Wanting Coleman Headwall beta

[MickVB]

Hey,

Wanting to do the Coleman Headwall. Anybody recently on Baker? How's the approach, crevasse issues/snow bridges etc, and conditions on the route itself?

Concerning pro, just ice screws (long ones I'd suspect)or a light rock rack as well (including The Pink Tri-cam)???

Never been on Baker before so I'd really appreciate input/beta:

How far from TH to best bivy location to intersect w/walk off.

 

Thanks!!!

 

[genepires]

leave the rock rack at home. You have better luck getting a ice screw into the rock than rock pro. Plus you should never be within spitting distance of rock.

 

If there is ANY chance of it being cloudy on your summit day, do not go up baker without previous knowledge of the descent. It is big and flat on top and real easy to go the wrong way down in a whiteout. Even after being on top some 30 times, I still made an error going down in a white out. (even with compass was off by 45 degrees but not too bad to correct) But going down the wrong side is not that unlikely if you have never been up there or without a compass.

 

glacier and snow conditions should be superb right now and for the next month.

 

read nelsons select guide to cascades volume 2 for full beta.

[MickVB]

Thanks for the tip on the cloudy day aspect on summit day. Very good tip; really good. Also appreciate pointing me to Nelson's guide book.

Thx,

 

[genepires]

you'll want to camp on the coleman glacier with the rest of the coleman-deming climbers as that is your descent route. If you camp over at the base of the route, you will have to backtrack to get to your kit.

 

you can camp below the glacier but it will be snow covered so why not make your summit day shorter by climbing up another 600 feet and camping on the glacier. Lots of flat areas but over by the rocks is more flatness and possibly solitude. Somewhere they may be a toilet too. Been a while but there was one near the rocks/towers. Ask a ranger to be sure.

 

You got 2 starts to the route, directly below and a entry in from the left. The direct is steeper but less exposed to hanging seracs. Speaking of that, if you need to belay in the lower 2/3's, you should not be there. There is lots of hanging ice above and you need to hustle through these areas. I have seen big things fall down that face and they are random. Not a daily occurrence, but a hazard to be respectful of.

 

Given good snow conditions, one can simu climb through the lower 1/2 and get out of the hanging ice zones. Maybe deal with a couple big cracks that form in the middle zones, then deal with the upper low angle hard ice field. (that may or may not be buried) Walk over that long distance to the summit and have your buddy massage your sore calves. Don't reciprocate as you need to "get down before dark". Hopefully there should be a well beaten trail down the roman wall, pummice ridge (snow over pummice) and back down the coleman to your tent. Hit the beer shrine for pizza and beer and talk smack with whoever cares. (no one)

 

Good luck and leave us some photos.

[MickVB]

Hey Gene,

 

Once again, thanks for taking the time for such a detailed overview. Much appreciated....

I just got off the phone w/a climber that we've been talking about hooking up for awhile now. He's been up there several times and just did the north ridge a few weeks ago. He did mention he had concern about rock fall and the objective hazards associated with that route. Based on your overview seems like we need to take the direct route, to avoid the hazards, and run up (metaphorically speaking) the lower half.

 

Again, thanks for the detail, knowledge, and willingness to share....

Mick

[hefeweizen]

here's what it looked like 3 weeks ago...

 

 

We crossed two somewhat suspect snowbridges over shrunds that are probably gone by now. The route itself was in excellent shape. I would suggest a couple of pickets in addition to ice screws.

[dberdinka]

About a month ago and shortly after starting up the far climbers-right hand side of the headwall we witnessed a very significant serac fall totally pulverize the left-side start as well as the the mixed snow and rock bands between the two lobes of glacier ice. While it might be a relatively infrequent occurence it does happen and had anyone been over there it would not have been pretty. Something to consider when choosing your route.

[CamelJockey]

We did the route on Oct 15-17 of last year. Left hand start. The right hand start was a mess of crevasses and bergshrunds. Getting over there is interesting and required some leading/protection, but mainly because it was late season. We did it as a carry over with all our gear, getting as close to the base of the route as possible on day 1. The spiciest part was the traverse towards the right/rock bands on blue ice. Slow process. We got to the crater rim at sunset so we camped at the base of the Roman Wall before descending the following day. The rock itself is fine - no need for rock pro even that late season so certainly not now IMO. I presume with all the snow now, a combination of ice screws and pickets will be your friends. And like others have said, I have seem things come down the Headwall while I was cragging on the seracs/crevasses well below, and for no apparent reason. Make sure it is cold cold cold before you head up so all that stuff is frozen. I've also been up the North Ridge and that is more tame and a reasonable backup if weather is a bit too warm at night to warrant a push up the Headwall. Comparing the two, the NR is steeper, but only has 3 pitches of steep, whereas the Headwall never gets as steep, but is consistent and relentless. It's not a fair comparison because we did the NR in July and the Headwall in Oct, but the Headwall was leaps and bounds more difficult (likely mainly due to the abundance of late season blue ice when we did it). Not sure how I'd feel about it if we did it the same time of year. This all said, the Headwall is a route with many more hazards than the NR and should not be taken lightly.