Ian Lauder Posted June 16, 2019 Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) Trip: Mount Baker - North RidgeTrip Date: 06/15/2019Trip Report: Climbed the North Ridge of Mount Baker on Saturday morning, awesome day. Hiking in we met a climber we knew who said the snow bridge across the Coleman/Deming had collapsed the night before and parties were turning around. But they saw someone who had rapped into the crevasse and walked out, so we figured one way or another we had a way down. Ran into some skiers on their way down who warned us very emphatically that the bridge was out. We were like, okay thanks. Then he repeated "its out, the bridge is OUT". Okay thanks, we got it. Got to the snowfield and found a large group of about 6 who were bailing out because they heard the Coleman was out. Okay, on we went. Got camp setup around the 6600ft football area and had the place to ourselves early afternoon. Not much in the way of tracks we could see so we hiked about another 1000ft up to the base of the ridge to log a track and make a bootpath to follow the next morning. We did start to pickup some previous bootprints around the base of the ridge. Started up around 3:30am on Saturday and got to the base of the climb around 7:30. Saw previous tracks that came up both the left and right sides of the ridge. Most went lower around the base so we took that path which worked out great. As I was leading up the ice pitch saw a pair coming up behind us. First people we saw that day. A guide and his client we leapfrogged the rest of the route with. As I was belaying up my wife another pair of climbers were getting to the base of the climb, but we never saw them again. We also saw 3 climbers much further down the ridge but never saw them again either rest of the day. Got to the summit around 10:30am. Steep in sections but there was a cruiser bootpath already there. We only had to kick back in part of the path traversing over toward the base of the climb that had melted out quite a bit. On the way back down the Coleman, as expected, people had figured out the end run and the Coleman/Deming route was just fine. Back at the trailhead ran into another group heading up for the North Ridge who had just left a car shuttle at the Easton trailhead to do a carryover because they heard the Coleman was out. Bummer they had to do that. Gear Notes: 60m rope, 3 pickets, 6 screws.Approach Notes: While the snowbridge at the end run was in (where I was standing in the pic above) and is the way across it does look like it could collapse further. And rangers are saying its the worst conditions they have seen in 25 years. Just an FYI to check your route options before you go. Edited June 17, 2019 by Ian Lauder Approach update 1 1 Quote
JasonG Posted June 17, 2019 Posted June 17, 2019 DUDE, CAN'T YOU LISTEN? The entire Coleman glacier is OUT! Interesting that it is that close to being problematic this early in the year.... 1 Quote
needtoclimb Posted June 17, 2019 Posted June 17, 2019 Nice work ignoring the social media group-think and heading up to figure it out. Quote
Ian Lauder Posted June 17, 2019 Author Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) 43 minutes ago, JasonG said: DUDE, CAN'T YOU LISTEN? The entire Coleman glacier is OUT! Interesting that it is that close to being problematic this early in the year.... Yea that was pretty much his reaction. We went back and forth a couple times as he didn't think I understood the gravity of the situation. Edited June 17, 2019 by Ian Lauder Quote
Thasiet Posted June 17, 2019 Posted June 17, 2019 Quote As I was belaying up my wife another pair of climbers were getting to the base of the climb, but we never saw them again Would be me and my associate. We followed the same line you took up the cliff, summited at 1:00. We didn't learn about the snow bridge collapses ourselves until we were almost upon them on the way down 1 Quote
glassgowkiss Posted June 17, 2019 Posted June 17, 2019 Yeah, still can get up and down around that crevasse, but it is pretty exposed section to serac fall. Probably moving fast through that section would be a good idea. Quote
Ian Lauder Posted June 18, 2019 Author Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Thasiet said: Would be me and my associate. We followed the same line you took up the cliff, summited at 1:00. We didn't learn about the snow bridge collapses ourselves until we were almost upon them on the way down That's great to hear, we were hoping you guys made it without any issues or that we hadn't kicked any ice down on you. That's a great shot you got of Rodica. Edited June 18, 2019 by Ian Lauder Quote
specialforest Posted June 23, 2019 Posted June 23, 2019 On 6/17/2019 at 8:36 AM, JasonG said: DUDE, CAN'T YOU LISTEN? The entire Coleman glacier is OUT! We bailed doing it the same day. I wasn't able to convince my partners. There is a good and cheap beer in the area though Quote
PuckerJunkie Posted July 27, 2019 Posted July 27, 2019 Heading up there in a few hours. If you don't hear from me again, just assume the Coleman got us 1 Quote
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