Mt. Adams 12,276ft.: North Ridge ascent/NFNWR ski descent, June 6-7, 2003 by Bill and Sam
Lava Ridge exploratory, June 8, 2003 by Phil, Jimmy, Bill and Sam
Click here for a map of our trip: 
The North Face of the Northwest Ridge has been on Bill's and my hit list since 1996 or 1997. Then in July of 1999, it was skied for the first time. Damn!...we missed another "first descent". The face has been skied by it's "first descenders" each year since. To our knowledge, the face hasn't been skied by anyone else. After having skied it, it is absolutely clear to me why they keep going back. I think I might do it again too! The face is a pretty consistent 45° with a few steeper sections. With temperatures in the mid-90's in town, we were treated to some of the best corn you can imagine on a face this steep.
Click here for Bill's trip report and photos.
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we climbed the North Ridge (blue)
we skied the NFNWR (red)
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who said backcountry skiing wasn't glamorous?
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twilight from our bivy
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Bill on the North Ridge
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Bill always wears his game face
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summit plateau looking north
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Are you ready?
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our first turns on NFNWR
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Bill looking like a rock-star!
North Ridge forms the skyline
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the rest pretty much speaks for itself...
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our only regret is that it was over too quickly!
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alpenglow on Mt. Adams
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fitting end to a perfect day!
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Saturday evening, Phil and Jimmy met us at our bivy. Sunday morning we would crossover the North Ridge and explore the Lava Glacier cirque. We climbed up Lava Ridge and then skied the 40° degree headwall . The snow wasn't quite as sun baked as what we encountered on the NFNWR, but was still a nice run. As we've come to expect, Phil documented the evening and Sunday's antics with a video. Check it out: (6.1MB 5:08 windows media v9)
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St. Helens from camp
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just crossing over the North Ridge (right)
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...I don't know, what do you think?
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climbing Lava Ridge headwall to roughly 9,800ft.
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Jimmy jammin'
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Phil enjoys some down-time
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Phil going Zero-G
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Jimmy gets low, real low
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we skied the headwall on the left half of the photo
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bumbling around on the Lava Glacier
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Tuck Martian
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then Phil unleashed the secret weapon!
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a few more turns and we're headin' for home...
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Sam and Bill pose for a glory shot.
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The ski out to the trailhead got us to within about 600' vertical of the cars...Not too shabby!
Back to home
