Eric on his way up to Skyline Divide. Click all images to enlarge.
It’s “shoulder season,” the time when summer activities lose their hold on me and I start pursuing powder and peaks. In the Pacific Northwest we received a huge dump in early October which dropped over 3 meters on the high country. We hiked up the snow-covered trail to Skyline Divide for the first turns of the season.
The month started with stormy pow skiing on high sub-alpine ridges near Mt. Baker. Recently the weather has been better, and we’ve ventured into higher country to find above-average backcountry conditions for this time of year. Following are photos from various PNW outings this October.
Adam enjoying protected powder on the north face of east Goat Peak, with the western summit behind.
Eric skiing heavy powder on Skyline Divide. One early storm worth brought about 3 feet of fresh.
A few weeks later, Adam surveys the snow that's still a long ways away on Hadley Peak (with Mt. Baker behind).
High up on Hadley Peak. Even though temps felt like they were in the 70's, powder lingered on protected slopes.
Adam dropping down a nice couloir on Hadley Peak. I'd never been to this area before. It proved to be awesome!
This last weekend we climbed the Coleman Glacier on Mt. Baker. Here Adam climbs above crevasses on the Deming Glacier.
Enjoying a beautiful sunset in the mountains with friends. After hanging out for a while we skied down in the dusk.
Louie Dawson earned his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design from Western Washington University in 2014. When he’s not skiing Mount Baker or somewhere equally as snowy, he’s thinking about new products to make ski mountaineering more fun and safe.