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Anyone been up there or in the vicinity lately? I figure its a long shot, doesnt seem to be a common route. Not much info online.

Heavily planning on it Sat-Sun. Ascent the west side of the Avalanche Glacier or the ridge just east of it, then stay centered on the White Salmon, hit the plateau at the headwall and then go down the South Spur, for the most part of the decent to avoid the warming glaciers.

THanks.

Well Jared backed out so I figured I'd give it a go anyway solo. Cliffnotes, I stopped at 9700 or so because I was solo and there seemed to be a number of visible cracks on the White Salmon. I wanted to get back down before the sun got on the snow. 08/11/12-08/12-12

I thought the route was awesome, even though I only did the lamer half. The WSG is suppose to be relatively friendly for a crevassed glacier, looks that way, just not so much for me solo, personally, this time of year. I wish I finished it, I would like to check it out again if I ever get a chance.

I took the cold springs TH on the south side, then cut west when it neared the Crescent Glacier. No trail, so a bunch of volcanic rock scrambling, probably mostly C2. Got to 8k, then had to descend 500 feet for a suitable camping spot (this is west of the lunch counter), fucking pile of shit rock. Lucky for me there was a snowfield that pretty much ascended the same rock pile that I took on the way out today.

But yeah was up at 4.30, on route just after 5. You basically go to the Avalanche Glacier (its below the east side of the WSG). Right now there is a bigass mud/ice/rock slide visible. Really easy to find, could see it from Trout Lake (town). I crossed that and ascended the snow slope on the edge of the ridge, there were clear cracks but only one nearby that could swallow a person (that was visible, anyhow). I crossed over that (wasn't big or deep) and got to the top of the ridge on the west side of the AG. I was at about 9700 and had pretty much ascended the AG, the WSG was a big farther up. From a distance I saw a bit too many cracks for comfort so I turned back quickly before the sun hit the AG.

If you want to do it: just camp at the lunch counter. There are good spots with volcanic rock shelters scattered all over from 8400-9000. Ascend the AG/WSG then go down the south route, glissade the 2500 or so feet in 20 minutes or less and go back out the south trail. You will have to lose 1000-1500 feet in the morning from the lunch counter to the AG, but the rock scrambling fucking sucks. Hell I had to gain/lose 500 feet twice. Sure, might be a way around it, but just mean dealing with this shit more. I didn't say specifically, I camped west closer to the base of those chutes that the skiers love, they dump out around 7500 ft from the false summit.

What I liked: Awesome views, how often you see some random bigass mud/ice slide, kickass cliffs, some mild glacier, a bit more shade in the morning, max probably 45° climbing up to where I stopped. I though it was awesome, even though I didn't get anywhere near summiting, not a regret.

EDIT: I believe the slide is a remnant of a debris avalanche, as they are referred, in 2008.

Hi kylenicolls, thanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, at this time of the year Adams' glaciers may not be too friendly and often not passable due to widely open crevasses and rock/ice fall. One time I even had a huge river with all kind of very noisy stuff falling next to me, which disappeared once it started cooling down. It's always better to turned around than get in trouble, especially when you solo. Nice pics.

Thanks for the reinforcement, I've been pondering the 'what if' thing through the day. I figured turn soon before it warmed, if I was going to. I want to try it again. But it wont be any time soon.

kylenicolls wrote:Thanks for the reinforcement, I've been pondering the 'what if' thing through the day. I figured turn soon before it warmed, if I was going to. I want to try it again. But it wont be any time soon.

It was a good call. Never regret turning back. That way for sure you stay alive and intact. The mountains will always be there and you always have an option to climb this or another one.