Hi,

does anybody know if crampons and an ice axe are currently needed for the approach? Do people usually leave them at the base and collect it later (obviously works only if the decent passes the start of the climb).

Thanks!

I posted some recent beta in the Little Lakes threads in this forum. Unless it is dark you won't need crampons on the approach but snowshoes might be a life saver in the afternoon. An ice axe would at least be nice for the long glissade from Cox Col and possibly from the top of the Ulrich descent. I met 2 folks last weekend that climbed and descended the Ulrich route from Treasure Lakes in a long day and they didn't bring snowshoes or use crampons. There is a lot of snow on the face above the NE Ridge that you climb en route to the summit ridge, right now, and I'm assuming it's soft and wet like the snow we encountered above 13k feet on Abbot, Dade and Morgan. Crampons might be useful for that, but odds are you'd be boot packing in deep snow.

JD