We got slammed by mother nature here in Bozeman yesterday. Hail, rain and lotsa snow up high. There could be a foot up there in Hyalite. It's very white! We have a trip planned for Granite in mid-August and I was wondering if anyone has first hand info of what happened over there.

Bobber wrote:We got slammed by mother nature here in Bozeman yesterday. Hail, rain and lotsa snow up high. There could be a foot up there in Hyalite. It's very white! We have a trip planned for Granite in mid-August and I was wondering if anyone has first hand info of what happened over there.

Odds are that it was worse. Tetons got snow as well. Bighorns got a few inches over 12k. It's a harbinger of things to come.

Will this snow last on the ground? They're calling for temps in the 80's and 90's in Red Lodge.

It won't last long at all....may even be close to gone by now. I've watched it snow 6-8" overnight this summer over 12k and it was gone in a couple days.

I was in NE Yellowstone the afternoon and night of the storm. When the weather started to stabilize the next afternoon, I did a climb, and it was winter up there. By Wednesday afternoon, though, the new snow was mostly gone, and yesterday, only a few peaks had much of anything left. I wouldn't worry about this storm affecting your Granite plans for August.

Confirmed. Did Granite Aug 2 and snow is gone. Leave the ax and crampons at home.

Good to hear Vince. So, there was no snow in the Couloir at all? And are those steep snowfields at the Skytop Lakes still there? I hated those.

Oops. I should have said I did FTD and East Ridge so I was speaking of snow bridge. It's still there but very trivial. I can't speak for the SW couloir conditions.

I think that was my oops, Vince. I should have said what route I was going to take. I'm going up again on the 17th. I did the SW route last year so this time I will be the guide. I kinda like it up there.

Yes, very nice. I need to climb Cairn/Villard/Glacier so will be back there again. I've succeeded on SW Couloir in a dry year and failed when there was some leftover ice at the choke point. Not everyone in the party was comfortable getting past it. I would bring an ax just in case unless someone else posts. Also helmets. Rocks can take funny bounces and get airborne. My helmet saved me on East ridge when the rope sent a small stone down square on top of my noggin.

Good luck.

Climbed the SW ramp on Aug 14th. No snow on the route at all, definitely leave the ax/crampons at home. Also, there are two ropes that have been left on the route to help with getting down two small "steps". Above the steepest of the two steps, it was impossible for us to get down without kicking down a shower of rocks. I climbed down first and waited on some ledges on the side of the couloir as my partner came down. We were glad to get up and down before a few other parties got onto the ramp. Other than that one section though, I thought the rockfall danger was minimal compared to some of the warnings we'd read... The route was a ton of fun.

We went up there Aug 18 thru the 20th. There were 4 of us. I'm an old fart and the weakest despite doing it last year and hiking 250 miles this summer. My friend is a 21 year old semi-pro hockey player and very strong. We met some friends here and we all decided to do a group climb. I knew I was gonna be schooled when my new friends said they did a 52 mile hike in 2 days just before this. Are you freakin kidding me? LOL. It rained and then snowed on Tuesday and it was pretty cold at Rough Lake. You could see lots of new white stuff on Wednesday morning. We all decided to go for it but with a late start with the hope that the snow would melt. The day stayed pretty cold and by the time we got to the big moraine right at the base of the peak I was not feeling it. I had woken up with a sore throat and I knew that I was dragging my ass and holding up the group. I also had a bad attitude because I knew it was going to be tough up there so I decided to turn around and they all went for it. The other couple had ice axes but my friend did not. Apparently there was lots of snow in the couloir and it was a bitch. My friend said they all summited but it was quite dangerous and really scary.
The good news is that those steep snowfields at lake level were gone.

I still had a good time and I did it last year so I don't feel disappointed at all. My other friend wants to try in a few weeks so maybe ill go back up. I'm sure the new snow has already melted and it's supposed to be in the 80s here in Bozeman.