Our party ascended the Carbon Glacier and the lower part of the ridge to Thumb Rock on Monday, May 28th. The path over the Carbon was well tracked and fairly straight forward. We were forced to start the climb from a very high point on the Carbon on the West side of the ridge due to a lack of snow on the lower sections. This route appeared to be much steeper than the "normal" route.
The weather conditions went from bad to worse in a hurry. We climbed in light snow, low visibility conditions. By the time we made it to Thumb Rock, the winds were beginning to howl and visibility was further decreasing. Monday night was a terrifying experience. I don't think that the use of the words "hurricane strength gusts" would be an exageration. Lots of stunned silence in the tent.
The weather cleared by the middle of the next day but we were unable to make an attempt at the summit due to wet gear and burnt out mental conditions. Tuesday night brought a slightly less severe storm. Wednesday Morning featured misty/rainy/windy conditions which convinced us to downclimb at around 1pm (couldn't handle staying in that tent for another day!).
Conditions on the downclimb (May 30th) ranged between good and horrible. Several sections of wet snow created easy downclimbing conditions but high avalanche potential. Some icy sections required combo front pointing/French technique. Severe rockfall on the lower part of the ridge. By severe I mean fairly constant - a batch every few minutes. (As an aside, how does this mountain stand up? It's a bunch of loose rock cemented together with mud!)
Due to the rockfall on the descent, I would not recommend this route to anyone in warm weather conditions. Actually, I wouldn't recommend it in cold conditions either due to the lack of snow. The route appeared to be in better shape above Thumb Rock but the constant buzz of the rescue helicopters on Tuesday seemed to suggest otherwise.
Thermogenesis - massive avalanche swept the entire route on Tuesday.
