www.turns-all-year.com Backcountry skiing photos : Easton Glacier, Roman Wall, Mt. Baker summit Turns All Year: Previous Home Page Galleries This is a gallery of Mt. Baker backcountry skiing photos which appeared on the Turns All Year home page in the past. Thumbnail images on this page can be clicked to view the full-sized photos, and lead into a slide show sequence for the gallery. These skiing photos are from a late June trip to the summit of Mt. Baker, via the Railroad Grade trail, Easton Glacier, summit crater, and Roman Wall. List Galleries            < Older  Browse Galleries  Newer >

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from July 12, 2004: Mt. Baker summit via Easton Glacier, Washington, June 30, 2004 Hiking through Schrieber's Meadow Hiking Railroad Grade, with Black Buttes Mt. Baker from Easton Glacier moraine Skinning lower Easton Glacier Skinning lower Easton Easton Glacier seracs sb and Twin Sisters Range Mark and crevasse on Easton Glacier Looking up toward Mt. Baker summit Skinning toward Roman Wall Looking down Easton to Twin Sisters Skinning toward the crater of Mt. Baker Nearing Mt. Baker's crater Booting up the Roman Wall Booting up the Roman Wall Mark takes in the view from the summit Mark starting down Roman Wall Mark skiing Roman Wall Mark skiing Roman Wall Charles skiing near crater Mt. Baker crater break, with Sherman Peak Skiing Easton Glacier, with Colfax Peak Mark Mark skiing Easton Glacier Russ skiing, Roman Wall above Russ Mark Mark, Easton Glacier skiing Russ Charles, lower Easton Justin snowboarding Easton Glacier Russ Mark Photos by Russ Schwartz and Charles Eldridge

Associated trip report: Russ, Mark, sb, and I slept at the Schrieber's Meadow trailhead so as to get an early start for this long trip (7500 vertical feet). We left the car at around 5:30AM and hiked the trail through Schrieber's Meadow and up onto the Railroad Grade (Easton Glacier moraine). We changed into ski boots at about 6000' and started skinning up the edge of the Easton Glacier, enjoying the sunshine and cool temperatures but concerned about the lenticular cloud which had begun to hug the very top of Mt. Baker. The snow had not re-frozen overnight and there were very few open crevasses, so the skinning was easy. At around 8500' there began to be evidence of newer snow lingering from the early June storms, and there were a few crevasse crossings which were less confidence inspiring due to the new snow cover. We arrived at the crater at about noon and took a long break to eat and observe the lenticular cloud, which had expanded and lowered a bit so that the top of the Roman Wall was in it.    The lenticular seemed pretty stable, so about 1 PM we started booting up the Roman Wall, where bootsteps had been reinforced by two others (Justin and Colin) just ahead of us. Having been to the summit before (and knowing that the skiing on the Roman Wall wasn't going to be too good), sb started skiing back down the Easton Glacier. We climbed into the lenticular right at the top of the Roman Wall, then followed the boot path toward the summit, taking compass bearings and placing a few wands in case the visibility got even worse. On the summit we got occassional transitory views as the lenticular cloud pulsed up and down, but didn't stay long because of the chilly wind.    As we expected, the skiing on the Roman Wall wasn't great. The newer snow, here up to a foot deep, had a breakable crust in many areas, and where it didn't we skied it like it would, with the usual consequences. There were a couple of crevasses near the bottom of the Roman Wall to keep track of, and we cut left above them to get back to the crater. Skiing down the Easton Glacier, the crust mostly disappeared by 9000', and once below the newer snow zone there was nice corn snow. We picked up our trail shoes at 6000', then kept skiing down just west of the Railroad Grade. With a few heather traverses we were able to link snow patches and keep skis on down to about 4500', leaving only 1200' of trail to hike.    Charles

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