Trip Report: Climbing Mount Baker via the North Ridge
The North Ridge on Baker: The perfect route for people who aren’t that great at ice climbing, but want to climb something more than steep snow in the mountains. It was as perfect fit for us! The North Ridge is a pretty direct route, which is nice for those of us that want to do it in day and it provides some wonderful climbing on a mountain that can feel much bigger than the elevation (10,780') would have you believe.
We began at the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead, which is also the starting point for the Coleman-Deming route, accessed from Forest Service road 39. Regular sedans can make it up this road, but something with a little clearance and good suspension will make the 8 mile drive more pleasant. The approach trail is well-marked and steep with plentiful roots, rocks and big steps. There are two distinct stream crossings. We found both to be easily navigable by stepping between rocks or balancing across logs, but either crossing could be more difficult early in the season or after a heavy rain.
As we approached the last section of the Heliotrope Ridge Trail, we were greeted with views of the lower Coleman- big chunks of ice and a vast, broken-up glacier gradually faded into a snow-covered field with a few small breaks and a couple truly impressive gapers. We clicked into our skis, roped up, and started crossing the glacier, finding navigation to be very straightforward.
The ice cliff was in our sights almost immediately and we made a bee-line straight for it. The Coleman Glacier was in pretty good shape, with minimal crevassing which allowed us to move fairly directly towards the cliff. We made a couple of silly transitions, the most memorable of which involved Andy crossing a crevasse with just enough length on his skis to bridge the gap but Corie, with shorter skis, needing to don crampons and jump across the open space. Corie loves her shorter skis in most circumstances in the mountains but here they definitely increased the excitement factor.
Upon nearing the ice cliff, we considered several options, and eventually elected to climb a section of mixed rock/ice that lead into what we were hoping was good alpine ice - it looked a little spicy but also super fun. Corie lead up to the base of the cliff, taking a steep ramp through a mix of rock, firm snow, and a bit of melty ice and brought Andy up to the belay. He set off climbing in and out of drips but finding good, solid, super awesome ice! Corie followed him up, enjoying good sticks, and we made our way up the final snow fields toward the summit, winding through 'the secret passageway' on the way up.
The skiing on the way down was incredible. Although some of the descent moves through several crevassed glaciers, all the major gaps were easily identified and crossed with attentive skiing. The Roman Wall in particular was awesome - perfect skiing conditions and views for days! If we had any doubts about bringing skis along for such a long hike, they were quashed in those first few turns. We skied back to our shoes, enjoyed a nice lunch break, and gulped down freshly flowing glacier water (not the bottled nonsense) before hiking back out to the car.
Stats
Start: Heliotrope Trailhead: 3,700'
Summit: 10,780'
Elevation Gain: 7,080'
Mileage: 14.3
Time: 14:38 hours round trip
CalTopo GPS Track: https://caltopo.com/m/3MMT
Equipment List
- 1.5 liters of water each
- Snacks/Lunch
- SUUNTO Watches (GPS)
- Sunglasses
- Headlamps
- 60m 8.5mm rope
- Harnesses & ATCs
- Crevasse rescue gear
- 2 pickets
- 6 ice screws
- Skis, AT Boots, Poles
- Crampons and two tools
We began at the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead, which is also the starting point for the Coleman-Deming route, accessed from Forest Service road 39. Regular sedans can make it up this road, but something with a little clearance and good suspension will make the 8 mile drive more pleasant. The approach trail is well-marked and steep with plentiful roots, rocks and big steps. There are two distinct stream crossings. We found both to be easily navigable by stepping between rocks or balancing across logs, but either crossing could be more difficult early in the season or after a heavy rain.
As we approached the last section of the Heliotrope Ridge Trail, we were greeted with views of the lower Coleman- big chunks of ice and a vast, broken-up glacier gradually faded into a snow-covered field with a few small breaks and a couple truly impressive gapers. We clicked into our skis, roped up, and started crossing the glacier, finding navigation to be very straightforward.
The ice cliff was in our sights almost immediately and we made a bee-line straight for it. The Coleman Glacier was in pretty good shape, with minimal crevassing which allowed us to move fairly directly towards the cliff. We made a couple of silly transitions, the most memorable of which involved Andy crossing a crevasse with just enough length on his skis to bridge the gap but Corie, with shorter skis, needing to don crampons and jump across the open space. Corie loves her shorter skis in most circumstances in the mountains but here they definitely increased the excitement factor.
Upon nearing the ice cliff, we considered several options, and eventually elected to climb a section of mixed rock/ice that lead into what we were hoping was good alpine ice - it looked a little spicy but also super fun. Corie lead up to the base of the cliff, taking a steep ramp through a mix of rock, firm snow, and a bit of melty ice and brought Andy up to the belay. He set off climbing in and out of drips but finding good, solid, super awesome ice! Corie followed him up, enjoying good sticks, and we made our way up the final snow fields toward the summit, winding through 'the secret passageway' on the way up.
The skiing on the way down was incredible. Although some of the descent moves through several crevassed glaciers, all the major gaps were easily identified and crossed with attentive skiing. The Roman Wall in particular was awesome - perfect skiing conditions and views for days! If we had any doubts about bringing skis along for such a long hike, they were quashed in those first few turns. We skied back to our shoes, enjoyed a nice lunch break, and gulped down freshly flowing glacier water (not the bottled nonsense) before hiking back out to the car.
Stats
Start: Heliotrope Trailhead: 3,700'
Summit: 10,780'
Elevation Gain: 7,080'
Mileage: 14.3
Time: 14:38 hours round trip
CalTopo GPS Track: https://caltopo.com/m/3MMT
Equipment List
- 1.5 liters of water each
- Snacks/Lunch
- SUUNTO Watches (GPS)
- Sunglasses
- Headlamps
- 60m 8.5mm rope
- Harnesses & ATCs
- Crevasse rescue gear
- 2 pickets
- 6 ice screws
- Skis, AT Boots, Poles
- Crampons and two tools