Winter Climbing?

[climberbro16]

What would be a good Winter Climb in the Olympics for someone new to Winter Climbing besides ellinor and Easy walk ups? I am really anxious to do some Winter Climbing.

[DPS]

You may want to send an email to Jason Martin. As well as having done a ton of research for the upcoming ice climbing guidebook, he lived in exile on the peninsula.

J_dougie@yahoo.com

[Stefan]

Try Mt. Angeles. I heard it is a great winter outing!

[climberbro16]

Did Angeles in Summer.. Wasnt really a did.. It took me an hour and 30 minutes from the lower trailhead to the summimit. And about about 45 back to Hurricane Ridge.I was on a speed accend due to my P's waitiing patiently stairing and Olympus.

[climberbro16]

accent* at Olympus*

[mneagle]

The north chute on Constance is great when avalanche danger is low. I've done it twice round trip from the road in a day. The approach required shoeshoes but the chute itself was well consolidated. The South Summit of the Brothers is another nice winter climb that is best done in 2 days with a bivy a safe distance from the avalanche chute. I had to bail on a solo attempt of the Brothers traverse due to a necessary rapel and no rope but it looked like it would go in the winter, conditions permitting.

[Stefan]

Here's one I forgot about.

Mt. Jefferson/Thornton peaks. The north side. I know a couple of people who did them and thought they were great. I do not know about current road conditions.

[mneagle]

Do you mean Thorson? It's is a pretty quick/easy climb in the winter but the road is an issue. It's really narrow and last year had several large boulders that my Jeep barely negotiated. A cool route I was thinking of doing was a traverse from Thorson to Mt. Pershing. From the summit of Thorson it looked pretty straight forward.

[Stefan]

Yeah, I meant Thorson peak. Sorry about that. How bad is the road up the Hamma Hamma for a vehicle?

[mattp]

Mount Constance is approached via a very steep (short) trail from a low elevation river valley, the Dosewallips. In firm conditions, the standard route can be very easily climbed and a descent made all the way back to the car in a day

though there is enough high exposure, and steep or avalanche-prone terrain to let you know that you've climbed a mountain. Mount Constance, the most prominent peak on the E. skyline of the Olympics, when viewed from many places in Kitsap County and the Seattle area, is the highest peak along Hood Canal. I have no idea about the condition of the road right now, but it can be a good winter objective and not very difficult.

[climberbro16]

Yea Id like to climb it in Winter. None of my usual partners are interested in Winter Climbing. Constance was alright in Summer. A lot slower with so much Scree crap. That trail is a steep mofo though. What is it 3400 ft in 2 miles

[mattp]

MtnEagle is right about Mount Constance. It is approached via a very steep (short) trail from a low elevation river valley, the Dosewallips. In firm conditions, the standard route can be very easily climbed and a descent made all the way back to the car in a day though there is enough high exposure, and steep or avalanche-prone terrain to let you know that you've climbed a mountain and a camp at the lake might not hurt your effort because there is a large elevation gain. Mount Constance is the highest peak along the Olympics eastern escarpment and is the most prominent peak on the skyline when viewed from many places in Kitsap County and the Seattle area. I have no idea about the condition of the road right now, but it can be a good winter objective and not very difficult.

[mattp]

Sorry about the double post. It IS a steep trail to the lake, but it climbs a south slope and the short distance can help make the area easily accessible in the winter.

[mneagle]

The trail starts low enough that I've never seen snow on the road, but sometimes they close the gate that is about 1/2 mile before the trailhead. Winter conditions really do make for a true alpine experience. The scree is eliminated making the gullies and ramps (including the "terrible traverse") much less painful but adds some challenges near the summit which is sometimes covered in verglas w/ some awesome exposure.

[philfort]

quote:

---

Originally posted by climberbro16:

I was on a speed accend due to my P's waitiing patiently stairing and Olympus.

accent* at Olympus*

---

ascent*staring*

[climberbro16]

Thanx four the spel chek.

[Drederek]

Watch out for the spelling police!

[Norman_Clyde]

I'm pretty sure they close the gate for the season, adding 1 or 2 miles to the approach. For you guys who have been in Avalanche Canyon in the winter, what is your opinion regarding avalanche risk? I went up the North Chute on Memorial Day 2000, and it was a little slabby in places even that late. Also, it's not too many years since one guy slid to his death in a wet snow slide on the Terrible Traverse in July. If anyone is interested in planning a winter climb of Constance, especially an early start/one day, I would be eager to join, conditions permitting.

[mneagle]

Being at a relatively low altitude and in the right orientation, when the sun is out Avalanche Canyon turns into an oven, consolidating the snow quickly. I've always gone up there after a few days of sunshine and been rewarded with low avalanche conditions.

Also, while you're up there don't forget to look to the left. Although you can't see Inner Constance from Seattle, it's almost as big as Constance (I think 75 feet lower) and equally challening depending on the route chosen. I've only climbed it in the summer, but I think it would be fine in the winter. The 4th class finish to the summit would likely be sporting. If you take one of the first couple routes, once onto the ridge you can tag a few of the ridge peaks along the way (Stasis et al). A 2 day trip up both Constance and Inner Constance with a bivy would be an awesome weekend trip.

[climberbro16]

Yea the guy that died had climbed K2. Its sad but I guess shit happens. Do you think you could use finger traverse on a Winter Ascent? During summer I did the Inner Constance and Constance summit on a 3 day trip though. It was preety nice.

[Stefan]

You wanted some other ideas for winter climbs in the Olympics. Here are some other ideas. Don't limit yourself to named features on a map.

Peak 5045 and Peak 5301. These peaks are north of the Dosewallips River and directly east of Harrison Lake.

Peak 5365 and Peak 5689. The peaks are directly south of the Dosewallips Campground but north of the Duckabush River. One peak is directly above Wildcat Lake.

Maynard Peak this peak is on Three Oclock Ridge between Gray Wolf River and Dungeness River.

[Stefan]

Here are some other ideas too for winter climbing by the Staircase Ranger station:

Mt. LincolnCopper Mountain

[nolanr]

Angeles is pretty fun in winter, not difficult. I did it last year w/ very little snow on the ground, from Hurricane Ridge parking lot. There's some pretty steep gullies and a little bit of exposure in places if you do a roundabout ascent like I did, making it way harder than it needed to be.

There was snow on the road several miles below the trailhead to Royal Basin at the end of October this year. It probably melted out pretty fast, but the potential is there. I've seen snow come down to about sea level around Sequim or Pt. Angeles before. But I agree, Royal B. would be pretty cool if access isn't a problem.

[nolanr]

Hey, you're not THE Norman Clyde are you? Of early Sierra climbing fame. Thought that dude died a long time ago.

[Norman_Clyde]

Aha! I wondered how long it would take for someone to recogize that name. No, I'm not THE Norman Clyde of Sierra climbing fame in the 1920's (as in Clyde Minaret). I chose this name after rejecting "Ed Viesturs" and "Veikka Gustafsson". I was going to be John Muir, my all time mountaineering hero, but I figured that one was taken.