Mount Baker/Heliotrope Ridge

The Coleman Glacier on Mount Baker is the only advancing glacier in the contiguous 48 states.

"One more lap before we can go to the North Fork Brewery"

Rainier/Russell Glacier

Ryan White heading up the snowfield with Mount Baker in the distance.  It was a beautiful clear day up there and we could see nearly all the major peaks of Washington.

Ryan on the blue ice from the Mother of Water

Cameron Alford getting his first taste of ice for the season.

This blogger given it a crack (Photo: Ryan White)

(Photo: Ryan White)

A massive icefall on the Willis Headwall

Paradise Glacier on Mount Rainier

Back on the Mother of Water after a two year hiatus in the Tetons.  Ryan White and I headed up to the Paradise Glacier for the first turns of the season.  The Paradise might be the smallest glacier on the mountain, but it is still bigger than anything in the Tetons, but again, this is the Mother of Water, often the snowiest place on earth.  This was quite an incredible day, far exceeding my expectations and making me even more excited for winter to come. (Photo: Ryan White)

This blogger doing some seriously extreme skiing!  (Photo: Ryan White)

Ryan is heading up towards Camp Muir. We hiked up about 2,000 vert in 2.5 miles to reach the snow level, then started skinning and man did that feel good to be on skis again!

Ryan getting his first turns of the season on the Paradise.

Ryan way down on the Paradise before the crevasse fields came into play.  We had a beautiful 2,000 foot run on perfect corn on the glacier.

This was my first time real I've skied next to such gaping holes and it really adds to the excitement and aesthetics of the run. At a time like now when all the crevasses are clearly open and not bridged, it was really fun to ski up to them and look into the abyss. Then, skiing along side and seeing that it is only 2 feet wide and you have clearly enough speed to hop over, you jump it and look 40 feet down into the ice in the moment you are over it.

A gigantic icefall occurred on our skin back to the Muir snowfields. There were plenty of loud icefalls on this sunny and warm October day, but this was the biggest.

Powder day? Bring your helmet.

The clouds started moving in after we were finishing our third lap.  At 11 am, the Paradise was in perfect corn condition. By one, the SW aspects on the Muir were the place to be. 

Mount Adams

Ryan on the last lap.