sm0421 wrote:I plan on doing Granite SW Couloir this August and Boudary in early December, will report back.

I hope this wasn't your group. Did you make it?

Just got down. Amazing sunny weather for 3 days. 4 people in our group.

I turned back at the entrance of the coloir because I'm not sure if I can make it safe down by myself at the first move.

A friend and a 44er both turned back in the middle part, way too many loose rocks.

A 48er completed the summit!

The SW coloir approach is a spectacular trip in itself. Constant view and lakes, unbelievable terrain, just hike to the sky top glacier is 110% worth it.

However i don't think an 'agile dog' can make it and condition changed with many loose rocks. And the approach is still very steep and exposed, too much risk for me to take. My fried kicked off a night stand sized rock and you just don't know which ones you can trust.

Next time I'll probably go with guidesI from the north side, this trip has been phenomenal.

sm0421 wrote:Just got down. Amazing sunny weather for 3 days. 4 people in our group.

I turned back at the entrance of the coloir because I'm not sure if I can make it safe down by myself at the first move.

A friend and a 44er both turned back in the middle part, way too many loose rocks.

A 48er completed the summit!

The SW coloir approach is a spectacular trip in itself. Constant view and lakes, unbelievable terrain, just hike to the sky top glacier is 110% worth it.

However i don't think an 'agile dog' can make it and condition changed with many loose rocks. And the approach is still very steep and exposed, too much risk for me to take. My fried kicked off a night stand sized rock and you just don't know which ones you can trust.

Next time I'll probably go with guidesI from the north side, this trip has been phenomenal.

Glad you had a good time and made it down safely. We were all wishing you guys well after hearing about the rock fall recently.

sm, thanks for the info on the SW couloir route. It must have been really sketchy if 3/4 of you turned around! Are you still in Royersford? I just moved back to Philly!

sjarelkwind, what an awesome project! I have to admit that I think it would be cooler to do the European HPs than the US HPs. The Alps, Urals, Tatras, Iceland and Scandanavia- oh my God! Harder, too, since I bet there are very few drive ups. I wonder how many of those are on par with the Western US HPs?

Can't help on figuring distance, but obviously with all the border crossings, languages, currency, and other issues related to visiting so many countries, you will require an incredible amount of research, organization and planning. No doubt you will do them all in one season! How long do you think it will take? Where do you anticipate problems climbing? Travelling?

And just one suggestion: in the US, as already noted, most people start when they summit Denali because it's the hardest. Do you maybe want to order some of the peaks, not on the distances, but on climbing the hardest ones first, or timing some of them to get the best weather or climing conditions?

Hey GEM, I moved to Reading recently, not much to hike around Philly, I probably hiked The Pinnacle 10 times and that was it. Maybe we should meet up and do some weekend hikes.

3 of us turned back because it was too much risk to take at that time...and I was thinking about my wife, just married for a year and I really wanted to be safe. I'm afraid of height and exposure and just wasn't sure if I can down climb highly exposed ledges by myself. I researched the SW route countlessly and read just about every trip report on the internet many times, it's harder and longer than what they described But I'll definitely come back. I'm very familiar with the BEST route to hike-in/hike-out/camp site, it will save you much time and energy.


The entrance of the coloir and where I turned back, it's very steep and exposed, doesn't look like it in the picture though.


2 friends started to hike down.


Almost down.


Look back to the valley from the entrance of the coloir.


Friendly mountain goats stayed with our camp site for 2 nights.

Wow sm, that picture of the valley is incredible! Is there anything you would do differently for the next time up there, either in training or gear selection? Definitely up for a weekend hike sometime.

GEM Trail wrote: Definitely up for a weekend hike sometime.

I'm in Wilmington. Holler if you guys want to hook up for a local adventure some time. Elichten was in Exton but I believe he moved to Europe. Hotoven is in Lancaster. Maybe time for a SE PA SummitPost gathering!

Hi All,
FYI

We got a group of 5 up the SW chute of Montana's Granite Peak, this past weekend.

I posted details here: Northern Rockies Forum \Granite Peak Conditions.

BTW, Congrats to Bob Webster~ this was his 49th successful peak ! only Denali is left....


-TL