[TR] Sherman Peak - Squak Glacier 01/14/2018

[geosean]

Trip: Sherman Peak - Squak Glacier

Trip Date: 01/14/2018

Trip Report:

It's a little late for a conditions report but me Fred and Joel climbed Sherman Peak (the one on Baker) with skis/splitboard on 1-14-18.

It took 15 hours with the 3+ miles of road skinning both directions. Conditions were actually really great except in the morning the sun/rain crust made for some hairy skinning until we got above around 6500'.

 

Rain crust reflecting the sunrise:

 

Skinning with ski crampons on, Joel decided to snowshoe the icy spots:

 

We skinned more or less north up the ridge from the summer trailhead, using snow machine tracks where it helped with the trail breaking. Above tree line there was a solid crust, sometimes icy, but we never had to break trail again. By the time we were headed off the summit, about 2pm, everything had softened up nicely and even the wind affected areas were decent. We got back to the summer trailhead just about dusk for a blistering (literally) skin back to the truck. 6300 vertical feet of skiing total, plus some downhill skiing and some hiking.

 

Sherman summit from the 9800' saddle at the crater rim:

 

Looking back to the ski down on the way out:

 

Gear Notes:
skis, ski crampons, crampons, axe

Approach Notes:
3.1 miles of road skinning from the sno-park closure. Good coverage from the TH to the summit.

[JasonG]

Damn.  That's a haul with the road snowed over!  Nice work.