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Rewarded with some incredible views on Mt. Baker’s Roman Wall.
It’s that time of year again.
Around the U.S., skiers looking to eek the most skiing out of their season are starting to think about the best places to shred the summer gnar. Alaska is an obvious choice. British Columbia too. And of course, there’s endless options in South America. But for skiers looking to not cross borders (or fly over them) the volcanos of the Pacific Northwest start calling like sirens in the night. Big vert, long days, corn snow, wildflowers in low meadows flanked by snowy summits up high — early summer volcano skiing is hard to beat.
To help you with your trip planning (or give you that last nudge to start it), here’s a collection of PNW trip reports, organized by volcano.
Mount Baker (Koma Kulshan)
Lisa backcountry skiing Roman Headwall, Mount Baker. Click to enlarge.
Mt. Baker Boulder Glacier — Park Headwall Ski
By Julia Dubinina
“My reservations were mainly regarding the large open crevasse at the bottom of the run. No mistakes allowed. I followed Louie to peer down the face.”
Mt. Baker Coleman Headwall Ski Mountaineering
By Louie Dawson
“We made a quick anchor, wary of rockfall from above, and I started making my way across. Every probe of my ski pole slid through the slushy snow like a spoon through cottage cheese. The rope offered protection, but also the chance of a long pendulum . I tiptoed my way across, and quickly came to the end of our 30 meter line.”
Mt Baker Roman Wall Summer Ski Trip Report
By Julia Dubinina
“The summit weather was quite nice, with wonderful views of Olympics, Glacier Peak and Rainier peeking through the clouds. The Roman Wall skied beautifully with smooth, perfect spring-like corn. This is really the only steep pitch on the whole route, the rest is a very mellow grade.”
Mt. Baker North Ridge Bike to Climb and Ski
By Louie Dawson
“We topped out at 5 pm, after 16 hours on the move! The lack of sleep, combined with the brutal opening bike ride, had left me feeling sluggish all day. We hadn’t seen anyone and even had the summit to ourselves. After a small celebratory summit feast of lamb shank (trail food of champions), we hooked into our skis, and headed down.”
Mt. Baker Watson’s Traverse Trip Report
By Louie Dawson
“As we made our way toward the glacier, the sky slowly got lighter, and the snow quickly became deeper. By the time we were above the trees, we were up to our knees in fluff. We settled into a routine of one person breaking trail, while the other had time to eat, drink and wish we brought a few more sets of legs, before catching up to take a turn.”
Mt. Baker Corn and Oxygen Fest
By Lou Dawson
“Gregg, as a true local, figured he’d give us the full PNW scrappy experience so we skipped the few hundred feet of dry trail at the start and instead squished through a bog. To redeem , he then ushered us to a perfect entrance, where this year a gigantic avalanche has filled a gulch and made a ski route for Baker that is PNW rated tailgate to tailgate.”
Mount Adams (Phato)
Mount Adams Southwest Chutes, showing descent route. Most people climb via broad ridge to right. Contender for the World’s Best Ski Descent.
Mt. Adams Southwest Chutes: World’s Best Ski Descents
By Lou Dawson
“One game I play is to mentally shortlist the best ski descents in the world. Such a list would be different for everyone, depending on where you’re at mentally and physically, and would change over time as your life progressed. These days I’d use something like the following score points”
Mt. Adams North Face of Northwest Ridge Ski
By Louie Dawson
“The north face of the northwest rib (NFNWR) of Mt. Adams is a classic steep ski route. Rumor has it that it was first skied by Glen Plake in the late 90’s. The south side of Adams holds awesome skiing and is quite popular. However the north side is a little harder to get to, has steeper lines, and yields fewer crowds.”
Mt. Adams: North Face of Northwest Ridge
By Julia Dubinina
“Oh, the choss pile that is the North Ridge…I, wholeheartedly, am not a fan. Yes, you do have to carry your skis and boots on your back for 70% of it. Yes, you should absolutely bring trail runners. Yes, there is some mild “V0-esque” rock climbing involved mid-route, as well as exposed snow travel. Definitely type-two fun.”
Mount St. Helens (Loowit)
Mt. St. Helen’s Mother’s Day party ski.
Tutus and Lava — Mt. St. Helens Mother’s Day Ski
By Lisa Dawson
“In 1987, seven years after the big eruption, Lou and I skied Mount St. Helens. I was 28. Our tracks left white stripes on the ash covered snow. Who would have known that 32 years later I’d have the pleasure of skiing it again, this time with my 28 year old son, on bright white snow, everyone dressed female to honor the X chromosome. The circle of life never ceases to amaze.”
Mount Hood (Wy’east)
Mt. Hood’s gaseous chambers make the climb and descent extra adventurous.
