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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 30, 2015 - 11:53am PT
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The West Ridge was fantastic last year early season.
Now I wanna go git on the North Ridge. In two weeks. (June 14) Does anybody out there have any first-hand beta on how much snow we should be thinking about encountering? I'm not really interested in posthole hell but dont mind a bit of the white stuff. Is it still a winter wonderland or mostly terra firma with lots of snow everywhere?
I am taking a kid who is fairly new to Alpine action and don't want it to be totally miserable.
Any approach or descent beta would be fantastic. Thanks.
Scott
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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May 30, 2015 - 12:12pm PT
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I was up at Cathedral last Wednesday. Snow line on the north aspects of mountains along the approach seemed to be at about 9700-10000 feet.
Here's a zoom in on Conness from the south.
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bearbnz
Trad climber
East Side, California
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May 30, 2015 - 12:15pm PT
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Scott, there is considerably less snow than last year, this year there is mostly just thin snow on north facing aspects. You may want to consider walking on the northeast side of Saddlebag on your way in, it is totally melted out on that side. Thes southwest side has enough snow cover to make walking unpleasant. Haven't been past Cascade Lake, so I don't know from there, but should be thin/non-existent... Have fun. Yer gonna die?
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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May 30, 2015 - 12:16pm PT
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crazy how the snow is holding on after such a bad year. I'll be headed there at the end of the month just after the boat taxi starts running and hopefully much less snow.
Bundle up micronut
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thekidcormier
Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
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May 30, 2015 - 12:42pm PT
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Please don't die
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John M
climber
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May 30, 2015 - 12:46pm PT
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crazy how the snow is holding on after such a bad year.
not so crazy. We got 2 feet of snow up high just a few weeks ago. At 8000 feet it fell on bare ground and melted quickly. At 10,000 feet it fell on thin snow which helped it stick around longer
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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May 30, 2015 - 12:49pm PT
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Micronut,
Two of our guests at TPR are doing this and left several hours ago. They said they would check in and give me a TR when they finish. I will pass it along.
So far several ST folks have stopped by and introduced themselves. Can't tell you how much fun this is. This year I'm keeping a list of all the campfire members that stop by.
Cheers, Lynne
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2015 - 03:25pm PT
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Lynne that sounds fantastic! I would love to hear what they encounter up there. Maybe you could even try to twist their arm to post up here on the Taco. And by the way we'll definitely stop in at the resort and say hello!
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2015 - 03:26pm PT
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Great photo Looks Easy From Here. Thats more snow on the north side than I would've thought. Hmmmm....
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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May 30, 2015 - 10:11pm PT
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If it's windy just walk up north peak, it's super hardcore
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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May 31, 2015 - 01:42pm PT
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Micronut, friends back from Conness, North Ridge covered in snow and full conditions.....
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aliebling
climber
San Francisco, CA
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May 31, 2015 - 10:22pm PT
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One of the aforementioned guests, home from Conness and pie. Lots of snow now, but also likely melting fast. We were planning on summiting via the catwalk from the plateau to the top of Conness and bailed because of the sketchy snow conditions on it (mainly because we had no rope..we'd have gone for it if roped up). Snow was firm in the early morning but super slushy by 9am when we descended.
North Ridge had snow along pretty much the entire distance. If it doesn't melt out before you go, you'll definitely want to plan on crampons and axes.
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aliebling
climber
San Francisco, CA
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A few more photos showing the backside. It felt like a lot of the little snow fields on the bridge between the summit and the plateau could go at any time. It definitely felt sketchy (thus our backing off). That said, all that snow may be gone in two weeks if the warm temperatures keep up.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Helpful photos, thanks!
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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scott
Here's your current forecast fresh from NWS
FridayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. East wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Friday NightA 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. East wind around 5 mph.
SaturdayA 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 58. East northeast wind 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday NightA 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. West northwest wind around 5 mph.
SundayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. This is the "point forecast" for Tuolumne Mdws. 3500 feet lower than Mt Conness' summit.
Dress warmly! Take bivvy gear.
Or as Ron Kauk once famously said to me while gazing up at Sentinel Rock and contemplating a climb of the Steak Salad: "If you take gear to bivvy.........you will"
Oddly enough it's turned out that way more than once since!
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fatbastard
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Expanding a bit of what aliebling said about conditions: The snow conditions are pretty difficult up there right now. We had a decent freeze overnight, giving us a supportive crust until about 7am, at which point it turned into breakable crust over rotten facets. The 3rd class waterfall section on the sawmill approach was verglassed with a steep firm snow exit -- crampons and axe were required for safe passage at 5am.
The final bit of 3rd class to the Conness summit off the plateau was really sketchy due to the mix of rotten snow and almost-supportive crust. There's enough snow so that you have to commit to kicking steps across, but it felt like big parts could go at any time. Lots of scary moments where sections would collapse under body weight. With a rope and some caution it wouldn't be an issue, but without a rope it was definitely more risk than I felt like taking.
The approach to the north ridge looked mostly snow-free until you hit the north ridge proper. The lower portions of the north ridge that you can see from our approach to Conness were snow covered. I imagine the snow conditions were similar to what we experienced, maybe slightly better due to the more sheltered aspect.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 2, 2015 - 09:24am PT
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Thanks a ton for the first hand knowledge guys and gals. I think that's a bit more wallowing than we are looking for. Might head south down to Mt. Russell in hopes of more stone and less post-holing!
Again, muchas gracias!
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Maeday
Trad climber
San Francisco
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I'm thinking of hiking in from Lembert dome, up to young lakes then hitting sw face to climb. Not until the 18th of June. Please keep this thread going with more beta!
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Maeday
Trad climber
San Francisco
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micronut, this pic was taken in june last year?
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