Regional discussion and conditions reports for the great state of Utah, from the alpine peaks to the desert slots. Please post partners requests and trip plans here or in the Utah Climbing Partners section.
Has anyone reached the summit of King's Peak in the December-February months? I have gone up in March several times but conventional wisdom has always been to go up in spring instead of Winter. What are the drawbacks from going in January? The cold?
If this winter continues the way it is going, it won't be any colder than in March. I just did Tokewanna, and the temperatures were quite balmy for January. Very cold (zeroish) early in the mornings, but above freezing by mid day. The snow was thick and heavy and trail breaking was slow.
The two biggest drawbacks in general are lack of daylight and poorly consolidated snow that leads to knee deep collapses. Just the two week difference from mid March to the end of March makes a big difference in snow consolidation.
You have only seen the Kings Peak route after it has been broken by the Swansons and others. It would be very tough to do it in one day even at the end of March without all the prior trail breaking. However, your being thin is a tremendous asset.
Doing Kings Peak right now by the traditional Swanson's route would be problematic as the snow levels aren't high enough to cover all the crap in the creek bed.