Memories tend to be called out of the catacombs of of my mind when time is on my hands. Typically these moments that are forever locked away in my brain need something to knock them free. A few nights ago I was up late because I couldn’t sleep. Surfing away on my computer I opened up Google Earth and spied on Mt. Baker’s Roman Headwall and Mt. Shuksan’s Sulphide Glacier and pop some old stories started to flow. Let me explain.
The top of the Sulphide Glacier route on Mt. Shuksan is a 3rd class rock scramble in the summer and a 50-55 degree chute and open face in the winter and spring. It is short, but is full on. I was standing on the summit with Craig Kelly with the intention of shredding the line. Craig dropped in first and I couldn’t see him. After a minute or so, I got close to the entrance, saw Craig getting to the bottom, and with my balls in my stomach I side slipped into the line. It was a solid 55 degrees at the entrance and the snow wasn’t that great. Now, this was an intense line for me and even though we had climbed up the slope and knew the snow, I still had to side slip for a bit to get the confidence to start doing turns. What I saw when I entered the line blew my mind. Craig hadn’t side slipped at all, in fact he laid out perfect turns from the start. No hesitation. Pretty psyched, we both went to the top again and rode back down.
Two days prior Craig, my girlfriend Andrea and I were standing on the summit of Mt. Baker. Again, following Craig we descended a variation of the Roman Headwall. Think far skiers right down a steep gully / bowl feature flanked by seracs on one side and a giant ice cliff on the other. It is beautiful line, probably 1000 ft high. We didn’t have great snow conditions. I watched Craig enter the top of the bowl, pop a mandatory ollie over a crevasse, and rocket down the entire bowl in his grace and style. That was the first time Craig had been to the top of Mt. Baker after nearly 20 years of riding the ski area. It was an honorable moment for him and I was humbled to be with him. He bought a very nice bottle of wine later that evening. It was 2002.
Our adventure on Mt. Baker. Sorry no real photos.
The summit of Mt. Shuksan above the Sulphide Gl. The line on the face is snow in the spring. I don't think it gets done very much.
Greg, I like the blog. You may not remember me from Baldface, but I was there for freq week. They say I looked like Jesus… Anyway, I’m looking to get into backcountry riding this year and was wondering if you had any tips on gear. I’m specifically wondering about AvaLung and the new Backcountry Access Tracker. Reply to my e-mail if you get a minute. Looking forward to winter and another trip to Baldface!