In September my wife and I did the week long AAI mountaineering course for beginners on Mt. Baker. It's been a couple months and we're itching for a second climb. Eldorado has been on my mind since before the class and I'd really like us to climb it. I have a couple questions:
1. From my reading, Eldorado seems to be rather non-technical via the inspiration glacier. Would it be suitable for a second climb? Mt. Baker seemed pretty easy so if it's no more technical than Baker then I'd think it wouldn't be too bad for us, depending on weather. We will be in excellent physical shape so that's not a concern.
2. It'd be just the two of us. My primary concern would be crevasses, of course. We have been and will continue to practice crevasse rescue skills at home. Nonetheless, we can't practice *actual* crevasse rescues on the East coast. I'd try to build in an extra day to play around on the glacier and practice skills again before the climb. What is the typical crevasse situation there? Avoidable?
3. How soon could we climb it? I've been watching the weather for Eldorado via the web for the past month or so and it doesn't seem that bad so far - summit temps in the 10 DegF range with occasional lights snows (4-8"). Is that typical for early winter - compared to Baker that seems to get 2ft of snow per day? Would late-Feb or early-March be a reasonable goal for an attempt? I'd prefer not to have to wait until next summer to climb again. I don't mind post-holing or snowshoeing through 1-2ft of powder, but I don't want us to be swimming in snow in constant fear of avalanches.
4. What kind of pro would you bring (maybe depends on #3)? We have pickets and would plan on taking them (2x ea), but would flukes or screws be prudent if we went earlier in the season like I was hoping to? We'll be carrying a 60m rope.
I think that's good to start, any advice?