We are headed to GNP next week. Most of this will be fly-fishing and day-hiking with family, but my brother an I can probably skip out for a half day or full day to climb something.

1) We'd rather not scramble up loose 3rd class scree, so better footing or less exposure would be nice. We are not bringing ropes.
2) We love snow - can we get on any this time of year? We'll have crampons and ice axes and are comfortable soloing moderate to steep snow.

We are staying in Many Glacier, so something near there would be great.

Hard to think of anything that doesn't involve loose rock. In Many Glacier maybe Apikuni would have a minimal amount of class 3. I've not done Apikuni but from what I've heard that may be a reasonable option. As for snow, yes there is still snow in the park but for the most part can be easily bypassed to reach a peak at this point in the Fall. You would need rope and other Glacier Travel gear if you were to access any of the glaciers. If you want to just get in some snow climbing for fun maybe consider Gunsight mountain. There's a good snowfield on that. Hopefully some others will chime in here and offer some other suggestions. Good luck, have fun, be safe.

Altyn looks great. SaintGrizzly, as usual, wrote an excellent page here on SP

It would be a long day, but there is a trail to the summit of Swiftcurrent Mountain. Although it's just a Class 1 hike all the way, views are great the whole time.

Awesome, thank you! Here are some others I found on SP - any comments? I included the comments from the email to my brother.

This looks very short (5 mi) and fun - we could move fast and bang it out in less than half a day.
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... _id=557113


Here's the description for this one:

Have you ever found yourself in the following situation?

You're out with friends or family for the day. They enjoy hiking and love the mountains, but they are not climbers. The trail scenery is nice-- no, it's downright beautiful-- but you still have that itch to climb something, and it's getting worse and worse. You know you can't break away for something big and far, but if only there were something close by, something you could dash up while the others are having lunch and snapping those requisite group shots that you'd really rather not join, at least not until you've supped on a peak first...

Perfect, right? We've gotta hit this. We could actually bring everyone, and then leave them for the final scramble to the summit.
http://www.summitpost.org/siyeh-pass-to ... 490/544849

If there's still snow on this, is would be good. Otherwise it would suck:

http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... _id=152749

A couple more options:

http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... _id=154552

http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... _id=152749

I have done 8490 and the Siyeh Pass hike is a beautiful, stunningly visual hike, one of the highlights of Glacier. And the last piece to 8490 is a great finish (ours had goats and eagles on top of the views). But do not overlook the strenuous nature of the hike itself, which may daunt some of your party, depending on their experience.

Mt. Henkel has the most view for your effort in Many Glacier. On a sunny day it is awesome. You can avoid the scree going up on the left and scree ski down the bowl. I did this with my wife (with no snow) and we still talk about it, because 24 years ago we were a lot less experienced and actually got in a little trouble trying to get down the red cliffs too far to the east.

Stu Brandel wrote:I have done 8490 and the Siyeh Pass hike is a beautiful, stunningly visual hike, one of the highlights of Glacier. And the last piece to 8490 is a great finish (ours had goats and eagles on top of the views). But do not overlook the strenuous nature of the hike itself, which may daunt some of your party, depending on their experience.

Mt. Henkel has the most view for your effort in Many Glacier. On a sunny day it is awesome. You can avoid the scree going up on the left and scree ski down the bowl. I did this with my wife (with no snow) and we still talk about it, because 24 years ago we were a lot less experienced and actually got in a little trouble trying to get down the red cliffs too far to the east.

We did Siyeh Pass as a one-way trip (ending at the lake), with my brother and I bagging 8490 while the others trudged on. Awesome day, with snow on the N facing slopes above 6-7k feet to make it interesting and beautiful. Thanks, all!