Gannett Peak via Bonney Pass & Pinnacle Ridge

Gannett Peak via Bonney Pass & Pinnacle Ridge

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: May 15, 2022
Seasons Season: Spring

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In the two days prior to our ascent, we had been in a snow storm which in Titcomb Basin included 3-6inches of dense, wet graupel and 30-40mph winds. When we woke for our summit attempt at 4am, skies were clear but winds were still strong at the higher elevations. We decided it was a no-go. We slept in, got moving around 9am to clear skies, no wind, and high temps which allowed us to dry out and warm up. We decided to at least go up Bonney Pass to look at Gannett and evaluate from there. Leaving camp at 11am, we reached the top of Bonney Pass around 1:30pm. We saw no avalanche activity and another party that had summitted coming back up Dinwoody Glacier. Talking to them, they said they had skinned all the way to the top and did not use any technical tools. From there, we continued slowly towards the summit on our skis, not having to use any of the equipment we brought. At 5:30pm, we reached the summit under warm temps and no wind with unlimited visability. We left the summit at 6pm and were back at our camp at 8:15pm. 

There wasn't a whole lot of information on what to expect snow-wise on a trip this time of year. We probed around in the top of Titcomb Basin and found 200cm of snow in most places. On the Dinwoody Glacier, we didn't see any exposed bergs or crevasses. On the Gooseneck Glacier, the only open crevass was a massive one just above the icefall. We were planning on skiing the Southeast Couloir but decided against it due to the windloading at the top. If we were to do this again during this time of year, we would leave our glacier travel equipment at home as the snow depth is enough to greatly minimize the risk of glacier travel hazards. 

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