ShredOR: Splitboarding: 12/8-12/20/2012 Mt. Baker and more

The last couple of seasons the homies have discussed making a trip up to Mt. Baker, but no trips ever materialized. This season, the motivation to head north was strong, and dates for a trip were established in early November. The homie Jared recently got his splitboard fully set up, while Drew and I had fresh splits to break in, the stoke was high. Our plan was to stay with friends and family in Bellingham, and to shred errr day. We planned to spend a day or two at the Mt. Baker Ski Resort, but to spend most of our time hiking in the mountains like dirty hippies.

Our timing for the trip couldn't have been much better. The week before we arrived, Mt. Baker reported 87 inches of new snow. On Saturday 12/8, we left Portland heading north at 4am and by 10am we were slapping our skins on in the Heather Meadows parking lot.

The skin tracks were well used and deep. About 18" deep.

The access at Baker is good.

Our first weekend we spent getting accustom to our new surroundings. The Blueberry chutes in cold, waist deep, powder were definitely a highlight.

Drew and Jared eye'n out the Blueberry chutes

The majority of our time at Mt. Baker the weather was snowy and stormy. On Wednesday, 12/12, the skis cleared and the North Cascades shared their beauty.

Table Mountain.

Mt. Shuksan and it's arm.

Peaks north of Mt. Baker Hwy 542.

Mt. Shuksan as the western light fades away.

On 12/13 & 12/14 we toured on Mount Herman. Snow Stability was good, but the visibility was patchy. Drew skinning through the Bagely Lakes basin.

On 12/14 the skis cleared enough to get pitted in a chute on the east side of Mt. Herman.

The snow wasn't too bad either...

We we're STOKED

After the brief break in the weather, it started dumping again. Does it ever stop snowing at Mt. Baker?

There was around 3' of new storm snow in less than two days. NWAC was concerned this new snow was over a rain crust & small amount of low density snow; equating to dangerous avalanche conditions.

We headed east on Hwy 542 to see what all the drama was about. I am no avalanche professional, my snow pits are informal at best, and I had a hard time identifying the rain crust interface layer. Our ECT however, did not. After 4 hand taps the column cracked 3.5' down, it was not a clean propagation, but the magnitude of the new snow was undeniable.

It is difficult to see the crack in this picture. Drew's hand is taking a close up of the crack, this can give you a general idea of how far down it was.

As storm totals continued to grow and telemetry predicted more feet of fresh, the avalanche danger remained high. After a day wallowing in deep snow in Swift Creek, we took a rest day in Bellingham.

Drew resting in bellingham. A BIG thanks to my Uncle Chris and Aunt Monica for kindly letting us stay at their house. This trip would not have been possible without their hospitality.

With 2 days of touring left and stability not improving, we decided to search out some steeper tree skiing in Stevens Pass & Snoqualmie Pass.

Drew gearing up for an exploratory tour east of the crest in Stevens pass.

Exploratory tours often require unknown creek crossing. Stepping on this log, a large chunk of snow crashed off the log into the creek. We decided it was a better idea to clear snow off the log, before we walked across.

Morgan removing excess snow off a log crossing. (Photo: Drew VanNice)

This log was too long to clear snow off. We risked skinning it. The width of the log itself was about the width of the skin track, lots of excess snow. Having fallen in a creek earlier this season, I was happy to make it across without getting wet.

Looking up Nason Ridge. Not super steep, but definitely steep enough.

Mt. Baker backcountry is crowded. We did not have to break trail once.

We were alone on Nason Ridge this day, it reminded us how much fun breaking trail is...

Drew leading the way up Nason Ridge.

Long days of touring work up an appetite. Fried Chicken kept finding its way onto the dinner menu. (Photo: Drew VanNice)

Thursday 12/20 was the final day of our trip. We left Bellingham early and headed south. We took a relaxed tour on Kendall Ridge, got a bite to eat, and returned home to the 503.

Guye Peak seen from the skin track.