dotter Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 (edited) While shadowing a Level 1 Avy course Saturday at Baker, I kept looking across the valley at an enticing peak. My feet finally got so numb I decided to shirk my professional responsibilities and go skiing on Sunday. My objective was the pyramidal face east of Goat Mountain. It doesn't appear to have a name on the Topo! map set, but it is an aesthetic peak to any skier's eye. If anyone knows a name for this tour, please let me know. I left the car at Goat Mountain TH around 5:30 am. For lack of a last minute partner and the presence of a bomber snowpack, i decided to go for a solo mission. I encountered consistent snow a little under 1,000' up (forgot my watch, so no exact numbers) and switched to ski boots. The snow was firm enough and there were a few tracks, so the skis stayed on the pack until I emerged from the tress and the snow became punchy. I was treated to great views of Shuksan NF and nice alpenglow on the Bakerhorn. Some mellow traversing east on skis brought me to the base of the face. As usual, the pitch was shallower than it appears from head-on from Baker, but still looked like fun. I booted up the W ridge and encountered strong winds and great vies on the summit at 10:30. A firm wind crust with thin rain crusts in spots made for easy climbing, but I still put on my crampons. I was able to "ski" off the summit, which basically entailed side slipping water ice and navigating between fully rimed-up trees. The face is split into two main gullies that each choke down to their own exit. Both sides went, so I skied the central rib, looking for the softest wind buff, before side slipping 50 degree ice out the skier's right exit. I didn't have to be back in town until 3:00, so I decided to take another lap and skied the left gully, making it a more consistent, fall line run. Again, the exit was bullet proof ice, but manageable (though I wish i had something smaller than 100mm [edit] underfoot). By cutting a high traverse back towards Goat Mountain, I was able to avoid putting on skins and encountered some nice recycled powder on some of the lower, protected slopes. On the descent I was lured off the trail into an open snowfield. This saved me a few minutes initially, but then entailed some heinous schwacking to get out. I ended up about 1 mile down the road from the TH. I had ditched my shoes on the trail, but didn't have the time or energy to hike another 1,000'in ski boots to retrieve them. Car to car time: 8.5 hours. Gear Notes: PM Gear Bro 179 skis, Whippet (big fan), ski crampons, alu crampons, fatty thermos of coco w/ butter, 2 L h2o, Gu, cookies. Not sure how to post pics. Any help? Edited December 8, 2009 by dotter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkane Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Wait - do you mean 100mm? Sounds like a great trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotter Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 yep, 100mm. Nice catch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Next time post stuff like this as a TR Interesting, I know I've looked at other peaks while at Baker and thought about skiing them. Cool trip, did you take any pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotter Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the heads up. I'm new to this whole posting deal, so thanks for bearing with me. Edited December 8, 2009 by dotter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotter Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 OK, figured out the pic posting thing. If you look really close at some of the images you can see tracks. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/IMG_1209.JPG[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Nice trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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