Courtenay Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 We took a group of new climbers up to Eldorado this past weekend; route is in fantastic shape, and it looked like nobody had been up on the ridge since the last snowfall. Of note: snow level at 5200', boulder field almost completely free of snow except the top of the third field going across to the waterfall. Postholing a bit of a problem late in the day above the boulderfield heading into the basin, but the basins are completely covered in snow, making for fast travel. Gully leading down to Raush basin is completely free of snow except at the very bottom where a moat is forming above the boulders there. We camped at 6150' in the Raush basin. Summit day started as white-out conditions, but by 7 a.m. the sun burned off the fog and we had a clear view of the summit ridge. Ridge itself is straightforward and easy until the top traverse; about 20' of snow above the actual rock outcrop indicating the true (solid) top. From the high point in the snow over to the rock, the classic knife-edge ridge is pretty corniced, so we put in a running belay over to the high point and anchored from there to get people's summit shots, rather than continuing on what looked like unstable snow. Coming out over the river, the 3-trees were dry and walkable; not so going in on Saturday -- we opted for the 1-log farther east. Great climb. Wonderful views. Fantastic company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 Talk about unstable snow on the summit- I kicked off a cool slide from the top recently. There was no cornice then. Sounds weird that one formed. Â Eldorado is a cool ass mountain. More worthy as a day trip. Less weight allows you to travel faster and enjoy it more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 The day-trip version is definitely nice. The boulder field is a lot more fun with a 15 or 20 lb pack. And it's fun to be on your way back down as people are just coming up during the heat of day. You can leave the cars when it's light enough to cross the river, and then you do that uphill section before it gets hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courtenay Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Agreed, last year we tried the NE Face ice climb as a day trip and only 3 people; hard to do that with a large (12) group of new climbers though. Great trip overall. And Caveman, the cornices aren't huge, BUT they're there, and it makes you wonder exactly how stable that pack is up there. We didn't dilly dally too long and tried to get up there early. The ridge traverse definitely wakes you up and keeps you alert! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 And Caveman, the cornices aren't huge, BUT they're there, and it makes you wonder exactly how stable that pack is up there. Â never mentioned I didnt believe you. Only thought it was weird this late in the year for cornices to be forming. Â 12 people on any mountain all traveling together is a mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 What's the river crossing like at the moment? Â Thx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Best way back a few weeks ago was from 100 yards west of parking lot near the trailhead sign. It looked way worse than it was... Â 3-4 weeks ago shimmy up tree stump. Then walk across second one. NOt too bad. Apparently the guides were belaying on it. Â I imagine then the river was higher than now considering some of comments above about taking a different way on the way back. There was only ONE option a few weeks ago it appeared since we had scouted for a while....... Â You wont have any problems Ade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONCHO&LEFTY Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Here is the log (follow link, me stupid cant figure picture in post) I humped the log to get across because falling bad. The log is a little slick and narrow, and brave people may walk across. Either way no problem. This was 2 weeks ago.pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 PONCHO&LEFTY said: Here is the log (follow link, me stupid cant figure picture in post) I humped the log to get across because falling bad. The log is a little slick and narrow, and brave people may walk across. Either way no problem. This was 2 weeks ago.pic  That appears to be the second log near the trailhead sign. First one is shimmy or was anyway. SHit can change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Excellent beta. THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 The tripple log that had been there for a while is still there... but the stream bank is eroding away quickly. I was there about a month ago and then two weekends ago. There's been noticeable deterioration since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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