[TR] Mount Baker - North Ridge 6/3/19

[chrisc88]

Climbed the North Ridge on June 3rd.  Conditions are pretty cruiser to the summit.  Gaining the ridge is particularly easy, basically stairs.  The right ice variation is abnormally rocky right now, I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself in person.  

Full trip report here

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by chrisc88

[stever]

Where is the rocky right variation in this photo? to the right of the climbers bag?

 

[chrisc88]

4 minutes ago, Steve Roberts said:

Where is the rocky right variation in this photo? to the right of the climbers bag?

I believe that it is just what is typically referred to as the “right variation”. 

[needtoclimb]

Here is a picture of June 14th, 2010.    What a difference in snow levels.

 

 

Below is the ice stop.  It looks like the ice step has lost about five feet of ice.  That right variation didn't exist nine years ago.

 

[stever]

 

 

 

11 hours ago, chrisc88 said:

I believe that it is just what is typically referred to as the “right variation”. 

 

Perfect - Thanks Chris! 

[aikidjoe]

2 hours ago, needtoclimb said:

Here is a picture of June 14th, 2010.    What a difference in snow levels.

 

 

Below is the ice stop.  It looks like the ice step has lost about five feet of ice.  That right variation didn't exist nine years ago.

 

wow that is sad to see. and not surprising. which makes it even more sad.

[JasonG]

Oh, I wouldn't be too sad.  While this spring is very lean, we've had some years in the recent past that looked very much fatter at the same date.  The ice step on  NR will be good for many years to come.  The crossing of the Coleman though.....

 

[ScaredSilly]

I looked at pictures from when we did it the ~1 July 2016 and the conditions look to be about the same. That seemed to be a normal year. So I would say conditions are a month ahead.

Edited June 6, 2019 by ScaredSilly

[JasonG]

1 hour ago, ScaredSilly said:

conditions are a month ahead.

Yep, that is about right.

[stever]

Any guesses on how long this route will stay in (without a headache of crevasse navigation like later in the summer)? I was hoping to do it in July this year...

[chrisc88]

On 6/6/2019 at 4:05 PM, Steve Roberts said:

Any guesses on how long this route will stay in (without a headache of crevasse navigation like later in the summer)? I was hoping to do it in July this year...

July is a safe bet for the route. The Coleman Glacier is still in great shape and very easy to navigate at the moment.  As mentioned earlier, it seems like we are a few weeks ahead.