EISPIRATEN

Went up Mount Baldy today with three friends, Ty, Joe and Ellen. We all went up to the Ski Hut together, then Ty and Joe took the normal route up the ridge line to the summit. Ellen and I went straight up the face of the bowl just right of dead center - hard to be exact as the fog rolled in and made it impossible to see more than thirty feet. Met Hamik as he skied past us in the fog and stopped to say hello, then again when we returned to the ski hut later. Ellen had done San Jacinto on Satuday but was as real trooper keeping up with the pace up the face.
Ellen nice job flying up behind me - Nice work Ty on your first winter Ascent of Mount Baldy, keep up the great work.

Hamik it was good to finally meet you, it was wierd hearing your skies in the fog as you guys descended the bowl the first time.

Hamik's group was doing the ski race thing in the fog which was fun to hear but couldn't see anyone that was more than 30 feet away.

Summit wind was gusting around thirty miles an hour, the picture will show the summit picture with "ice crystals" whizzing by us. Only a few rockfall and ice fall went by us on the bowl, one rock hit my ice axe dead center and bounced off to the right.

Met Kevin Rooney on the way down from the ski hut to the parking lot, man he's got a lot of information on the trails back east, especially anything related to White Mountains, Appalachain Trail, Vermont etc... thanks for all the tips and it was great meeting you Kevin.

There must have been 50 plus people come up to the Ski Hut after 12 noon, three of four groups doing practice hikes, etc... suprising considering how thick the fog was and it was very brisk out there.

Lastly, the parking area was full of people as always, but there was plenty of "Forest Service and Sheriffs" on hand to keep it as safe as they can.

Pictures here - http://s908.photobucket.com/albums/ac28 ... =slideshow

Hey Patrick!
Glad you, Ellen and Ty liked "Zoom Cwm!" Nice work you three! Would have liked to see the ski race but i guess maybe, you could only hear it???

What was the condition of the snow on the bowl?

Norma,

Very consolidated with light coat of powder (less than an inch) on top.

The first run of skiers coming down were having to use edges hard just to turn, it's was iced over early.

Since the sun never came out completely it only softened up slightly.

Went up west side, great snow for crampons, I probably could have gone without crampons all the way up but thats my habit, after ski hut pons go on..

blue skis all the way up summited at 9:05 clouds were just behind me, not on way down...mark Irving-wpsmb(red helmet) and Kevin R pic.#12,
Hamik pic. #8

mark
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/5768 ... t=outdoors

Hi Patrick -

It was good to meet you as well, and enjoyed sharing hiking stories on the way down. Will email you with some more info on Presi Traverses and where to stay in Crawford Notch.

And Mark - nice to see you again. Been meaning to ask you - where'd you get your Shasta hat? Mine is pretty well worn out, and when I was at the 5th Season last year, they didn't have any ball caps with the traditional logo. In fact - it looked like the store might have been sold, as the layout was completely different and they seemed to have a different product line. Anyway, I like that hat, especially the color.

Kevin

Very nice pix, Patrick. It looks like you and Ellen had a blustery day on Ol' Baldy! The warm weather last week sure resulted in a lot of melt out. You can see the register base again!

The sign was not visible when I was there as the new snow (not much) added to the wind sweep parts from lower elevations push drifts over it, my friend Ty and Joe summitted 1.6 hours after we did and there was a large group from Hamik's skiing group that was practicing self arrest in that saddle just south of the summit, they went up to the summit when my two friends were on their way up and they were digging around up there (I know this from one of their summit pictures in the corner of the picture I can see it) so they may have dug it up, I'll send a message to my friend Ty to see if he has a picture of it.

lilbitmo wrote:The sign was not visible when I was there as the new snow (not much) added to the wind sweep parts from lower elevations push drifts over it, my friend Ty and Joe summitted 1.6 hours after we did and there was a large group from Hamik's skiing group that was practicing self arrest in that saddle just south of the summit, they went up to the summit when my two friends were on their way up and they were digging around up there (I know this from one of their summit pictures in the corner of the picture I can see it) so they may have dug it up, I'll send a message to my friend Ty to see if he has a picture of it.

I meant this register


A month ago it looked like this

Patrick, Ellen, and Mark--it continues to be a pleasure to meet people from this board in the hills.

It was weird making those sounds, too! Glissading might have been faster than skiing on that first run.

Patrick -- thanks for sharing! Great day and cool weather.

I've been up Baldy once; I took the chair lift and hiked DBB.
Does Register Ridge top out on DBB with another register?
I saw something that looked like that register on DBB rigth before the real backbone part starts with the old railings.

The register you're referring to on the Backbone Trail (just above the chairlift) is about a mile east of Register Ridge. The name for RR comes the register at the start of the Ski Hut Trail. RR essentially tops out on Mt Harwood.
Hope that helps.

Dave G wrote:The register you're referring to on the Backbone Trail (just above the chairlift) is about a mile east of Register Ridge. The name for RR comes the register at the start of the Ski Hut Trail. RR essentially tops out on Mt Harwood.
Hope that helps.

It does help, thinking now register Ridge comes out near Harwood, no?
I thought it might go register to register.

So, the one I saw is probably an old artifact of a register or so often disused or damaged?

Rumpled wrote:So, the one I saw is probably an old artifact of a register or so often disused or damaged?

I always thought it was for signing up for the ice skating lessons
(norma, circa '07)

HeeHee! i remember that!

lilbitmo wrote: - Nice work Ty on your first winter Ascent of Mount Baldy, keep up the great work.

Not only Ty's first winter ascent, but his first ascent of Baldy in any season!

O.K., I am admitedly envious. I'm zero-for-two on previous winter attempts for Baldy. I wanted to join my friend Ty and my brother Joe last Saturday but had other commitments.

Nice Job Patrick, Ellen, Ty & Joe!