Hunter in June

[Mark_Husbands]

Anyone ever climb Hunter in June (or later)? Curious about snow conditions.

[dkemp]

Never tried Hunter but I have been in the Kahiltna neighborhood in early June. Conditions were right on for cramponing. 'Course one needs skis or snowshoes for the flats but the climbing was all about cramponing. I've only been to Kahiltna Gl. once but it was early June and it was really good conditions (until we got hammered by storm but hey that happens).

[bDubyaH]

the latest i've been on Hunter was early July about 4 years ago. got turned back due to warm weather. seems like the freeze line was hovering around 10,000' if we could have gotten a cold night we could bust a move up to better terrain. But we waisted our cold weather on another peak. June should be fine if we have a decent (cool/cold) spring.

sidenote: i believe Becky and Co. originally climbed the west ridge in July (may be mistaken). I'd go for it in June.

[Climzalot]

Any one route in particular you were scoping out? Some routes on Hunter could be good in June while others not so good. I have only climbed one, the West Ridge via the Northwest Basin, and we climbed it in early May. In researching the route beforehand and talking with others who had been on it, it sounds like more often than not, early is the way to go, especially the last few years which have been pretty mild with regard to temperature. There are a few south facing sections on the ridge and sun does some pretty serious work on them as the season progresses, even if it is cold. We had pretty post-holey, sloggy conditions down low getting through the basin, but once on the ridge the conditions were excellent. No one else ended up getting up the route later in the season for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to bad snow conditions. I think early would be better but depends on the year eh. I would think that certain sections would get substantially more technical/tedious as well as more rock and ice are exposed.

 

cgentzel@aai.cc

[bDubyaH]

we got stopped flat by a huge double crevasse. not to mention a warm breeze at 3am and sluffing seracs. some friends who had been up on the route earlier in the season that year didn't even know there was a crevasse there at all. when did you head up climzalot? seems like the NW basin has been a bit squirrly the last few years.

[Alasdair]

From my one experience up there hunter should be done fairly early. If you get a warm spell while you are on one of the ridges you are hosed.

[Mark_Husbands]

Well thanks for the repies.

the reason that I asked is that in 1998 (which was an unusually fair weather year I think) i climbed Sultana from late April till mid May. On the way up (say beginning of may) snow conditions on Crosson 6800-12800 were pretty darn good, but coming back down 12 days later or so it was awful wet sloghing stuff. and looking over into the NW basin on hunter we could see tracks totally buried by a big slough (after the climbers passed i mean).

 

i've wondered whether that was an unusually warm May, unusually sunny, or if West ridge or similar snow routes at 7000-12000 are a poor bet that time of year. i think my sense is that late april early may is ideal but sometimes your free time doesn't match up...and conditons probably vary enough that some June seasons could still be good and cold at those elevations, others not.

 

thanks for replies, mark

[Jedi]

Not that I've tried Hunter but it has been pretty warm over the past 3 years at lower elevations. In 02 and 04 there were nights in early May, that it did not freeze at night at 8 & 9000'. I would think The West Ridge, with the large amount of snowy terrain at lower elevation, that good snow conditions would be pretty important.

It's not what you wanted to hear, eh?

Hey, there is always Moonflower or the Kennedy Lowe Route!

Jedi

[joepuryear]

Climzalot summed it up pretty well. Although it is true that Beckey et al. summited on July 5, May and April have historically had the highest success rates. There have been several seasons where the mountain has gone without a single successful ascent. The North Buttress and Kennedy-Lowe are pretty much out of shape by June 1.

[Jedi]

Hey Joe,

Does the Kennedy-Lowe route see much activity?

[bDubyaH]

i haven't heard of anyone being on the K-L route in a while. word is that it is quite conditions dependent and the conditions haven't been good. it has seen plenty attempts over the years, with a low success rate.

[rbw1966]

I was on Hunter's West Ridge in June one year and we were shut down due to warm temps as well. As everyone else advises, hit it early season.