creek look much more recent and in pretty good shape: Google earth images, dated Sept. 2006 show pretty good looking roads next too Snowcap Lake: Overview image with Snowcap Lake, Fire Lake, etc: Zoomed in on road system just E of Snowcap Lake: The same area from iMapBC (Landsat 5 & 7 Mosaic Colour Band 543 Enhanced 1999-2004) shows up the recent (the roads do not show up in 1995 air photos) logging roads just S of Fire Lake. Has anyone driven, skied, hiked or seen these roads, and could comment on their actual conditions?? Thanks! Bram

With respect to access/exit to/from the Fire Spires group, it seems that the options are (from best-worst): 1. Ski out South to the ridge East of Mount Glendinning (ridge between North Sloquet and Sloquet Creek) and descent to the Sloquet Mainline using old cutblocks. 2. Ski out along an alpine ridge to the North to Fire Creek FSR (I'm assuming this would be a fairly easy ski down the reactivated logging road for most of the way). 3. Ski out along an alpine ridge to the North in the direction of Fire Creek FSR, but go to the Flame Pk-Fire Mnt pass (West of Fire lake) and ski down dense forest to the Glacier Lake/Snowcap Creek FSR. Recent satellite and air photos (google earth, imapbc) seem to show that the latter road is in not-too-bad condition. I guess this would be a bit of a gamble though. The advantage is that this would bring us back to the same starting point. 4. Ski out South to the North Sloquet FSR (heavily overgrown road, bushwack likely).

Thanks Hubris. Yes, calling wasn't too much of a help. Squamish Forest District didn't really know anything about the roads up there, and at Cloudworks (Vancouver office) they knew that they drove one side until km 38 crossed and drove to the end at km 77, but the person on the pone didn't know which side was which (i.e. East/West). The rather cryptic description from Cloudworks fits with following the In-SHUCK-ch to Tenas Narrows and the West side road though.