Mount Baker is a large stratovolcano located in NW Washington state near the Canadian border. Nearly completely encased in ice, it hosts the second largest glacial system in the contiguous United States (after Mount Rainier). The Coleman Glacier on its north side, combined with the upper portion of the Deming Glacier on the south side, provides a relatively simple route to the summit. However, the Coleman is very heavily crevassed, with huge fields of seracs rendering all but the less-active west edge impassable during most times. The tremendous snowfall on Mount Baker during the 1998-99 snow season (an all-time world record of over 1140 inches was recorded at 4000 ft at the ski area) meant that many of these crevasses were buried under 30-40 feet of snow, even in mid-June. This allowed for a very safe trip, and a fine ski run.
Click on any photo to go there, or start your tour with the first photo...
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| Starting Elevation: | 2950 ft (900 m) | Weather Conditions: | Clear, high clouds; moderate winds | |||
| Summit Elevation: | 10760+ ft (3280 m) | Temperature: | 40-80 F (5-25 C) | |||
| Roundtrip Distance: | 12 miles (20 km) | Visibility: | Over 50 miles (80 km) | |||
| Total Skiable Vertical: | 7500 ft (2300 m) | Ski Conditions: | Corn snow, then deep mush |
This was a private trip, with a party of two (myself and Alex Cronin).