Adams Glacier

[NYice]

Having been stymied by weather and poor route conditions on the N. Ridge of Baker (and having to walk a closed FS road) I am considering options of attempting the route again or trying something else. As such Adams Glacier has been on my mind.

 

Anyone care to offer opinions on the Adams Glacier route – specifically route quality relative to Baker’s North ridge, but any thoughts on difficulty, hazards, access, or just which you would rather (re-)climb. Of course, other suggestions are always welcome.

 

[genepires]

I have gone back to baker but not Adams. The adams glacier "feels" like a trap. like a monster sized garbage chute gulley. Lots of hanging ice above. Crazy crevasse problems. Monster moats up high. Fun once but not the warm fuzzy that baker n ridge gives.

 

Technically, I think the n ridge is harder but that is really up to conditions. The adams glacier could give you a very hard time if the upper shrund is fully exposed. Could involve very steep ice climbing or just sketchy low angle crevasse wandering. The crevasses form in strange ways there on adams. Parallel to fall line for example. There is just some strange flow going on there.

 

Maybe my opinion would change if I lived south of seattle. It is a long haul for me and I have a lot more time spent on baker.

 

I think access to baker is shorter and the descent of baker is easier. (colman deming glacier on baker vs north choss ridge of adams)

Edited March 4, 2011 by genepires

[DPS]

I have done both in good conditions. Technically they are both fairly similar and they can both vary significantly in difficuly. They are both exposed to rock and ice fall, although Adams Glacier more so.

 

Driving from SeaTac to the north side of Adams and the North side of Baker should take about the same time. Baker is definitely a shorter route and less committing as Gene pointed out as well as has a shorter approach.

 

They are both very good routes on great mountains in really scenic areas. The camping the meadows below Adams Glacier is really pretty fantastic.

 

If you camp on Baker, coninue up the glacer past the encampment below the Black Buttes. Below the North Face of Colfax Peak turn right and find Mr. Purple Nice Guy pass tucked between the east ridge of Colfax and a small sub summit. Outrageous position.

[Alex]

I've tried NR Baker only to be turned around by the Coleman maze.

 

I did Adams Gl in June and it was a walk up, though a nice one. More interesting than S Side Adams and less horrible than trudging up the volcano dirt on N Ridge (which is decent route and fine for that). In hindsight I wish I had brought skis and whippets and skied that northeast? face above the Adams Gl. back down

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I did the Adams Glacier in mid-July a couple of years ago and it was fantastic. However, there was only one pitch of 60-70 degree ice, and the rest was just a nice walkup on very firm snow in the 40-45 degree range. We had no problems with moats or routefinding (we chose a line on the right side of the glacier and then went to the middle). As for rock/ice fall - there was some later in the afternoon, but we got around that section fairly quickly.

[kurthicks]

I watched a huge serac calve off the upper Adams Glacier in early July a few years back. it scoured the entire climbing route and would have killed anyone on the route.

 

Never seen that on the North Ridge of Baker.

 

Edit: if you're walking the road to get to the North Ridge, you're going in the wrong season. And for Alex's comment about the Coleman maze -- walk to Harrison Camp/Mirkwood and descend onto the lower Coleman (below the ice climbing seracs), then cross the medial moraine onto the Roosevelt Glacier. Walk up easy glacier to the base of the route.

Edited March 3, 2011 by kurthicks

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I watched a huge serac calve off the upper Adams Glacier in early July a few years back. it scoured the entire climbing route and would have killed anyone on the route.

 

Never seen that on the North Ridge of Baker.

 

Edit: if you're walking the road to get to the North Ridge, you're going in the wrong season. And for Alex's comment about the Coleman maze -- walk to Harrison Camp/Mirkwood and descend onto the lower Coleman (below the ice climbing seracs), then cross the medial moraine onto the Roosevelt Glacier. Walk up easy glacier to the base of the route.

 

We arrived at base camp (unnamed lake at base of N ridge) around 3 pm and watched the route most of the afternoon and saw nothing come down, which gave us some comfort for the next day. We had a predawn start and made good time. Temps were a bit cool leading up to the climb and on summit day itself.

 

[pcg]

I watched a huge serac calve off the upper Adams Glacier in early July a few years back.

Do you recall conditions? time of day?

[kurthicks]

It was late morning in early july, and it wasn't hot yet. It fell from the upper right-hand corner of the route.

 

Serac fall occurs independent of weather factors, however.

[NYice]

Thanks all for the feedback.

 

The adams glacier "feels" like a trap. like a monster sized garbage chute gulley.

 

Ha! That thought crossed my mind looking over the info that I have on the route.

 

... if you're walking the road to get to the North Ridge, you're going in the wrong season...

 

well, next exactly... was there summer of 09 when the road was washed out. Unfortunately the temps in the NW had been in the 90's the week or two before, so in that sense, yes it was the wrong season; a bit too late.

 

I guess that I'm feeling torn between checking out new places and "taking care of unfinished business" on a route on Baker that I would like to do.

 

 

[pup_on_the_mountain]

I watched a huge serac calve off the upper Adams Glacier in early July a few years back.

Do you recall conditions? time of day?

Here are some pics from that trip. While not the most pretty one, the second picture captured the serac fall. Some of the other pics show the break and fall line quite clearly.

 

Contrary to what Kurt mentioned above, I recall it happened around 8-8:30 pm, after we had settled down in our camp, to which we had hiked in starting that afternoon. We naturally tried to haul ass the next day when we were climbing through the same area.

[JasonG]

Interesting . .. I also witnessed a large serac collapse in the evening before we were going to climb (early July 2003). While it was lower on the route and didn't cause the carnage in the linked photos, it still would have killed/maimed those in the line of fire. The only positive was that it partially filled an especially large crevasse and made the crossing the next day much quicker than if it never happened. We moved with some urgency through the section . . .

 

I agree that the NR of Baker has much less objective hazard. Adams Gl. is probably more similar to the right side of the Coleman HW for hazard, but not quite as steep. It is a great route though, the high camp is one of the more scenic in the range.

[kurthicks]

yea, you're right Bala. it's been too long since I thought about that.

 

Heinrich is certainly right--the Adams Glacier is much more on par with the Coleman HW for objective danger.

[Layback]

I just posted a TR from 2001. It's more of an account about how I felt than the technical difficulty. I remember the bergschrund being ginormous and I know it can stop a lot of people if it's not passable. We had outstanding conditions in early July of a low snow year.