I was there today...although my friends did the route while I did other nearby peaks. They said there is about 150 feet of snow left in the couloir that they were able to scramble around.

Also summited 8/11. Great 2-day trip, camped at upper sky lake. Very tired.

If you are not comfortable climbing/down climbing class4/5, you need ice axe and some sort of foot traction for the snow climb in the couloir.

There are ropes and webbing which are not really necessary.

sm0421 wrote:Also summited 8/11. Great 2-day trip, camped at upper sky lake. Very tired.

If you are not comfortable climbing/down climbing class4/5, you need ice axe and some sort of foot traction for the snow climb in the couloir.

There are ropes and webbing which are not really necessary.

Thanks for the beta! How hard was it to find a spot to camp at the sky top lakes? I'm debating hiking in late afternoon(fly-in around noon) which could result in finding a camp site in the dark. I'm not sweating it but would be more inclined to get setup at high camp as soon as possible to maximize the days we can take a shot at the summit.

Randall

ClimbingRandy wrote:

sm0421 wrote:Also summited 8/11. Great 2-day trip, camped at upper sky lake. Very tired.

If you are not comfortable climbing/down climbing class4/5, you need ice axe and some sort of foot traction for the snow climb in the couloir.

There are ropes and webbing which are not really necessary.

Thanks for the beta! How hard was it to find a spot to camp at the sky top lakes? I'm debating hiking in late afternoon(fly-in around noon) which could result in finding a camp site in the dark. I'm not sweating it but would be more inclined to get setup at high camp as soon as possible to maximize the days we can take a shot at the summit.

Randall

It's 9 miles to the nice camp spot at the north end of Upper Sky Top Lake whether you take the Sky Top Creek or the Aero Lakes approach. I personally prefer the Aero Lakes approach but they are both the same distance. Both will take about 4 hours to do (or more). If you can start at 4pm you might get there before dark.

We had no issue taking the excellent camp spot but there are hundreds of places to camp lower down around Rough Lake and Lower Sky Top Lake if you take the Sky Top approach or you can camp at the Upper Aero Camp if you take the Aero Lakes Approach. I will provide exact locations for these camps on a map upon request if you want.

Planning to head up to Granite next week to the SW Couloir- how are the bugs right now? Any around the lakes? Just wondering how much bug juice we should plan on bringing, if any ....

Thanks!
Alison

more bugs than any trip I've been too. bring PLENTY of spray.

See my post here.

http://www.summitpost.org/southwest-cou ... ons/160092
You can contact me at Skeepowder1ataol,com

I copied this from the Granite Peak corrections page.
The standard way in to the start of the Granite Peak trail is still there and open. There are no "No trespassing" signs. Park right there by the old cabin as usual. The Lady of the Lake is only about a mile and a half from the Lady of the Lake trail head which is about 1/2 mile below the cabin.
We topped out on August 7, 2014. There were 2 of us and a dog and the dog made it to the summit. My friend did help the pup up a through the big rocks in the couloir and lowered it by rope connected to the handle on the dog pack here and there on the way down. There was the typical 2 snow/ice sections in the couloir. The lower small one was really easy and someone had left a sling to help you over the big rock at the top of that one. They cut in some real nice steps in the larger upper one and we felt pretty safe through these with no gear at all. At first we didn't see them and almost turned back because it was really difficult avoiding this one. There IS loose rock almost everywhere in the couloir so we went one at a time in those tricky places. Knocked a few loose too!
Also...When you are walking along the use trail at the bottom of the big granite slab there are 2 small gullies just past the black stain both of which lead to the main couloir. The 2nd one is easier and someone had left a rope there to help get you over the rocks.
Also the couloir splits into 2 narrow gullies separated by a good rock band near the top so stay on the right side like others posted. At the top of the couloir where others said to turn right aim for that notch on the right. It looks like a crazy knife edge from below but there is a pretty good goat trail just on the other side. It's actually the easiest part of the couloir and it will start heading left like they said. I went under the giant rock to connect with this on the way down from the summit.
The entire summit day was a wonderful, intense and very strenuous one. Ain't nuttin easy about it. The goats walking around and pawing at our tent at Rough Lake all that night were a PIA!!!!!

And your dog better be really trail hardened to make this trip. It was my friends dog and he was adamant about taking him but I wouldn't do it. That dang dog was also on top of Gannett Peak in Wyoming about 2 weeks before so he is quite the mountaineermutt. My friend said Gannett was easier. You will need a good dog pack so you can help the pup out and you will help him out a fair bit and that will slow you down.

See my post in the corrections section on the SW couloir page.

Raining hard today in Bozeman with a forecast high of only 51 and 42 tonite. Granite is 8000 feet higher. I wonder if it's snowin up there?

Any new or recent reports of conditions on Granite?? We are heading there Wed and Thurs of next week.

Thanks,

Mark
303-550-0331
markgrylicki@gmail.com

Yesterdays high in Bozeman was only 51 which was 32 degrees below our average high. We have had 3 days of rain. Cook City got 2" of snow last night and the other forum "August Snow" says there is 6" to 12" new higher up. Remember that Granite is just about a mile higher than CC so there is the very real possibility of quite a bit of snow up there. And I thought we were too early going to the top on August 7, 2014. You really don't want to be in that couloir unless you have gear with all that new snow which will probably not melt out until next summer. Granite may be done for us hiker types this year!!!!

BTW My avatar is Chilidog on Granite checkin out the view.


"

I was up in the Couloir 6 days ago.... there is an icy section about 15 feet long right in the crux of the Col.... there is a crack in the ice though so we crack climbed it using fist and foot jams. All this means nothing though because Saturday night it snowed pretty good up there, I'm sure the conditions are much worse now.