[moonspots]

I've climbed 3 of the peaks out there (Rainier, Shuksan, Olympus), each under the guidance of someone who knows what they're doing: guides from IMG. I want to summit Baker soon, but don't want to have to meet a schedule, and then put out about $1K besides. The guide service from IMG has been well worth the money as I don't get time out west often enough to slowly, and carefully develop my own self assured glacier skills, nor do I have a hiking buddy who does also. But sooner or later I'm just going to have to go for it, and climb up until I get to where I want to go. So my question is, how have you judged that you were ready when you first climbed a significantly glaciated peak? I think that if I lived there, I'd just go week after week, advancing a little at a time until I made my goal(s). But I don't live there. I'm creeping up on 67, and there are at least 3 more (new) summits I want to accomplish while I still can. Thoughts, advice? Thanks all, in advance.

[huron]

Coming from out of state locks you into a date. Last two weeks in July give you the best probability of good weather and snow conditions. Pick your date/route and post the opportunity in the partner forum? If that doesn't work, PM and I'll introduce you to another who might be a good companion.

[moonspots]

[n16ht5]

What you need to know is crevasse routefinding and risk assesment, as well as rescue techniques. The best time to do Baker is late March through early May (now). Past mid may and bridges start failing more often and are harder to judge where they might be. Right now there is a well established boot path up the easton right to the top. Be careful though, just because it is established does not mean it is good. Last year going up the boot path I collapsed a weak bridge right in the middle of the path. I saw the sag and got lots of momentum that carried me across thankfully. There is a marathon first week of june that will establish a good path up the sauk, but even still this year that route is heavily crevassed

[moonspots]

[gray matter]

While this time of year may be the ideal time to climb Mt. Baker, it does not mean that the mountain cannot be climbed at other times of the year. A few years ago, we spent four wonderful days in July on the mountain practicing glacier travel techniques, crevasse rescue and self arrest. We successfully summited on that trip. Moonspots, your question is an excellent one that I've asked myself many times. In an effort to understand whether or not I am climbing within my abilities, I try to understand what would happen if things did not go well. So, let me lay out a scenario for you: You and your rope team of three are heading up the mountain. The leader is routefinding and you are in the middle of the rope when you hear your third partner yell 'falling!'. You feel a sharp tug on the rope that takes you off of your feet. Do you have the skills to stop this fall? Assuming that yes, you did in fact stop the fall, you find yourself now in arrest position on a glaciated slope, with a lot of weight on the rope. You can communicate with the lead climber but not the climber who has just fallen into a crevasse. What do you do?

[cartman]

I took a class and went with more experienced partners until I felt comfortable being an equal partner to the experienced ones. Now I know enough to lead climbs. Moonspots, if you have two partners who are experienced, competent and safe and who know crevasse rescue, you would be fine as the middle man on the rope as long as you have good footwork and competent ice ax arrest skills.

[Brushbuffalo]

[moonspots]

[huron]

Alpenstock!

[Mikey]

Moonspots. Perhaps you might consider climbing Mt Adams via the South route. There are no crevasses. The summit is 12,281 ft so it is a great higher altitude conditioner for climbing Mt Baker later. I have climbed Mt Baker by a couple of routes. On one of the Mt Baker climbs I led via the Coleman Glacier, one guy (a very experienced climber) fell into a crevasse on the Roman wall. The crevasse was covered with snow and all of a sudden he was gone with the climbing rope going down into a hole just big enough for him to fit through. Luckily he fell onto a ledge about 10 ft down in the crevasse and before we could get a crevasse rescue system set up, he was able to use his crampons to front point up and out of the crevasse (also used his ice ax as a hand tool which implies that there is a reason an ice ax has the wrist loop or lanyard on it).

[gray matter]

This is a great discussion! Brushbuffalo, thanks for the insight and for sharing your wisdom. I like Mikey’s suggestion of tackling Mt Adams. Adams was my first big summit, and I will be the first to admit that I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. But, we got up and down without incident. On subsequent trips, I’ve learned a bit from success and much more from failure, and managed to keep myself out of serious trouble. I’ve also had some excellent teachers along the way. In my opinion, Mt. Baker is a pretty good place to learn and practice glacier travel because the trade routes are pretty mellow. I’d be down for setting up a weekend trip to go up to Baker to practice self rescue systems. If any of you are interested, send a reply or a PM. It can never hurt to get out and practice.

[moonspots]

[DadFly]

I do not get out on glaciers as much as I used to so training is important. I always plan an extra day for two reasons. 1. Acclimate to the elevation a lot better. 2. Spend a day exploring the depths of crevasses.

[christensent]

The way I look at it is if you're in a position where you feel you could effortlessly teach a friend a skill without researching it the day before and feel like you're doing it responsibly and not overstepping your qualifications to teach someone safety-critical information, then you're ready to be the most experienced person in a group using that skill. Otherwise, someone should be in the group that is more experienced and can guide you (be it a friend or a formal guide situation). This doesn't mean you need to be at the level of a professional guide, just that you should be extremely proficient in the skill to the extent that you trust someone else's life in your skill set. In my opinion, most people would probably be at an appropriate level if they've gone through 3 guided trips and truly applied themselves during the experience rather than doing the bare minimum and blindly walking up the mountain behind the guide. Many people may get there on the rope skills after even one trip if they already have a lot of mountaineering and snow experience (honestly the snow/mountain skills is the harder part - the rope skills can be learned on youtube in your living room. Not necessarily the best way to do it, but it's simply a method of tying knots and setting up systems that doesn't require analyzing nature, weather, snow crystals, snow bridges, etc. which is a really hard skill that just about takes a lifetime to really master)