6/1/2011 Route: South Slopes Posted On: 6/2/2012, By: Nelson Info: I went up via Kilpacker yesterday. From the TH to the ridge the route was in great shape. From 12,600 to the organs pipes there is a fair amount of snow. Traction is necessary. There is some snow under the organ pipes which slowed me down but was not really a problem. Once you swing around to the north face there is a lot of snow. The problem now is that, with the warming, it is very soft. I was trying to stay in old tracks and started postholing immediately. I felt this this snow was a high avalanche risk. A short slide will take you over cliffs. There was also some rockfall with the warming. These conditions were unacceptable for me and I turned around 150 ft. from the summit. |