Bad Timing on Mt. Hood’s Newton Clark Headwall
By Doug Stenclik
“My first ski cut of the slope sounded like the breaking of so many champagne glasses that I had come to associate with bad timing and bad conditions in the mountains. As I stopped to let the stream of tinkling glass slide by, I searched for confidence that the slope would hold together for the final minutes we needed to descend.”
Mt. Hood — Vital Information for Backcountry Skiers and Snowboarders
By Lou Dawson
“An early morning walk up the ski area, or a snowcat ride ($20.00 each for 3 people) gets you to the top of the Palmer Chair Lift at 8,600 foot elevation. From there, you can strike north or south for excellent tours, just use your altimeter and compass to lock onto the traverse back to the lodge, rather than being suckered into deadly canyons below timberline.”
Mt. Hood Ski and Bike — Ultimate Multisport Day
By Louie Dawson
“As we started skiing, we began to notice thousands of Monarch butterflies flying across the slopes of Mt. Hood. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. The descent started out a bit bumpy, but after a few minutes the snow smoothed out, and we enjoyed superb summer corn snow through the ski area and to our car at Timberline.
Mount Rainier (Tahoma)
As we left paradise and skinned toward Rainier, the clouds broke, revealing a clear, bluebird day
Mt. Rainier via Emmons — Oh Boy That Mountain is Tall
By Julia Dubinina
“About 500 feet away from the summit, we took a long break and cooked ramen. Phil even took a nap. We summited around 1pm, with spectacular views of St. Helens, Adams, Baker and Glacier Peak, each brilliant with its own beauty.”
Mt. Rainier Wilson Headwall Ski, Kautz Headwall Attempt
By Louie Dawson
“We hung out under an overhang of rock for a few hours, and then decided to head down from that point at approx 12,500 feet. This was the first steep corn my skis had touched in months, and the descent was excellent. We skied the glacier down to our camp, and the corn only got better.”
Mt. Rainier Edmunds Headwall Ski
By Louie Dawson
“The snow on the face wasn’t the perfect corn we had hoped. We could see patches of blue ice around us, and telltale shiny spots on the upper slopes. Russel wasn’t liking the snow quality and decided to nap in the sun while Adam and I continued upward. I was tempted to join him.”
Mt Rainier — Fuhrer Finger
By Caleb Wray
“The ridge we’d used for part of the climb did not have good skiing potential, so we elected to drop the upper Nisqually Glacier and then try to find the cutoff to the Finger. We were forced to ski over a few snow bridges, a dicey feeling, but visibility held and we easily found the cutoff.”
Mt. Rainier Muir Snowfield
By Lou Dawson
“Muir is a nice, mostly low angled tour of around 4,000 vertical feet. Endpoint is a logical spot known as Camp Muir (10,000 feet), where a few mildew ridden shelters are used by the guide services, and hundreds of people tent camp during busy times…The crowds were truly stunning, way more radical than anything I’ve seen in Europe, and making the West Buttress route on Denali look totally deserted.”
Glacier Peak (Dahkobed)
Cool Headwall was a great ski option for the descent!
Glacier Peak — Cool Glacier Headwall
By Julia Dubinina
“The snow looked dirty and chunky, so we decided to continue down the ridge to find better conditions. The next ridge roll was even steeper and right above a very large crevasse, definitely a no-fall zone. Being careful and not “too sendy” was key.”
Glacier Peak — Wilderness Volcano Skiing
By Louie Dawson
“As we rounded Disappointment Peak, clouds still remained on the summit, and we hung out in yet another whiteout. After waiting for a few minutes, however, the clouds started clearing, so we continued up Cool Glacier. We gained the summit in beautiful weather, and enjoyed views of the surrounding mountains covered in clouds.”
PNW Volcano Tours
Andy taking in the views of Mt. St. Helens while heading into the Finger.
How to go with the (Lava) Flow
By Alex Lee
“It was tough letting go of our AK goals, but five days of perfect weather and nearly 30,000 feet of amazing skiing in the Cascades sure beat twiddling our thumbs in a snowstorm. We skied classic lines on Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, and Hood.”
Strikes and Gutters in the PNW — Totally Deep Podcast 62
Doug and M recap a 10 day volcano road trip that included Mt. Shasta, Mt. Baker, Mt. Hood (twice), Mt. Adams and even the Sea to Ski relay race.
The Ski Trip I Finally Did Take: Turns Almost All Year
By Jonathan Shefftz
” I arrived at my friends’ house over a month later than planned. All my ski gear was still there, as well as — unexpectedly enough — almost all of their deep snowpack too.”
There’s more too! Search in Trip Reports or type your peak into the search bar at the top of the page.
While most of the WildSnow backcountry skiing blog posts are best attributed to a single author, some work well as done by the group.
