It’s been busy in the Cascades for CTSS this season!  We have two teams on Mount Baker with a third team heading up tomorrow. Here are the updates from the field.

The first team, led by CTSS guides Kat and Dani, are on a 5-day Alpine Academy. They arrived at base camp just below Squak Glacier (5,560 feet) on Friday evening. Guide Kat shared that views from camp are beautiful and the hike up with smooth but a bit more strenuous than normal due to icy snow on top of already slippery heather meadows. The team took this time to work in a little extra footwork practice with heavy packs to boot! Photos below from snow school on the glacier near camp courtesy of Kat S.

Our second team on Mount Baker, led by CTSS guides Willie and Victoria, are on a private expedition designed to prepare this group of climbers for an independent ascent up Mount Rainier later this week. With the help of CTSS, we’ve designed a custom program for this group of friends to review their gear, systems, and logistics planning for their upcoming climb. The team arrived at camp on Saturday evening and spend Sunday training on the glacier. Photo below of the team courtesy of Willie W.