South Baldy circuit

Last week I was busy getting lost on North Baldy when I noticed a zigzag trail up South Baldy, and what appeared to be a potentially great glissade down a gully from the West Baldy-South Baldy col. That day I was just out to do North Baldy, but yesterday Tristan and I headed over to South Baldy via Baldy Pass.

	There was fresh snow in the mountains; they were blindingly white against the clear blue sky as we drove out to K Country. Nakiska was reporting 3 cm on the gauge, but at the top of Baldy Pass it was easily 5 cm. We passed three people on the trail up. After that we saw nobody all day. It was warm in the sun, and unusually, there was zero wind, but out of the sun it was below freezing.
Midnight Peak
	The south ridge of South Baldy is an excellent, easy, airy scramble. It was complicated somewhat by the snow though, and we decided against continuing to North Baldy (the "normal summit"). For the same reason, we avoided the zigzags, which would probably have been unpleasant, with snow over steep, frozen scree. Instead, we located the glissade gully, and rode it swiftly to the bottom. Carrying ice axes paid off again today! I'll have to get stitching though - I tore a big hole in my pants on the slide.
Looking north along the ridge towards South Baldy

		More Info South Baldy circuit. Distance: 10-11 km round. Start/finish at Baldy Pass parking lot, hwy 40. Elevation: ~900 m Time: half a day.
Glissading off the north side of South-West Baldy col