Adan Lopez and I bagged a quick one for some cold-weather gear testing, high winds, frozen fingers, and discovering the Jarlsberg cheese is killer in the mountains.

Report and pics here:
http://sweepingthegarden.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/ridge-camp-west-of-mt-baldy-331-412012/

Cheers.

Awesome report. Enjoyed the read and pics. I've definitely done a couple "head out because there's a storm coming" and there're always some moments where you second guess it but it's always worth it (a gorgeous morning helps).

Craig,

I enjoy your blog very much.

I like how you and Adan pushed it that night, and I'm glad the gear did its job! Sounds like tasty food, great comraderie, and a beautiful morning.

Thank you for sharing!

Todd

Nice, Craig. Thanks for sharing. It's great up there.

I love my MLD SoloMid for solo winter adventures, it's nice to see others using this great shelter. Thanks for the TR.

On the slope below camp:


Camp is up there somewhere:


Bejeweled:


This fool didnt bring waterproofs:

Ah, another excellent adventure.

Craig,

I had a couple questions about conditions. Snow looks light up there right now. How deep was it? Did you use crampons at all? What technique did you use for staking out your Mid?

Thanks in advance. Hope we can hook up soon.

We got maybe an inch on us in the night. North slopes have maybe 2-3 feet of base, everything else less depending on exposure.
Getting wet and slushy by 11AM, temps are rising fast. Pretty good for climbing in the early morning though.

I brought crampons but left them in the car, did everything in microspikes. Crampons would've been nicer on the steeper stuff, but given the mixed conditions, I didn't want to worry about taking them on and off constantly.

For staking the mid I used 6 SMC snow stakes.

There still should be some good climbing and snow play up there if you can get out over the next week.

We'll definitely get out. Keep in touch.

Great, thanks, Craig. look forward to it.

Wow...significant difference in condensation (albiet it, frozen condensation) between the Solomid and Moment!