7/27/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/27/2019, By: dwoodward13 Info: Summer conditions. Any lingering snow is now a non issue. |
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7/11/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/11/2019, By: Trailrunner Info: Great condition - snow can be entirely avoided. With that said, there is one area high on the ridge where if you skirt the snow (recommended, as a cornice is holding on still), you'll need to make a couple class 3 moves. It's in an area of no- to low-risk, so no big deal. |
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6/29/2019 Route: as seen from Red Peak A Posted On: 7/1/2019, By: shaunblair Info: As seen from atop Red Peak A, the southern route from Boreas (I plan on taking this once it melts) Pass has some snowfields still remaining on the ridge. |
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4/20/2019 Route: Northeast Gullies Posted On: 4/22/2019, By: Chicago Transplant Info: Wanted to add a quick report for people looking to ski the northeast side of Bald. We were up there Saturday and the coverage is excellent. Snow was not quite what we expected, more of a chalky recycled powder for the first 1500 feet off the summit before transitioning to corn lower down. Easy to follow open trees out of the upper basin and along French Creek back to the meadow. Huge avy off the west side of Guyot left a lot of trees in the upper meadow along French Creek. The road to all the private cabins is plowed for about 2 miles above the locked winter gate. If you are creative and patient you can keep your skis on. I only did so because I was in my ski boots and didn't want to trash them on the dry road. Better to bring a change of footwear and walk the 2 miles in approach shoes. We ascended an east facing ridge line that is across from the gullies and finished on the upper north ridge at about 13,100'. We booted more of the that east ridge than necessary, you could probably skin to 12,800 or even all the way to the north ridge with enough switchbacking. In either case the upper north ridge would require booting, not really any practical way to skin it given one or two steep steps that are rock. Some people access the line from French Pass, but it is melted out, not sure about the ridge above the pass. Sorry for the photo order, I am not sure why they uploaded in a different order than I had selected them... Image 1: Overview on the way out, our ascent ridge across the foreground Image 2: Guyot avy debris Image 3: Looking down our line (skiers right gully off the summit) Image 4: Ascent Ridge Image 5: North Ridge |
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3/31/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/31/2019, By: WildWanderer Info: Perfect bluebird day on the mountain this morning! If you're looking for a good introduction to winter/spring climbing this one would be a great choice this week! Traction not needed until treeline, then snowshoes were mandatory (and below treeline they look needed later in the day: I saw evidence of postholing from yesterday). My ice axe came in handy a couple of times but it wasn't necessary. There are cairns indicating you should go around the ridge, but with the current snow just stick to the ridge and it will be an easier hike. There are large cornices but they're easily avoidable. |
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3/10/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/11/2019, By: Giant hills Info: Nice packed trail from trailhead to the end of trees. From there had to break a little but nothing bad. Once at the towers flotation wasn't needed and it was hard packed with exposed rock to the summit. There was one little section of ridge that needed more attention than the rest, it was steep and kind of scrambly but nothing insane had a little more character than expected. Perfect weather on summit. On descent Friends skied and boarded from towers back to car. I managed to ride a saucer from towers area back into the trees lol. Fun mountain |
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2/1/2019 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 2/1/2019, By: HikerGuy Info: This is a great winter route, safe and straightforward with an accessible trailhead. From trailhead to Iowa Mill is a winter superhighway. There is a nice bootpack from the Iowa Mill most of the way up to the ridge. Snowshoes not needed, but some might prefer them in this section. I was comfortable with microspikes from Iowa Mill to summit, others might want crampons for the steeper bumps on the ridge. Don't see a need for ice axe, steeper sections are very brief. Approximately 7.4 miles roundtrip and 3,400 feet. |
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5/23/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/25/2018, By: koeffling Info: A fair amount of snow on the road. Once on the ridge it's mostly clear, or a lot of the snow is avoidable or a non issue. Snow got soft on the descent down low, you could probably stay higher than the road and avoid most of it. In the trees it was somewhat unavoidable but might not warrant snowshoes if you don't mind getting a little wet on the return. Road still closed at winter closure. |
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11/10/2017 Route: Black Powder Pass Posted On: 11/10/2017, By: Tufftommy-BV Info: Climbed from Boreas Pass. Road up was 80% snow free and in good shape. Any 4wd or front driver should be fine... Plenty of snow on the ridge between BPP and the summit of Bald. No traction needed, but boots and gaiters were nice to have in place of my usual trail runners. Similar conditions on the trek over to Boreas. Pretty windy on the ridge proper but much less so than my last two jaunts! |
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7/15/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/19/2017, By: lpeabbles Info: No snow whatsoever, VERY easy to follow route. 2-3 dispersed camping sites slightly past the extra .7 mile trailhead, but not a lot. We found one on the right maybe 100 feet up from the trailhead. Be careful - lots of private land. Wonderful hike and only saw 1 other person the whole time! |
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7/2/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/2/2017, By: jsdratm Info: Most of the snow on the ridge is melted, but there was one place before the final pitch where a small snowfield was unavoidable |
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6/24/2017 Route: South ridge from Black Powder Pass Posted On: 6/24/2017, By: majtytom Info: There are some snow fields left on the south ridge. Most of them are avoidable and those, which are not, could be easily crossed with minimum postholing...quite packed. No spikes, crampons needed. North ridge is in much better shape, essentially summer conditions. |
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12/4/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 12/4/2016, By: Hoot Info: Gate was closed at Winter TH (pavement's end). There were a few knee-high drifts, but snowshoes were not required. We pretty much took a direct line between the Iowa Mill and the radio towers both up and down. Some skiers and boarders enjoyed nice powder runs along this section. |
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11/26/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 11/26/2016, By: etmccue Info: Able to drive a Subaru wagon on 1-4" of soft snow up to the switchback on the shoulder below the weather station at 12,000'. Hiked a mix of rock, dirt, wind slab, and maximum 6" wind drifts to the peak without any issue. Trail can be difficult to follow exactly with pockets of wind drifted snow but alternate routes are easy to figure out. No skiing possible at any elevation unless core shots and the possibility of rag dolling down shallow covered scree are a viable options for you. |
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10/24/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/24/2016, By: madadraw1 Info: Almost completely free of snow. |
