hosercom Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 new to this forum. looking to climb baker 1st week of june. i know it depends year to year on snow totals, etc, but is that too early? is more snow good? how about avy risk. anybody here climbed it early season (i'm sure there are bada$$es here who climb in winter. thx for any info will post in NW volcanoes section also! b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 june is OK. weather is more predictably good in mid july to late august. June can rain a lot. Plenty of snow even in late august if we have a normal winter. Would take one really hot spring and summer to make this summers snowpack "bad". Avi risk in very minimal, to the point of not really thinking about it. There was some avi accidents on rainier this last summer but it was a strange spring/summer over there this last year. (or was it 2011?) I have climbed baker from april to october. october is rough. april we had to share with snomo-heads. Lots of people ski mtneer it in winter. feel free to PM me with questions about baker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsandsound Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) No, it is not too early but it probably won't be as easily done as in July/August. The approach could be more of a pain than usual. Weather is still sort of a gamble. The post-holing could be bad. But it will still be fun! More snow will mean that negotiating crevasses could be a non-issue. I climbed Baker twice last July, and we didn't need to make many detours at all. Most of the destructive avalanches that have killed climbers in the summer were preceded by a brief snowstorm that deposited a few inches and then slid the next day or so when it got warm again. That scenario played out on Baker in the 30s and killed a large party of climbers. Intense warming and big rain events, especially in mid spring, can mean high avy danger, even without recent snowfall. But by the time summer rolls around, there have usually been many melt-freeze cycles to stabilize the snowpack. Climbing in June the snowpack should be pretty stable. Edited January 27, 2013 by Nater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whatcomboy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Early June is usually ok. Might have to do a couple miles road hike but mountain is good. Weather is finicky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.