Quick report
Each storm fills in Baker just a little more! Snow and ice on the trail was much more widespread and slick this week compared to last. There was snow on the trail down to 0.5 mi from the trailhead; those creek crossings are certainly icing up. Simple, straightforward travel up the C-D route while roped up. Did not have to belay any crevasse crossings. Enjoyable skiing on the Roman Wall, wind compacted alpine powder on a progressive base. Greenhoused, thick snow on the upper portions of the Coleman Glacier, with colder and drier snow down low. Saw some old windslab crowns on the Coleman Headwall face but other than that, not much activity. New snow had covered over the old Colfax icefall avalanche. Roller ball activity off the south side of Pumice Ridge in the afternoon but nothing noteworthy.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
Clear sky and little to no wind in the morning. A lenticular cloud developed atop Baker but winds were not overly intense, maybe 15 mph or so at the top.
Snowpack
Baker is looking much more like its winter self after a week of storms. From last week to this week, there's been a noticeable improvement in coverage above 7k'. There are still plenty of crevasses open but many are starting to form bridges, and bridges that were already there are much larger. At elevations below 6500' we found 6 to 10 cm of new, low density dry snow. This snow was sitting on a firm ice lens that likely formed as the warm precipitation tailed off colder. Above 6,500' the depth up closer to 10-12 cm of new, dry snow widely wind impacted. Ski pen while climbing ranged from 1-2 cm. The Roman Wall was significantly more filled in and well covered in new snow than last week. Whereas last week there was widespread rime, this week there was little rime and 25-30 cm of wind compacted dry snow. Boot pen while ascending was ankle to boot top. By the end of the day there was greenhousing on polar aspects between 6500 and 9000'. Below that, less wetting of the surface snow was noted. Solar aspects received a lot of solar input and we noted significant roller ball activity on the south side of Pumice Ridge.