Bouldering: The Ski-Sick Version

I never really wanted to climb the Boulder Glacier. Why? Because it's right next to the Boulder-Park Cleaver, a fabulous route that is nearly crevasse-free to 9,200' on the beautiful Baker's Horn. Also, the Boulder Glacier is the most lahar-prone place on the cornucopia 'cano. But after finding myself half way up it from poor navigation in a whiteout, I was happy to climb a new route and escape the jour blanc in the clouds.



We were a bit late for the Park Headwall in sunshine, but it seemed too icy to ski anyway. Conditions were strange that way: fresh snow from Sunday down low, but windscoured hardness up high. Maybe it was windy up there? (Not likely - prevailing winds usually place drifted pillows on the PHW.) Or the higher slopes were above a cloud deck the whole time? I don't know. Regardless, the net result was that I didn't ski the Park Headwall on my third try within a year. I'm getting soft.




Downed trees four miles from the trailhead made this a huge day, totalling 9k net vert. and a lot of miles. Beautiful views during a sunset hike down the road were the pleasant upshot.




Thanks for a great day, Baldwin and Christophe!