mthorman Posted March 27, 2016 Posted March 27, 2016 Trip: Mt. Adams - South Route Date: 3/26/2016 Trip Report: Had a long day up Mount Adams yesterday. There is still a lot of snow down low so I had to park at Pineside Snopark. From there I skinned up FS 8225 to FS 150. Then took a line up through the trees towards Cold Springs Campground. Once up high I went up by South Butte to Lunch Counter, and then on over Piker's Peak to the summit. All in all it was 26.5 miles round trip from the car with just a hair under 10,000 feet of elevation gain. Snow conditions were very wind blown up high. Summit hut is completely buried. I took my splitboard but had to stash it at 7,500 feet and switch to crampons. I did get to ride it for about 3 miles or so from 7,500 feet down to 4,500 feet which was nice. Then switched back over to skins for the rest of the way out. There are a few wind slabs but nothing bigger than a small drift. The snow line is roughly 3500 feet in the trees. The FS roads are all covered higher than about 2800 ft. Here is a link to the GPS file for those interested. http://caltopo.com/m/20N5 Gear Notes: Splitboard or skis to get you in. Crampons for the upper mountain. Approach Notes: 8 miles just to get to the Cold Springs Trailhead. Quote
JasonG Posted March 27, 2016 Posted March 27, 2016 That's quite the effort! Thanks for the beta, I think I'll wait to get a bit closer to Cold Springs. Quote
OlympicMtnBoy Posted March 28, 2016 Posted March 28, 2016 Nice job with the extra road skiing, looks like a great day out! Quote
Water Posted March 28, 2016 Posted March 28, 2016 Holy wow, serious respect for that endeavor. There are a lot of fuckheads who will ride their snowmobile up to the crescent glacier or bird Creek meadows (Instagram #mtadams hashtag, even mountaineer ppl).. Doing what you did human powered is impressive. Also Saturday wasn't much of a weather window really, tho I guess East of the crest at Adams it held a lot better than hood. Always dream of a winter/super early accent of Adams. Thank you for sharing. Quote
Ted S Posted March 28, 2016 Posted March 28, 2016 Wow, that's a big push for a day, at least in my book. Very cool and thanks for the TR, may have to give it a multi-day try before the snow melts down to crowd levels. Quote
Bigtree Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 Good work mthorman. Thanks for the TR and pictures. Quote
Atomnic Posted April 5, 2016 Posted April 5, 2016 Right on! Thinking of doing that this weekend. How were the avy conditions about now? Quote
mthorman Posted April 5, 2016 Author Posted April 5, 2016 Right on! Thinking of doing that this weekend. How were the avy conditions about now? I feel like a lot of avy decisions are based in the field depending on what you find. But I would recommend looking at the Northwest Avalanche Center's avy forecast to get a better idea of the overall snowpack. When I was up there it was hard and icy above 7,500 or 8,000 feet. No wind slabs (except small drifts), and certainly no powder. My bet is the biggest avy issue to look for this weekend would be wet/loose slides between 5,000 and 8,000 feet. But then again conditions can change from day to day. I have heard from at least 2 other parties that want to get up there this weekend so you might not be the only ones. Have fun if you go! Quote
Patarero Posted April 6, 2016 Posted April 6, 2016 Right on! Thinking of doing that this weekend. How were the avy conditions about now? NWAC is your friend. Looked like a PDXer went up this past weekend. Go up the 80/8040 if you go, you will be closer and might be able to hitch a ride on a sled. Quote
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