Leaderboard

I have climbed Ice cliff and stuart col. west ridge a few years ago in prime condition in middle april. I went in yesterday for a C2C and summited Colchuck to get a eye on things. Dragon tail has triple Col coming in the ice step is just starting to form, I would attempt it in the next few weeks. As far as Stuart goes, the end of april would probably be better. As of now the ice cliff and Stuart Glacier faces are loaded and probably full of loose dry sluff with a crappy crust. The summit block and ridge lines are in there winter state also. Gerber sink is not in a condition for screws. Hopefully this weather system keeps up and forms some better route conditions. Be prepared for the spring time afternoon high winds and crappy fronts that roll in this time of year. The gate at 8mile campground is still closed and will be for some time, I hit snow at about 1.5 mi in. It was about 1ft deep and consistent at the 2 mile mark. The trail is packed to the Colchuck intersection and easy travel in the cooler hrs. If you need a second reach out and I might be able to make it work, best of luck. will load pictures soon.

Nice! Isn’t that the nature of rime? That it barely supports itself? Haha!

Always a lot of good rime adventure climbing up in the crater!

Whatever sort of bouldering ice climby thing you did up there, congrats and thanks for sharing!

I've climbed Gerber-Sink end of March before in good conditions. I've also bailed off of a few things in there during that same time window. (End of March is my spring break, work in education.) I think the most important thing is to be flexible, as mentioned. You can get out in pretty marginal weather if avy hazard is low and you are prepared. Some other spots that should be on your list to check depending on budget/travel time available... Rogers Pass, Canadian Rockies, Glacier NP, Bitteroots, South-central Idaho Ranges, Tetons, Rocky Mtn NP, Oregon Cascades, Elkhorns, Sierra, Wasatch, Great Basin NP. I've had great luck in the Canadian Rockies that time of year. Ice is fat and sticky, huge variety of routes, alpine is just coming into condition depending on the year, cheap hostels and lots of partners to be had if you're solo or your buddy needs an extra rest day. One year I climbed 4 days of ice including routes up to 1,000 ft of climbing, then did an 800 ft limestone sport climb on a south aspect, then did a solo ski tour to scope an alpine face which wasn't in, so went mixed cragging the last day... pretty fun. Also, very different from the Cascades in-terms of rock, avy/snow, types of routes. A great contrast to what we get here.