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Hello, trusted climbers of Summitpost. I haven't checked here in awhile, but i used to get great advice here and even posted a couple trip reports of my own.

I'm planning a go at Williamson, traditional route from the Bowl, but a longer approach for fun from Kearsarge. Assuming we'd go end of July. Now however, with snow conditions, i'm wondering if there's any advantage to going sooner. I'm a pretty crappy climber on rock. To tell the truth, last time i did Tyndall but chickened out on Williamson, so this time i'm going with a friend who said he's happy to lead the chimney for me. However, i'm VERY comfortable on high angle snow, having done more snow mountaineering.

So, would you guess that the chimney would hold snow and be ok-doable with axe and crampons? How long for the snow to hang in there? Any random thoughts or advice? I'm all ears.

I don’t think the chimney is ever a snow climb. There may be considerable snow in the couloir below the chimney, and that snow may or may not be preferable to the rock (some of which will be loose). But the chimney will be rock climbing. And the large talus blocks between the top of the chimney and the summit will not be covered with snow.

bobpickering wrote:I don’t think the chimney is ever a snow climb. There may be considerable snow in the couloir below the chimney, and that snow may or may not be preferable to the rock (some of which will be loose). But the chimney will be rock climbing. And the large talus blocks between the top of the chimney and the summit will not be covered with snow.

And the couloir isn't steep enough to warrant carrying axe and crampons all that way, right? I was on it about 10 years ago, no snow on it then, but i don't remember it being steep at all.

Sounds like late July would be better than sooner in that case. Not even figuring in Forrester Pass if we go that route.

I’ve been up that couloir without crampons or axe in the middle of a warm day, but crampons and axe would be a good idea if there is a lot of snow or if you have to cross hard snow. In other words… it depends.

Bumping this thread... Anyone been through Shepherd's Pass in the last few weeks? Looking to determine snow level below and up to Shepherd's Pass. Headed up next weekend for Williamson-Tyndall tandem. Thx in advance for any data offered!

lasvegaswraith, do you have any conditions info you could share from your trip? I go this weekend.

We went over Shepherd Pass Wednesday and back out Thursday. Three of the lower stream crossings are best done by wading. There was no snow on the trail below Anvil Camp. Above that, there were a few patches, in addition to the usual snow field just below Shepherd Pass. The usual boot track across the upper snow field was a little sketchier than usual, but we all walked across without crampons or axes. Tyndall still has some snow, but it looked easy to climb around it. We didn’t get a good look at Williamson, but there didn’t appear to be all that much snow.

I'm back from our trip. I ended up bringing an axe but no crampons. I should have brought both. The spikes may have been helpful for the couloir, and definitely would have made descending Shepherd Pass in the early morning less harrowing. We ended up waiting a couple hours for the snow to soften a little, and actually did a short belay off the rock face on climber's left until the rope ran out. Then it was a lot of careful kicking in with trail runners and a semi-controlled glissade. My partner climbed the rock the most of the way down instead, and called it 5.4, but i wouldn't know how accurate that is. All i know is i'd have been happier with the crampons. People who had an easier time must be either going in the afternoon with much softer snow or be confident on more difficult rock than Williamson itself.

I agree that the stream crossings near the bottom and at Anvil aren't worth taking the time to do anything other than just walking through.