Artist Ridge - Huntoon Point — Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025

Bought myself a new pair of Black Diamonds and wanted to test them out in the backcountry. Heading to Mount Baker around midday on a Saturday is usually a bad idea—heavy traffic added at least 30 extra minutes to the drive. Parking was a complete disaster, but I got very lucky and snagged a spot from a snowshoer who was about to leave, right next to the restroom. I started skinning up around 1 p.m. and was in deep, fresh powder from the get-go, with plenty of tracks up the hill to follow. Quite a few snowshoers were heading up as well, but by the time I reached the top of Artist Point, there were only a few others around. The fog rolled in and out, occasionally revealing beautiful views of Mount Shuksan. Unfortunately, Baker never came into view.Still, it was a gorgeous day in the mountains 🏔️