2/4/2012 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 2/5/2012, By: Jay521 Info: Good winter conditions on the mountain. You need snowshoes once off the road on the normal winter route. No real avy danger anywhere on the route. Looks like some decent ski conditions. |
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1/29/2012 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/29/2012, By: Medic-5150 Info: the standard route appears to be at high risk for avalanches. The ridge is not safe to pass. You can scale the south east face of Sherman but it‘s quite steep, has some snow on it and is covered in loose rock. Another couple made it too the peak on the snow route, snow shoes were mandatory for them and highly suggested for the standard route. The road in is shut down approximately 3 miles below the gate and makes for a heck of a walk. The first mile or so is in 8" of powder. It is doable but is a good 14 mile jaunt. Expect it to take all day! |
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1/10/2012 Route: Four Mile Creek Posted On: 1/11/2012, By: BostonBD Info: Parked at the winter trailhead parking area at about 11,000 feet. One vehicle went up to the the gate at the summer trailhead last weekend but, still is restricted to high clearance 4wd only. Was the only one on the mountain 1/10. |
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1/3/2012 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 1/4/2012, By: markf Info: Not really a winter ascent, except for what it said on the calendar. I was on bare ground for a large part of the walk, and never needed snowshoes. |
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1/1/2012 Route: picked out way on east/south face Posted On: 1/2/2012, By: Harry-4 Info: Like the previous report--we parked about, oh, half mile below Leavick site. Sunny day. Microspikes needed at times.. Road condition to parking was fine. Since we hadn‘t done the peak before, had a helluva time finding trail. Ended up criss crossing east face... windy for most of the way--except on top where it calmed down and gave us an opportunity to have some tea. Then decided to come down south-eastern ridge--which appeared to offer a gentler descent than the route-picking we did on the way up. As soon as we started descending--an incredible wind from the northwest starting battering us--the snowshoes tied to our packs acted as sails, and there were a few very dicey moments...yes, there were. on the ridge being scooted around by the wind my partner yells out--"don‘t think I can keep going this way!" Me, in my best "south-col-Everest" impression shouts out "We can‘t--we‘ve got to keep going!!" sigh. helluva day. |
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12/28/2011 Route: Var. East Slopes from 4mi Posted On: 12/28/2011, By: Monster5 Info: Sherman -> Gemini -> White Ridge. Not skiable. -Parked about 0.4 mi below Leavick (a hefty 4wd may be able to break through the drifted section). -Followed standard Fourmile approach up to about Hilltop Mine (no snowshoes or traction used). - Contoured right to White Ridge/Sherman saddle before gaining Sherman from the NE (avoided winds on summit ridge; a couple wind-loaded slopes but plenty of lines through - ice axe used to chop steps/test snow). -Descended NW to Gemini (no traction/snowshoes). -Contoured around Sherman and gained White Ridge (no snowshoes/traction needed). -Descended SE via rock band by Leavick site (still very low avy danger, snow to road was too powdery for snowshoes. No traction used). |
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12/26/2011 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 12/26/2011, By: Jyak Info: Trailhead: A few spots on the dirt road up to the summer trailhead demand a decent 4WD; it is actually bare in many spots but for these drifts. Good clearance 4WD can make it all the way to the summer trailhead. Route: Snow sucks. There‘s a bit of crust on top of very dry sugar snow. Nothing seems to get really good purchase (snowshoes, crampons, and/or microspikes). It‘s about knee to hip high. Snowshoes are required crossing the willows to the gully. Once you make to the gully, you have mixed snow and tallus; take whatever route works for your traction. Ice ax is strongly recommended for the bit of traverse as you approach the gully. There are a few spots where the runout at the bottom of a slide would be less than ideal. |
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12/24/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 12/24/2011, By: CinciKid Info: Had to park about a 20 minute hike from the huge deserted house thing (Levick site I think?). I really regretted now bringing show shoes. It would have made my time from the parking spot to the gate soooo much faster. I would say that the snow is about 8" deep in most places, probably more. Past the gate things get a bit better. |
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11/19/2011 Route: South Slope Posted On: 11/20/2011, By: primary332 Info: Road open almost to Leavick site, large trucks/ 4x4‘s could probably make it all the way. Cold and windy day, not a lot of snow in the drainage, I brought skis hoping to make use of them, left them with the vehicle. Snow shoes were definitely not necessary, I only used them on a 1/2 mile section of the road, and that could have been avoided. May want yak-trax or something like them, a few sections were a bit icy, we did it with out them and were just fine. A storm was coming in later in the day, could have dumped enough snow to need snowshoes, but majority of route was fairly devoid of snow. |
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10/23/2011 Route: Sheridan Posted On: 10/23/2011, By: JQDivide Info: The road to the trail head is completely clear. Most of the trail is too. We actually climbed Sheridan, but got some good looks at Sherman. But snow is predicted for midweek, so this might be all wrong by next weekend. |
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10/13/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 10/17/2011, By: lafutura Info: My climbing partner and I had tried to find updated peak info on here before going but didn‘t see anything and thought we‘d chance it, and wanted to let everyone know the conditions as recently as possible in hopes others are looking to get one more summit in before winter. Some snow in places, sometimes up to our knees but we managed just fine with hiking boots and trekking poles - didn‘t even need microspikes. The biggest issue when we went was the wind, especially on the ridge. It definitely got worse as the day went on - we left the trailhead (the road, by the way, is completely clear) around 0800 and returned around 1400. Not really any ice and not really anything truly treacherous. Unless it‘s dumped up there since we last went, I‘d highly encourage giving it a try! |
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9/25/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/25/2011, By: tjerasdave Info: Route has some ice along the ridge. With good foot placement you‘ll be fine. |
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9/24/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/26/2011, By: lzinsmaster11 Info: Trail was free of snow almost all the way. There were just patches of snow here and there as you neared the last 500 feet in elevation. Patches of snow at the top. Weather was warm and snow was melting. If they have sunny weather all week and no more snow I‘d be surprised if there was much of any snow at all by next weekend. Hiked in trail runner shoes; no poles, and no yak tracks and was fine. Lots of scree to hike through for a lot of the hike. No snow on the road yet to the TH and you can park at or below the gate at 12,000 feet in any vehicle. |
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9/23/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/23/2011, By: RckyMtBob Info: An absolute beautiful bluebird day. Very little snow left from last week‘s storm. Approach road clean and dry. Aspen starting to change above the 10,000 ft level |
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9/18/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 9/19/2011, By: alanecharlesworth Info: Mostly sunny, but very windy on the ridge leading to the summit. Patchy snow above about 12,800. Not deep enough to need gaiters, and still fresh enough to not to need microspikes. Trekking poles were useful to hold on against the wind gusts |
