The road to the upper trailhead

Putting chains on Mike's Explorer to try to make it up to the upper trailhead. We didn't get much further but the chains were good for turning around.

How many Mountaineers does it take to turn a car around?

Less than a foot of snow around 4000 - about what we expected

The snow started getting deeper after the split for the Summer and Winter routes - but still not deep enough to make the Winter route better.

We were loving the look of unbroken snow on the trail.

Visibility was still good while we were below the clouds.

Jacob has a lot of fun in the snow.

The snow started getting a lot deeper above 4500'

Ascending into the clouds.

We got into the clouds (and wind) around 5000'

Mike and Jeff were the first on the ridge - snowshoes seem to help when the powder gets to be more than a couple feet deep.

Ice covered trees on the ridge.

The wind was strong enough across the gap in the ridge to rip the hat off my head on spite of a neck strap. It sailed out of reach off the side of the ridge. After getting my crampons on and going around the corner Jacob came walking up the far slope with my ice-covered hat in his hands.

This is what a picture looks like when the lens hood fills up with snow.

Mike, Jeff, and Jacob on the summit

Austin on the summit - making it look easy.

Mark on the summit - making it look hard.

Austin field-testing his Jet-Boil with a cup of hot noodles

I dug out a hole between a couple boulders and got into my down puffy jacket, hat, and mitts. With my back to the wind I was warm enough for a well-chilled beverage with lunch on the summit. I put my camera away for the trip down so this is the last photo. The descent was a blast, a few places were steep enough for long glissades in several feet of fresh powder.