Mt. Baker Skills Climb

I just spent 3 days on the north side of Mount Baker doing a basic skills and summit climb.  This is a course offered by American Alpine Institute.  More information on the course can be found at their website here.

Due to a questionable weather report for the summit day (typically the third morning) we decided to climb on day 2.  We got quite a late start for the summit but given that the evening temperatures have not been dropping below freezing and generally good glacier conditions this did not make much of a difference.  This was my first summit of the season and it was nice to stand atop the mountain I have summited more than any other once again.  

Below is a time-lapse and a few photos from the trip.  

Leavenworth and Stevens Pass Avalanche Course with American Alpine Institute

Last week I worked another avalanche course for the American Alpine Institute.  This turned out to be a great weekend and a great location for an avalanche course since there was some instability in the snow pack.  We were able to view some of the instabilities and find some great snow for a nice ski tour.  Some photos of the weekend are below.  

A think layer of buried surface hoar is located about 40cm below the surface in many parts of the Cascades.  

A close up of the crystals.  

Skiing the trees

Skiing the trees.