SummitPost.org

Couple of questions for those of you with experience with the Ptarmigan Traverse. My daughter has finally expressed an interest in going mountaineering and we have tentative plans to do the traverse North to South around the third week of July this year. A little background might be in order, so that responses are appropriate. I have been mountaineering and rock climbing for over forty years including several seasons guiding both rock and mountain routes. My daughter has almost no mountaineering experience, but has done several very long backpacks and has rock climbed at a very respectable level(5.12sport, 5.10trad) We are planning to do several volcanoes prior so that she can learn snow, ice and glacier techniques. On to my questions...
1) This being a pretty dry year, is it likely to be in condition in mid -July?
2) How extensively crevased are the glaciers? As big as Rainier? Or More like Hood? (We are a team of two and I out weigh her by 60 pounds)
3) How reasonable is it to ride a bike back to the car from the southern trailhead?

Thank you.

Fair warning, I have not done the entire Ptarmigan Traverse, only the four most northern peaks, so others will be better able to speak intelligently about the southern part. Here is a trip report that I found to be very informative. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... er=1128888

NickBadyrka wrote: This being a pretty dry year, is it likely to be in condition in mid -July?

Yes

NickBadyrka wrote:
2) How extensively crevased are the glaciers? As big as Rainier? Or More like Hood? (We are a team of two and I out weigh her by 60 pounds)

It depends upon the exact route you take. Cascade and Boston Glaciers are more extensive and heavily crevassed than anything on Hood, others, not so much.

NickBadyrka wrote:
3) How reasonable is it to ride a bike back to the car from the southern trailhead?

That would be a question for Josh Lewis.

From my research late July seems fine. TRs available seem to span the July to September time frame but I think July/Aug are both great months. We're hoping to hit up the route in early-Aug as long as pending work related issues end up falling into place.

We plan on a team of two since the route crux seems to be route finding (although the selection of peaks to climb along the way can certainly change this). The FKT teams typically do this route completely unroped with trail runners and strap-ons so I don't think you can expect Rainier-esque crevasses.

Regardless, I'm particularly interested in answers to your third question. We're flying in from CO and will rent a car to drive to the Suiattle exit. We're not quite sure yet how to get from there to the Cascade Pass TH on the north end yet, however. Hitchhiking seems to have limited success and we're considering paying a local for the ride but am open to other suggestions (although bikes are probably not an option).

Dave B wrote:The FKT teams typically do this route completely unroped with trail runners and strap-ons so I don't think you can expect Rainier-esque crevasses.

They also skip all of the summits and many of the glaciers.

How do you skip the glaciers and still do the traverse? Rainier has been climbed unroped in runners too. That is only accomplished with a modicum of safety through intimate knowledge. This is our first go through and I am with an inexperienced mountaineer. I would prefer not to drive two cars. Perhaps we could set up a ride sharing option with another team to drop off one of the cars at the end and an agreement to bring the northern trailhead car back to the southern terminus?

I did the Ptarmigan Traverse with my partner first week of August 2011 and hope to do it this year mid July. There are many TR's on SP , CascdeClimbers, and elsewhere for beta. Route finding was a bit of a challenge in places but always works out. We used a 30m. skinny rope and light crampons for some sections. You will be crossing long snow fields and glaciers with crevasses. Nothing very steep or difficult but only you can decide how to travel so be prepared. You will need some snow skills. Ice axe for sure. This is going to be an interesting year in the mountains as far as the very low snow pack and in some ways could make some glacier travel tougher. Biking back to the car at Cascade Pass? That is aprox. 60 miles. Half on highway and half on gravel. Sure, you could do it but a bummer after 5-6 long trail days and full pack. We drop a car but if not I would try to hitch. Ride share sounds good but hard to pull off dates/timing. At least you'll have camping gear if you wait for a ride. Ha! Go for it. It's a beautiful trip.

Sounds like the the glaciers probably won't be a problem. Also planning on a 30M rope and light hardware. Yeah, 60 miles of riding after the trip does not sound like the best option. Our dates are flexible, so will be watching for ride share options. Thank you for the beta.