Mt Thompson/Powell/Gilbert North Side Snow?

[Donno]

Anyone have recent photos of the north side of Gilbert/Thompson/Powell/Clyde Spires ?

[sharperblue]

not since last season - does that help at all? better hit them in the next month or there won't be anything on Powell again except frozen gravel :/

[fogey]

Any recent information on snow conditions in this part of the world--doesn't have to be photos? Three of us are headed to Gilbert/Thompson this coming weekend (6/13).

[Donno]

Fogey; postpone your climb 1 or 2 weeks: there is 1-2 feet of SOFT snow on the north side of Powell/Thompson. Moving on it is slow and dangerous. On 6/7 my group made it into the NE Couloir of Powell where we were post-holing to our thighs. Couldn't move.
The approach over snow-covered boulders was dangerous due to the risk of snapping your ankle when snow gave way.
Also small snow avalanhces all around.

The good news is there is going to be a period of perfect neve coming up.

Pics..

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[fogey]

Donno--

Thanks--time to start thinking about alternatives. About what elevation did the snow start to become a problem? Was it equally ghastly early in the day?

The plan is (was?) to camp at or on the way to Treasure Lakes & reach Thompson by the north ridge. We could back off to Johnson (600 ft lower and can be climbed from the SE where there should be much less snow) or Hurd (1200+ ft lower and class 3 from the west).

[Donno]

I would bail on any snow climb if you're going this week. All the snow was soft starting at 11k, first thing in the morning.
Pick a rock route as an alternate.
Or wait another week or two for firm snow.

[jdmorris]

I'm planning on climbing Thompson from Ski Mountaineer's Peak on Sunday and will report back on conditions. Two weeks ago I found NE aspects above 10.5'k to be miserable postholing (up _past_ my waist several times) but all other aspects were dry granite. Fingers crossed that lots of the snow in the pics above has compacted or melted in the last week of warmth and warm storms although avoiding all NE aspects until they settle is sound advice...

Thanks for sharing, Donno!

JD

[Deb]

Looking forward to suffer....TR conditions.

[fogey]

We ended up climbing Gilbert via Treasure Col and the SE slope, a rock route without much rock climbing unless you count talus hopping--the kind of class 2 route that makes people say class 3 is easier. There was scattered snow, always avoidable, with occasional postholing when we did cross. Treasure Col, where an ice ax and crampons are supposedly de rigueur, was clear of snow higher up, and the snow lower down didn't require crampons late morning or in the afternoon. In fact, the col could probably have been climbed without crossing snow, if you really like loose rock.

Treasure Col sky crop.jpg (891.83 KiB) Viewed 4885 times

Gilbert has an excellent view of the Palisades, North, Middle and South (aka Split Mountain).

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South Lake did not look excellent, more like a large mud puddle (the two foreground lakes are the lowest of the Treasure Lakes).

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[jdmorris]

I apologize for the lack of updates but I haven't had a chance to download pictures and likely won't until next week (conditions are too good to sit at a computer...).

On Saturday 6/13 I climbed Electra Peak out of the Rush Lake TH and there was significant snow on most aspects that aren't south facing above 11,500'. Only spotty snow on NE aspects from 10,500' to 11,500'. However, the snow was mostly consolidated on all but the steepest slopes with very minimal post-holing and good boot glissading from morning all the way through the afternoon. Cloudy conditions were probably key since it was mighty warm. Although I carried and used an ice axe to glissade northward off the summit the snow was soft enough that it was unnecessary.

I ended up just climbing Gilbert from the SE slope instead of starting at Thompson on 6/14 so unfortunately I don't have any close-up info on the couloirs. FWIW, taking a nice ramp and ledge from the Treasure Lake around 11,320' onto the slopes of the bump at ~12,650' and then up to a notch near the top of that bump eliminates most of the slogging. I never had to step in any snow between South Lake and the summit although it was a little contrived to skip the 10-20' near the summit that had a handful of fresh boot prints. The talus in the Gilbert / Johnson cirque looked slow and Treasure Col looked like a loose mess (as fogey's picture shows!). My GPX track is below.

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[spapagiannis]

Hi all, anyone been out in this area lately to climb Gilbert or Thompson? Seeking Gilbert North Couloir condition details for next weekend, particularly the snow coverage in the couloir and the north aspect snowpack condition in general. Any recent info or pictures would be much appreciated. I presume the snowline is hovering somewhere around 11k?

[SJD]

Can't help with conditions of the col or the north aspects directly, but I was at Treasure Lakes this past Friday. It was warm and the snow was soft, even early in the morning. You are correct about snow at 11k. Lots of post holing to be had.

Just below Treasure Lakes


Looking NW over Treasure Lakes (the lower lakes).

[spapagiannis]

Thanks! Good to know about the snowpack in general. Does anyone have conditions details of the Gilbert North Couloir route itself if they've been up in the area recently? Even merely a recent photo of Gilbert's north face/couloir would be awesome.

[SJD]

Hey spapagiannis, did you get up there ?

[spapagiannis]

Not yet. This weekend is the climb, so we'll find out soon enough!