7/22/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/25/2011, By: mrschaible Info: Route was clear except for a short snow field crossing just past the mine as you are trying to gain the ridge for the summit push. The snow is soft and has a very low exposure so no traction devices are needed. |
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7/6/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/6/2011, By: allegromus Info: Road is clear up to the gate; my Prius made it up to about 200‘ before the gate with careful driving (Photo 1). Only one serious snow field to cross, doable with regular boots although yaktraks and/or poles are helpful. We had a gorgeous day. It was very windy from the saddle to the top (Photo 2). Conditions are perfect for glissading - no ice pick needed (Photo 4). |
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7/1/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 7/5/2011, By: traderaaron Info: From Leavich TH to make it a little more of an effort, was below freezing that morning so snow was very firm but went to very soft by late morning. Route crossed snow in two places but was very manageable with trekking poles and careful steps, it is largely avoidable if one chooses the talus above these spots. The steeper areas of snow up to the saddle were avoidable and were quickly melting. Glissade routes back down if one chooses. |
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6/29/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/29/2011, By: usfgal Info: You can drive as far as you are comfortable driving on the road--no snow at all to the gate. A few snow fields (3, I think) from the gate to the summit, one of which is fairly long, but no big deal. I wore microspikes through them, just because I was more comfortable with them on, but plenty of people were hiking without traction. I took my ice axe and only used it (kind of) for a glissade. The ridge is completely dry--there are patches of snow, but all of them are avoidable. The snow is between 12,300 and 12,900, and it is not continuous. We were off the mountain by 10 AM, but even then it was already warming up and the snow had gotten softer. We did not posthole at all. I was glad I had the microspikes, and I‘d definitely recommend poles if you don‘t bring an ice axe. |
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6/22/2011 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/22/2011, By: ilium Info: Snow shoes aren‘t necessary, but there are some crossing that would be better with an axe and/or micro spikes. Snow was solid in the morning, softer in the afternoon. |
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6/18/2011 Route: South Slope Posted On: 6/18/2011, By: a94buff Info: On the trail at 615AM and off the road 5-10 minutes later. Snow nice and crusty and fairly contiguous the whole way up this route. I used microspikes the entire way except for one stretch between about 13.5 and 14. Recommend ice ax too if you‘re going to be up there especially if you don‘t have spikes - you don‘t need the ax to climb but you‘ll need it if you slip. Summit at 8:25 - absolutely miserable wind and clouds, though it did keep things nice for the descent. Back to the car by 9:30, was basically just ‘heeling‘ straight down the snow - it was just soft enough to control my descent but not soft enough to posthole, though I did that a few times too. Didn‘t use gaiters or snowshoes and didn‘t need them, but keep in mind I was up there early and there was essentially no sun at all on the snow the whole time. Naturally when I got to the car the sun came out. :-P |
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6/17/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/17/2011, By: iquack08 Info: There were some patches of snow to get to the summit, but very doable with just boots and gaiters. After the saddle, there is pretty much a snow-free line to the summit. To me, the regular route/switchbacks leading up near Mt. Sheridan (to the saddle) seemed snow covered (after a quick glance from distance but not entirely sure). So I decided to follow some snow tracks up the middle of the saddle and risk the cornice. It seemed that a good number of people took that risk. That's probably the only major obstacle to consider. See photos. |
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6/13/2011 Route: South Slope Posted On: 6/13/2011, By: mtree Info: Still great snow conditions. Recommend micro spikes and snow poles/ice axe for last 1/4 mile especially if you‘re up there early. You could angle to the right and take White Ridge just below the final summit pitch. Most of the snow is melted off this approach. Snow conditions pretty soft by late morning. |
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6/12/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2011, By: evanbdenver Info: Road past Leavick mine is passable for all cars for another ~1 mile. Still lots of snow on many parts of the climb. Snowshoes or traction are not a necessity but can help, especially snowshoes on the descent after the snow warms up and gets soft. Good glissading below the saddle and safely away from the cornices. |
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6/3/2011 Route: South Slope Posted On: 6/3/2011, By: WSN Info: Road is passable by normal sedans all the way to leavick site where road is blocked by snow drift. I started at 6:20 am and the snow was frozen and firm all the way to the summit. However when I skied down around 11:00 am snow blow 13000ft became soft and slushy. Above 13000ft there was good corn snow. |
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6/3/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 6/4/2011, By: samuelnoble1893 Info: Weather was absolutely beautiful!! I honestly have never climbed anything on a more beautiful day. Sadly we wernt able to summit cause of someone in the group. But we hit the trail head at 4:45 in the morning so the snow was rock hard for the entire trip. So if you go early in the morning, you got an easy and fun climb, Good luck :) |
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5/29/2011 Route: South Slope Posted On: 5/29/2011, By: Chary Info: Climbed and skied today. Road opens to the same 11,200ft although a high clearance vehicle may go further on the road (one Wrangler did just that). One can ski down continuously to the road. Snow on the South Slope, corn (?) and now as wind swept, was as good as one can get, considering the high temperature. Better start way early, like before 7am. I started at 8:45am. |
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5/23/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/26/2011, By: Codys14ers Info: We hiked Mt. Sherman Monday morning in beautiful weather. The trail was pretty solid the whole way up, we gained the summit just before 10 AM. The large cornice that has been spoken of on the saddle between Sheridan and Sherman is still there and should be avoided. We were able to glissade down much of Sherman‘s face on the way back to the car. The snow was much more soft on the way down, we did not bring snowshoes and did not really need them until the last 1/8 of a mile. Traction devices on the way up were helpful, our microspikes did the job very well. |
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5/20/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/20/2011, By: Andymcp1 Info: Snow was packed well. Some loose snow on the slope leading to the hill top mines, but still relativly stable. Extremely large cornices on the saddle from sheridan to sherman, which appear to have had some recent collapses as it looked like some avalanches occured directly below. Do not travers under them, and use caution gaining the saddle if your route takes you near them. |
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5/15/2011 Route: Southwest Ridge Posted On: 5/16/2011, By: Jay521 Info: Snow was solid early in the morning but turned to mush by noon. Traction helpful in the morning and snowshoes were mandatory in the afternoon. |
