Hey, so can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to about when there is a solid foundation of ice (typically) up in the Adirondacks? Planning on going up there but would like to spare myself the drive if there will be thaw at the base. Seems the temps are getting more consistently below 32 F at this point. SUppose to be below for the next 10 days at Lake Placid, so seems promising.

THanks.

kylenicolls wrote:Hey, so can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to about when there is a solid foundation of ice (typically) up in the Adirondacks? Planning on going up there but would like to spare myself the drive if there will be thaw at the base. Seems the temps are getting more consistently below 32 F at this point. SUppose to be below for the next 10 days at Lake Placid, so seems promising.

THanks.

"Sun. 12-8 The dike is in fantastic condition right now with good ice top to bottom and little snow. The slab above is in good condition with 1/2 to 2 inches of ice and easier neve on the margins. Avalanche Lake safe to cross. Slop N' Sweat, Adirondike and Avalanche Mt. Gully are also in."

The Dike is at much higher elevation than the valley climbs, and is extremely sheltered from sunlight. It's usually in from some point in November until mid-April.

In February or March it's mostly a snow slog, with some short ice steps. Now is my favorite time to do it - it'll be pretty much all ice from lake to summit. Much more committing and serious, but much more enjoyable, in my opinion.

That's PERFECT.

Catamount wrote:I guess everyone has a different definition of what constitutes "good" conditions. Here is a TR from Sunday on another site.

http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=23380

That looks amazing!

Much appreciated! I'll have to plan this by the end of the month on a good day.

This was Christmas Eve. Day was good, could have been more ice, though. Forecast said single digits. The lake was frozen over still, despite the recent warm-spell that I narrowly avoided. I didn't cross where the runoff spills in, ice looked thin on the east side. I went a little farther down to cross and seemed A-ok.