lennyT

Trip: Mt Jefferson - SW Ridge Date: 3/25/2013 Trip Report: Our late-winter ascent of Mt Jefferson's SW Ridge went basically as expected, meaning it was a very long and tedious approach rewarded by fantastic views and solitude on this remote Cascade volcano. Late season snow on FS road 2246 meant an extra 6 miles of hiking, but it could all be done on skis. Car to car, the trip took a total of 28 hrs. We left Highway 22 at 4pm, made camp by 8pm that evening, slept, departed at 5:30am and returned to the car after our ascent at 9pm the following day. Significant snowfall which was immediately followed by warm temperatures resulted in very heavy and wet snow at unpredictable depths on most aspects and elevations. Complete trip report and photos can be found here: http://www.washedmag.com/ski-mt-jefferson-via-the-sw-ridge/ We departed our Pamelia Lake camp at 6am, climbing SW through the thick and dripping forests on a very thin layer of snow until we caught the Pacific Coast Trail at 4800'. We traveled south on PCT for a quarter mile, careful to avoid accidentally ascending the false west rib, until we eyed a clearing in the forest and we climbed to 5600' to meet the SW Ridge and continued on it until the summit. Crampons were necessary off and on from 7,000' until the summit. We began our ski descent around 3:30p and the snow quality was icy and rough until below the 8,000' point. Overall a rigorous yet very worthwhile winter trip. Approach Notes: Timing is tricky in late-winter/early-spring. Recent snow covered was both a blessing and a curse as FS road 2246 was not drivable, yet it allowed us to skin the entire approach to Pamela Lake and above to the SW Ridge. Upon our exit 24 hrs later, snow had already melted on large section of 2246 requiring us to hike. Bummer.