chris Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Trip: Mt. Baker - Table Mountain tour Date: 1/28/2007 Trip Report: Saturday night my old house-mates Amanda and Greg came up from Seattle for a visit and a tour. I wanted to show them what the Mt Baker Ski Area "front country" could offer, so we took the tour around and over Table Mountain with MontanaPup and Montana the dog. After the typical steel train to the upper lot and the mobs of BC skiers skinning their way up to Austin Pass, the crowds quickly thinned out along the ridge. At the foot of Table Mountain's North Summit, where the tour traverses underneath the East Face, MontanaPup grew tired of mismatched skins-skis and decided head back. Amanda, Greg, Montana and I continued on, had lunch at the South Shoulder, and then decided to take the high route up and over Table into Heather Meadows, a route I hadn't taken before. I was really nervous about the hard crust conditions and steep angles - not for the almost-non-existent avalanche hazard but for the slide-for-life factor. But we were in luck, the crust was just breakable enough to let Montana get good 5cm-deep steps kicked in, and allowed the three skiers to get good edges. The edging was so solid that I started to seek out the steepest lines down the slopes, where I could make solid hop turns all the way down the 1200+ foot run. The slide out to the carpark was completely unremarkable, and we caught up with MontanaPup there. Beers, fries, and fish tacos at Grahams made the day perfect. This was a nice mellow tour with a lot of descent variations - I'm certain to be checking those out some more this season. Gear Notes: Standard ski pack: Shovel Probe Transceiver Ski Crampons would have been helpful, but not required. Approach Notes: There is a well-kicked in track around Table Mountain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 is any of the ice in on Table? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 I had been hoping to check out the North Face, but we didn't get a good enough angle to look back. We didn't traverse to the NW side of Table, so I never saw Death Picnic. From a distance, the North Face looks like its it great condition. So did Pan Falls, so I'm assuming that everything NW-N-NE is in good shape at that elevation. What we did see on the East and South sides of Table were pathetic melted remnants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocNoggin Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 was the crust breakable or unbreakable while skiing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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