Atlantic Peak

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 7/19/2020, By: flagship47
Info: dry conditions all the way until you reach about 13000, then the standard route has a snowfield blocking it. Estimate it will be several weeks before this is melted out. Tried to climb near light colored rock band to the south and quickly became a Class 3 exposed hike. Scree field to the SW of the route may be the only way to go right now without crampons/ice axe. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 7/12/2020, By: bangerth
Info: Perfect conditions all the way up. The only spots that aren't dry are the willows in the valley when you leave the road at the mine and make your way over to the gap between Atlantic's West Ridge and Mayflower Hill, and a spot high on the ridge where one has to walk what used to be a 50 ft long cornice; we walked right on the crest, which seemed safe and avoided the alternative (the steep north side of the snow field). Otherwise dry all the way to the top, as well as when going over to Pacific. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2020, By: little_castaldo
Info: A couple snowfields early in the basin; solid in the morning, but postholing 3+ft on the way down (but maybe 10 minutes max, no need for snowshoes). No snow on the ridge proper or summit. Ascended Pacific west ridge and descended Atlantic west ridge. Used the snowfield leaving the ridge on the descent for a nice, short glissade :) 4WD drive to Boston mines is open; road was easy/moderate for a stock jeep wrangler. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 5/31/2020, By: 2aron
Info: Road covered with snow after a few 100 feet from gate. Definitely recommend snow shoes for crossing the field. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 1/12/2020, By: bangerth
Info: The road from the highway to the mine is packed down hard by skiers and hikers, and can be traveled without flotation or traction. At some point, a snowshoe track goes branches off to the left and goes more or less straight into the gap between the Atlantic West ridge and Mayflower Hill. The track should now be in great condition and can probably be traveled with just boots by now. The difficulty is how to get onto the ridge. We came down a different way than we went up, and there were also a couple of ski tracks, so the track branches shortly before tree line a number of times. On the way up, we stayed pretty much at the south edge of the ridge's end, which is somewhat windblown with some rocks exposed, but quite steep at ~45 degrees. It was a difficult way up. On the way down, we stayed further to the north, which has deeper snow at 30-35 degrees. Neither route struck me as particularly safe. The actual ridge is very difficult with mixed rocks and in parts deep snow. It's also rather steep. Given the brutal conditions (wind chill around -20F or below), we only made it to ~13,060ft. One of us went a little further and reported hitting a large cornice that seemed impossible to traverse. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 12/31/2019, By: Yikes
Info: hard packed up the road with all of the ski traffic. trench up west ridge. unconsolidated snow on the upper ridge made it less than enjoyable with lots of knee deep. low traverse across east plateau and then up to pacific was in good condition. tried for crystal, but ran out of steam (and running out of daylight), so dropped from the saddle (not from Pacific West) and laid a long trench back past the start of Pacific W. 

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 10/21/2019, By: Sglm14
Info: Did Pacific west ridge to Atlantic. Full on winter condition. Microspikes were necessary. 

Route: Northeast Ridge (from Pacific Peak)
Posted On: 9/21/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: Easy but long and loose. There's about 500 feet of elevation gain from the saddle to the summit, and getting down off the ridge bumps in the middle is probably the steepest and "hardest" part. The climb from the saddle is easy since it's low angle. Nonetheless, lots of potential ankle breakers on this one so be careful with your footing. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 9/9/2019, By: cloudkicker
Info: A tiny bit of lingering snow on the ridge nearby the route, but not on the route. The route is dry all the way from Mayflower Gulch Rd to summit. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: 50 yards of willows are a fun bush-wack with some mud. Enjoy that! There is a decent trail after that around Mayflower hill and along the creek. Lots of rock hopping all the way up to the summit. Some snow near the 13,300' crux - you'll have to go mostly up ridge proper rather than skirting to the left. Can still keep difficulty at 2+ but option for more if wanted. 

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 8/17/2019, By: dcsheldon
Info: Hiked Atlantic Peak and Pacific Peak from the McCullough Gulch trailhead. The headwall at the end of the basin is still snow covered. If you are going to hike in the snow you'll need crampons and ice axe. It is steep. We avoided the snow by going to the climbers right of the snow field. This required some class 3 scrambling but do-able. It was probably 150 ft of snow we needed to get past. In some places I was able to hike between the snow and the rock wall. In other parts we scrambled above the snow. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 8/1/2019, By: Flyingfish
Info: Dry from Pacific there are a few places when decending the ridge that snow is in the way but at 8am the snow was still frozen enough to not sink. The final decent into the basin at the NW end of the ridge is completely covered in snow for 100~ ft. Bring an axe for this section to make the glissade down safer. 

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: amderr22
Info: Tons of snow in this basin yet - I brought my ice axe out of habit, and needed it for the headwall. I ended up making it up fine but had trouble on the way down, slipped and self-arrested. Take care and bring crampons and an axe if you decide to go this way for the next few weeks. 

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 6/17/2019, By: cdgibbons
Info: McCullough Gulch road is still closed at the winter gate, adding 2.1 miles and a few hundred feet of elevation each way to the summer route. From 11,100' to 12,000', mostly snow, some deep, and occasional mud. I regretted not having flotation here. From 12,000', continuous snow to the summit. Traction and axe, especially on the steeper sections. There is recent wet-slide activity on the climber's right on the headwall. After leaving the road, had the mountain and route to myself. 

Route: Northeast Slope
Posted On: 5/6/2019, By: Gueza
Info: East face and couloirs on Atlantic are in great shape for skiing at the moment albeit for quite a bit of unconsolidated snow that made booting up quite arduous. Fletcher also is looking great for a ski - still tons of snow in the area.