The snow started coming down pretty hard as soon as we reached the summer TH and seemed to get more intense as we climbed. The trail was super easy to follow almost all the way to tree line where we decided to find a safe spot and set up camp at about 5500′.

We had a great view toward the Baker Ski area.

After setting up camp, we headed up to make ourselves a little track to follow in the am….and to get some first day turns…..just as the sun began to set.

Early to bed! I mean, there really isn’t much else to do in camp, in the winter…..besides getting TONS of sleep. We took a leisurely morning and headed out of camp around 10am for the Goat summit. With fair weather and cold temps is was nice to keep moving.

Following the ridge above our camp was extremely scenic and made for a great skin approach. The clouds broke up a little and we were treated with a sunny shot of the SW face (our objective)

and the remainder of the approach ridge

Eventually the skinning took a turn to steep and difficult with a fairly firm crust underlying the new 6-8″ of fluff. Probably the steepest part of the whole face was the skin….

We reached the summit amazingly at our turn-around time of 1pm. Transitioned to downhill mode, picked out our line, and plowed on through. Each turn presented more and more POW and more and more face shots of super light & cold crystals. You really couldn’t ask for much better snow..or a nicer line!!!! Avy was still considerable so we stuck to skiers right of the face connecting islands of safety all the way down. (too bad my strap is in the way!!!)

We were able to cruise all the way to the lower bowl. I had to boot for about 20′ before getting myself back to rideable terrain…not bad for boarding!!! Floated the rest of the way back to camp where the sun started to really come out and the winds picked up.

Reading the avy report the following day made me realize how important timing truly is in the NW. The winds changed directions on Sunday and probably really loaded the SW slopes that we were on, bringin the avy back up into higher risk….

As always, any trip out is a good one regardless of conditions, but this one couldn’t have been much better!!

For you trip detail folks:

approach time to camp: 3.5 hrs from Nooksack River & SR 542

camp to summit: 3hrs

Snow conditions: 6-8″ of fresh, unconsolidated POW on top of earlier in week crust. Pretty firm crust (needed to stomp skin track in), with about 4 finger hardness underneath. No pits dug, just chose lower angle terrain. Winds changed from NE to SW (ish) mid-day,decent amount of snow transport near ridgelines. Windier as day went on.

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With a few days of snow early in the week and then consistent high pressure for the week, it seemed a logical choice to head into the high country for the extended weekend. The week consisted of email after email of potential plans: simple day trips, ski descents of Rainier, the Park Glacier on Baker, etc. After much deliberation, we chose to head out to Heliotrope Ridge, easy access and a huge playground of snow seemed like the best bet. We packed up as much gear as our packs could handle and the three of us headed out Friday morning. Joe, with his big dreams, carried not only ski gear but a full ice rack, tools and a spare set of boots (just for a little more “training weight”) hoping to climb Colfax on Saturday.

After fighting tons of blown over trees; crawling over, under, around, over again and then under for 4hrs we finally reached our camp at about 6000′.

Talk about a great spot!! We had a view of our entire playground and couldn’t wait to set up camp and head up and get some turns.

At the top of our first run we had an incredible view of the moon rising directly infront of our line

Talk about a pretty sweet ride back to camp: moonlight, wonderfully light powder, and about 700′ right down to camp.

Saturday morning brought us cloudy skies and moderate winds. We waited for Mark to arrive for his soon to be epic day…. Carrying almost as much gear for a day trip as we carried for an overnight..damn, I was impressed. We hung out for a little bit at camp, took a safety break, and decided that turns over climbing seemed the best bet. Ah; skinning and carving….

The wind let up here and there, but the snow was certainly showing the effects. Wind crusts, wind slabs, pretty random powder pillows all making the day a mixture of “thank god” and “too bad”…..more of the thank god category of course.

After about 4 runs, it was time to head back and get Mark on his way back down the trail before it got too dark. Doug, Joe and myself decided that another night in the down sleeping bags was worth sticking around. We all knew the snow wasn’t getting any better, but another tent night sounded pretty good to all of us. We hoped for a little new snow over night , but instead, we woke up to 13 degrees in the tent and foggy cover. Before even getting out of the tent, the fog burned off and presented us with crystal clear skies!!!

Not a bad way to spend a weekend in November!!!

Oh yeah, Mark’s epic….

Leaving our camp shortly before dark, he headed off onto a side trail in the dark and ended up running into another pair of hikers that he rescued from getting themselves more lost… What took us 1 1/2 hours to hike on our return, took him 4, arriving at the car at about 7:30-8pm. Starting his day at 2am in Seattle and ending it after 11 certainly makes me glad I carried all that crap up there…..

Back in February of 2006 I headed off to Jackson, WY for a week and took an Avalanche Level 3 course. Set in the Grand Tetons, it seemed like an ideal way to spend several days. The first few days were spent in lectures and then we were able to head out into the backcountry.

A few days at Teton Pass and one full day in Grand Teton National Park. Not a bad place to take a class….