Mt. Baker - Coleman-Deming Route
A single-day push up the classic CD route on the western side of Mt. Baker. After one rope-team member caught mild AMS, our group dispersed, leaving just myself to push up the Roman Nose solo. Once at the summit, I linked up with another rope team for descent of Coleman glacier.
1:45am start times demand headlamp utilization - the climbing party in front is around 1.5 hours travel uphill from distant headlamps seen towards the top of Heliotrope Ridge.
Endless glacial snowfields and a slow sunrise.
Navigating alongside crevasses. Evidence of the Coleman glacier’s ever-moving ice.
Rock features with morning light.
Every step in the name of progress!
Win assessing a rare snow-bridge collapse across Coleman’s largest crevasse. This unseasonably early feature caused most parties to stop in their tracks. We were one of two groups that made it past this point in the climb, as most turned around due to the lack of obvious route through crevasse and a high-risk rockfall zone.
Looking at the same crevasse, opposite the snow-bridge. This crevasse traced nearly the whole width of the glacier, and dead-ended at the bottom of the rock feature.
Baker’s caldera, with summit in the distance.
Summit! Behind me, Shuksan shows off amidst morning inversion clouds.
Descending the Roman Nose.
Making our way back home.