BETA PHOTO: Northwest face of Mt. Baker with Coleman Headwall ...
Description
One of the greatest routes on Pacific Northwest volcanoes. Steep and fun. The route climbs north-west side of Mt. Baker and is delineated by the Roman Nose on the right and serac walls on the left side. We climbed it in early May 2006 and the route had two distinct sections: the lower part consisting mostly of firm steep snow (up to 50 degrees) and the upper 800 feet crux part of 60 degree ice (AI4) with little reliable pro. The ice slabs there formed a giant plate, about an inch thick, over the wet snow underneath. It was fun to climb but the overall stability of the ice was questionable and falling was not an option. We simul-climbed the lower part of the route and pitched it out on the crux part. Just below the second rock band (topo pic #2) the belays were set with some ice screws. Once on the steep ice the belays were set with pickets punched through the ice layer. There were two shrund crossings on the route (topo pic #2) and some signs of avalanche activity. Descent via Coleman-Deming route.
References: "Cascade Alpine Guide" Vol. 3 (Rainy Pass to Fraser River), Fred Beckey "Climbing the Cascade Volcanoes", Jeff Smoot
Ice plates over wet snow? Yipes, that sounds pretty scary.
I once tried to do this route in a day from the car, but when we were making the long trek across the Coleman Glacier after sunrise, puffy clouds were already gathering. Then we started hearing a mysterious buzzing sound from our packs. After taking them off we suddenly realized it was our crampons trying to tell us we were about to be struck by lightning. Without hesitation we put our packs back on and began running back down the glacier, we never did see any lightning. However the experience was so unnerving we just kept going down. I've never seen crampons behave so strangely.
Then a year or so later my friend Ian Kraabel was killed along with one of his clients while guiding on this route, or one nearby on the N Face. The ice cliff avalanched and buried them in a crevasse. I've never wanted to go back. Thanks for posting all the photos!
Sorry about your friend, George. When we climbed it the air was pretty warm and we were little nervous on the upper slopes. Getting off the face was a big relief. I do think the guidebooks should perhaps have references to route accident statistics. Descriptions for Liberty Ridge, Coleman, or Ptarmigan focus mostly on route descriptions and may sound like these are just some beautiful relaxed climbs. Beautiful for sure. Relaxed -- not so much. I think accident statistics would be very revealing for the type and severity of potential objective dangers on a given route, and could alert climbers during planning and actual climbing. Any idea where these can be found? American Alpine Journal?
Accidents in North American Mountaineering (put out yearly at the same time as the AAJ) has accident statistics, but over the entire country by cause, not by route.
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