Spent two nights at WP, headed up the mountain on the June 28th. Didn't see any snow until just above LPL, but not enough to impede the ascent. There were few hikers camped at Outpost camp and plenty of dry campsites were available. Spent one night at Outpost, it was very windy. Woke up Wednesday morning and there were a few tents laying on thier sides and folks bivied on the ground. Headed up to Trail Camp on the 29th. It was still windy, 25 to 30 mph gusts. Set up camp, most sites were snow free and dry. Wednesday night was still windy, got a little snow/ice rain. Nothing significant. Low temps in the lower 30's highs in the lower 50's. Wind subsided Thursday, and the weather was perfect. Took off for the chute about 9 am, the sun was out, snow was softening up. Not much postholing at all. Ice axe and crampons are highly recommended. Took a couple of hours to reach Trail Crest which was snow free until the final push to the talus field below the summit. We were running out of time to get back to the chute before the shadows so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We got back to the chute around 4:30 or so just as the shadows started across the chute. Glisaded down with no trouble, the snow was still soft enough to control your speed. Spent another night at TC. Headed back down Friday morning. It was an awesome experience for this first timer. The majority of the switchbacks are still covered with snow and impassible.
Last edited by Rodney51; 07/03/11 07:13 PM.
