Mt. Adams climb one day or two?

[Topoftheworld]

I'm debating to climb Mt. Adams in one or two days. The one thing I keep thinking about is the snow condition by mid-morning (10am). I'm trying to gauge when I should reach the summit. I plan on glissading down. So going up I want the snow to be firm, but coming down, I want it to be soft. When should I reach the summit for ideal snow conditions? (given a clear day). How quickly does the snow begin to loosen up and turn to slush?

[denalidave]

I'd vote for two days, camp at the lunch counter. Head for the summit at first light. Makes for a nice enjoyable climb and likely to soften up by mid morning.

[Water]

can be done in a day for sure. What speed do you climb? Figure on a clear night by 10am things are soft from 9k and below. above that, starting to soft, and by 10:30-11:30 really into the sweet spot from pikers to LC.

 

For nice weekends when nothing else planned, I do vote for a camp at the LC. The evening views are unbeatable and nice camp sites up there. That said I generally awake at sunrise and kind of take my time getting up so the glissade track is good. If I am actually leaving camp at first light, for my speed I am back to Pikers from the summit well before it softens and thus doing an icier glissade than I'd like, standing around waiting at pikers, or not being able to glissade down.

 

consider from LC it is ~3k to the top. If you're leaving at 5:30ish (in the range of first light), and it takes you 3hrs to go that 3k, and say what, 30 minutes on summit, and 30 minutes back to Pikers - that puts you there at 9:30--in my experience not yet soft enough for my preference of glissade. Thus, I leave camp at say even as late as 7am.

 

cheers - its a fun one whatever way its done.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2011 by Water

[Buckshot]

I was just there this last weekend. You can do it in one day easy if you leave Cold Springs at 03:00 or earlier. Sunny days soften things up faster but it is still doable. We have gone twice (with my 9 and 11 yr old) and camping at Lunch Counter is pleasant. Evening at LC is fantasic when its clear.

I found the glissade nice by 09:00. Depends on conditions of course. The cruddy thing is that the glissade from Piker's will be nice but the rest might be too soft by then but the Piker's glissade is the best.

Also, there is a wierd crevasse/'shrund at the lip of Piker's right now. We were in whiteout (me and my son) and might have missed it on the way down so we bailed. In nice weather it ought to be fine.

[LonelySummit]

I agree with Dave; I like the two day trip. It's really more like a day a half, as you can eat breakfast in town, then head up at normal pace. Leave for the summit around 2 or 3am from the LC, then be back at the tent for a nap in by mid morning. Whatever you choose - you will have a blast!

 

Water; did you get up there over this last weekend?

[Topoftheworld]

Great info - thanks! Is a 3 or 4 season tent a must during this time of year on Adams? What temp can I expect at lunch counter (on a clear night) ?

[hippos_are_evil]

You can use a 3 season this time of year, I used a bivy sack last year at LC and it was OK. That said, it's a mountain and any weather can be present.

 

I've been using the winds aloft charts to check upcoming weather:

This is one for Yakima:

http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/nammeteograms/images_off/000156.cloud.gif

 

this is for portland:

http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/nammeteograms/images/726980.cloud.gif

 

winds aloft info:

http://www.pmru.org/safetyed/windsaloft.html

 

so it looks like it'll be close to freezing at LC end of this week.

 

I think 2 days is fun as you get the experience of being up there at night. We used plastic sleds last year and it sped up the decent from LC down to the trailhead.

http://www.amazon.com/Paricon-611-Flying-Carpet-Sled/dp/B001Q8SLE2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1311109940&sr=8-6